Ch4. Voluntold

"Hey Rojas, did you hear that?" Cyn turned around talking to the other soldier. They were in the middle of a forest. It was like that all the time though.

"I didn't if you didn't."

"Shh! Listen! It sounded like a gun shot!" Cyn stopped and held his hand up. It was so silent in the woods, tree leaves rustled slightly and some birds chirped.

"I don't here a damn thing! Why does command always put us on these bogus missions? It's not like there's ever anything out here!" Rojas said, and he was right. The command center has always picked on him and Cyn. Both of them were always moved and the barracks were always changed. It was like someone had a grudge against them. Cyn and he had always been the ones singled out from the rest, to achieve pointless tasks. This was the fourth one just this week. And they never found anything either. Rojas consider this to be a way of life they were always volunteered for these or as Cyn had once called it "voluntold". Rojas continued, "I mean it's not like you and I are the only ones on this whole base! Why can't they pick on someone else for once?"

"Stop your complaining! At least we're not one of those fly boys," Cyn started to walk forward again, "And it's a good thing we don't have to sit at the controls of that lousy Rail Gun. The idiots have already shot down two of our own guys this month. Morons. Can't tell friend from foe?"

"Uh huh. I guess, and what else? We have the most useless job out there!"

"So what?" Cyn hissed at Rojas. He had gotten used to him complaining and learned to deal with it. There wasn't much else to talk to in the middle of nowhere, "Were not missing like Kiboto and Baird."

"Yeah, I guess that's true too. But what ever happened to them?" Rojas ran to catch up.

"Well they didn't check into the base at the end of their patrol and command can't get a hold of them on their radio. What does that tell you?" Cyn asked.

"Uhh… that they are bad soldiers? I don't know! What do you think?"

"Well no one would try to run away from command. It's the only place on the whole planet that we can go. Unless they decided to leave, but that can't be. HQ still has a number count on all the ships that are at the base. So that leaves two possibilities…" Cyn said.

"And?" Rojas asked impatiently.

"And since they probably didn't run away, they are probably lost and out of radio contact. Or they are dead."

Rojas froze, "Dead? What do you mean dead?"

Cyn stopped and looked back at the paralyzed trooper, "Look, all I'm saying is that Rail Gun has shot down a lot of things. HQ hasn't exactly found all the bodies of the things that had been in the aircrafts. So if there is someone out here it's our job to find them and kill them or make them a part of our army. Now get a move on will you?"

"Fine," Rojas began to step forward, "But have you ever considered that what ever it is that might be out here may have a weapon? I mean you would have to be pretty intelligent to escape all the patrols but still it's possible. Who knows how long that thing can survive out here! It's either this thing is really smart of we are really dumb."

"Hence the fact that Command gives us guns genius," Cyn gave Rojas a look of impatiens and stupidity.

"I don't about you but, I feel way safe with one. But still do you ever get the feeling that there is something watching us?"

"Rojas, we don't know if there is anything out here."

"All I'm saying is that if it is here it could be watching us."

"So?"

"Right now!"

"Ok Rojas I'm going to ignore that you ever said that. But still relax a little, for both of us?" Cyn liked Rojas most of the time, but he always came to worry in that a combat situation that he wouldn't be able to pull the trigger. Neither of them had ever shot anyone before. While Cyn knew that he was mentally prepared to fire his gun, he still wondered if Rojas would be able to.

"Alright, but you get shot. I'm running!"

"Agreed," Cyn replied. It was all he could do to make Rojas shut up.

"AGH!" Rojas yelled at nearly the top of his lungs.

"What is it now?"

Rojas stood completely still, pointing at the ground. In the grass lay a soldier. And worst of all. It was one of their men. Cyn leaned closer to the body, and brushed the dust off one of the shoulder pads. It read: Baird. He stood up and looked around, in the grass near the first body lay another. He flipped it over and read the shoulder-flash, "Baird. And this one is Kiboto," He paused looking at the shoulder-flash in remorse. "Yeah this is them. This is 2-6"

Rojas was still struck by fear, and began to feel nauseous and sick, "What happened to them?"

Cyn took another look at the armor of his fallen comrades. Death never really bothered him that much. It was extremely hard to get him to back down. One small bullet hole in each of their chests stood out, "Hmp, high caliber gun, look here the exit wound shows too. Whatever shot them went through, and through. Grrr! Get Command on the radio, will ya Rojas?" Rojas nodded and gave the Radio to Cyn. Cyn spook now with great seriousness, "Command this is 1-3, please come in."

A voice soon came back, "Roger that 1-3, we read you."

Cyn continued, "We've found 2-6, Kiboto and Baird. KIA command, looks like what ever hit them, hit them hard and silent. Their weapons and ammo had been taken before we got here."

"Acknowledged 1-3, please stand by… Your new mission objective is to hunt down what ever killed 2-6. Please proceed to grid location 45.98. Our scanners indicated a jump in radiological activity. This is also the place where 2-4 had been before we lost contact with them. Please Acknowledge."

"Roger that command moving to location 45.98. Over and out," Cyn flicked the radio off, "Well looks like we got a new mission Rojas."

"What? No, no, no! We can't just go hunting for what ever is out there. Look what it did to these guys! They didn't even know what hit them!"

Cyn pulled out his map and located 45.98 on the grid, "Hey at that's a huge round that killed them. Look on the bright side. You'll probably be dead before you hit the ground. Now let's get going it's only a bit farther. It's in a field."

"Not helping!" Rojas yelled as the two of them walked into the woods.

Fox had been listening to the whole conversation on the radio he acquired from what their command center had called "2-4". He knew that he was now being hunted. And they were staring to create a body count. He had to shot the least amount possible. The higher that the body count grew, the more interested they would become in trying to find him. From what Falco had told him there was a huge base. So he had to watch himself.

The enemy knew that he was here and before long will probably find him, "Great," Fox sat on a log and said allowed, "That's all I need," He hadn't made it that far since he had left his Arwing. He wanted to be careful. And what was wrong with that? Are far as he knew the Great Fox still knew he was alive and they knew it could take a while.

He had enough rations for a few days anyway. If he wasn't careful enough he would be killed. He had seen no patrols and the radio had been relatively quiet. Always a good sign, unless they knew he was here and they had switched channels. He had thought that, until the last transmission of the team that would now be hunting him. He had to be extremely cautious now that their HQ had found out he was here. He couldn't just "shoot first and ask questions later". He had to conserve his ammunition. The more troops that he brought down, the more that their HQ would send after him.

Judging by the radio traffic and how many troops they had sent after him. They didn't see him as a very large threat and Fox wanted to keep it this way as long as he could. Until he could get out and destroy the AA gun that had brought him out of the sky.

He glanced at the way point on his HUD. It was still a little over 36 kilometers away and it was getting dark. If he didn't pick up the pace it would take him too long to destroy the target, and they would find him. It was a large forest but there were only some many places to hide between him and his destination. At night he would move and put some distance between him and his Arwing. His HUD had a night vision setting, something he was almost sure that the enemy didn't have the advantage of.

He checked the bio-meter in the right hand corner of the HUD lens. It matched the heart beat of the vulpine. It was a little high but that was normal in this sort of situation. The bio-meter read a cool green showing him his body condition was in good shape. The HUD helped in another way too. It could pick out moving targets and heat signatures, mark them and track them. A good advantage for the vulpine, he could keep track of some targets and look for others.

Krystal sat at the edge of Fox's bed. It was getting harder to keep track of him. His waves changed almost at his own demand, nothing she had ever witnessed before. Yes, he was defiantly a unique being.

The door slid open. Falco tapped at the edge, "Knock, knock."

"Hello Mr. Lombardi," She replied gracefully

"Just came in to see how my boy is doing."

Krystal closed her eyes and refocused her mind to the vulpine, "He's fine, maybe a bit irritated, but still alive. It's so nice that you came to check up on him."

"Yeah well where would the kid be without me? He'll make it back, he might be little stubborn at times, but he'll get out," Falco crossed his arms still standing at the door.

"You speak with great confidence Falco. How are you so sure?" Krystal opened her eyes and turned to the falcon.

"I'm not. It's all we can do, is hope. Fox had lost both his parents he's still tough and has seen the worst of the worst. If anyone can do it, it's him."

Krystal tilted her head in question and almost sounded excited, "Fox has lost both his parents too?"

"Yeah, his mother when he was 13 and his dad a few years later when he was 17. I don't quite know how he made his way through it, but it seams to be working out for him. I guess he doesn't dwell on the past."

"How did they… die?" She asked.

"You ever heard of James McCloud?"

Krystal shook her head then paused, "Wait, maybe one time. Did he have something to do with Andross?"

"Yup, and of course you remember Andross. Before us was a different Team Starfox. The only member that carried over to this team is Peppy. James was Fox's dad. He had leaded a valiant attempt to kill Andross. He would have succeeded too, if it weren't for that swine Pigma! Pigma betrayed both Peppy and James. Peppy's Arwing made it back to Corneria. James wasn't as lucky though. That's when Peppy found Fox and Fox found me. Not to mention frog-boy. We were the new Starfox and we thought we had defeated Andross until just now."

"And his mother?" She asked again.

"Well, the details that I have gotten on that are somewhat sketchy. I have heard she died in a vehicle accident. But there was also something about Andross I think. Ughh, I can't quite remember. Don't worry he'll be fine," he finished and spun around with his back facing the room, "Oh Krystal one more thing, Fox has to survive cause, I think he has got a think for you," with that he walked away letting the door shut behind him.

Krystal couldn't help but blush a little. It wasn't very often that she did either. Fox was very handsome. Krystal thought about what Falco had just told her. It was true. They did have a lot of things in common. She shook her head, she couldn't think about that right now, while she was up here daydreaming in the safety of the Great Fox. The vulpine was down there fighting for his very life. It was so unjust. Life was cruel sometimes though, she of all people should have known that. After all she has lost both her parents too and her planet. Maybe she would join Starfox. The lights in Fox's room grew dark simulating the night. The mind of Fox was sound asleep, and that comforted her just enough to doze off into a good nights rest. The day had gone by fast.

"There isn't anything here Command!" Cyn spoke into the radio now angrier then ever. He had been sent on bogus missions before but there was always a destination.

The command center came over the radio, "Are you sure 1-3? You should be in the center of a large field. Our sensors indicate that our Rail Gun had shot down an Aircraft recently. Please confirm, location 45.98?"

"Roger command, grid location 45.98. All that's here is a crater and a big burnt patch of grass. This would explain the radiological activity. No sign of 2-4 though," Cyn released the button cutting off his message.

"Please standby 1-3," Command said.

"Come on!" Rojas said to Cyn, "Lets get out of here. It's getting dark. Man, why can't Andrew invest in some sort of night vision system. We are all pretty much useless in the dark."

"Stop your bellyaching!" Cyn hissed.

"Yeah, but what are we going to do now?" Rojas asked.

"What we're going to do is take down what ever killed 2-6 and 2-4. Just like command said. We aren't going to ask questions and we are going to do as we are told. I don't want to end up like Baird and Kiboto either. But I'd rather no object to HQ."

"Cyn, we don't know what we are up against! Were do we start and what do we do?" Rojas was always full of questions.

"We are going to wait for HQ to tell us what to do. Then we're going to kill what ever is out there!" Cyn was starting to get really mad at Rojas.

The radio hissed and squeaked, "As you already know your new mission is to find the castaway. But now that we are now missing 2-4 there is something out there that is smart. There last transmission was at your location. What ever had taken 2-6 has probably already killed 2-4 as well. There was one thing though… There was a strange voice that came over the radio. We didn't think much of it at the time. But it spoke put of context to our standards. We now believe that this voice was the same that had taken our other forces."

"So what are we supposed to do now command?" Cyn asked, "Where are we supposed to go?"

"If we are dealing with a smart life form, it has most likely already found out a solution to get out of here. You can't let this happen. If the Lylat system finds out of our base here, we would be in major trouble," Command paused, "The only way that would be logical to go would be towards the Rail Gun. You must find it and kill it. You have an advantage of knowing that it exists. Be warned, your target is armed and our mission experts have classified it as extremely dangerous. You must move to the position of our Rail Gun."

"Acknowledged command, we will head out first thing in the morning, over and out," Cyn clicked the radio off, "Lets make camp Rojas."

"Extremely dangerous! We can't hunt this alone! Why don't they send more troops?" Rojas was scared now.

"Cause that's that way it is. Deal with it! We'll head out in the morning. There isn't any point getting our selves lost, or worse," Cyn replied.

Rojas took out the map, "The Rail Gun…" he said, "that's 40 kilometers away."

"And that's why we will get an early start. The quickest way to the destination is a straight line. There aren't many paths that way. So it will be a challenge to track."

"Alright, if you say so, but I don't think I will be able to sleep to well tonight," Rojas said.

It got dark really fast. It would be a long night for Rojas. He looked over to see Cyn sleeping. He listened to every sound that the forest made. Every time a leaf fell or a twig snapped he held his machine gun closer to his chest. It gave him a sense of security. Anything that wanted to come after him would be gunned down by his blind firing into the night. Finally he managed to get to sleep.

Fox woke. It was still pitch black. He was frightened for a moment until he drew his Blaster to his hands and remembered where he was, "Aww I must have fallen asleep," he said to no one. But it was good he had had some rest and it was still dark. He had 3 hours to sunrise. It was enough time to move a good distance closer. As long as there were not too many enemy patrols out there. But that was more then likely not going to be the case. It made sense that as you move closer to the base that there would be more troops though.

If they were similar to Corneria's Army they would have PE runs in the morning. But knowing the laziness of Andross's troops this would be most unlikely. Plus if they already knew of his arrival they would probably be spooked if they knew he could take lives from a great distance with out giving his position away, unless he needed to use the tracer rounds.

Fox stood up and holstered his Blaster. He plucked to sniper off the tree where it had been before he went to sleep. The vulpine loaded a tracer round into the chamber. It was dark out so no one would be able to see the tracer round if he did decide to use it. Though it was stronger, it wouldn't serve much more use then being able to waste the shells at night and using the more plentiful shredder rounds during the day where he would need those most to conceal his location. Fox knew to keep a low profile and only to take the shots if he absolutely needed too.

Fox flicked the safety on, and started walking into the woods toward his target. The night vision on his HUD had kicked in. He felt safe for some reason, like nothing could see him and nothing could touch him or nothing could find him. He took a drink of one of the three canteens that each ration pack had. The vulpine wasn't thirsty but knew that he needed to keep hydrated.

He walked slightly slower then usual keeping an eye on all the things in the forest knowing not to let his guard down. Always ready to raise the rifle that was cradled in his arms, and fire. Several times he thought he had seen dark flashes in the trees but the HUD hadn't marked it as a target or anything at all. Just to be safe he investigated it. One of the Special Forces trainers had always thought him to "go see for yourself" and "machines break but eyes don't". This was very valuable advice. But there was never anything there, "My mind must be playing tricks with me," he thought, "not a good time."

He felt the cut in the stock of the rifle. Surely such a gash would have made a clean cut clean though the protective combats and surely through his hide as well. The one thing that the sniper didn't lack was night vision fire mode.

Snipers sometimes had to operate at night and if they could not identify their targets, they could risk missing or hitting the wrong person. That had never been a problem for the fox though. He and Bill had been issued as field scouts and never had been sent to assassinate any VIPs. Most snipers were sent only to observe the enemy. But with the reputation that Fox and Bill had they nearly always had permission to fire. They were the best of the best. Fox even had the ability to match most if not all of the trainer's marksmanship capabilities.

A branch snapped and Fox immediately made himself into a wider stance and looked not down the scope but the side of the gun, matching the barrel to the place where the sound had come from. A bird chirped flew away. Fox lowered the rifle. It was beginning to get light out now. And his HUD displayed that he had only made it 10 kilometers closer to the base and it still read 24 kilometers. Fox sighed. It was taking too long and he wanted out. The distance he had covered was pretty good for one night though. But he was the only one that could decide how fast he got out. Or even if he got out alive.

The vulpine's eyes widened. The distress signal! Were had it come from? And where was it now? Was it a fake? Was it a trap? By the looks of things it had been a trap. But he couldn't be certain. Oh well it doesn't matter, his life was at steak right now. Fox would look back into it when he got back to the Great Fox.

A rumbling shook trough the ground. The HUD went yellow indicating that he was in slight danger. It marked something deep into the forest. It was out of the vulpine's sight but the HUD indicated it was a large vehicle. The vehicle wasn't traveling in the way of the fox. It ran perpendicular to his route.

Fox ran through the woods toward it until he finally saw it. It was still quite a ways through the trees but Fox observed it with the scope. It was a large tracked vehicle about the same size as the Landmaster, maybe a little bigger. It had a large cannon on the front, it looked a lot like a tank except it was as wide as it was long. This gave it a weird square shape and form. The tank was supported by four infantry that walked with it. The men wore the same suits as the men that Fox had shot earlier.

Even with the added power of the tracer round in the sniper rifle, Fox wouldn't dare fire upon any of these targets. There was too much firepower over there that could be aiming at him. Then remembering he had the tracer round he pulled back the bolt and caught the shell as the spring loaded remover it popped out. He placed the tracer round back into the bandoleer with the other four and slipped a shredder round into the chamber and closed the action. He flipped the safety off just in case. The force was slowing moving down the path and away from the vulpine.

It was normal that army's had tanks. But Fox still had to ask himself, "What are they looking for? Why are they always out on Patrols?" Fox lifted his eye from the sniper rifle. There were so many questions that needed to be answered. His HUD soon read a cool green again as the armored vehicle retreated to a safe distance along with the supporting infantry.

It was getting bright outside now and the leaves of the scattered deciduas trees were wet with dew that shimmered in the morning light. It was distracting at some points when he walked through the trees and water dripped down the back of his neck and droplets fell down onto the scope of the LSR2. The water was chilly but it felt good. But the same could not be said for the rifle.

He had to stop and clean the lens before he made his way to the small road where the tank and troops had past moments before. Fox poked his head out. It looked like a cut line with rolling hills that headed toward the mountains. But it wasn't the way he was headed. He still needed to go perpendicular to this cut line. Plus he didn't want to be in the open. He jumped out of the trees and stood in the center of the road, checking both ways. The road was old and hadn't been maintained, it was rutted out and there were some big mud holes in it.

The vulpine leaped away heading to the opposite side of the road were he had just been. He once again had to slow down and keep an out for enemy patrols now that it was day again.