Chapter 1: Damsels in Distress
GreatFox II. In low orbit of Kew 01:00 hrs local time.
After returning from his mission on the surface, Fox wastes no time and immediately heads for the GreatFox's bridge, not even bothering to patch up his arm. Even though his arm hurt like a son of a bitch, he knows he'd be fine and this report is far too important to hold off.
"ROB patch me through to Federation High Command." Fox orders.
"Roger that." ROB replies and brings up command's frequency. Fox then turns towards the projection screen and sees his old friend. Peppy frowns when he sees Fox's bloody left arm.
"Fox are you all right?" Peppy asks with concerned tone.
"You know me old timer, I'll be just fine. It's just a flesh wound. You know I have had worse. Although I will say it has been awhile since I've gotten shot." Fox replies with a sarcastic grin on his face. Peppy just chuckles a bit.
"Still the same old Fox. Anyways how did it go, did you capture Vanhorn?" Peppy asks.
"I'm afraid the mission didn't exactly go so well." Fox replies with hint of annoyance in his tone
"Why, what happened? Did Vanhorn escape?" Peppy asks.
"No, someone beat us to the sight and killed him, some blue vixen bounty hunter. Then she blew up the damn warehouse on top of that." Fox reports.
"A blue vixen bounty hunter hmn interesting. That sounds like Kursed." Peppy says.
"Who?" Fox asks rather confused.
"Kursed, an alias of course." Peppy says.
"What can you tell me about her besides that she's a real bitch?" Fox sarcastically asks.
"Nothing really, besides that she is completely enigmatic. Her existence lies only in rumors, up until now. She started to show up in whispers of the underworld about a year ago. Your the only person we know of to encounter her and live to tell about it. Can you describe her appearance at all." Peppy replies.
"Well there wasn't a whole lot of lighting, but I could tell that she was a dark blue vixen similar to Krystal. However she had blood red eyes long purple hair multiple ear piercings and the personality of a psychotic hyena. I know that natural blue furred Cornerians are extremely rare. Does the Federation have a estimated count by chance?" Fox asks.
"We only have a hand full of know subjects, but for all we know she may have dyed it to further conceal her identity. Most assassins make almost routine cosmetic changes. The only way we would know for sure is if we captured her and conduced DNA tests. Their again she may even be from a different quadrant of space." Peppy analytically says.
"I suppose that's true. What was strange though is that she knew me by name, and that I was coming. How could she have gotten our Intel? The bomb she threw also had Crimson Blade markings on it. I thought you said Vanhord supplied all the factions, including the Crimson Blade." Fox reports.
"That we know of. It's possible that He may have doubled crossed them, or maybe they decided to silence him from leaking sensitive information. The possibilities are endless, but whats most troubling is how they knew of this operation. Maybe they have a insider or a damn good computer hacker." Peppy replies with great concern.
"If they were able to hack our systems or bypass our security protocols, then they very well could have executed the bombings. It almost seems like their trying to show us how far their influence has spread." Fox inquires.
"All the more reason that why we need stop them, and with Vanhorn dead we have no further leads to link us with these terrorists. Were walking blind now." Peppy replies.
"What if I track down this Kursed person. If she is in league with the Crimson Blade, maybe we could get some Intel from her. It shouldn't be to incredibly hard, she pretty much made it clear that she wants to face me again. I know it's not much but at least it would be a start." Fox proposes.
"That's possible however unlikely, Kursed is a hired gun. She most likely only subcontracts for them and probably doesn't work for them formally. But any information she may have would be useful. If you could get it out of her that is. As far as her "interest" in you, that's impossible to pinpoint. Motives of people like her can be rather unpredictable maybe even slightly vague. I'm not going to order you to this, but If you decide to chase her I suggest using extreme caution. As you've seen she is extremely dangerous." Peppy suggests.
"Understood." Fox replies.
"As far as your fee goes, I'll see to it that you still get paid even though we lost Vanhorn. I know damn well you'll need the funds for stopping these criminals." Peppy said.
"I appreciate it." Fox replies.
"For the meantime I advise you to lay low and rest until we have more information. I would like to try to gather more solid intel then send you after some rouge bounty hunter." Peppy advises.
"Alright fair enough. I'll talk to you later. Fox out." Fox replies and turns of the holo projector and turned over to ROB. "ROB I'll be in the infirmary of you need me."
"Roger that Fox." Rob replies and continues working. Fox then casually walks towards the bridge pressure door but stops when he sees an old picture of him and Krystal that was taken just after they started dating, sitting on a table in the corner. Fox begins to ponder.
"I wonder.. no..there's no she could..could she..I mean I did..No impossible. She's not that way...I hope." Fox thought to himself and continued out the door.
Eladard capital city Casper. 07:10 local time.
Within a small run down apartment in slums of Casper resides the notorious bounty hunter know only as Kursed. To those who actually have had the pleasure of meeting her think of her as a sinister psychopath even to their standards, but an effective asset. Kursed however like to think of herself as merely misunderstood.
Having just returned from her mission less than a hour ago, Kursed kicks back in an old torn up recliner and cleans her blood stained revolver with a grin on face. The thought of collecting a large bounty always brings joy to her ice cold heart. After she finishes cleaning her weapon the twisted bounty hunter slowly stands up and glances at an old picture of Fox hanging on the wall, with an sinister smile.
"It's been awhile Fox hasn't it? Like my new look, hot isn't it?" Kursed says to image sarcastically, and puts her hand up to her ear as if she was expecting a response.
"What you don't, that hurts. Well maybe I'll have to do something about that then." She says and with in a blink of an eye throws a decorative dagger at the picture hitting Fox between the eyes.
"Ooh Fox that looked like that hurt. You should get that checked hahaha." Kursed notoriously taunted and popped a shot of brandy. Her crazed delusion was then interrupted when a transmission from her employer appeared.
"It's about fucking time." She said under her breath, and walked over to the projector and turned on the feed, revealing a tall black wolf wearing a black Venomain Army Commando uniform.
"Ah General Sage, at first I was expecting one of your subordinates. It's always a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Kursed says.
"Like wise. I assume the job was accomplished with out any real issues." Sage replies with a stern dark tone.
"Vanhorn had .357 tear through his skull, he's as dead as dead can be. And before you ask, yes our Intel was correct." Kursed reports.
"McCloud was there then. Is he dead?" Sage asks.
"Negative, I believe he escaped the explosion." Kursed replies.
"Unfortunate but we'll get him just like we got the other mercs." Sage comments.
"Don't underestimate Fox. He's highly resourceful and cunning, and by the way it was me not you and your men that apprehended the other mercs." Kursed sarcastically replies.
"Touche, now as we agreed on before the thirty-thousand credits are being transferred to your account as we speak, plus a little extra." Sage says.
"Aw General your flatter me." Kursed replied.
"I can't disappoint my best bounty hunter. Now as for McCloud I want you find him before he interferes with our operations any further. Name your price." Sage says.
"Dead or alive?" Kursed asks.
"It doesn't matter, as long as he's out of the way for good." Sage replies.
"Well if that's case I'll do this mission gratis." Kursed says, Sage was rather surprised to hear this.
"That's unusual for you. May I ask why." Sage asks.
"It's personnel. I'll report back when the job is done. Kursed out." Kursed says and cuts the transmission. She then turns her head back towards the picture and smiles again.
"Well Fox looks like we'll being seeing each other again sooner than I expected, but this time it will be your last." Kursed says to herself and pops another shot of brandy and begins gearing up for her ultimate hunt.
GreatFox II high orbit of Kew four hours later.
After tending to his to wounded arm, Fox return command deck of his aged carrier. While sitting in his typical seat, rather than monitoring the usual systems Fox thinks back to his previous mission again. The old picture and the resemblance of the bounty hunter has been bothering him since the end of the debrief.
"This just doesn't feel right. Krys is such a goodhearted person. That psycho can't be her. I mean that bitch tried to kill me. But I just can't dismiss the resemblance between them. If it is her, what could have possibly happened to her that made like this? If it isn't her then what is she after and what does it have to do with me? I don't know, maybe I'm looking to deep into this or I'm just going crazy." Fox thinks to himself as takes a sip of coffee. His train of though is interrupted when ROB signals him.
"Fox we have an incoming transmission from an encrypted source. Shall I patch it through the net?" ROB reports. For a few moments Fox sits there with a suspicious look on his face.
"Alright patch it through but raise shields just in case of an ambush." Fox replies.
"Roger that, shields up. Now opening the net." ROB says and activates the projector. As soon as the signal was opened all Fox can see is a warped unrecognizable image and what sounds like a distorted feminine voice.
"Grea...this is...do you...Are you..." the voice over net says.
"ROB maximize the signal." Fox orders. Rob then follows suit and with in moments the signal is for the most part cleared up.
"Great Fox this Katt Monroe, are you receiving this?" Katt says over the net.
"I read you Katt. Long time no see. Whats going on?" Fox asks curious of her highly random calling.
"No time for pleasantries Fox. I need your help and fast." Katt desperately says and looks behind her just in case.
"Whats going on? Are you all right? Where are you." Fox asks now rather concerned knowing of some Katt's past dealings.
"I've been captured by the Crimson Blade. Why, I have no fucking clue, but I did managed to escape my cell but I'm still trapped inside this facility, which appears to be on Papetoon." Katt says.
"Alright whats your status?" Fox asks.
"I'm currently in their secondary communications and networking hub. But I can't stay here for much longer. I escaped a couple of hours ago, so they have to be looking for me by now." Katt replies.
"Ok Katt find a safe haven. I'll get there ASAP just send me the coordinates." Fox says.
"Thank you Fox. The location is JH-2298-6741. A word of caution though, this place is crawling with insurgents. When you get inside, get your hands on one of their hand held radios and set it to frequency 351 and contact me when you do. It should be a secure channel for awhile. Also I did a scan of the bases radar and anti-air defenses. They are effective to altitudes of thirty-thousand feet. So be careful." Katt advises.
"Thanks for the heads up." Fox replies. Katt then looks behind her with a concerned look on her face.
"Fox I think I hear someone coming. I gotta go. Please hurry!" Katt pleads and cuts the transmission.
"Katt you there? Are you OK?" Fox asks but gets no response.
"ROB set course for Papetoon immediately, full power." Fox orders.
"Affirmative Fox, calculating jump coordinates. ETA 2.5 hours." ROB replies.
"Roger that. When we exit warp transit take us into the atmosphere and set up for HALO incursion." Fox orders.
Authors notes: The beginning of the plot. Who is this Sage guy, and why was Katt captured? Only time will tell. Anyways thanks for reading and reviewing.