The Interloper
"Dave? Dave? Dave, can you hear me? Luther, are you there? This is Khaya, transmitting to all personnel in the nearby vicinity, anyone, please, we need confirmation of their status as soon as possible…"
The husky waited for a response over the secure line, but as series of tense and silent moments elapsed, nothing came back.
"Khaya…"
The husky froze and then flipped around to see her superior standing next to her in between a doorway. The dhole shook his head before reaching for Khaya's headset and lifting it off of her stiff ears.
"I know you're worried about them, but we can't let communications problems get in our way. We need everyone to focus on the task at hand, at that's making sure that we know the location of our targets." Mr. Whittle said with a clear mark of urgency, straining his voice with an unusual velocity.
Khaya looked back at the nearby monitors before glancing again to her superior. "But, sir, what if we've…"
"We have no time to worry about that now, Khaya, I care for all of our safety, but this project is far more significant than any of us can possibly perceive. We've only received a partial transfer of all the information we need from him, but I fear the… interloper-"
"The interloper? What is the interloper, what has it even done?" Khaya exclaimed in a harsh voice. She paused, knowing that her interruption was uncalled for. "I'm sorry, sir, I didn't mean to cut you off."
"That's fine, Khaya. I thought I told you before what the exact nature of the interloper was, but I'm sure once this project is finished there will be enough time for explanations. In all honesty, none of us truly know who the interloper is, in fact, the reason for the whole operation is to find that out, in addition to all the other objectives we've discussed." Mr. Whittle answered, pacing behind Khaya in slow and careful steps.
"Khaya looked back at the screens which displayed live footage of the quick reaction team's planned movements. The main force had just finished clearing out the caves below Overlook Ridge, and they were now returning to the meeting point in order to regroup.
"Khaya… I'm going to need you to help out with the search efforts. We need more teams out there looking for the objectives, and we don't have as much time as I was previously hoping. I'm afraid we're spread too thin at the moment, and we require all the assistance we can get." Mr. Whittle pleaded to the husky.
"We already have teams out there ready for you to join them, it's considered too dangerous at the moment to go out there in groups less than four, we don't know of… their current capabilities."
"What about Luther, and Dave? They went out there alone, they need help!" Khaya's gestures showed increased signs of worry. Her superior returned another gesture toward her so that she'd calm down from her elevated state.
"They were- are the only two that we have with enough experience for their specific action, besides, there's no way that Lombardi could've armed himself, they're safe…" The dhole paced over to the row of unchanging screens, searching for any possibility of the elusive vulpine. "It's McCloud whom I'm truly worried about. He's not your ordinary mercenary. He's fought through dozens of enemies alone and on foot. We must do everything in our power to prevent him from gaining an edge."
'Repeat, this is Wolf, I've found Luther… it doesn't look good.' Both Khaya and Major Whittle turned around to hear what was audibly coming through the nearby general transmitter.
Major Whittle groaned under his breath. "You better go check it out, Khaya. Take a team with you. And take a weapon too; I don't want you to get hurt out there." He ended with a concerned pause in his speech.
Khaya glanced at him momentarily before nodding. She knew what she had to do. She walked over to a nearby storage booth which was slotted vertically for easy access. An array of high-precision rifles were lined across the smooth indentations, each one ready to be used at a moment's notice. She withdrew a rifle from one of the slots and threw the sling over her shoulder so that she'd carry it without having to hold it all the way.
"Sir, I'm not going to waste our time, but there's one question I need to ask." The icy blue eyed husky turned to face her superior. "What will happen to us after all this is done?"
The major hesitated in answering, knowing that Khaya above anyone else deserved a definite vision of the future. "We'll be fine, Khaya. We'll stick through this, we always have. I can't say what our future holds, but if it's anything like what our benefactors perceived, it will be more glorious than any of us can hope for. This is far more important than fifty sleepers on a seemingly remote island, that is why changes have been made, that's why Vincenzo had been dealt with prematurely, and that's why Phase Two has moved along without any prior preparation."
Mr. Whittle laid his paw on the husky's shoulder. She shook in response to the sudden contact, but grew comfortable, knowing that she was being consoled by someone whom deeply cared for and respected her. "We need each other now, Ms. Vernuun."
Khaya nodded, hoping that whatever Mr. Whittle had in mind would eventually come to pass. It frustrated her that so much information had been hidden from view, but she trusted him, and that whatever he commanded, hours of careful thought had already gone into it.
She turned back towards her superior and drew a deep breath from the top of her lungs before taking her gun and leaving the confines of the security room.
~X~X~X~X~X~
"Fox? Fox? Fox… Fox, can you hear me?"
Fox jolted upwards, nearly hitting his head on the bottom of the undercut rock he was hiding under. He'd grown so tired from the sudden drop in adrenaline that he'd momentarily dozed off; he must have been unaware for at least the past twenty minutes. It took him a moment to realize just how dark and cold and wet it was, he'd forgotten that he was still in the caves, and that he was still being hunted by the mysterious pursuers.
"Wolf? What is it?" Fox asked, pushing the small device in his ear.
"There you are… had me worried." Wolf returned. "Are you still in the Overlook caves?"
"Uh… yeah. It's dark, it's wet, I can't really see anything, I don't know where I am." Fox waved his paws in every direction to get at least a minimal feel of his immediate surroundings. "Where are they? Where are you?"
"They've given up searching Overlook, McCloud, you're safe. For now, I need you to see if you can find your way out of there. Try to see if there's any source of light around you… it can be anything."
'Anything?' Fox thought. Everywhere around him was complete darkness, nothing, not even the waters in front of him gave off any semblance of illumination. However, as his eyes adjusted to the darkness, a tiny green speck of fluorescence shone like a star amidst an endless field of blackness. "Wait, I… see something."
Desperate to reach the source of the glow, Fox sloshed through the waist deep water until he came to the end of where the cave wall curved inward. He reached down and cupped a small fungus in his paws, brushing against its smooth, yet flaky, exterior.
"What is it?" Wolf asked from the other side of the transmission.
"It's a mushroom…" Fox answered, somewhat amazed by the luminescent fungus. "It's glowing all by itself… producing its own light. I really wish I had a couple fireflies with me, though… that would probably help me out a lot…"
"What?"
"Nothing… I don't know much about Zonessian mushrooms, but I'm assuming they can't be as interesting as the ones on Papetoon."
Wolf groaned. "Let's save the biology lesson for another time McCloud. How much light does that thing give off? Is it enough to find your way out of the cave?"
Fox moved the mushroom around in front of him so that he could see the outlying textures of the cave wall. He felt different now; elevated by some odd sense that seemed to move him along the edge of the cave without him even knowing. The area around him was still too dark for him to properly see, but the mushroom he was holding allowed him to see a small portion of what was in front of him. Fox ascended up a small ledge until he was completely out of the water, and soon, he was able to find a thin opening in the rocky wall where a soft beam of light radiated through.
"Wolf? I think I see the end, I think I can get out." Fox said, holding the miniscule device in his ear.
"Good, McCloud. Once you're out I'll… he… get you awa-…" Wolf's transmission started to break off from some strange source of interference.
"Wolf? Wolf?" Fox desperately called for an answer, but the interference was drowning out the rest of the lupine's words. He tried to adjust the earpiece, but at that moment, the transmission cut off. What was he trying to say? Was he trying to warn him of something?
Fox released the glowing mushroom from his paws and crawled onto his belly so that he could fit through the tight crevasse in front of him. He reached outside of the edges of the walls and used the added leverage to push himself out; he could already feel the moist exterior of the outside jungle clinging to his fur. He moved further out until he reached his hips, but once he did, he heard an eerie sound arise from the rustling brush behind him. The vulpine froze, and with a deliberate turn of his head, looked to see what was making such an uncanny resonance.
It was a snake, not particularly large, but still very long, displaying a threatening looking diamond pattern along its sleek, greenish brown skin. It was a while before Fox could properly trace the length of the snake to the tip of its head, which looked up towards him with beady, fire orange eyes. Fox's breath grew shallow; he had no particular fear of snakes, but he had not expected to meet one while in such a precarious position. He knew that if he tried to squeeze his way out any more that the snake might try to defend itself, after all, it was within arm's length away, and ready to strike back as far as the vulpine was concerned.
With a careful motion, he slid his opposing arm away from the direction of the snake, feeling around the nearby ground for anything he could use while still keeping an eye on the curiously observant reptile. Using his paws, he felt something hard enter his grip. He felt around the edges of the rock in order to make sure that its texture would be sufficient for his next move. Afterwards, he held on to it tightly, making every effort to hold onto it.
It would have to do.
With a violent swing of is arm, he pulled the rock out from its position and sent in flying into the direction of the unaware reptile. The snake opened its green maw wide and shot itself outward towards the direction of the vulpine, attacking him in a loud, springing flail.
The rock struck the top of the snake's head, crushing it onto the ground in a squelching crash; blood and other forms of organic matter exploded from the contact point, signaling that the small beast was indeed dealt with. Fox let out a relieved breath as he continued to pull out of the thin cave entrance. It wasn't the most difficult encounter he'd had with a monster on this island, but it was still a surprising one nonetheless.
Once he was free from the tight exit, he attempted to get onto his feet, but the slippery terrain and wet surroundings made his movements difficult to complete. Added onto this was his pained state, in which much of his agility and strength was reduced. He was tired, he needed food, and he needed somewhere to relax and recover. What he needed the most was the fake Partasti he'd been given the week before.
That reminded him briefly of his general situation. Everything surrounding him at the moment was a mystery, one he needed to escape from. But where else could he run? What else could he do to evade the inevitable? All that he knew was that he had to do as much as he could to make sure the plans of his adversaries, whoever they were, weren't able to reach their goals.
Fox's train of thought was immediately interrupted by the sound of shuffling ferns coming from a nearby depression. He threw himself onto the cold moist jungle floor, so that whoever was making the noise wouldn't be able to spot him. It was much darker now than it had been before, yet it would still be possible to spot him even with the reduced amount of light.
"I don't see him… you said he'd be here? I looked, he wasn't… wait."
Fox's ears perked up, he recognized that voice from somewhere, but he couldn't pinpoint from what. But then, his mind flashed, and he could hear the voice again, but this time from the confines of his cockpit. The vulpine jolted upwards in a sudden motion, the sight of the speaking figure confirming his earlier suspicion. He waved to the feline and called out to reveal his position.
"Panther? Panther!"
"Never mind, I see him." Panther said as he lowered his paw from his ear and ran to come to Fox's side.
"I wasn't expecting Wolf to send you here…" Fox said, accepting Panther's help in lifting him to his feet.
"I wasn't either, McCloud, everything's happening on such short notice and…" He paused, seemingly unable to say anything further. "We need to get you to safety; they'll be searching this area soon." His head swiveled around to scan the darkened surroundings. "If we hurry, Panther and McCloud won't be seen."
"Right… lead the way then." Fox followed Panther down a sloped section of terrain, careful not to slip on the intermittent divisions between rocky and plant filled surfaces. They kept moving until they reached what seemed to be a parked vehicle, presumably one that Panther had driven down here.
"Get in the back, McCloud." Panther said, opening the vehicle's concealed yet still somehow roomy trunk.
"Where are you taking me?" Fox questioned.
"To safety. You must hide in here so they don't see you."
Fox nodded and did as Panther commanded and vaulted himself inside of the dry enclosure. Panther promptly slammed it shut and headed towards the front of the vehicle. Fox could see nothing inside of the trunk except for a small slit of barely visible light which cut a thin line back of it. The entire vehicle vibrated as it began to start, but the ride did get considerably smoother as it gained velocity.
Fox curled up in a ball, waiting for what felt like hours for them to reach their destination. He swore he could hear faint signs of activity from the outside world, but it was difficult to tell whether the source was from rain falling on the tops of trees or from shuffling footsteps racing in the mud. All that he could hope for was that his impromptu attempt at being covert would remain that way.
Even from inside the darkened trunk, Fox could feel the effects of inertia on the vehicle as it turned to the right and began to climb up a moderately steep hill. Judging merely by the amount of time it had taken to reach this point, Fox guessed that their location was somewhere near the main resort building. The vehicle then began to slow down, churning inwardly and then eventually coming to a full stop. He could hear Panther stepping out and approaching the back. He tapped on the trunk twice.
"Stay here, I need to check the area." Panther warned before trotting off to an unknown location. Fox waited for far too long before he came back and swung the hinge to the trunk upwards. "Let's move." With a quick motion he aided Fox out the back of the vehicle and into the wet, but oddly enough solid exterior.
Fox soon recognized this area as one of the back entrances to the long square resort building, where the main entrance to Vincenzo's floor lay. He wondered if he was being watched, if someone else knew that he was being huddled away into the outer reaches of their very center of operations. He kept his head down as they rushed towards a nearby door which led them inside and away from the cold, wet night.
Once inside the confines of the blue paneled walls, the sound of the falling raindrops on the concrete floor began to deafen. The foggy blackness molded into a naturally lit corridor which showed few signs of extensive wear. Vincenzo had made sure to keep his lodgings clean, yet even for its pristine nature; the entire floor withheld an odd sense of emptiness.
"What happened here? It's as if… everything's been moved out. There's not a table or chair in here…" Fox noted as he searched the limited spaces he could see for any sign of furnishings.
"They cleaned it out this morning. All of Vincenzo's possessions are no longer here…" Panther said, casually observing the nearby emptiness.
The purple feline led Fox into a central room, which Fox assumed used to be Vincenzo's dining room, though now the table and nearby decorations had been removed with what seemed to be great haste. Now it was an empty space of dimly lit floor; however, the room was not completely empty, a pile of clothing lay folded in the corner, and a circular chandelier hung loosely from the ceiling. Without wasting any time, Panther threw Fox a green shirt which lay at the top of the pile.
The vulpine caught it against his chest and promptly nodded back at Panther as a mildly restrained sign of thanks before grabbing hold of the solid green polyester shirt and proceeding to slip it onto his previously uncovered torso. Panther continued to give Fox a set of boots, and then followed by walking over towards the doors on each side of the room and checking to make sure they were alone.
"It's clear… no one followed us."
Fox looked up to see the observant feline before returning to strapping the black boots onto his feet. "Good… now where's Falco?"
"I don't know, McCloud. Wolf said he'd meet Caruso here, and so we wait."
Fox glanced back at Panther with a puzzled look in his tired eyes. "Why do you keep talking about yourself like that?"
"Like what?" Panther returned with an equally confused expression.
"Like… why do you always call yourself by your name?"
"Because… that is my name…"
Fox rolled his eyes. "Forget it…" He figured speaking further on the subject would get them nowhere, so he dropped his inquiry.
And so, without anything else for them to speak of, they waited inside of the empty room for Wolf to come. The minutes drew by, and the whole space inside the room was engulfed in an impenetrable silence.
Panther coughed.
Fox's stomach growled.
"So… um… Panther… You don't have any personal problems with me, do you?"
Panther's brow rose at the initiation of Fox's question. "Personal problems? Why would you think that?"
"It's just that…" Fox shook his head in frustration. He knew there were more important things to think about now than this, but there wasn't much else to break the silence. "We're both pilots, we take our jobs seriously… and-"
The conversation was interrupted by the door to Fox's left crashing open into the adjacent wall. Wolf stepped through, helping carry Falco on his shoulder.
"Falco?" Fox said in surprise, jolting up from his sitting position.
"He's hurt… he needs to lie down." Wolf said, placing Falco's injured body onto a clear central spot in the room.
"Is tha- is that you, Fox?" Falco asked, seemingly dazed and unable to fully move on his own.
"You don't know how good it is to see you." Fox said, lowering himself down to see how his friend was doing. He quickly checked to see if there were any visible injuries, but most of Falco's distress seemed to be the result of tiredness.
"Yeah? I bet that's the last time you'll ever say that…" Falco commented, groaning from the pain in his head.
"This isn't over… we need to make our next move." Wolf said, staring deeply into the direction opposite of everyone else in the room. He turned around swiftly, motioning the plan out along with his speech. "We need to find some method of getting out of here. So far, I haven't found anything that seems viable."
"Wolf… I need to know what's actually going on here. Who are these people, what do they want?" Fox asked in a manner uncharacteristically direct for the conversation.
"These… they…" Wolf paused, struggling to come up with appropriate descriptions of the mysterious coalition. "What they want, whoever they are, is whatever is inside of you…" He shook his head, knowing that his explanation didn't come out the way he intended.
"What I really mean is, damn this is difficult to say… they're trying to access something that only you have. I don't any have any details as to what it is, but they frequently referred to it as the interloper."
"Right, they're trying to poke my brain, we've established that. But who are they? I want an answer." Fox demanded.
"And I'd give it to you McCloud, if only I knew myself. I don't think you understand what I'm saying; these people are under such deep cover that even I don't know where they came from. But from what I've seen, these guys have been systematically erasing everything that might lead to their true identity. Not even a stray file containing any financial information is accessible, and all of that was funneled through Vincenzo's channels, which makes the information for everything coming onto this island virtually untraceable at this point. They were very thorough in their work."
Fox groaned in frustration. He feared that what he was dealing with was too much for him to face. But he also knew in the back of his mind that he had faced more difficult situations before. He opened his muzzle to speak, but all that came out was a distended whisper which failed to translate into words.
"Wolf... how did you… how did you even get here?"
"I came here initially thinking this was Vincenzo's private dream home. I'd had contact with him before; he was always a good outlet when I needed new weapons or equipment. The real reason though is that Leon was contacted by his cousin, I'm not quite sure of the details of the exchange. But when I saw you here… I knew things were much deeper than they had first appeared." Wolf looked towards Panther, who was working on providing first aid to the injured bird on the floor. "I learned more and more about this island through overheard conversations and backroom whispers, until I reached a point where nothing else was spoken of. And then I got curious." He ended with a mischievous tone.
"Well... this whole thing can't be Vincenzo's, he's dead now." Fox noted. "And the secrets have died with him."
"That's why they cleaned everything out of here. They had to eliminate every shred of evidence that might lead someone here, including his daughter."
"Angela!?" Falco exclaimed. "What did- what did they do to her?"
Wolf said nothing; even his expression became cold and silent until he was ready to reply. "As I stated, they had to eliminate every shred of evidence."
The lupine took a deep breath before positioning himself strategically between Fox and Falco. "Now, we don't have much time to talk before they get suspicious. We need to discuss our escape plan off this island."
A lightbulb went off in Fox's head. "What about the boats? Could we use them to get away from here?"
"No, that wouldn't work; the boats are fitted so that they don't operate outside of a certain radius from the island. Besides, without the proper navigational equipment, we'd never be able to find our way inside this storm." Wolf answered definitively. "We're surrounded by mile after mile of open water; it's perfect for preventing escape."
"Alright that's out. And I assume we can't fly our way out of here?"
Panther shook his head. "The hangers are locked down; they need multiple authorizations to open. And all of their ships are protected with encrypted codes that prevent anyone else than their pilots from using them."
Wolf nodded in agreement, and then continued on with Panther's sentiment. "The hangers are also now heavily guarded, there's no way to get in there from the outside, and accessing it from the labs would be impossible, everything down there is sealed, almost nothing is being let in or out."
Fox gave a deep sigh. "Ok, we can't do it that way. Is there anything else we could do?"
"What about Leon's cousin? Surely he should know of something." Panther suggested.
Wolf contemplated the addition, but quickly shook it off. "No, he's not likely to take the boats outside of their boundaries, plus, they're not designed to operate in this weather."
"They must have some foreseeable way off this rock. There has to be some emergency measures in place for escaping here." Fox wondered.
"I don't think so, McCloud. They seem to be here for the long run, this place is relatively self-sufficient, and they don't need a constant connection to the outside world." He grimaced, almost worriedly. "I'm afraid we might be trapped here."
Fox attempted to keep his mind off the seemingly hopeless situation. There had to be something they could do. "What if we get someone from the outside to help us? There has to be someone we can contact, the authorities, the SAU, Cornerian Tactical Esp-"
"No! We're not doing that. We can't have anyone else come here! Besides, we wouldn't be able to do it anyways, none of the islands active transmitters have a broadcasting range able to reach anything but empty ocean, and even if we did have the range to contact the nearest island, we'd have a tough time convincing marine biologists to send in the military to an unknown location in the middle of the night."
"I see your point, Wolf, but we can't sit here and do nothing!"
"I know! It's just that they planned to prevent any possibility of escape. You might have to actually consider the fact McCloud that there is no way off this island, unless you can come up with the perfect escape, there's only one way I see us getting off of here is if we kill every single one of them." Wolf concluded, swiping his right paw sideways.
Fox understood that Wolf might be right. "How many of them are we talking about?" He asked.
"Last time I checked… forty-five." Wolf responded quietly.
"Alright, how am I going to go against forty-five armed soldiers without any weapons or personal protection?"
"If I knew the answer to that McCloud, you'd already be armed to the teeth. But they keep their weapons in secure locations. Unless we can rip one off of their paws, it's still unlikely. To be honest McCloud, I tried grabbing a weapon for you, but I already had one on me, so they didn't allow it."
Fox scanned his memory for any loose weapons that he might be able to utilize. Vincenzo had kept a stockpile of them somewhere, but wherever that place was, it was no doubt cleaned out. "If we can get into a… control room of some sort, I bet we could access the security. If you can get me alone in that hanger, I might be able to use the Arwing to blast the way outside."
"That's possible. But there's still one major problem, you don't have a weapon."
Fox grinned nervously. "I think there's a way I can get my paws on one."
~X~X~X~X~X~
Wolf treaded carefully along the stairs until he had reached the right floor. He stepped out of the stairwell and into the carpeted corridor, being met promptly by a waiting guard.
"Hold… oh… it's you." The badger said, checking the profile for the new arrival. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm set up for guard duty. You're shift's over."
The guard looked relieved patting Wolf on the shoulder as he passed him to reach the stairwell. "Thanks… I need a nap." He walked off without saying anything else.
"Shift switch, floor 3A, Keenan is out."
"Copy, Keenan is off watch, O'Donnell confirm…" Khaya's voice could be heard over the channel.
Wolf lifted his paw to touch the earpiece. "This is O'Donnell, shift switch confirmed."
"Copy that O'Donnell, you are weapons free."
Wolf began to undergo a brief examination of his surroundings, and then swiftly darted into the nearby room. As he figured, the room was empty, save for the bed, which even though it was still there, remained empty of any sheets or pillows. He walked towards the end of the room where the sliding door revealed a semicircular balcony. He wasted no time in removing the rope from his satchel and tying it around one of the spindles, lowering it down so that it reached the ground below. He turned to face the entrance to the room, making sure that no one was passing by.
"You can come up now." He said, looking halfway behind him.
Fox finished climbing up the rope, vaulting himself on the edge of the balcony; he pushed his way into the room with ease.
"I can't help you past this point McCloud, you'll have to find the room yourself."
"It's on the other side. There are two guards on each floor, which means that I'll have one to deal with."
"Whatever you do Fox, try to make sure he doesn't see you. If you're seen, I might not be able to help you."
Fox nodded. "Understood."
The vulpine slipped out of the room; a quick glance in either direction confirmed his previous assessment. The layout was shaped like a square, so there would be two different ways in which he could reach his room, all he had to do was make sure whoever was guarding the other side was looking the other way when he finally made his move.
He raced around the corner, and the headed down the almost unlit hallway. For some reason or another, the lights weren't working here or anywhere else. Fox of course saw this as an advantage, and stayed close to where the shadows lay. He took a reassuring breath before rounding his head around the next corner, hopeful that the guard wouldn't be standing inches away from him. It was difficult to make out at first, but Fox could see the sentinel standing at the opposite end, casually facing the opposite end with a gun in both paws.
Fox remained low, moving fluidly and deliberately as to make a minimum amount of noise. He could see the door to his getting closer, only three were in between now. He was almost there; a few more steps and he'd be at the door. And then, to his fear, the guard turned around. He darted inside, not caring to close the door behind him as he entered. Frantic, he raced towards the edge of the room where the fish tank lay. He hoped with all he had that they had not removed the weapon from its resting place. With a wide movement of his arm, he reached down inside the cold dark waters for anything that felt like Mitch's gun.
Rock, rock, filter, another rock… eventually something made of solid metal entered Fox's grip. His eyes widened.
"Hello? Someone in here?" Fox had little time to react before the guard had entered the room and reached the point where he could see the vulpine clawing the bottom of the fish tank. "Wha-"
*Crack* *Crack*
Two pulses exited the end of Mitch's gun, temporarily lighting the room with its bright green flashes.
The guard fell to the ground, spasm jolted his muscles until his whole body soon became motionless.
A few moments later, Wolf rushed into the door, stopping mere inches before stepping onto the recently shot remains. "Fox what th- do you know the meaning of stealth?"
Fox could hardly move. He was frozen with shock.
"Fox you need to get out of here now. They're already-" The distant sound of racing footsteps pushed the two to take desperate measures. Wolf raised his gun and shot the nearby glass door into fragments. They ran to the end of the balcony, he peered over the edge.
"You'll have to jump, McCloud, there's no other way. If you aim for the trees they should break some of your fall."
The sounds came closer, until they became uncomfortably so.
"Go! Now!"
Fox hesitated slightly, but knew that if he stayed his life would be one the line anyways. He lifted himself to the edge of the railing, and searched for the best spot to make his move. And then, he jumped.
Wolf stayed behind, running towards the splayed body the check for a pulse.
Soon, Khaya and a few others sprinted inside of the hotel room. A group of weapon attached lights shone brightly in Wolf's eyes.
"What happened here?!" The husky asked, running up to see the fallen comrade.
"I heard a couple shots while patrolling the other side, when I came here, he was gone…"
Khaya scanned the broken and opened balcony area. She moved towards it, searching beyond the edge for any sign of the vulpine.
"All units, this is Khaya Vernuun. Unknown subject in forest section blue. Initiate general order twenty-four."
~X~X~X~X~X~