Astropolis
Within one of the many living quarters aboard the Venomian space station, three male figures sat on a couch playing a video game.
The man on the left side was a sportive lemur with grey fur and red eyes, while the man in the center was a black and white feathered vulture with brown eyes. Last, but not least, the man on the right was a giant armadillo with green eyes.
The vulture was of average height, while the lemur was short in stature and the armadillo very much lived up to the name of his subspecies, having a good few feet on the vulture.
They were all dressed similarly in black bomber jackets and flight suits, blue for the lemur, purple for the vulture, and khaki for the armadillo.
Meanwhile, the sounds of a hand slapping a mat and a referee counting a pin fall emanated from the holoscreen.
"One!"
"Two!"
"Three!"
"Ring the bell, it's over!"
On the couch, the lemur turned to his compatriots and grinned devilishly.
"Heh ha," the primate cackled, "The Iron Sultan triumphs over Gerry Brunk and Diamond Dan."
At that, the armadillo shot him an annoyed glare and said, "Algy, the only reason you won is cause you decked us both with a trash can after Zeke ran into the ref."
"Well, Heinrich," the lemur retorted, "That's usually how it goes in real life."
"Oh please," the vulture known as Zeke scoffed, "We all know that wrestling is fake."
"It's not fake, it's choreographed," Heinrich argued.
Algy meanwhile, had exited out of Triple W: No Quarter and was scrolling through the menu of the Ninten 5 console.
"So, who's up for some Redeye?"
After both his friends agreed, the lemur selected the game and leaned back as the logos for Ninten and Elusive zoomed onto the screen
As the franchise's signature gun barrel sequence played out in 3D, Zeke turned to Algy.
"Dude, I'm serious about this. No Oddball."
Algy's only response was a noncommittal grunt, one that Heinrich knew could mean one of two things.
Either Algy would respect the unwritten rule that nobody played as Oddball, or he wouldn't, which would drive Zeke up the wall.
As the lemur scrolled through the multiplayer menus, Heinrich began to assume that it was going to be the latter and was quickly proven right on the character select screen.
"You're a dick, you know that Algy?" Zeke groaned.
"What can I say, man? Us lemurs have got to stick together. Besides, I put it on explosives only. You've both got a fighting chance."
That comment prompted an eye roll between Heinrich and Zeke.
As the trio continued on with their video game, something very different was playing out in another part of Astropolis.
Within a darkened room, there were two canine figures. One was a female coywolf with grey and brown fur. She was dressed in a green flight suit and was kneeling down on a mat with her eyes closed.
The other canine was a hyena who mostly had the brown and black spotted fur of his species, though parts of it were starting to turn grey from old age. His clothes were mainly black with purple accents. He also had a case of heterochromia, with his left eye being yellow and his right being orange. Lastly, the wild dog clutched a wooden staff in his right hand.
"Yes, my student," the elderly hyena crowed, "That's it. Now, tell me what you see in your mind."
The coywolf let out a breath before replying, "The guard outside can't wait to get off duty. He wants to propose to his girlfriend as soon as possible."
After another breath, the canine continued, "There's a pair of techs walking by. They're going to install a drone gun on the ceiling around the corner."
"Very good, Rena. Your skills are improving," the hyena said with a toothy grin.
At this, the coywolf finally opened her icy blue eyes and met her mentor's gaze.
"Thank you, Cain. But I know that I still have much to learn."
Rena continued to stare at Cain.
"You're thinking of your old friend, Glidewell. And his grandson."
The dark mage raised an eyebrow.
"Indeed I am," Cain replied.
"But surely they must have died with Cerinia."
At that, Cain shook his head.
"I wish I could believe that. But every soul sings its own tune. And in almost twelve years of listening, I have not heard Randorn or Sabre."
The hyena snapped his fingers, resulting in the lights turning back on.
"That will be all for today, Rena."
The coywolf stood up and inclined her head towards her teacher.
"Thank you, Mage Davros."
Turning around, Rena grabbed her bomber jacket off of a nearby coat rack and pulled it on as she left the room.
Watching the door close behind his student, Cain snapped his fingers again and dimmed the lights once more. From there, the dark mage tapped his staff on the floor twice, resulting in a green orb appearing in the middle of the room.
Cain smiled as the whispers of the dead entered his ears.
"Randorn and Sabre are still among the living," the hyena said before letting out a cackle.
"But you are knocking on death's door, aren't you Darius?"
Cain's laughs filled the room.
Further away, Rena continued to walk up the corridors of the Venomian space station, quietly testing out the new abilities that Mage Davros had taught her over the course of the last six months.
As the coywolf approached the door to the living quarters that she shared with the three men who both made up her special forces team and were her childhood friends, she could hear the sounds of explosions and shouting.
Rena didn't need her telepathy to tell what the exasperated yells from the other side were about.
"Algy picked Oddball again."
Swiping her keycard, the wild dog entered the quarters, all three of her teammates briefly greeting her before turning back to their game.
Standing behind the couch, Rena decided to keep practicing with her telepathy while she waited for the current multiplayer match to end.
Algy was doing all he could not to laugh at his friends for once again thinking he wouldn't pick Oddball. Zeke, on the other hand, had resigned himself to the fact that he likely wasn't going to be in first place and so was focused on staying ahead of Heinrich in kills.
As for Heinrich, he was wondering why the vulture had chosen the evil wolf, Baron Nekros.
Rena was about to dismiss that when she saw two lupine figures in the armadillo's thoughts. Two figures that she had also seen in Cain's thoughts.
The coywolf glared down at Heinrich and opened her mouth, but was interrupted by a blaring from her wristcom. It was the same for the rest of her friends.
Algy shut the game down and turned to the others, speaking to them not as their friend, but as their CO.
"Alright people, we've got ourselves another mission. Now move out, double time!"
"Sir, yes sir," they all chorused before following the lemur out of the quarters
The quartet walked up the corridors of Astropolis at a brisk pace, eventually arriving at the office doors of one Colonel Randall Burns.
From there, the four commandos handed their ID cards to one of the guards outside while the other kept his VAR-77 rifle pointed not quite away from them.
After their credentials were checked out, the guard handed their IDs back and opened the door. The quartet entered and snapped off a salute towards an orangutan in the tobacco brown uniform of Imperial Intelligence.
"At ease, Night Fangs," Colonel Burns stated.
From there, the ape began typing on a holoprojector, eventually displaying an image of a ferret.
"We finally got a location on that no good son of a bitch, Paul Rodman," Colonel Burns explained.
Algy narrowed his red eyes at the image. He had heard of plenty of hypocrites on Macbeth and Venom who, in a bid to save their own worthless skin, had sworn up and down to the Cornerian occupation authorities that they had never been loyal to Andross.
Whatever else could be said about Paul Rodman, he was the real deal. The man had opposed Emperor Andross from the start.
"Our sources in the Venom Self-Defence Force can only buy you a limited amount of time," the orangutan continued, "You'll need to be quick about this."
"We always are, sir," Algy replied before Colonel Burns handed him a data drive.
"I suggest you study that on the way. Dismissed."
"Sir, yes sir!" the Night Fangs chorused before filing out of the room.
Once they were back in the hallway, the quartet broke into a brisk run towards the elevator, where Rena proceeded to key in the deck level for one of the station's armouries.
After having their IDs checked over by the alligator quartermaster and his assistants, the Night Fangs headed into the armoury and began loading up for their mission.
Aside from the blasters they always carried as sidearms, each of the commandos had their own choice of weapons.
For Algy, it was a pair of KLB Spyder machine pistols. Rena also chose a Spyder, alongside a Sorozen Mark 5 sniper rifle.
Zeke's loadout consisted of a VAR-77C, the carbine version of the standard Venomian service rifle. Heinrich's choice was a VARSS-77, the squad support version of the VAR-77, as shown by it's longer barrel, larger power pack, and bipod.
All of them attached silencers to their weapons before departing the armoury and heading for the hangar.
Within, the Night Fangs walked up to their personal fighters, four Invader IVs that were each painted a different colour; blue for Algy, green for Rena, khaki for Heinrich, and purple for Zeke.
After climbing into the cockpits of the H-shaped fighters, the four commandos took off and flew out of Astropolis.
After jumping to hyperspace, Algy plugged the data drive into his console and saw a topographic map of Rodman's compound and the surrounding area. He also saw estimates of how many guards there might be.
Taking a moment to analyze the map, Algy sent the data to his teammates.
"The south entrance looks to be our best bet."
After a series of 'Rogers', the lemur brought his attention forward, watching as the green hue of hyperspace eventually dissipated and revealed the planet Venom, which in spite of it being nighttime on this side, looked very different than the last time Algy had been there.
Zeke seemed to think so as well, as he commented, "Geez, I really like what they've done with the place."
Reminding himself that he was in leader mode, Algy replied, "Cut the chatter, Zeke."
The sportive lemur had to admit, if nothing else, the post-Imperial governments on Venom had done a fine job terraforming the planet.
Bringing his attention back to the matter at hand, Algy set a waypoint and transferred it to the others.
"Alright, Night Fangs, let's go," he ordered.
The small squadron of Invader IVs boosted down into the Venomian atmosphere, all of their pilots keeping their eyes on the radar and their heads on a swivel.
Just because the Remnant had spies in the Venom Self-Defence Force didn't mean those people were reliable, or even trustworthy. Nonetheless, they were able to set down without incident.
After dismounting from their fighters, Heinrich took point and led the team towards their target's compound. A few minutes passed before the giant armadillo held up a fist, signaling the team to stop.
"Tripwire," Rena mentally signaled to the others.
Algy and Zeke, still somewhat unused to having a telepath on the team, exchanged a look before the lemur signaled the vulture to go ahead and take care of the trap.
Zeke did as he was told and crawled forward. Algy and Rena watched as the avian fiddled with the booby trap and eventually cut the wire, allowing them to pass safely.
The quartet continued to sneak forward until coming up to a rock formation and taking cover. Algy peered up above their cover and scouted out the positions of Rodman's guards with a pair of binoculars.
"Okay," he whispered, "Rena, stay back here. When I give the signal, start taking them out. Heinrich, Zeke, knives only unless I say otherwise."
After they all replied, 'Yes sir,' Algy, Heinrich, and Zeke crawled towards the compound while Rena set up her sniper rifle on a rock.
Sighting in on a guard, Rena waited for Algy's signal. Her patience paid off when his voice sounded through her earpiece.
"Now."
Rena didn't reply, but simply sucked in a breath and let it out, centering the crosshairs on the guard's chest before pulling the trigger.
As soon as the guard fell to the ground and the others were caught by surprise, Algy, Zeke, and Heinrich sprung up and buried their combat knives in the backs of the other guards and covered their mouths so that their dying screams wouldn't be heard.
For her part, Rena panned her sniper rifle around, gunning down any guard who stepped into the crosshairs.
Soon enough, all of the guards outside were eliminated, a fact that was confirmed to Rena when Algy glanced in her direction and made a fist.
Slinging her sniper rifle over her back and drawing her Spyder, the coywolf left her position and regrouped with the rest of her team.
The quartet of commandos then crept up to the compound's southern entrance, where Zeke took care of the lock with a decrypter.
Once they were inside, Rena took point and scanned ahead with her telepathy.
"Two men around the corner. We'll need our guns," she signaled to the others while setting her machine pistol to single fire.
"Agreed," Algy signaled back and set his own weapons to single fire.
The two of them stacked up near the corner, both taking a breath before leaning out and putting the two guards down with well placed shots to the chest.
Rena signaled for the team to move forward, but then detected another presence in a nearby bathroom, confirmed when they heard a toilet flushing.
On Algy's signal, Heinrich leaned up beside the door and waited as it opened. The guard who stepped out didn't have time to be surprised as the armadillo drove an elbow into his windpipe and then put him in a headlock, snapping his neck.
From there, the Night Fangs went through the door and began to ascend a staircase, rolling their feet to make less noise.
Even so, a guard stuck his head over a bannister and was quickly rewarded with a headshot from Zeke's carbine. Though the corpse tumbled over the railing, Zeke and Heinrich caught the body and slowly lowered it to the floor.
Sensing that they were still in the clear, Rena motioned for them to keep going. Once the team reached the top landing, they leaned up against the wall while the coywolf reached out with her telepathy.
"Eight of them around the corner," she mentally signaled to the others before grabbing a flashbang off of her belt.
Rena then proceeded to roll the puck shaped object towards the squad of guards. After a deafening bang and a flash of light that was visible through the commandos' closed eyelids, the Night Fangs leaned out and gunned down the stunned guards.
"Rodman's awake. He's trying to escape," Rena told the others.
"Double time, team," Algy ordered.
The team soon found themselves stacking up in front of a set of wooden doors, which Heinrich quickly bashed open with his broad shoulder.
Inside the bedroom, Rena and Zeke caught sight of a pair of legs crawling into what had to be an escape route. Thinking quickly, the two commandos lunged forward, each grabbing a leg and dragging their target back into the room.
Paul Rodman brought up his gaze and saw the four Venomian commandos leering down at him.
"I'm not going to beg, so just get it over with," the ferret said in a resigned tone.
Algy grinned and leveled one of his Spyders at Rodman's head.
"Marshal Koates sends his regards," the sportive lemur snarked before pulling the trigger and blowing Rodman's brains all over the floor.
Their mission completed, the Night Fangs began exfiltrating from the compound. On the way back to their fighters, Algy checked his wristcom.
"Five minutes to spare. Damn we're good," he said to himself.
Rena meanwhile, kept glaring at Heinrich's back.
"We need to talk," she mentally signaled to the giant armadillo.
He glanced over his shoulder.
"I know."
Later
After landing in their private hangar, the Night Fangs dismounted from their Invader IVs. While Algy and Zeke began heading for the exit, Rena and Heinrich remained behind.
"You two coming?" the vulture asked.
"We'll catch up," Rena stated.
As soon as the coywolf was certain that they were out of earshot, she turned around and glared at the giant armadillo.
"Heinrich, you bett…."
The wild dog was interrupted by Heinrich reaching out and holding her muzzle closed.
"Unless you wanna get us both shot, I suggest that you keep your voice down."
Rena narrowed her eyes as Heinrich released his grip. For his part, the armadillo crossed his arms.
"You and Algy have always suspected that Cerinia wasn't destroyed by an asteroid."
Heinrich hung his head.
"You're not wrong."
Twelve years ago
Heinrich stumbled through the ruined streets of Animus, the capital of Cerinia. The giant armadillo was panting heavily and blood stained his grey uniform.
Blood that wasn't his.
Despite being outnumbered and outgunned, despite the Venomians having air and space superiority, the Cerinian partisans and their backers in the government fought like demons.
Heinrich also knew that the so-called Special Expeditionary Force wasn't limiting themselves to armed locals. Marshal Koates' orders had been brief and to the point.
"Shoot them all."
At the moment, Heinrich wasn't sure how many he had killed, it was all a blur to him. But for the life of him, the armadillo could not get the screams out of his head.
The screams of men, women, and children.
Continuing to haul both himself and his VARSS-77 through the decimated capital, Heinrich thought back on the last firefight that had wiped out his entire squad, save for him.
The mix of partisans, soldiers, and Royal Guards had fought particularly hard, almost as if they were protecting something.
Or someone, as Heinrich quickly realized when he came upon a landing strip with a small, rectangular shuttle and two lupine figures sprinting towards it.
Training and instinct took over for Heinrich as he brought up his weapon and bellowed, "HALT!"
Both wolves whipped around, the younger one reaching for a sword strapped to his back.
"Don't try it, kid," Heinrich growled, "You'll be dead before you even get to me."
For a time, the three beings simply stared each other down, with Heinrich finally getting a good look at the two wolves. The younger one was dressed in the green tunic, armor, and leggings of the Knights of Cerinia.
The older one was dressed in the blue robes of a Cerinian mage. And not just any mage, for Heinrich knew that this old man was Grand Mage Randorn Glidewell, while the younger wolf was his grandson, Sabre.
The latter narrowed his eyes at Heinrich and yelled, "If you're going to kill us, than get on with it!"
Heinrich thought of plugging them right then and there. But then he thought of everything that had transpired since his unit had landed on Cerinia. Of all the blood that had been spilled.
The giant armadillo began to tremble as he heard the screams in his head. Finally, Heinrich threw his weapon to the pavement and let out a pained howl as tears gathered in his eyes.
After a short silence, Heinrich could hear Randorn speaking to Sabre.
"Get the ship ready."
"But…"
"Go Sabre, I'll be right behind you."
Hearing the old wolf approaching, Heinrich brought up his gaze.
"The fuck you want?"
Undeterred, the lupine tilted his head at the armadillo.
"What's your name, young man?"
Heinrich was taken aback by the question. He took a breath before answering, "Private Heinrich Zoll, Twelfth Infantry Division."
Randorn nodded
"Well, Heinrich. I must thank you for not killing us."
"Killing?!" Heinrich exclaimed, "I'm a Goddamn soldier! Killing's in the job description! But this…."
The armadillo gestured at the destroyed city around them.
"This ain't war. This is fucking murder! Not what I signed up for at all!"
The elderly wolf crossed his arms and sighed.
"Heinrich, you could come with us. Leave this all behind."
The giant armadillo shook his head and replied, "I can't."
"Oh. Do you have a family?"
"You might say that," Heinrich replied as he bent down and picked up his weapon.
"I never saw you two," the armadillo said as he turned his back on the mage and began walking away.
Heinrich didn't turn around as the sounds of shuttle engines reached his ears.
"Maybe they'll make it past the fleet. Maybe they'll live."
Heinrich didn't know what would happen to them, all he knew was that he had given them a chance. That had to mean something.
Sometime later, the giant armadillo was within the hangar bay of the Venomian cruiser Typhoon, along with all of the other surviving members of his unit, giving his undivided attention to a hologram of Marshal Kalman Koates.
"You have all done a great service for your empire," the nine banded armadillo stated, "However, the details of this special military operation must remain confidential. Breathing a word of what happened here today will be met with the most severe of consequences."
The Marshal paused, as if allowing for his words to sink in for the men under his command, before he finally said, "Long live the Empire,"
Along with every other soldier in the hangar, Heinrich sketched a salute and echoed the phrase.
The words felt like ashes in his mouth.
The present
Rena crossed her arms and glared up at her friend. The staredown lasted for around a minute before Heinrich broke the silence.
"Go on ahead and report me if it makes you feel better."
Instead of responding, Rena turned to the side and pinched the spot between her eyes. A small part of her wanted to report Heinrich for letting two important Cerinians escape.
But another, far larger part of the coywolf remembered the times her, Heinrich, Algy, and Zeke had as children on Macbeth.
Including the night when their lives had changed forever.
Fifteen years ago
Macbeth
Rena cranked the volume on her hovercar stereo in an effort to drown out the ramblings of her three drunk friends.
"Mother's right. It isn't any fun being the DD. Whatever, the sooner I get the boys home, the sooner I can have a couple beers."
The coywolf focused ahead on the backroad and saw a pair of headlights coming the other way. Headlights that still had their high beams on.
"What the fuck is this butthead doing?" Algy slurred from the passenger seat.
Rena ignored him and blinked her high beams twice, a trick that worked nine times out of ten. And yet, the other vehicle wasn't dimming its lights.
The coywolf squinted, wholly intending to flip the idiot driver off. Then, to her absolute shock, the oncoming hovercar swerved into her lane.
Rena layed on her horn, but the other driver kept getting closer. She had precious seconds to make a decision, and quickly made it by swerving to the left and off the road.
Outside, Rena heard the sounds of breaking glass and twisting metal.
"Oh no."
After quickly checking on her friends, the wild dog got out of her hovercar and quickly spotted another, much more high end one practically wrapped around a tree.
As she got closer, the smell of booze entered her nostrils, as well as another, more putrid odour. One that made Rena put a hand over her nose and mouth.
The coywolf almost vomited when she got near the orange hovercar and saw the feline within, his neck twisted at an odd angle.
"Oh my God. That's Michael Armitage Junior," Rena thought as she grabbed her phone and called for an ambulance.
Three minutes passed before Rena got another call. She glanced at the screen and saw a familiar name.
Kurt
"Our friend on the force."
Answering the call, Rena said, "Kurt, you're not…"
"Rena, don't talk! Just listen!"
Rena felt her fur stand on end at the urgency in his voice.
"Armitage Senior just found out about his kid. He's gonna have the book thrown at the four of you. You need to get out of there before me and the boys get on scene."
Rena felt herself shaking as Kurt's words sank in.
"But Kurt, we didn't do anything. I'm stone sober for fuck's sake!"
His answer gave her pause.
"Do you think that matters?"
As much as she wanted to deny it, Rena knew that her friend was speaking the truth. Corporate tycoons were the true rulers of Macbeth. If they wanted something to happen, they always got their way, facts or the law be damned.
"What do we have to do?"
"The insurgency will find you. That's all I can say."
"Kurt…."
"You're gonna have to trust me on this one. Now get going, you don't have a ton of time."
He hung up, leaving Rena stunned. Nonetheless, the coywolf set her phone on the ground and smashed it with a rock.
Turning to her friends, Rena firmly stated, "Give me your phones, boys. We can't have them tracking us."
The present
Rena let out a breath and turned back to her friend.
"Heinrich," she said in a low tone, "If it wasn't for everything the four of us have been through, I'd be dealing with this in a very different way."
The coywolf shrugged.
"Your secret's safe with me."
"Me as well."
Both of them glanced to the side and saw Mage Davros standing in the hangar, having seemingly appeared out of thin air.
"I am very glad you let them escape, Heinrich," the hyena crowed, "I have a score to settle with Randorn."
Turning his attention to Rena, Cain continued.
"Come with me, my student. Marshal Koates wants to see you."
After quietly saying, "See you later," to Heinrich, Rena followed her mentor out of the hangar and, after returning her weapons to the armoury, boarded an elevator that took them to the topmost level of Astropolis.
On the ride up, Rena attempted to scan Cain's thoughts and find out what Marshal Koates wanted from her. To her shock, she felt like she had run into a brick wall.
"Don't be discouraged, Rena," Cain said, "Soon I will teach you how to penetrate mental defenses, as well as how to keep your own mind closed to the probing of others."
"I'm surprised that you haven't already," replied the coywolf.
"Patience, my student. A good mentor never reveals all of his secrets at once."
The dinging of the elevator brought the two wild dogs' attention forward. This particular section of Astropolis was the most heavily guarded. Alongside Remnant troopers and Imperial Guards, there were also Armamechs; Seven foot tall robots modeled after armadillos. Rena knew full well that one false move would result in those green photoreceptors turning red.
Finally arriving at the door to Marshal Koates' office, both Rena and Cain were patted down by the guards, who also removed the coywolf's sidearm and the hyena's staff.
"The Marshal will see you now," one of them stated as the double doors opened.
Entering the office, Rena caught sight of an iguana in a white lab coat. She knew this man to be Dr. Kurtz, a member of the station's medical staff.
Standing next to the reptile was a black furred jackal in the grey uniform of the Imperial Army. Both Rena and Cain knew him to be Lieutenant Charles Warren. Much like Cain, he was a Cerinian native.
Last, but certainly not least, seated behind the office's large and ornate desk was Marshal Koates himself. Rena quickly sketched a salute.
"At ease," the Marshal said with a wave of his hand.
After Rena relaxed herself, Marshal Koates locked his gaze on her.
"Tell me something, Private Mouradian. What do you know of your father?"
Rena's eyes widened at the question.
"Sir?"
Marshal Koates gave the coywolf a reassuring smile.
"Speak plainly, Private. You're among friends here."
Rena took a breath and threw a glance around the room.
"Sir," she began, "Pardon my Macbethian, but my father was an offworlder and a fucking deadbeat. He abandoned my mother before I was born. I've never even laid eyes on him, not even in a picture."
Marshal Koates raised an eyebrow before smiling again.
"Than I suppose you won't be sorry to hear that he has died. Quite recently, as a matter of fact."
The armadillo gestured for Dr. Kurtz to speak. Clearing his throat, the iguana began to explain.
"According to a DNA test, this man was your father."
The lizard took out and activated a holoprojector. Rena narrowed her eyes at the portrait.
The subject was a male wolf with fur that was the same shade of brown as the patches on Rena's mainly grey coat, while his eyes were the same icy blue as her own.
But what really got the coywolf's attention was the lupine's name.
Darius Glidewell
Rena rounded on Cain, quickly catching the nonplussed expression on the hyena's face.
"You knew," she gasped.
The dark mage simply crossed his arms.
"Anyone with a good eye can see the resemblance, Rena. Even at my age."
Rena took a few breaths as she processed that information.
"So," she asked, "What does that make me? Randorn's granddaughter and Sabre's sister?"
"Sabre's cousin, actually," Cain cooly replied, "He was born to Randorn's younger son, Braden."
Rena looked about the room, her eyes eventually landing on Lieutenant Warren. The jackal regarded her with a stern expression before reaching behind his back.
"This was found in that rat hole your father called home."
The jackal held out a silver, cylindrical object, one that gave Rena a sense of deja vu.
For it was very similar to the weapon used by Krystal of Star Fox. The woman who had slain Valen Capaldi, Cain's nephew and Rena's boyfriend.
Taking the collapsed staff in her hands, Rena was in awe.
"Who will show me how to use this?" She wondered out loud.
"That's where I come in," Warren replied.
The jackal grinned before adding, "You have two teachers now, Private Mouradian."
Rena met his gaze and then glanced back down at the staff.
"I swear, Valen. One way or another, I'm going to kill that little brat."
