It was a few days after the incident on Venom, and the events were still being played out in Wolf's mind. He was satisfied, almost relieved to see James gone from his life once and for all, but he couldn't help feel uneasy about what was to come in the future.
Leon kept mostly to himself, as he had been for the last few months. Pigma was having a few drinks himself, which made Wolf incredulous about how he could still function properly drinking so much booze a day. Then again, he was a heavy set man, so that probably factored into it. But Wolf knew better than to say that in front of him...
Without warning, the intercom crackled again, snapping Wolf out of his mindless daze as Andross appeared on the screen, catching Wolf off guard.
"Sir! If I had known..."
"Never mind that, O'Donnell! Get the lizard and pig here. We have plans to discuss."
Within a short time, Leon and Pigma had been called and they met up with Wolf towards the bridge, where Andross loomed over them on the screen.
"The time has come for the next phase of our plan. Our next task is to take over the mining operations on Macbeth. If we take control of the resources and industrial strength of the planet, we will gain a foothold over the Cornerian Army. And we will be one step closer to victory."
Pigma smirked as he heard Andross' words. "What's the first step, boss?"
"You are all to fly down there and dispatch the leaders of the mining operation. I'll have my army of soldiers back you up in case some of the miners get any ideas, but our plan isn't to get rid of everyone. We'll just be taking over, if you catch my drift..."
"Won't the Cornerian Army notice Macbeth being taken over?" Wolf asked.
Pigma nudged Wolf shortly after he asked the question. "As long as the money and minerals keep coming from there, they won't care about who runs this placeā¦"
"Precisely..." mused Andross, giving a wide grin of anticipation. "They won't care for the people of Macbeth more than they're doing right now. As far as the Cornerian Army is concerned, the workers of Macbeth are no more than scum. They'll be treated better under my leadership, mark my words..."
The three pilots nodded in agreement as they made their way towards their ships, flying down in haste.
When they got to the planet's surface, they could see Andross' army already making their way through the industrial plants, and with the planet's lack of any defense systems, they were carving through at incredible speed.
The three pilots landed at a tall office building, and they all went inside and found as many high-ranking executives as they could and brought them over to the main boardroom. They all looked at the pilots nervously, being completely helpless to escape from the clutches of the devilish trio.
"Look at them," Leon muttered to Wolf under his breath. "Just like sheep, rounded up like cattle. Serves them right for them doing the same to the workers."
Wolf simply nodded, feeling the fear emanating from the executives.
With a cold, calculating gaze, Leon stepped forward to address the terrified executives. "Listen up. Everyone does what we say or else you're not coming out of this alive. We're in control of this operation now, ok? You're still going to get the mining done on this planet, the only difference is that you're working for us now instead of the Cornerian Army."
"What did we do to deserve this?" whimpered one of the executives.
"SHUT UP!" Wolf shouted down near the executive's ear. "You've treated us as nothing more than scum in the past, but now you'll find out what true pain feels like!"
Leon shoved the whimpering executive back to the corner, his own face cold and expressionless. Even with Wolf agitated and the others in the room scared out of their minds, it all seemed to deflect off Leon completely, not even reacting to everyone around him. That threw Wolf off guard for a moment, not being used to seeing Leon so unaffected by the chaos surrounding him.
"We ought to send you to the mines to work like everyone else around here," Leon snarled bitterly.
Another one of the executives objected to the suggestion. "Please! Don't! Anything but that!"
Wolf glared straight back at the objection. "You should have thought of that before you sent those workers down there! Do you have any regard for the welfare of the workers under your watch?"
The boardroom fell silent at Wolf's seething anger.
"I thought not. You're nothing more than a bunch of pencilheads, aren't you?"
"I've heard enough of this," Pigma grumbled as he brought out his pistol from his holster. Without another word, he shot the objector straight in the head, as the whole room was filled with hysterical screams and pleas of mercy.
"SILENCE!" Pigma shouted at the top of his lungs, quieting the terrified executives. "If anyone else wants to join him, let me know! But if you all want to live, then do as I say... or ELSE!"
The rest of the executives nodded their heads, then led themselves out of the boardroom, their guns pointed at them lest they wander away and try something desperate.
The three pilots went out of the boardroom and headed back outside, where more of Andross' minions had assembled together as they started ordering the miners around. Though there were many armed personnel swarming the area, the miners were told to work as if nothing was going wrong.
With the fighting reaching a lull, Wolf leaned forward on his knees and took in a few short breaths, his whole body sweating from head to toe.
Pigma noticed Wolf and stepped towards him, seemingly annoyed at Wolf's hesitation. "What's the matter with you? You look like you've seen a ghost."
Wolf glanced away at Pigma, his eyes darting uncomfortably. "Something's not quite right about all this..."
"What are you concerned about?" Pigma objected. "They treated us like scum, so it stands to reason that we should do the same to them. You need to get a grip on yourself!"
He shook his head, knowing this wasn't an argument worth bickering about at this time. He stood up straight again and made his way back to his ship. He could see the minions forcing the remaining executives back into the mines, with their hands above their head and guns pointed directly at them.
Wolf kept to himself on the way back, not saying a word to his teammates, and the intercom remained quiet for the whole trip back.
They flew back and docked their ships in the mothership and reported back to Andross, Wolf's mind still racing as he stammered through his words.
Andross could only grin in satisfaction at the news.
"Superb execution, gentlemen... With Macbeth under our control, now we have the resources ready to back up a full invasion of the Lylat System. Our next targets are Zoness and Aquas. They'll be even easier than Macbeth to take over. Soon enough we'll be all over the Lylat System... and not even the Cornerian Army can stop us."
When their meeting was finished, Wolf sat down on the command chair looking out into the stars, staring deep into the abyss. To the side, he could see Leon sitting nearby, doing the same thing.
Wolf looked over his shoulder to make sure that Pigma wasn't within earshot of Leon, then swallowed his breath and started to speak up.
"...We... just didn't do that... did we?"
Leon said nothing, continuing to look out into space.
"...What the hell did we just do?"
Again, Leon didn't reply.
"Leon? ...What the hell is happening to us?"
Leon continued to stare into the abyss, as Wolf tried to stare deep into his eyes, ones that were once filled with optimism and hope, now were completely blank and empty. It was as if he were a completely different person, blindly following orders without question.
Their silence stretched on as Leon watched the stars twinkle outside the window, contrasting to the darkness that was consuming the two from the inside out.
They were both aware that this wasn't the first time they had to blur the lines between right and wrong. But as Wolf shuddered under his breath, he started realizing that his actions had drastic consequences out in the Lylat System, for better or worse.
"How the hell did we get here, Leon?"
Memories of when the two pilots met at the Academy filled Wolf's mind, and his body startled trembling at the everything that had happened since then, chilling him to the core.
Leon finally turned his head towards Wolf. "What's done is done. There's no sense going back in time. We've gone too far to turn back now. We can only move forwards. And we will succeed."
Wolf sighed as he stared back at Leon, his heart heavy. He couldn't help but wonder if there was any turning back now. If they had any chance of redemption.
As he gazed out into the darkness of space, Wolf couldn't help but feel a sense of dread and despair, knowing he walking toward the path of destruction, one that would lead to the downfall of everything they had fought for; the rise against the elites that had screwed them over, the chance to change the world for the better, and the opportunity to be the face that started it all. It had been for nothing, for they were no better than the elites that they were fighting against - ruthless, cold, calculated, lethal.
"You're right," Wolf sighed. "If we turn back now, who knows what the Cornerian Army will do to us. This is who we are now. There's no sense crawling back to them and asking for forgiveness."
Leon nodded solemnly, knowing their deal with the devil would end up haunting them in the end. But with no real alternative, he was left to stare out the same window as Wolf, left to continue the same path they were on towards their fates.
