Zoness
Wolf O'Donnell slowly opened his violet eye and gazed up at the ceiling of his quarters. As his name suggested, he was a grey and white furred lupine. In place of his left eye was a digital lens.
The eye, along with Wolf's parents and uncle, had been lost in his youth on Katina. All of them ripped away from him by the same armadillo who was now the most wanted man in Lylat.
Kalman Koates.
But whatever negative thoughts that were starting to brew in Wolf's mind, they disappeared when he brought his gaze down to the dingo in his arms.
Had it really been six months since him and Carmen had first met on Kew?
Wolf thought back on the whole chain of events that had taken place on the lawless planet. Her and his team had started off as reluctant allies, and then, to both Wolf and Carmen's shock, they had fallen for each other.
"I guess there are stranger ways to meet the love of your life."
As much as Wolf liked the sight of Carmen resting on his chest, there was work to be done. He gently stroked the side of her face, enjoying the feel of his fingers going through her sandy-brown fur.
Slowly, the dingo half opened her brown eyes and met Wolf's gaze.
"That time already?" she whispered.
"Yeah it is," Wolf replied.
After sharing a kiss, the two wild dogs got up from their bed. After a quick shower, they got dressed, Wolf in a purple flight jacket and black pants, and Carmen in a black flight suit and a grey vest, the couple walked up the hallways of the old military base that served as Star Wolf's home.
Arriving at what had been the mess hall, Wolf opened the fridge, opting to have a bagel for breakfast, a sentiment that was shared by his girlfriend.
As the two of them toasted their bagels and sat down to eat, they were soon joined by Leon Powalski, the team's second in command. He was a green scaled chameleon with yellow eyes. Clothing wise, he was dressed in a dark purple flight suit.
"Morning Boss, Rookie."
"Morning Leon." replied the two canines.
The lizard's choice of breakfast was a collection of local Zonessian fruits. Shortly after he took a seat, the team's fourth and final member, Panther Caroso, entered the mess hall.
As his name would suggest, he was a black furred jungle cat with a scar running under one of his yellow eyes. For clothing, he wore a blue flight suit and silver body armor.
"Morning, gang." he remarked as he began making some toast.
The four of them ate in silence, mentally preparing themselves for their next job. They had been hired by the Katinese government to infiltrate rebel lines and gather intel.
"I see now why Star Fox mostly works for the CDF. Government work pays the best," Leon remarked.
"They did give us a pretty huge advance," Panther put in.
Leon then turned his gaze to Carmen.
"You gonna be ready if Viola's flyboys show up, Rookie?" the lizard asked.
The dingo shrugged her shoulders and replied, "As ready as I'm ever going to be,"
"Real dogfights aren't like the simulator," Leon continued.
"He's right, hon," said Wolf as he set a hand on her wrist, "You mess up out there, it can cost you your life,"
Meeting her boyfriend's gaze, Carmen responded, "I've been in dogfights before,"
"Against pirates, not trained professionals," Leon huffed.
Carmen shot the chameleon a glare.
"Duly noted."
Wolf put a hand on Carmen's shoulder and gave Leon a look that told him to drop the matter.
"Alright guys," the lupine said as he stood from the table, "Let's move."
The quartet of outlaws left the mess hall and headed for the hangar bay. Within were their black and crimson Wolfen fighters. After climbing into his cockpit, Wolf closed the canopy and began running his preflight checks. Once those were done, the lupine began flipping switches and pressing buttons, feeling his fighter come to life.
"Comm check."
"Read you, Boss," Leon replied.
"Everything's good on my end," said Carmen.
"Roger, Wolf," Panther stated.
From there, Wolf pressed a button on his console and watched the hanger doors open. Once they had fully slid aside, the Star Wolf team boosted out of the hanger and soared over the Zonessian ocean, leaving their island hideout behind.
The starfighters then pulled upwards and headed out of the atmosphere of the tropical planet. As the blackness of space and the lights of distant stars greeted them, Wolf punched in hyperspace coordinates that would take the team into empty space. From there, they would make the jump to Katina.
Sending the rest of the team his coordinates, Wolf keyed his comm.
"Star Wolf, jump on my mark."
After a chorus of 'Rogers', Wolf counted off the seconds in his head and then said, "Mark."
The team jumped into hyperspace and after arriving at their destination, repeated the process that would take them to the beleaguered planet.
As the green hue of hyperspace dissipated and Katina came into view, Wolf couldn't help, but let out a sigh.
"Home sweet home." he muttered.
The four Wolfens got into a Delta formation with Wolf in the lead and flew into the arid planet's atmosphere. Finally getting a glimpse of the landscape, Wolf could just make out Lake Yagoda and it's massive tourist resort.
The lake was devoid of tourists now, and had been since the civil war began four months ago. The resort meanwhile, was being used by General Viola's rebel forces as a forward base.
Pushing his musings aside, Wolf banked his fighter and led the team to the northeast, making a point to fly low in order to stay off enemy radar.
The squadron soon spotted what appeared to be a group of run down structures. For reasons that Wolf couldn't quite put his finger on, this place seemed familiar.
"We'll land here." he ordered.
As the Star Wolf team began to land among the ruins, Wolf couldn't shake the feeling of deja vu that had come over him. After landing and shutting his Wolfen down, the lupine unholstered his blaster and checked the charge level before screwing a silencer onto the barrel.
Opening the canopy, Wolf was greeted with the cool air of a Katinese night. Climbing down, the lupine reached back in and grabbed a silenced Cornerian CX-4 carbine and a backpack full of explosives. As he was pulling the pack on, Wolf suddenly realized why he found this place familiar.
"Oh shit." he mumbled, wishing that he had picked somewhere, anywhere, else to land.
Hearing his teammates approaching, Wolf met their gaze.
"Let's move, guys. The government's not paying us by the hour." he said curtly.
The quartet set off across the arid plains. After a few minutes of walking, Carmen fell into step with Wolf.
"Back there," she said, "That's where…."
The dingo trailed off, choosing her next words carefully.
"That's where you grew up,"
"Yeah," Wolf huffed, "It was."
Star Wolf continued to head into rebel territory, keeping their eyes and ears open for any patrols. So far, they had been lucky, but they all knew that could change in a heartbeat.
As the sounds of voices and vehicles reached their ears, the team dropped to the ground and began crawling towards their target. Ascending a ridge, the quartet were able to spot a rebel camp in the distance. Each of them took out a pair of binoculars to get a better look.
"They're definitely gearing up for something," Panther commented as he watched the rebel troops milling about.
"I agree," Wolf replied.
The lupine quickly noticed one of the rebels light up a pair of flares and begin waving them around.
"Must be a ship coming in," Carmen whispered.
True to her word, a ship could be seen approaching. As it got closer, Star Wolf were able to determine that it was a private shuttle of some sort.
Indeed, after the ship landed and dropped it's cargo ramp, the mercenaries could immediately see that the men unloading pallets of crates didn't belong to any military. Leon zoomed in on one in particular, a gray fox who was ordering the other men about.
"Simon Zimmerman," the chameleon growled, "I thought I smelled something rotten."
"That's funny, Leon," Carmen chided, "I figured that you and him would be two peas in a pod."
"Carmen," Wolf said warningly.
Nonetheless, Leon lowered his binoculars and turned his gaze on Carmen.
"If you're referring to the fact that we both torture people, than understand this, Rookie. When I torture someone, I'm usually looking for information. That two bit piece of shit down there does it for the fun of it. He is nowhere near my league."
Before Carmen could retort, Wolf interjected, "That's enough, both of you."
Bringing his attention back to the camp, Wolf saw some rebel troops taking rifles out of random crates and inspecting them. This went on for a few minutes before the rebels were seemingly satisfied. One of them walked up to Simon and handed him a briefcase.
The gray vulpine opened the case and seemed to do a quick count of the credits inside. After seeing him close it back up, Wolf could make out the crime enforcer speaking, likely something along the lines of 'Pleasure doing business with you,'
After the shuttle took off, Wolf gestured for the rest of the team to gather around him.
"Alright guys, here's the plan," the lupine said, "Leon, you and I are gonna take out their ammo dump. Carmen, Panther, you two head to their comms tent and dig up whatever you can find."
After a nod of agreement, the Star Wolf team split up into pairs and began sneaking towards the camp. As Carmen and Panther crawled towards their objective, the dingo whispered, "I'm surprised that Wolf trusts you alone with me."
Shaking his head, the jungle cat replied, "The last time I went after another man's woman, I got this for my trouble."
He traced the scar under his eye.
"I see," Carmen whispered back.
Elsewhere, Wolf and Leon snuck towards their objective, soon coming upon a lone sentry with his back to them.
Waiting until no other rebels had eyes on the target, Leon crept up behind the guard and slit his throat with a combat knife. The lizard then dragged the body out of sight.
Knowing that it was only a matter of time before the sentry was missed, Wolf gestured for Leon to move quickly.
Carmen and Panther meanwhile, crawled towards the comms tent, soon coming upon a pair of guards smoking cigarettes. They exchanged a quick nod and crept behind the sentries, grabbing hold of them and snapping their necks. After hiding the bodies, the two of them snuck into the tent, finding it empty.
"Do your stuff," Panther whispered.
Carmen simply nodded and then fished a data tap out of her vest pocket, plugging it into a terminal. Panther in the meantime, peered out of the tent flaps to watch for approaching guards.
To the jungle cat's surprise, the rebel troops seemed to be gathering in the center of the camp. Straining his ears, Panther could make out two of them talking.
"Wonder what the Commander is going to be talking about?" one said.
"My guess, probably a new offensive," replied the other rebel.
Ducking back into the tent, Panther whispered to Carmen, "Viola's giving a speech."
"Good," she replied, "If we can trace his location, we can end this damn war and put a dent in Koates' plans."
With a nod, Panther turned around and looked back outside. Within the center of the camp, a large hologram flickered to life, casting the image of a newt in a Katinese general's uniform. Much like all other rebel uniforms, it had been dyed a darker shade of brown to avoid confusion with the Katinese Planetary Guard.
"My soldiers, hear this," General Alberto Viola began to speak, "We may not have succeeded in taking Atvar at the beginning of this dreadful war. But this time, we are better prepared. This time, we will overthrow the corrupt regime and join hands with our Venomian allies against Corneria!"
That drew a cheer from the assembled rebel troops, many of them raising their fists and weapons in the air.
"Well he's full of himself," Panther mumbled.
Turning back to Carmen, Panther saw the dingo working with her wristcom and shaking her head in frustration.
"What's wrong?"
Glancing up at the jungle cat, Carmen replied, "I can't get a lock on that signal, they're bouncing it through relays. I'll be shocked if Viola is even on this planet."
Letting out a huff, Panther said, "But at least you've got their comms records, right?"
"Yeah." Carmen said as she unplugged the data tap and pocketed it.
"Than there's nothing more that we can do here. Let's get going while they're still occupied," Panther said as he cocked his head towards the entrance.
From there, the two of them planted explosives on the comms equipment and then slipped out of the camp. Once they were some distance away, Carmen contacted Wolf.
"Wolf, we got what we came for, how are things on your end?"
"Charges are planted in the ammo dump. Light the place up on my mark."
"Roger," Carmen replied as she readied a detonator.
"Mark."
Carmen pressed the button and watched as both the comms tent and the ammo dump went up in flames. Her and Panther took their leave and soon met back up with Wolf and Leon.
"They're planning another push on the capital," Carmen said to Wolf.
Nodding his head, the lupine mused, "The government's sure to pay handsomely for that intel."
The quartet ran back to where they had stashed their Wolfens and took off. Wolf breathed out a sigh of relief; the job could not have gone more perfectly.
But his euphoria was dispelled by a chiming from the radar. Wolf glanced at it and narrowed his eye as hostile signatures rapidly approached his team.
"Damn it," the lupine growled before keying his comm.
"They've scrambled fighters. Brace yourselves."
Glancing ahead, Wolf could just make out the outlines of the approaching ships. His ship's scanners were also starting to pick them up.
Just like all of the other equipment used by General Viola's troops, the enemy squadron was a mix of Katinese and Venomian models. More specifically, half the enemy squadron consisted of KF-12 interceptors and the other of and Invader IIs and IIIs.
"Guys, pick your targets and go," Wolf ordered before boosting towards the enemy.
Engaging the homing laser, Wolf locked on to a pair of KF-12s and fired a charged bolt, blowing both ships into smithereens. Wolf then barrel rolled as an Invader II fired at him, deflecting the laser bolts.
Panther opened fire on an Invader III, sending it into a death spiral towards Katina's surface. Seeing a KF-12 drop in behind him, the jungle cat pulled a loop, dropping behind his pursuer and blowing them out of the sky.
Leon spotted a large concentration of enemy fighters after taking out an Invader II. After doing a quick check of his teammates' positions on the radar, the chameleon flipped off the safety cover for the Nova Bomb firing button.
"I'm firing a bomb, brace yourselves," he said over the comms.
After the others responded, Leon thumbed the bomb button and watched the projectile fly out towards the enemy ships. Even as his ship shook from the explosion, Leon still grinned as he watched his enemies get obliterated.
Carmen grit her teeth as she pursued an Invader II. As her teammates had noted earlier, the rebels were more skilled than the space pirates that Star Wolf had usually gone up against in the six months she'd been on the team.
Nonetheless, the dingo lined up her crosshairs on the enemy fighter and shot it down. She then turned her attention to an Invader III, locking on and taking it out with a charged shot.
But Carmen didn't have time to celebrate, as her ship shook from enemy laser fire. Throwing a glance over her shoulder, Carmen spotted two KF-12s on her tail.
In an attempt to throw them off, Carmen pulled a loop. But to her horror, the enemy fighters matched the maneuver and kept on her six.
"I could use a hand here, guys!" Carmen called out as another pair of laser blasts struck her Wolfen.
Seconds later, a charged blast took out the dingo's pursuers. Breathing a sigh of relief, Carmen checked her radar to see who had fired that shot.
"Thanks, Leon."
"Watch your back, Rookie," the lizard curtly replied, "We're not always gonna be there to pull you out of trouble."
"Duly noted," Carmen said with a roll of her eyes.
The Star Wolf team were able to thin the enemy squadron out enough to make their escape from Katina's atmosphere. Once in space, the team began their jump back to Zoness.
Later
Within the hangar bay of Star Wolf's hideout, Carmen repaired the minor damage that had been done to her Wolfen. Finishing up, the wild dog climbed down and put her repair kit back in the cockpit.
After that, the dingo grabbed a can of spray paint from a nearby workbench and began painting a green X on the fuselage.
Having scored four kills on this particular mission, Carmen repeated the process three more times and then stood back and admired her handiwork. At least, until she heard someone else enter the hangar.
"You know, there's going to be a point where you lose count of your kills," Panther remarked.
Facing the jungle cat, Carmen replied, "I guess I'm not there yet."
"No, but you will be one day."
Walking further into the hangar, Panther elaborated, "You know, for what it's worth, it took the better part of two years before Leon stopped calling me Rookie."
Carmen set the spray can back on the bench and turned back to Panther, crossing her arms.
"I think there's more to that than me just being new to the team."
Panther nodded in agreement, remembering how Star Wolf's first meeting with Carmen had been the result of trickery on her part.
"He'll come around, just give it time."
Changing the subject, Panther stated, "I'm going into town. Care to join me?"
"Maybe next time," Carmen replied with a shake of her head.
Skandor, Zoness
Panther sat at a booth in Draven Cantina, one of several watering holes in the seaside town of Skandor.
At the moment, the jungle cat was scouting for a woman, preferably the kind he didn't have to pay for.
But if all else failed, he would settle for a lady of the night.
Panther's yellow eyes suddenly fell upon a feline sitting at the bar; An orange and white furred lynx dressed in a grey flight jacket and purple flight suit.
Panther knew her to be Miyu Lynx of Star Fox.
"Well, it's worth a try. The worst she can do is say no," the wild cat mused as he stood up and walked to the bar.
Grabbing a stool beside the Star Fox member, Panther said, "Nice to finally see a familiar face around here."
Miyu responded by giving Panther a sly glare.
"You do know that I'm technically supposed to arrest you, right?" The lynx remarked before taking a pull on her beer.
"After everything we went through on Kew? Honey, I'm hurt," Panther joked while putting a hand over his chest.
Miyu simply rolled her blue eyes.
"You have no right to call me that."
Panther quickly realized that he would have to change tact if he didn't want his night to end in black eyes and broken teeth.
"So, all kidding aside, what brings you to Skandor?" the jungle cat asked.
Miyu took another pull on her drink.
"Shore leave from hunting our good buddy Koates," she dryly stated.
"And how's that coming?" Panther replied, though he had a feeling as to what the answer would be.
He was proven right when Miyu said, "It isn't," and roughly set her glass down.
"Six months, and all we've got to show for it is a bunch of pirates behind bars or six feet under."
Panther bobbed his head to the sides while processing that information.
"You look like you could use a drink. Mind if I buy you one?"
Miyu finished her beer and then met Panther's gaze.
"You can buy me a drink. No more."
As it turned out, that would not be the only drink the two wild cats ended up sharing; One became two, two became a few, and a few became many.
As the saying goes, alcohol and common sense don't go hand in hand.
…
She was back in her old home, walking up the hallway after putting her son to bed.
Suddenly, there was the sound of breaking glass and something landing behind her. Carmen whipped around just in time to see that there was an incendiary grenade on the floor.
And then it exploded and everything went black.
But not for long, as Carmen found herself on her back lawn, now lit up by the orange light of her burning home.
Glancing up at the sound of footsteps, the dingo caught sight of a black-furred German Shepherd stalking towards her and immediately recognized him as her husband, Richard.
As the canine stepped into the light, Carmen could make out blood oozing from his stomach and a gaping hole in his head. The same places where she had shot him six months ago.
"You were the only one who was supposed to die!" Richard growled before leveling a blaster at her.
Carmen woke up when she heard the screech.
Shooting up in bed, the dingo breathed heavily. Bringing her gaze downwards, Carmen caught sight of her tail and one of the two burn scars that adorned it. Another, larger one was on her back.
A lump formed in the dingo's throat as she gazed at the permanent reminder of her failure as a mother. Tears soon began to fall as Carmen quietly sobbed, trying her best not to wake Wolf.
But it was a vain effort, for in the six months they had been together, the two wild dogs had become very attuned to when something was wrong with the other.
Tellingly, Wolf sat up, wrapped his arms around Carmen's waist and rested his head on her shoulder. The embrace helped Carmen calm down, and for a short while, the couple simply stayed that way.
Finally, Wolf whispered, "Same dream?" though it was more of a statement than a question.
Carmen simply nodded her head in response, causing Wolf to let out a sigh.
"I wish I could take it away," he murmured solemnly.
Turning around and meeting her boyfriend's gaze, Carmen cupped his cheek with her hand.
"In a way, Wolf, you do."
Carmen pulled the lupine toward her and locked him in a kiss.