External Security Bureau Headquarters, Corneria City
Director Arthur Richter sipped the last of his morning coffee and returned to poring over the report on his computer. The Labrador Retriever let out a huff as he saw estimates of the strength of General Viola's rebel forces from his operatives on Katina.
The civil war was like a dark cloud hanging over the Lylat system, along with the protests on Venom and Macbeth and the pro-Imperial regimes on Kew and Eladard. Not to mention the cloud hanging over the canine after the bittersweet news that he and his wife Maggie had received from their son the other night.
Arthur was brought out of his thoughts by a trio of knocks on the office door. Two quick ones, followed by a third a few seconds later. As he had for almost the last four years, the canine reached under his desk and activated a white noise generator.
"Come in."
The door opened and in walked a female kangaroo. After the marsupial closed the door behind her, Arthur asked, "What is it this time, Rachel?"
The kangaroo slid a data disk over to her superior.
"Something for your consideration, Director Richter. Though, I would wait till after your visitors have left."
"What visitors?" the Labrador Retriever asked, not recalling having any appointments for that day.
"Senators Farnham and Thompson. They're very insistent on seeing you."
The disdain in his secretary's voice was not lost on Arthur. No doubt the two had given her an earful.
"Send them in," Arthur said as he put the disk in one of his desk drawers.
With a nod, Rachel turned and left the office while Arthur leaned back in his chair and pondered the strangeness of the situation.
Gwendoline Farnham was the leader of the Integralist Party while James Thompson was the leader of the Populist Party. Having seen many of their jeer fests on the evening news, Arthur knew that the two of them were anything but friends.
Any which way, the Labrador Retriever decided to leave his white noise generator on. Better safe than sorry.
Arthur kept his face neutral as Rachel showed Farnham, a white-furred tabby cat, and Thompson, a brown-furred coyote, into the office.
"Senators, welcome," the canine curtsied after Rachel left.
"Thank you for seeing us, Director," Farnham replied in an upper class Cornerian accent, the kind that Arthur mentally compared to nails on a chalkboard.
"We won't take up too much of your time," Thompson added in a more neutral accent, though it still didn't impress Arthur.
"What can I do for you?" the canine asked.
"Well,"Farnham began, "There's the matter of the Star Fox team running off to Papetoon in the middle of a crisis."
Arthur raised an eyebrow.
"With all due respect, Senator, they're having a family emergency."
"Yes, we are well aware of the kidnapping of Mr. Hare's daughter. All the same, Star Fox has abandoned their post over a personal matter."
"And if they stay at their post," Arthur retorted, "The men who grabbed Lucy will kill her."
Senator Farnham let out a huff.
"Private military companies, who's fees are funded by Cornerian taxpayers, really need to start acting like a military. Not charging off after personal vendettas."
"Personal vendettas?" Arthur asked.
Senator Thompson responded this time, smugly stating, "A request to reopen the investigation into the murder of Vixy McCloud was filed to the CCPD by Mr. McCloud, Mr. Hare, and Sarah Reinard five months ago."
Arthur gave the coyote a blank look.
"And?"
"And," Senator Farnham condescended, "The prime suspect in the case is one Eugene Roger Clegg, the same man who kidnapped Miss Hare."
Arthur spread his hands.
"Look Senators, you should really be taking this up with either the Naval Secretary or General Pepper."
"They're both in meetings with the Defense Council," Farnham replied.
"Now, if I may move on to our last point," Thompson interjected, "The fact that Marshal Koates was able to escape from McCloud's custody on Kew six months ago. I find it implausible that a man in his mid-sixties could overpower someone young enough to be his son."
"What are you implying?" Arthur asked, barely able to keep a growl out of his voice.
Thompson simply smiled.
"I have in my possession a sworn testimony from one Albert Ganz. He was a guard at Detention Center Number Ninety Seven on Venom and claims that James McCloud was killed by Marshal Koates, not Andross."
"Point being," Farnham put in, "We feel that Mr. McCloud has allowed his personal feelings to cloud his judgment, to the detriment of the Cornerian Republic. Any light you can shed on this would be of great help."
His patience exhausted, Arthur leaned forward and laced his fingers.
"I see," the Labrador Retriever huffed, "Well Senators, let me put this to you in plain Basic. If you want my help in smearing the reputation of my late friend's son, you're not going to get it."
Arthur felt a twinge of satisfaction when both Farnham and Thompson stared agape at him, neither clearly expecting that outcome.
Regaining her composure, Farnham asked, "Director, have you heard from your goddaughter lately?"
Ignoring the feline's barb, Arthur replied, "No. She didn't exactly leave a forwarding address."
Farnham raised an eyebrow.
"Well, I believe our business here is finished."
"Yes," Thompson added, "We'll see ourselves out."
After both of them had left, Arthur leaned back in his chair and massaged his forehead.
"Damn politicians. I don't know how Pepper does it."
Opening the drawer, the canine took out the disk and plugged it into a data pad. The image it showed made his blood boil.
Staring back at Arthur was a barracuda in a white lab coat and monocle.
"Lasch."
Zoness
His surroundings were a blur, but that hardly mattered. For in front of him, the armadillo who was now the most wanted man in the Lylat system had an arm wrapped around his love's throat and a blaster pointed at her temple.
"Let her go, Koates," Wolf growled while leveling a blaster of his own at the armadillo
The Venomian Marshal snorted.
"You're in no position to make demands, O'Donnell."
Wolf exchanged a glance with Carmen, and to his shock found himself setting his weapon down and raising his hands.
"How bout a trade, Marshal?" Wolf said, seemingly no longer in control of his voice, "My life for hers. I don't care if you kill me, I just want her to live."
"Kill you?" Marshal Koates said with an incredulous look before letting out a chuckle.
"Why would I kill you when I can keep on tormenting you, outlaw whelp?"
Carmen finally spoke up.
"Wolf, I…."
A blaster screeched, and Wolf's eye shot open.
Breathing heavily, the lupine took stock of his surroundings and remembered that he was back in him and Carmen's quarters within Star Wolf's island hideout.
Wolf's breaths slowed as a pair of sandy brown arms circled around his chest and the love of his life layed her head on his shoulder.
"Let me guess, the one where he kills me," the dingo whispered.
"Yeah," Wolf replied.
Carmen sighed and then nuzzled into Wolf's neck.
"As if I would ever let that happen."
"Take it from me, honey. Want does not get."
"Really?" Carmen purred in a sultry tone.
A corner of Wolf's mouth turned up in a grin as Carmen started reaching down between his legs.
"A little frisky this morning, are we?"
Later
Breakfast involved the usual banter between the four members of Star Wolf. They were just about to check the bounty lists when there was a series of chirps emitting from a cabinet under the old mess hall's sink.
"I thought that your godfather only called when it was really important," Wolf remarked.
"Well, this must be really important," Carmen replied as she gathered up everyone's dirty dishes.
After depositing them in the dishwasher, Carmen opened the cabinet and reached in, pulling out her old ESB-issue communicator.
"What does it say?" Leon asked after Carmen opened the device.
"The message has to decrypt," replied the dingo.
Carmen's brown eyes moved across the screen as the seemingly jumbled text rearranged itself into coherent sentences. She was taken aback by the last portion, something that was not lost on her teammates.
"Everything alright?" Panther asked with a hint of concern.
"Yeah. Everything's fine," Carmen stammered.
It did not convince her wingmates. Wolf turned towards Leon and Panther.
"Give us a minute," he said in a tone that brooked no argument.
The chameleon and the jungle cat both got up and left the mess hall while Wolf kept his one-eyed gaze on his girlfriend.
Once the two of them were alone, the lupine said, "Carmen, I haven't known you long. But I can tell when things are not fine."
Carmen didn't reply, but simply turned around and gripped the edges of the counter behind her. For his part, Wolf stood up and walked behind the dingo, wrapping his arms around her waist.
"Honey," he whispered into her ear, "I can't help you if you don't talk to me."
Carmen let out a sigh.
"You know Derek, my foster brother?"
"Yeah."
Carmen turned around and met Wolf's gaze.
"He's re-enlisted in the Army."
Wolf nodded solemnly. A lot of Lylat War veterans had flocked back to the CDF after the events on Kew became known to the rest of the system.
"And his wife is pregnant," Carmen added.
"Well that's great, you'll be an aunt. You…."
Wolf quickly stopped himself as he remembered why Carmen sometimes woke up in the middle of the night screaming and sobbing.
"I'm sorry," he said while pulling her into a hug.
"It's okay."
Pulling away, Carmen met Wolf's gaze.
"That's not the only thing I'm thinking about. I've been thinking about you and me."
The lupine raised an eyebrow.
"You and me?"
Carmen nodded as she thought about what to say next.
"Yeah, you and me in the future. I mean, I want a home and a family, but I also know that those are foreign concepts to you. This life is all that you know."
Wolf didn't respond. Carmen was afraid of what he might do, and was reassured when he set a hand on her shoulder.
"There's something you need to see," the lupine said before dragging a crate over to the counter.
Standing on top of it, Wolf felt around above the cabinets before retrieving a memory unit.
"My uncle gave this to me when I turned fourteen."
Carmen followed her boyfriend back to the mess hall's holotable and watched as Wolf plugged the unit in.
The image that was displayed showed three wolves, two males and one female. Sleeping in the arms of the grey-furred woman, who Carmen knew to be Wolf's mother Myrna, was the baby who would become known as the Scourge of Lylat. Next to her was his father Damian, a white-furred lupine who had the same violet eyes as his son.
Last, but not least, standing off to the side was a black-furred lupine who also had violet eyes. This man was Wolf's uncle Michael, who had raised Wolf after his parents were killed in a raid by the Katinese Planetary Guard. A raid that had been led by one Kalman Ferenc Koates.
Carmen initially thought of how cute Wolf looked as a baby, but that was tempered by the realization that this was probably the only picture he had of his family. The dingo was in much the same boat, having carried a photo of herself with her husband and son during those lonely three years on Kew.
After discovering Richard's deception and then putting an end to him, Carmen had scanned the photo into a computer and erased Richard from it the first chance she got. She had even made a point of burning the original copy.
It still hadn't helped ease her pain, for Carmen could still remember Richard in the picture, just like she still saw him in her dreams.
The dingo was brought of her musing when Wolf loaded a video recording.
"Uncle Mike told me to only watch this if I found someone special. Needless to say, I finally did watch it, a couple of months after we got here."
Wolf hit play, bringing up an image of his uncle fiddling with the camera.
"Grrrh. Is this damn thing on?"
Seemingly deciding that the camera was on, Michael O'Donnell stepped back and sat down in a chair.
"Wolf, if you're watching this, then you've found her. The woman that you want to spend the rest of your life with. If I'm not there to see it, then I'm sorry. But, when your number's up, your number's up."
The black wolf paused and glanced around the room.
"I know you think that all that talk of settling in the Blaine Valley is a pipe dream, but it isn't. If I could get our names cleared, I'd take us there in a heartbeat."
There was another, much longer pause.
"Wolf, if there's any member of this family who can break away from being an outlaw, it's you. I don't tell you this enough, kid, but you're stronger and smarter than I could ever hope to be. I'm sure your parents would be proud if you finally managed to settle down. I know I will be."
The recording ended, and Wolf faced Carmen.
"I'm not gonna lie, Carm. Settling down would be a big adjustment for me. But we could make it work."
Smiling, Carmen hugged her boyfriend.
"Thank you, Wolf."
After they parted, Wolf crossed his arms.
"I hope an opportunity to get pardoned comes along sooner rather than later," he said, "I'm thirty two now, and you're gonna be thirty three in a couple of months. We're not exactly getting younger."
Carmen held up her communicator.
"I think we may have one."
A short time later, Leon and Panther came back in and the Star Wolf team gathered around the holotable, gazing upon the image of a monocle-wearing barracuda.
"Doctor Dieter Eberhard Lasch," Carmen explained, "One of Andross' closest colleagues, and as Beltino Toad put it, a malignant narcissist and a degenerate prodigy."
Carmen played a video file from the Barton Trials that had taken place in the years after the Lylat War. Lasch was in a prisoner's box, gesturing madly.
"Nein, nein, nein! Andross made me do it, Andross….."
Carmen paused, unable to take any more of Lasch's guttural accent. Panther shook his head at the spectacle.
"This would be funny if it wasn't so pathetic," he said.
"Pathetic or not, it worked," Carmen replied, "The prosecution wanted the death penalty and the judges ended up giving him life under house arrest."
The dingo glanced around at the group.
"About five years ago, somebody sprang Lasch from custody. I was assigned to investigate the matter. That's what put me on Koates' trail and, well, you guys know the rest."
"Makes sense that Koates would want that egghead on his team," Leon mused, "Lasch was a big player in Venom's bioweapons program."
"Which makes me wonder what he's up to now," Wolf put in.
Carmen switched the projection to an image of the planet Fortuna.
"According to one of Dad's shadow operatives, as in the ones the government's not supposed to know about, Lasch and a team of Venomian Spec Ops have been dispatched to Fortuna."
"For what?" Wolf asked.
"Not sure," Carmen replied, "But I have a couple of theories. First; He may be trying to create a chemical weapon from some of the more poisonous plant life."
The dingo's expression turned more serious.
"More likely, given his history with bioweapons, I think Lasch may have found a way to unpetrify the ancient residents of Fortuna."
The blank looks from her teammates reminded Carmen that she was the only member of Star Wolf with a post-secondary education. Panther had dropped out in the tenth grade, while Wolf and Leon had no formal schooling whatsoever.
"Okay," the wild dog explained, "Fortuna was once inhabited by prehistoric creatures, before a cataclysmic event rendered most of them extinct and the rest petrified. Matter of fact, before Sauria was discovered, people used to call Fortuna the Dinosaur Planet."
Carmen switched the view to a diagram of strange-looking creatures, including what appeared to be a bipedal dragon with two heads.
"Even if Lasch can't unpetrify them, he can still get DNA samples. I really don't want to find out what the Venomians plan to do with those."
Wolf cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.
"Alright guys, here's the plan. We're going to Fortuna and grabbing Lasch. With any luck, Corneria will pay handsomely for him. Hell, we might even be able to get a pardon."
"Do we have an idea as to where Lasch and his team landed on the planet?" Leon asked.
Carmen nodded and switched back to the view of Fortuna, zooming in on an area in the southern hemisphere.
"This is roughly where they made planet fall."
Wolf nodded.
"Then mount up. And pack tropical."
"Boss," Leon chided, "I'm cold blooded, I'll be fine."
Indeed, while Leon retained his dark purple flight suit, Wolf, Carmen, and Panther left the mess hall and changed into surplus Zonessian military uniforms that had been 'liberated' from a storehouse.
From there, the four of them walked to the hangar and climbed into their Wolfens. Taking off, the Star Wolf team boosted out of their island hideout and climbed out of Zoness' atmosphere, en route to their next mission.
Fortunan orbit
The four Wolfens dropped out of hyperspace above the jungle planet. Wolf checked the data Arthur had sent them and then set a waypoint on his console, sending it to the others.
"Alright team, let's go fishing."
The quartet of black and crimson fighters began their descent into Fortuna's atmosphere, their pilots soon getting a look at the jungle canopy.
Descending lower, Star Wolf flew over the jungle until they found a clearing that was big enough to fit all of their ships. After landing, the outlaws went about camouflaging their Wolfens.
"Let's move," Wolf ordered.
Leon took point while Wolf and Carmen covered their flanks and Panther watched the rear. After a time, the chameleon spotted some foliage that had clearly been cut along with footprints.
"We're on their trail. Stay sharp," whispered the chameleon.
The quartet continued to advance through the jungle until they came upon a clearing, their mouths falling agape at the sight of the broken trees.
"What could've done this?" Panther gasped.
The group advanced into the newly formed clearing, now on high alert. They soon came upon a series of depressions in the muddy ground, depressions that were soon revealed to be a footprint. And a massive one at that.
Walking around and seeing the outline of the print, Carmen quickly compared it to the data on her wristcom.
"Well Panther," the dingo said, "To answer your question, Monarch Dodora did this."
Seeing the jungle cat's confused look, Carmen brought up an image on her wristcom of the same two-headed beast from the briefing.
"Cornerian paleontologists gave the creature that name after an ancient god. And also because it's the largest of the petrified creatures," the dingo explained.
"Well, it looks like you were right," Wolf said, "Lasch found a way to unpetrify the beasts."
"We should get back into the jungle. We're exposed out here," Leon interjected.
Wolf nodded in agreement and the quartet moved back into the foliage, soon getting back on the trail of the Venomian scientist and his commando escort.
The trek passed uneventfully until the quartet felt a faint tremor. Looking down at a puddle in the mud, Wolf saw the water ripple as he felt another tremor.
Signaling for the others to stay quiet, the lupine strained his ears. There weren't any more tremors, but another sound was in the air.
Wing beats. And they sounded big too.
Suddenly, a large shadow passed over Solar and hit the ground with a tremor that knocked the Star Wolf team to the ground.
Wolf quickly sat up and observed not one, but two reptilian heads and long necks poke above the treeline. Two pairs of red eyes narrowed as the beast known as Monarch Dodora set his sights on the quartet.
"Hold still," Wolf hissed, "Maybe it won't see us."
A pair of deafening roars and thundering footfalls quickly proved the lupine wrong. Wolf quickly snatched up his carbine and started to bolt, his teammates doing the same.
As the tremors and sounds of snapping trees got closer to the group, Leon exclaimed, "Boss, we need to get back to the ships!"
"Are you kidding?!" Carmen put in, "The rate that thing's moving, it'll crush us before we get airborne!"
Panther spotted a depression in the ground and signaled the others towards it. After diving in, the members waited with dread as Monarch Dodora stomped past, oblivious to the fact that his prey had taken shelter.
As the outlaws waited for the tremors to recede, Wolf weighed their options.
"Carmen's right," he finally said, "We can't risk that thing crushing our Wolfens."
"Boss," Leon protested, "We've lost him."
Wolf shook his head.
"No guarantee that he won't pick us up again."
The lupine then turned to Carmen.
"Any idea how to beat this thing?"
The dingo typed on her wristcom.
"Well, if this is anything to go off of, the paleontologists theorized that the scales on Dodora's tail weren't as thick as the rest of his body."
"Then that's what we'll do. Go for the tail," Wolf said as he opened his backpack.
"Guys, give me all your explosives. I've got an idea."
After his teammates complied, the lupine used some surgical tape to bind the grenades and satchel charges together and then applied some duct sealer on the bottom of his improvised bomb.
"It's a long shot, but we don't have much choice," Wolf remarked as he stood up from their hiding spot, the others soon following.
The four outlaws advanced through the jungle, ears straining to hear the sounds of Monarch Dodora's footfalls. After a time, they felt tremors, which soon became more intense.
"Brace yourselves," Wolf said as the tremors stopped and wing beats took their place.
Monarch Dodora landed nearby, but Star Wolf was ready this time and greeted the ancient beast with lasers.
While Leon, Panther, and Carmen kept up fire on Monarch Dodora, Wolf crept through the foliage, hoping to sneak behind the two-headed dinosaur and plant his improvised bomb on its tail.
That proposition proved easier said than done, for one of Dodora's heads turned towards Wolf's position, its red eyes narrowing and nostrils flaring.
"Shit," the lupine cursed under his breath.
Monarch Dodora meanwhile, reared back one of his heads and spat out a flaming rock in Wolf's direction. Thinking quickly, the wild dog ran to the side and dropped to the ground, covering the bomb with his body, lest a fiery piece of shrapnel set it off and turn him into a red splotch on the leaves.
Monarch Dodora turned around, focused on its new prey, and exposed his tail to the rest of Star Wolf.
Wasting no time, Leon ordered, "Blast it!"
As the laser bolts struck Dodora's vulnerable tail, both his heads reared back and roared in pain. The ancient beast turned back around and flapped his wings at the trio, the strong gusts picking them up and tossing them backwards.
Carmen and Panther landed in a heap in the ferns while Leon was thrown further back and out of their sight. Wolf meanwhile, saw this as his chance to plant the bomb. He got up and charged towards the beast's tail, intending to put the bomb on one of the bony spines sticking out of it.
But yet again, the ancient beast spotted Wolf coming and slapped his tail on the ground, causing the wild dog to stumble and lose his grip on the bomb.
Monarch Dodora once again turned his attention to the lupine and charged towards him. With no time to grab the bomb, Wolf got up and scrambled away.
Carmen stood up and narrowed her eyes at the sight of Dodora chasing Wolf.
"Oh no you don't," the dingo growled as she took off after the ancient beast.
Stopping only to pick up the fallen bomb, Carmen kept up her pursuit of Monarch Dodora, eventually getting alongside his tail. Carmen steeled herself before leaping towards the appendage, managing to grab hold of a spine.
Despite the wind rushing past her, Carmen managed to stick the bomb to the spine and arm it. But before she could let go, Monarch Dodora flicked his tail and sent the dingo flying.
Carmen felt the branches and leaves whipping across her back as she fell into the jungle. She also thought she heard Wolf screaming her name.
Everything went black when she hit the ground.
….
Wolf stole a glance over his shoulder as an explosion sounded and Monarch Dodora let out twin roars of pain. The lupine saw the ancient beast staggering around, his tail now reduced to a bloody stump.
"My God, she did it," he thought.
Monarch Dodora staggered around for a little longer before collapsing to the jungle floor with a massive thud. The beast let out a final wheeze before going still.
"Good riddance," Wolf growled before bringing up his wristcom.
"Carmen, come in."
No response.
"Carmen, do you read me?"
Doing his best to suppress his worry, Wolf decided to try the others.
"Leon, Panther. Anybody there?"
"Right here, Wolf," the wildcat called out as he walked around Monarch Dodora's corpse.
Wolf glanced at his wristcom and saw Carmen's signal, but not Panther's or Leon's. He soon put two and two together when the jungle cat got closer and showed that his com was busted.
Taking a breath and thinking about what to do, Wolf finally said, "Let's find Carmen. Then we'll look for Leon."
As they set off through the jungle, both Wolf and Panther had the same thought.
"Don't be dead, Carm."
The two outlaws pushed through the jungle foliage, intent on finding their lost teammate. Wolf glanced down to check his wristcom and suddenly felt the ground give way beneath him. With a yelp of surprise, the lupine fell into a deep hole, crashing face first into the mud and having the wind knocked out of him.
Panther was about to check on his leader when he heard movement in the bushes and brought up his carbine, only to be interrupted by a voice from behind him.
"No! Don't shoot, Caroso. You're surrounded."
"I know that voice. But from where?"
As Panther dropped his weapon and raised his hands, Wolf pushed himself up onto his knees and caught sight of his wristcom.
"I can't let them find her," the lupine thought as he took the device off and crushed it under his boot.
From up above, just beyond the edge of the hole, a gruff and familiar voice called, "O'Donnell, we've got your pal. So I suggest that you cooperate."
"Don't have much of a choice," Wolf grumbled as he put his now-smashed wristcom back on.
"There's a good fellow. Now throw up your carbine and your blaster."
Muttering profanities under his breath, Wolf picked up his carbine from the mud and threw it up and out of the hole before unholstering his blaster and doing the same with it.
There was a pause before the voice spoke again.
"Throw up your other blaster."
"I don't have another blaster," Wolf lied.
"Well you'd better cough one up, or you and the cat are as good as fried."
"It was worth a try," Wolf mumbled as he reached behind his back and drew a compact blaster.
After the lupine had tossed up his backup weapon, the unseen individual said, "Your knife too, O'Donnell."
Wolf obeyed, reaching into his boot and withdrawing a combat knife, throwing it out of the hole just like his other weapons.
That seemed to satisfy whoever was up there, for a rope was tossed down into the hole. Reluctantly, Wolf grabbed hold and began to climb up the side, a feat not made easy by the mud.
Just as he reached the top, two sets of hands in Venomian jungle fatigues grabbed hold of Wolf and pulled him up before pinning him to the ground. From there, the two commandos wrenched the lupine's arms behind his back and handcuffed him while a third kept him covered with a carbine and three more had a handcuffed Panther at gunpoint.
Wolf waited worriedly as the two Venomians patted him down, hoping they wouldn't find the little contingency plan hidden in his uniform tunic. A wave of relief washed over the wild dog when he heard the words, "He's clean, Major."
The major, a brown-furred jackal, grinned and ordered, "Get em up."
As he and Panther were hauled to their feet, Wolf suddenly came to a realization. The Venomian Major, the same man who had spoken to Wolf when he was in the hole, had been in charge of a warehouse on Kew. The place where the team had first learned of Marshal Koates' survival and where they had first met Carmen.
"Fancy meeting you here," snarked the lupine.
All that seemed to do was attract a wry grin from the jackal, who simply said, "Get moving."
Prodded along by gun barrels, Wolf and Panther were marched through the jungle, eventually coming back to the clearing where Monarch Dodora's corpse lay.
Aside from a few more Venomian commandos, there was also a figure in a loose-fitting green shirt and shorts. He was facing the beast's corpse and shaking his head.
"Such wasted potential," Dieter Lasch sighed before turning around.
Wolf and Panther's captors forced them to their knees as Lasch walked over.
"Good catch, Major Janek," the barracuda crowed.
"All in a day's work, Doctor Lasch," replied the jackal.
Dr. Lasch leared down at the two outlaws and then let out an angered huff when his monocle fogged up. The barracuda reached into a shirt pocket and took out a handkerchief.
After wiping the eye piece off and replacing it, the Venomian scientist tilted his head at the outlaws.
"I don't know what my late colleague saw in you, O'Donnell. I really don't."
Wolf shot a glare at the barracuda.
"Up yours, egghead."
That bought the lupine a backhand from Lasch.
"Know this, gentlemen," Lasch growled, "You almost ruined my experiment. The only reason you are not riddled with lasers right now is that we all have our orders."
The barracuda was interrupted by his wristcom beeping and shared a glance with Major Janek, who turned to his men.
"Stun em."
Two of the commandos guarding Wolf and Panther set their weapons to stun and then fired, dropping the lupine and the wildcat to the jungle floor.
Certain that his captives wouldn't be eavesdropping, Lasch answered the call and was greeted with a hologram of Marshal Koates.
"Doctor Lasch, what is the status of your mission?" the armadillo enquired.
Sparing another glance at the deceased Monarch Dodora, Lasch replied, "I'm afraid that Star Wolf proved more resourceful than we anticipated. But it is of no consequence, Herr Marshal. We have obtained DNA samples from the petrified creatures. With any luck, they will serve as the basis for our new bioweapons program."
Grinning wickedly, Koates turned his gaze on Major Janek.
"Major, have two of your men escort Doctor Lasch back to Astropolis. You and the rest of your squad will take O'Donnell and Caroso to Papetoon and assist with our operation there."
"Sir, yes sir."
A few minutes passed before two shuttles landed in the clearing. Dr. Lasch and two commandos boarded the smaller one while Major Janek and the rest of his squad boarded the larger one, dragging Wolf and Panther's unconscious forms with them.
Unseen by anyone, a camouflaged Leon crawled towards the shuttle and planted a homing beacon on the landing gear before quickly moving back into the jungle.
Leon waited for several minutes after the shuttles took off before deactivating his camouflage generator.
"Now to find the Rookie."
Elsewhere
Everything was sore, especially her head.
Carmen's vision swam as she felt herself being carried. There were voices, but she could not make out what was being said.
The dingo's vision cleared enough for her to make out a lupine tail. She initially assumed that it belonged to her boyfriend, but quickly realized that the fur was brown, not grey.
"What the hell?" was Carmen's last thought before darkness overtook her.
Astropolis
Marshal Koates was within his office, conversing with a hologram of Katinese rebel leader General Alberto Viola while VSS Chairman Larry Barnes stood on the other side of the desk.
"We are almost ready for our push on Atvar, Kalman," said the newt.
"That is very good news, Alberto. Perhaps you will even take the capital this time around," Koates replied.
That comment prompted Viola to raise an eyebrow.
"I've known you a long time, Kalman. There's another angle to this, isn't there?"
A corner of the armadillo's mouth turned up in a grin.
"Alberto, all I can tell you for now is that any which way, your men's sacrifices will not be in vain."
General Viola inclined his head.
"I see. Goodbye for now, Kalman."
"Goodbye, Alberto."
After the hologram shut down, Koates met Barnes' gaze.
"Something to say, Chairman?"
The boa constrictor adjusted his glasses and then clasped his hands behind his back.
"If I may speak plainly, Marshal, we are taking some awful risks. Katina, the Papetoonian operation, and letting Doctor Lasch's mission leak to the ESB chief. I do hope it's all worth it."
Marshal Koates bobbed his head in understanding.
"Alberto may take Atvar, he may not. Robert and Simon may surprise us, though I think we can both agree on the likelihood of that. Clegg may bring us Star Fox's heads in a sack. Whatever happens on their end, they will all have achieved one thing; Sleight of hand."
The armadillo tapped his index finger on the desk.
"While Corneria and her toadies are looking over here..."
Koates moved his finger to the other side of the desk.
"Something will really be happening over there. By the time our enemies realize that, it will be too late."
Barnes gave a small grin.
"Can't make an omelet without breaking some eggs," the snake remarked, prompting a chuckle from Koates.
"No, Chairman. You certainly can't."