MARS4 II - The Scars of War

[AngryFox]

Chapter 1) Awakening

Pain. Darkness.

Funny. When they said his soul was damned for all those sins he committed, he'd figured the place he'd go to would warmer. And it would hurt more. Well. It hurt. But it should hurt more then it did now. This pain was irritating. If he wasn't in that awful place others kept saying he was going, where was he now? It was dark, that was sure. He tried to open his eyes but they just wouldn't. He tried to move his hands but they didn't want to budge either.

Lovely. I lived through that Sky Patrol and I'm crippled. Open, damn you. OPEN.

Golden eyes fluttered open. His body ached and screamed for him to stay where he was, but he refused. They darted around, finding white washed walls and blurry objects that made funny noises with squiggly lines. His head turned, gods it took everything just do to it, but he willed his neck to move. He could see, just on the other side of a glass window, a brown furred blob with green eyes peering in at him, then motioning to someone or something behind the wall.

His eyes failed him again. Cursed things closed just before the light flicked on, and he heard the heavy footfalls of metal on the floor. Who was it?

“Jerry?” at first, the voice sounded familiar. But he had a distinct, vague feeling he should be hearing that voice over his shoulder and not right at his face.

“Jerry can you hear me?” the feminine voice asked again, tentatively.

“C...contr-” he tried to speak her name, the call-sign he knew her by. Control. The mysterious voice that guided him through most of his mission on board that Battleship. He didn't know her real name or who she was physically. Gods he tried to pry open his eyes once more, just to get a glimpse of her. He manged a brief glance before his eye shut again and refused to open. He was panting hard.

“Jerry, stay still, don't move, you've been out for a long time, you were hurt bad,” she spoke, but Jerry just refused to do so. He could feel himself moving, he was forcing his legs and arms to work, test his finger tips. They moved, but they were stiff, sore, “We had to sedate you when we got you in here you nearly took MARS2's arm off,”

“He could never keep still in a Hospital,” said another voice. I know that voice! “Sa...Sa...” he tried to say Sarge, as in Sargent Wade. Wade was alive?! He was truly, honestly alive?! Yes! He remembered! “We can sedate him again and call for Aila, it would be best that way,”

“N....no...f...fine,” he managed, trying to open his eyes again. He could barely make out Control's shape. She was female alright, and those eyes, gods those eyes were inspiring! “I...I see...c..c...” he couldn't form words. Struggling, he finally forced out. “Thirsty...” before relaxing again on the bed.

“Yes, you would be, I suggest you call Mags and tell her the good news, she can pass it on to MARS2 and 3, then go back to your lofty perch on high,” Wade spoke, apparently dismissing Control. Jerry managed to get an eye open to see her shape run half way through the room before his view dimmed again, he never heard the door open.

“Wa..Wade,” he said, panting again.

“Yes my boy?” came the question, and Jerry thought he could feel a cold hand clasps his. It was odd, but it was comforting. “Co...control,” the Fox stuttered, forcing a smile on his lips, “S...she has pretty eyes...yeah?...”

Jerry heard Wade's laughter, loud and rich, just as he remembered it during those long nights on the front line as he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

It was a nightmare that woke him again. He sat abruptly, though regretted it soon after with a dull, deep ache through his whole body. The nightmare was one of many he has had, though he honestly hadn't had any in the last few weeks since his enlistment into MARS. This time around, it was of the last mission he ever participated in the Great War.

It was also the last time he had his original fur color. He inspected his arms for a moment, checking his fur in the soft light. When it happened, the pain was so bad that he couldn't scream at first, yet that didn't last. Jerry had to be sedated for days, and they weren't even sure if he'd ever be able to have fur again. It took weeks for the fur and hair to grow back, but he was never the same color as he was before that mission. Now it was red, blood red, his hair a shade darker brown, there was no hope of it coming back. The burning sensation, the pain, for the briefest of moments, he had felt it, it was what woke him.

Jerry collected his thoughts before he started to peel off the sensors from his body. Some of the machines he had been hooked up to made sharp beeping noises then a long one that was quickly irritating him. The clanking of metal feet on the floor had Jerry's ears perk. The light turned on and revealed a silver robot that resembled a duck, shortly after, the beeping noises stopped. The Fox's first instinct was to growl low and threateningly, but he soon realized who he was staring at, and relaxed.

“I'm getting up,”

“You've been out for a month,” the metal duck spoke. Its bill didn't move, but he noted that there was a flash across a screen that lined the edge of where his 'lips' would have been. Jerry's ears flicked, and he again inspected himself. “That long?” he asked. He smacked his lips, his eyes settling down on a glass of water on a nightstand nearby. Jerry picked it up, taking a sip before regarding Wade once more. “How did I survive?”

“MARS2 and 3 managed to catch you before you hit the ground, they crashed soon after, but kept you alive with what they had,” the duck continued to speak, keeping a healthy distance away from the gown covered fox. “We had to contact outside help so Aila could put you back together, but it was those two who saved you,” it continued, “You will thank them both, Jeebs deserves it especially, when, of course, he returns from his current affairs,”

“He has it,” Jerry replied without hesitation, drinking deep from the water before putting it aside, Jeebs was a SWATbot, though he had a Generation Two chassis. The Mobian made machine had a vastly superior software, and a sense of humor, which made up for the fact that he was a SWATbot.

“You made him Wade, I didn't like him at first, but I can respect him,”

Wade was the metal duck. Until recently he had been flesh and blood with brown feathers that had started to gray out. He had failed a mission and died. His remains and brain were used to make a Cyborg by an AI version of Julian Kintobor, otherwise known as Doctor Ivo Robotnik. Somehow, Wade's conciseness became digital and he accidentally sent himself to the MARS Command room while Jerry was fighting for his life against the Horrific Cyborg.

Jerry looked over Wade after finishing his water, and stubbornly put his feet on the floor. At first, his legs didn't want to support his weight, but he willed them to move as he stumbled some towards Wade. The Robotic Duck's face was unreadable, his body was ornate and he even wore the same unbutton shirt Wade loved to wear when not on duty. He also had his head wrapped in an aged, black bandana, hiding a shiny dome. When he was close, Jerry put his hand on his former Sergeant’s shoulder, looked him over, then snorted some as he shifted to a chair near him. “Your getting better looking with Age, Sarge,”

Wade chuckled, the sound alien to Jerry with that odd technological 'lisp', yet the Fox genuinely smiled up at his former leader. “Robian?” Jerry asked, casually wrapping his knuckles on Wade's arm. “No, SWATbot made, though if I made Jeebs, and Jeebs made me, does that mean I made myself by proxy I wonder?” he asked himself more than Jerry.

“Yeah, you haven't changed,”

Wade looked to him with those empty, glowing eyes, if he could raise a brow, Jerry imagined he would. “I am not a fool JT,” the duck stated, “I don't like what has become of me or what has happened to my body, granted this is the most fascinating experience in my life,” he summarized, talking rapidly....just as he would if he had been flesh and blood. “But, I am no fool, for all intents and purposes, the Wade you knew is very much dead, I have no idea what I am now,”

There was an awkward moment of silence before Wade proceeded, “Well, that is somewhat untrue, I am MARS Zero now, I am responsible in keeping the Armory up to spec and running this base” he folded his robotic arms behind him as he regarded Jerry, “Mags took over my slot as MARS1,” he announced, “And your new Field Commander if Control cannot contact you,”

Jerry frowned, but slowly nodded. It took him a moment more before he realized that the feminine voice hadn't chimed in or made herself known. “Speaking of which, are you there?” the fox asked, looking around the room.

“She's busy, she will be here later, and when you are up to it, you will report to me in my office,” Wade noted, “I have things to discuss, official things so we can get your status as a MARS out of the way,”

“Status?” Jerry frowned deepened. “I am MARS4,”

“Not until I approve you,” Wade remarked sharply, and Jerry's ears flattened to his skull, his expression deadened to an emotionless state that matched Wade's metallic face. There was another awkward pause, and Wade slowly shook his head. “Fate is fickle, but rewarding,” the Duck commented, “Yes you are MARS4, for now, but after what you've been through?”

Jerry remained silent.

“Yes, when you are able, come see me in my office,” Wade said after length, and headed out right then and there.

Jerry kept his seat, and stared after him in silence, unsure of what was going on. Why was Wade angry at him? What did he do?

[AngryFox]

Chapter 2) Unwanted

“I am disappointed in you Control,” Wade spoke. But it didn't come from his body.

He was in his office, a massive garage next to the armory. It was where he made the equipment for the MARS program. It had been sealed away when he 'died', but since he was now up and about, he had reopened the garage and resumed tinkering with new weapon systems and technologies.

“How so?” asked the omnipresent voice of Control, a secretive being who had kept her identity masked by interacting with the Program with just her voice. She provides MARS with in the field intelligence and observation through a network of satellites, scanners, and an uncanny ability to hack whatever she can get a connection too. Control also provides MARS with missions to complete, and though Wade may claim that it was his Program and his Specialists, it was Control who ran the show.

“My people are not expendable,” his voice echoing about the room. He was still getting used to this new ability, and he has found that he can interact with machinery in a ghostly like manner. It felt odd, but freeing all at the same time.

“I know,” she replied. She offered no excuses, Wade knew them, and he also knew that Control was distracted.

“If you had asked him,” Wade continued, now settling into his body. He moved his arms first, then his eyes blinked on, “He would have done it simply because it was the right thing to do, on top of the fact that the possibility that a Kintobor was involved,” he noted, his beak lighting up as he spoke.

“Telling him that he was expendable appealed to him Wade, I needed him, he didn't look or sound the sort to do the job because it was the right thing,” Control replied evenly.

The Duck chuckled softly, “No need to be offended dear, if you look hard enough beneath the tarnish of his, there is a Knight somewhere in there,”

“A Knight?” Control asked, “Not an Assassin?”

The response Wade gave immediately had been unintentional. The screens that had statistics on different weapons and new armor blanked out, replaced immediately with the word 'NO!' The lights died out, the automatic assembly shut down, and the door leading into the armory slammed shut. Wade found himself staring up at the ceiling, silent as he tried to contemplate a response, unaware of what he had just done.

“An Assassin?” he finally asked. “My word Control, whatever lead you to such an idea should be forgotten,” came a rather fatherly tone, and in the same manner, he added, “...and deleted or destroyed, am I absolutely clear?” he asked, now turning around to regard the statistics that were now playing themselves up on the screen once more.

Control's response was “I see,” though she added in a genuine warning, “Your wife has been looking for your Military Record, your real one,”

Wade nodded, “Let me handle my wife, and you,” he said, shaking a metal digit over his head, “You keep your assumptions and your accusations to yourself young lady, there was and never shall be Assassins associated with Acorn, we were Scouts, the Records lost when Kintobor took the Capital, I imagine they are gone forever,”

He stopped a moment, glancing back towards the door, “As for Jerry, there is nothing you should worry over with him, he will stay if given the choice,”

“I need to apolog-,” Control begun but Wade interrupted her in mid sentence. “He will not accept an apology,”

“May I ask why?”

“He is quite taken by your eyes,” the Duck chuckled.

And as if he was summoned, the Fox limped into Wade's office. He used a cane, he wore a Royal Guard of Acorn's Uniformed, clean and pressed, medals hanging off his left breast. He also had his father's sword belted to his hip. His hair, dark brown and limp, simply hung about his face, his muzzle poking through giving him some viability to where he was going, but not completely. The Fox stopped a respectful distance from Wade, placing the cane in front of him to lean on it.

Jerry's ears were also folded against his head, his eyes focused squarely on Wade. He was being cautious. “Forgive me if I don't stand at Attention, Zero,” he spoke formerly. The metal duck waved that off, standing up to approach the Fox.

“No no, I'm sorry about before my boy,” Wade spoke, removing the bandana from his head. “Here, this belongs to you I think, no point for me to wear it,” he emphasized by tapping his own metal head.

Jerry took it, shifted the cane so he could lean against it, and affixed the bandana to his own head to get the hair out of his eyes. “I will not understand how you can keep your hair like that, though I suppose its shorter then before,” Wade noted, “Your fur is also starting to even out again I see, good good,” the duck continued, moving away again as Jerry once more placing his hands on his cane.

“What did I do to upset you?”

Wade stopped for a moment, partially turning around. For a moment, he was shocked. Jerry didn't swear at him. The Fox was demonstrating his best behavior it seemed. “Yes, your status, I am quite upset my boy, that you were recruited,” the duck stated, “When I questioned Control about why I should keep the staff minimal, I had no intention of asking for you, or any of the others from our little group as it where,” as the metal duck spoke, he placed a hand behind his back, then started rubbing self-consciously beneath his chin. “I did not want us to practice our old habits, we do not do that anymore,”

“I understand that the need had been desperate, but understand three things JT,” Wade faced Jerry again, folding his arms over his chest, “MARS are not Expendable, we are here for the entire Mobian World, Humans and Overlanders included, and we do not practice tactics we had mastered during the Great War,”

Jerry showed no reaction, mentally he was disgusted that Humans and Overlanders were even mentioned. He hated them, Overlanders for the horrors they had inflicted, and the Humans because they looked just like them. But he said nothing as his former Squad Leader, and now current superior spoke.

“If you can stomach knowing that sooner or later, you will interact with a Human being or an Overlander in a non-hostile manner,” Wade had continued on, sitting back in a leather chair that looked comfortable, but the duck no longer needed such comforts. “I will consider re-activating you as MARS4, its time to Forgive and Forget”

The Fox shifted some, his face twitched as he processed his thoughts. “Forgive them for every village they burned, every child they orphaned, every life they snuffed out without mercy?” Jerry let the question linger for a moment before he snorted in contempt, “I will never forgive them for that, did you?”

The Duck shifted in that seat, and slowly nodded, “No, I did not,” he said after length, “But it was not all Overlanders and Humans JT, you can hold them all accountable,”

“Fine,” Jerry growled, “But don't expect me to hold their hands or make nice,”

“Fair enough,” Wade nodded again, “Now, on the subject of forgiveness,”

The fur on Jerry's body stood on end, assuming he knew exactly where this was going, “I will never forgive Prower,” he said with such intensity he had spittle drip from his lip. The reaction provided an awkward silence that lasted a very long time.

Wade broke it with a dismissive wave, “I am not a fan of this Republic either JT, I was speaking more about Lukus,”

Jerry relaxed, frowning darkly at the name of one of his oldest and closest friends. That friendship was questionable now, as far as Jerry was concerned, when Lukus and others in the Barracks attempted to subdue him and keep him from getting to the throne room to aid the King. They failed to stop him, but they did slow him down and keep him from sinking a sword into Amadeus Prower before the truce had been called. The last time he had seen Lukus, they had bandaged his face.

He had nearly lost an eye to one of Jerry's swords.

“He is up in the Bar, running it for me, he arrived two weeks ago,” Wade noted, “He brought his family here, wife, child, his things,” the duck gestured towards Jerry, “And yours, on that old Hover-Cycle. Elizabeth, I might add,”

Jerry perked considerably. Mostly because it was his Hover-Cycle Wade had mentioned. Jerry really loved that thing. “Lukus was on your side Jerry,” Wade explained, “They had orders to stand down from the Princess, and you defied those orders and assaulted, injured and incapacitated nine Guards, including Lukus to try to interfere where you were not wanted,”

“If they were loyal-,” Jerry started to argue, again growling.

“Your blind rage is exactly why I didn't want you here in this program boy,” Wade snapped, the lights dimmed for a moment. When the lights came back on again, Jerry's head had turned to the side, his ears again pressed against his skull, looking shamed at the chastisement. “Your sister disappears, last seen with that Kalm Jakuul boy, and you instantly disown her, Dunlap called your Mother's attempt to help the Soldiers hold the breach foolish on her part, we had to pull you off of him before you strangled him to death,”

Jerry kept silent, he didn't look up as Wade continued to berate him, “...and your own best friend tries to calm you down and prevent you from disobeying a direct order from the Princess of Acorn, the same one, I remind you, you spoiled by sneaking her treats, and you not only ignored her word, but you nearly blinded Lukus!”

The fox looked up, frowning even more than before, “Are we done?”

“No we are not,” Wade huffed, or it sounded like a huff. Jerry wasn't sure, but his ears shifted forward, honestly surprised. The duck was giving more and more reasons why he shouldn't be in the Program. What else did he have to say? “I didn't want you here because I was afraid of what you were capable of doing when your angry, however, Fate has been fickle with me, to our great fortune it seems,” he paused, he didn't need to breath, but Jerry knew he was 'sucking in' air to continue speaking, so kept himself quiet. “Your ruthless efficiency, your inability to back down from a battle, and, finally, your sense of duty and self-sacrifice stopped a major threat from surfacing in Mobius' time of need,”

Jerry straightened, feeling a small sense of pride. He had stopped an AI created by Julian Kintobor and nearly paid for it with his life. Knowing he was successful made him feel this berating worth it.

“You understand that there are no medals I can offer, and no one will ever know of what you have done,”

The words struck a cord in Jerry, and he smiled sadly at them. He had heard them before once, a lifetime ago. His answer was the same, word for word, as it had been then,“I am your Armor, Your Shield, Your weapon, Wield Me,”

“Not my weapon,” Wade spoke, pointing up at the ceiling, “Hers', Control, he is all yours,”

“I have nothing for him currently,” Control spoke, and Jerry fought the urge to turn around. “I do feel he has earned time to recuperate his strength, do you not agree?”

As the metal duck nodded, Jerry shifted on his feet, “Just have someone send me some scotch to my room,”

“Oh no,” his old sergeant said, his voice hinting to a grin Jerry couldn't see. The Fox turned raised a brow at him. “Your not staying here JT, you sir, are going Home,”

“Home?” Jerry asked confused. “My Home is here,”

For some reason, Jerry could imagine Wade smiling broadly.

[AngryFox]

Chapter 3) Lukus Walrus

Jerry was just reaching the elevator when Verlos Swiftwulf pounced him from behind with a hug. He lifted the smaller fox up in his arms as the wolf laughed, “Haha! Your awake!”

“By the Gods!” Jerry griped as he was simply held there in the air.

Verlos hugged the male then set him down, Jerry simply stared at him hard, “You known Wade a heck of a lot longer,” he continued on, but the hug had thrown him somewhat off-balance, and he stumbled against the wall.

Verlos made a move to help but Jerry held him off with his cane, “I'll be fine, thanks, good to see you made it,” the male mumbled.

“It was Jeebs mostly,” Verlos said with a shrug, but Jerry reached over and patted his shoulder, “It was both of you, thanks,” Jerry replied as they both entered the elevator, “I haven't seen the walking tin yet, where is he?” the Fox asked, leaning against the elevator railing as the elevator started to ascend.

“His with Mags,” Verlos explained, “Control detected a power spike a few days ago, and their investigating, I would have done it, but Wade wanted to make sure I could use my bow again,” the wolf continued, holding up his hands for Jerry's inspection.

The Fox inspected them, remembering that Verlos, MARS3 as his known in the Program, went aboard the Battleship in Jerry's previous mission with a broken fore-arm. The wolf was diminutive in comparison to other wolves, but he was still taller then Jerry, and was considerably stronger then he looked.

“Good, hows the wife?” Jerry questioned, the elevator doors opening up to reveal a cramped looking office. The elevator itself had been hidden behind file cases that were far to close to the chair of a desk to be practical. Aila Swiftwulf, Verlos' wife was slightly taller then her Husband and a darker shade of gray. Jerry didn't talk to her much, nor did he see her in the Medical Area of the Base.

They both exited, but Jerry paused in the office to wait for Verlos' reply. “She's fine, she was terrified when you arrived in the state you were in,”

“Yeah, if I don't see her soon tell her thank you for me,”

Jerry then turned towards the office door, which would lead into the Kitchen of Wade's Bar and Grill, then the tavern area itself. “And I'll tear the arm off the next one who Charmy-ing hu-GAH!” as he spoke, he was exiting the office when he was once more enveloped in a mammoth hug, this time from Bron the Bear, an old freedom-fighter turned bartender slash cook of Wade's Bar and Grill.

“It is good to see you friend!” he boomed, Verlos started laughing as Jerry snapped his teeth.

“Put me the Charmy down! Touchy feely fruits the lot of you!” the male twisted and snarled, but Bron ignored him, showing his own appreciation that the MARS agent survived his ordeal.

Jerry was appreciative, but he desperately wanted a drink and a smoke more then he wanted a hug. As he was set down, he adjusted his cane to swat Bron's massive side, “I swear by the Gods I've been up in the air longer now then when I was falling,” he ranted. After another snort, he started for the tavern door again.

A Green Walrus, just as tall as Verlos, heavily scarred with minor dark tan slashes across his bare frame, with a fresh, lighter one streaking down his right eye, stepped into the kitchen just as Jerry came within reach of the door.

Before Jerry could react to the sudden shock of seeing his oldest friend, Lukus Walrus landed a punch right between Jerry's eyes, flattening him against the floor. Bron and Verlos were stunned, and stood a few paces back, looking between Jerry and Lukus.

“Oh what the Charmy,” Jerry shouted up at him.

“Thats for my Charmy-ing eye you bastard,” Lukus shouted down at him. Jerry slowly stood up with some effort, Verlos reaching down to give him a hand up.

“You got to keep it you daft ass,”

“No Charmy-ing thanks to you!”

And this continued on. They yelled at each other, flinging words that neither Bron nor Verlos ever heard before, not even out of Jerry's own lips when he had arrived. They pointed, gestured, shouted angrily, raged, vented. They moved back and forth where they stood, looking ready to come to blows as the Fox and Walrus simply yelled either at the same time, or took turns.

Then Lukus produced a pack of cigarettes, tossing it to Jerry who caught it expectantly. The walrus stood aside and grunted, “Go see your god daughter, and don't you Charmy-ing smoke near her, and don't you Charmy-ing cuss either,”

“Yeah yeah, you big pussy,” the Fox muttered, putting the pack in a pocket as he limped out of the door, Lukus following behind.

Verlos and Bron looked at each other, utterly dumbfounded. “What sort of friendship is that?” the wolf asked, and the Bear shrugged.

This time, Jerry didn't mind the hug so much from the little girl who came squealing “Unca Jay!” as they sailed through the air and clung to the Fox's neck. Jerry stumbled again, but was caught by Lukus and guided towards the counter top.

“Hey Tasha,” Jerry smiled at the pig tailed, blonde haired, blue four year old Walrus. “You been behaving yeah, where's your momma?” he asked, glancing around to see his best friend's wife sitting near the door to an empty Tavern. He raised up his hand holding cane and waved, “Yo Samantha!” he called, and she waved back, “Yo Jerry,”

They didn't like each other too much. Jerry was a 'bad influence' on Lukus supposedly. Despite the fact that it was Lukus who took Jerry under his wing, taught him a brand new language that was considered lude to the ears of all civilized creatures, and got him his first smoke. The Fox didn't care what she thought, but always kept his respectful distance and she kept hers.

Of course, Tasha loved her 'Unca Jay', who normally spoiled the child rotten when he could.

“Here baby girl,” Jerry placed his god-daughter on the counter-top, “You got toys in the middle of the floor yeah?” the Fox asked, “Why don't you go show them to Uncle Veri here,” Jerry said, jabbing Verlos in the stomach as he came up behind the Fox with his cane. “I need to talk to your daddy,”

“Thought we already talked,” Lukus huffed, shifting aside to let Verlos by. The gray wolf rubbed his stomach before Tasha pounced him as well. He gave a startled, if not over exxagerated cry before falling to the ground, pleading mercy from the girl, who giggled at the larger Mobiun's display.

The Fox watched for a moment, then moved around the bar when they were clear, settling down on a stool across from Lukus. “Hey Bron, can I have some stewed fish?” Jerry ordered, putting his cane, his sword belt, and sword on the counter-top.

“Sure comrade, it will be a few minutes,”

When they were gone, Jerry's ears flattened against his bandana swathed skull, “I'm sorry about the eye,” the Fox commented.

“And I'm sorry about Larece,” Lukus responded almost immediately, “So I guess we're even,”

Jerry's ears perked upward and he straightened, “No,”

“Yeah,” Lukus smiled, nodding some more, “She was bad for you, you should have stuck looking for Elizabeth,”

“Not that bad,” Jerry frowned, “Least she got married to that sailor?” he avoided the mention of Elizabeth completely. It was bait. He wasn't going to be baited.

“She's on her third husband,”

Jerry huffed, “She was bad for me,” he extended his hand towards Lukus. “We good?”

Lukus inspected the hand for a moment, “Will you talk to your sister if you come across her back at home?”

Again, Jerry's ears yet again pressed against his skull, “What is it with you people and this 'home?' “ he growled, “Fine,” he rolled those golden eyes.

The Walrus smiled, shook his hand, then put two shot glasses between each other. “Here, Bar's closed for the day, and this is for a special occasion,” he said, producing an old bottle of Scotch.

“Thanks,” Jerry smiled, feeling much better all of a sudden. “So, are you going to join?”

Lukus paused in the pouring, his face pulling into his own thoughtful frown. He stroked one of his tusk, then shook his head, “No, done fighting bro, the Great War, our Last Stand, the Badnik incursions, the Iron Dominion, and then Prower's little Civil War? Yeah, I'm done,” he finished pouring and putting the bottle down on the counter. “I got a girl to think of, you know?”

Jerry nodded, “I understand, besides, I don't think your fat ass could keep up,”

“Managed to deck you didn't I?”

“Yeah yeah, thanks for bringing my stuff with you too, I didn't want to go back to that Barracks,” Jerry downed the alcohol, putting down the shot glass for more. Lukus finished his own and chuckled.

“Believe it or not, I didn't have any intention of coming out here, Horus talked me into it,”

Jerry stiffened at the name. “Horus?” he said in genuine shock. “I haven't seen him since the Stand,” Horus the Hedgehog was one of the members of their 'Scout Force' during the Great War. After Mobians who had been de-robotized, Horus had been presumed one of the many who did not make it over the ten years of Ivo Robotnik's reign.

Again, Lukus chuckled, “I don't think he was robotized, I think he got away, he looks older then I remembered him last,” The Walrus poured them another drink, “He told me you got hurt bad doing something insanely stupid, and I needed to get your stuff when I moved here ready for you when you got better to go home,”

Jerry was growing annoyed with that, and pushed the glass away from him, “Home?” he asked, “You've said it, Wade said it, home where?”

“You don't know then?” Lukus asked, “Jay, your mom's house is still standing in the Dragon Kingdom,”

“What? How does he know its my mother's?” Jerry asked, bewildered. He had a strong urge for a cigarette, and started to pat himself for that pack Lukus gave him.

“Chase is there,”

For the first time in Jerry's life, his mind was too numb to smoke.

[AngryFox]

Chapter 4) Home

Jerry wasn't one for verbal confrontations. He'd prefer to come to blows then to have his emotions toyed with. And now the World was playing with his emotions like a Violin.

Chase Voxholm was his younger sister. She had disappeared shortly before the Siege of Mobotropolis had started during the Great War. Jerry didn't find out she had gone until his mother lay on her deathbed, begging for him to bring her back to her. Jerry had assumed his sister would fight with the defenders, she was a Voxholm, it would have been a matter of family pride. When he looked for her, he discovered she had left the city with the Jakuul Family long before the Overlanders were in mortar range.

The Jakuul and Voxholms had been rivals since the foundation of the Acorn dynasty. Kalm Jakuul and Jerry hated each other just as their fathers, Morten Jakuul and Tyson Voxholm, hated each other. They were both officers of the Royal Guard, serving the King before and during the start of the Great War. Tyson fell at the battle of High-Low Tower defending the King's retreat, wielding Morten's favorite sword.

Morten brought Tyson's prized saber home to his bitter enemies' family, and in tears, declared that the rivalry was over. Shortly after, he bought time for civilians who were fleeing from the Overlander onslaught with his life. They were both two of countless tales of heroism and sacrifice that would be forever forgotten thanks in part, to Ivo Robotnik.

When Jerry discovered his sister and the Jakuul family had left Mobotropolis, the young Fox disowned her and had renewed the old family hatred, though that didn't take much effort either. His mother however, passed away without seeing her daughter one last time.

His mind was so locked up with how he dreaded this new prospect of confronting his sister, he didn't remember stepping off the transport in the field. MARS 1 and 2, Jeebs and Mags, had deposited him within a hundred yards of a cottage squeezed between a brook and a forest. Jerry remembered thanking the red SWATbot for all he had done, exchanged words with Mags, a gray feathered Sparrow and wife to Wade.

Now he was alone in the field, twenty hours away from the Base he had called his home, with two duffel bags of gear, and he didn't even remember stepping off the transport. He poked at the duffels with his cane, unsure of what he had packed or what was brought over from the Barracks. The male had his sword on his hip, but he was pretty sure he wouldn't need it.

Trying to get his mind off the impending battle royal, he popped a cigarette in his mouth and lit it. Inhaling the chemicals, he could feel his nerves calm, and his mind focus on his surroundings. The Dragon Kingdom. It was deep in enemy territory, but the majority of the Iron Dominion Forces were an ocean away.

Control had said something about it being hidden. There was a village and a small stone shrine nearby. There was a fortress within a day's march from it, but there was no sign of Iron Dominion, Dark Legion, or even the Eggman Empire's Pollutants.

The air was clean, the high mountains and crystal clear skies gave the illusion that this was one of the last untouched places of Mobius that had not seen a climatic battle, or even that G.U.N. transport that had set Jerry down.

He hooked the cane on the heaviest duffel bag and hoisted it up over his shoulder, then half dragged and carried the other to the door of the cottage. There was no smoke from the stone chimney, but from the thatched roof to the stone fence told him that someone had taken good care of this place. The blood-red Mobian stopped on the other side of the fence to regard the small yard, spotting a small pile of wood for winter, a chopping block and an ax. There was a creak from the wooden door, and Jerry dropped the bags and put a hand on his sword.

“Who are you?” asked a tall, pale orange Vixen wearing loose-fitting sparring cloths. Jerry eyed her and gawked, the cigarette falling from his mouth, “I have no time to entertain guests or fools, I am expecting family, speak your peace and begone,” the Vixen continued, her blue-green eyes were judging him like a predator would prey.

“Chase?” Jerry asked, looking down to her bare feet to her shoulders. The Vixen was taller then Verlos, and he could make out the powerful muscles in her bare arms. He barely recognized his baby sister, who had a long scar beneath her eye and was missing most of her left ear. She looked battle hardened, tough, and not at all like the prissy twelve year old girl who loved to wear dresses and smell the flowers.

When he spoke her name, the vixen eyed the him from head to toe, slowly, her face reverting from a hostile one, to recognition. “It can't be,” she said softly. “Jerry?” she asked, putting her hand over her mouth, “Oh by the Gods, what has happened to your fur?”

“My question first,” Jerry stated, overcoming his own surprise rapidly, “Why weren't you at the walls with Mother?”

The question was just as shocking as Jerry's appearance. The last time Chase had seen Jerry, he was a darker color of orange then her, his fur two toned just like hers and almost every other Mobian in existence. She recognized his eyes, and his voice. The question however, wasn't something she had expected. “Mother sent me away with the Jackuuls before the Overlanders arrived,” she explained, “I tried to go back, but then Robotnik...” she trailed off.

“Mother asked for you before she left us,” Jerry growled.

“She nearly died of grief when father fell at High-Low, where were you then?” she shot back calmly, her expression becoming as cold as her brother's.

Both of their ears were pressed against their scalps as they regarded each other.

“I was fourteen Jerry, what did you expect me to do?” she finally asked.

“Died fighting like a Voxholm,” he returned.

“I may have, but Mother gave me to the Jackuuls' for safe keeping, they had to drag me away Jerry,” she flicked the missing ear, “I did put up a fierce fight,”

“And the scar there?” Jerry asked, dragging a finger over his own face to trace the path of the long scar across her face. She touched it, her expression becoming vacant, haunted.

“What happened to your fur?” she asked, avoiding the question completely.

Jerry looked at his hand, then grabbed the duffel bag next to him, “A bad bath,” he finally answered. “May I come inside?” he asked, “My legs are killing me,”

“It is your Home brother,” Chase said, suddenly looking happy that they had gotten off the subject of the past. She approached him, taking up both of the heavy duffels without effort and carried them inside, “Packed light?” she asked.

Jerry blinked at the ease she had handled the bags and frowned, “I can't be that out of shape, can I?” he asked himself, limping in behind her.

As he entered, he was assaulted with the familiar smell that nearly drove him to tears. His mother's perfume, he had never forgotten it. He stood in the door way, dousing the cig immediately in order to preserve that scent. “So you smoke now?” Chase asked, putting the bags on a clean table in the main room.

Jerry didn't answer. His eyes shifted slowly from one wall to another. Items that once belonged to his mother, Edwina Nae Voxholm, and her parents were everywhere. To know that she had touched them made Jerry extremely uncomfortable, but in awe at the same time. Jerry grew weak in the knees, weaker then he already had been. He stumbled to a chair, which had been offered quickly by his sister.

“What happened to you?” she asked, “Horus said you were in bad shape, not bad enough to walk,”

There was that allusive Hedgehog again. How much did he know and where he has been was starting to annoy Jerry. He glanced up to Chase and shook his head, “I wrecked a Hover-Cycle,” he lied. With her asking questions, she must not have known he was apart of the MARS Program, which in itself was secret.

“A Hover-Cycle?” she asked, huffing some as she moved pull a chair over herself. “You weren't doing something foolish again where you? Like sky-diving unto a mountainside and scaring the Gods out of woodland folk tearing through their properties have you?” she asked, raising a brow at her brother.

Jerry reflectively smiled. Typically Mobians before the Great War were more interested in arts and farming then War. Then came the Golden Age, ironically brought on about Nate Morgan, a Overlander, before Jerry's time. Mobotropolis had been built, and it became easier and easier to do menial tasks. The Mobians begun to find ways to entertain themselves with their increased free time.

Tyson had gotten his boys Hover-sleds when they were younger, and Jerry eventually became a terror on a custom built Hover-Cycle he had won in a fight. It had been taken away from him after his Father discovered that Jerry was bullying other students at the Academy. Even the painful memory and embarrassment of that public humiliation Tyson had inflicted on his son didn't dampen that smile.

Jerry had deserved it.

“Yeah, something like that,” the Fox spoke, looking over to his sister again. “Why didn't you return and make me feel like an ass sooner?” he questioned, leaning against the chair.

“Responsibilities to the local village,” Chase gestured towards the door, “Apparently I'm their best fighter, so I teach them to defend themselves,” she smiled.

“Best fighter huh?” he asked, “So you stay here?”

“No no,” she shook her head, looking around the cottage. “I have a place in the Village, its less then a mile into the forest, up the trail a ways,” she point towards a window at the rear of the cottage. “You are more then welcome to visit me there as long as I can visit you here,”

Jerry was still skeptical that she tried her all to return when her family needed her the most. Still, the smell of his Mother's Perfume, the peace around him, added to the fact that she seem to be a veteran of her own battles, the Fox was unsure what to think. He had disowned her for years, passionately even, and now here she is, nothing like he had suspected her to be.

“Sure, why not?” he shrugged, “I'd like to see some of your students if you don't mind, see if I can reverse some of the damage,”

Chase laughed sharply, “Oh yeah, I seem to recall that I could beat you,”

“Slip up just one time,” Jerry started, rolling his eyes some. They laughed with each other. It was almost like they were home again, before everything.

Before the Scars.

[AngryFox]

Chapter 5) Typical Trouble in Paradise.

Jerry didn't remember packing half of the things he was pulling of the duffels. In fact, he was sure that all he had stuffed into a bag was a few sweaters, some spare socks and a cleaning kit for his father's sword. What was laying out on his bed he was sure someone else had packed for him. He wondered vaguely how far in shock he was about hearing that his sister would be here.

He had an SAS-G, the Sally Acorn Special. It was a fire-arm with an under-slung grenade launcher designed by Wade to be used by the MAR Specialists. There was enough ammunition for a load out on a vest, and extra. The green vest which was immediately pulled after the rifle, had a layer of metal that reflected the laser weapons favored by the enemies of a Free Mobius, as well as a few who just liked blasting things with lasers. There was enough of the armor to have a medium suit, but he started throwing the arm and leg guards away, preferring the lack of restriction give to him by simply wearing the 'breastplate'.

There was also a Falchion, Wade's old favorite weapon with a note saying that Jerry would have more use of it then he did. The weapon was almost indestructible, the only damage was a slightly melted ball at the end of the handle, and that was always been there since Jerry had met the Duck. Not a single scratch, dent or nick in the heavy, two handed weapon. Jerry wanted to know where Wade had picked this sword up, since he had been constantly breaking his own.

An earpiece, nothing like the bulky as the half visor he had worn when he started was in the package, and he fitted it into his ear as soon as he found it.

He also unwrapped a second sword, a rapier, ornate at the hilt with roses and thorns, Jerry recognized it as Morten Jakuul's sword, the weapon they had recovered with his Father's body. The Fox hefted the weapon, looking over the King's Mark on the scabbard, before placing in next to the Falchion.

“So Control, what have you got me doing here?” he asked unceremoniously as he pulled out an odd sphere from another bag.

“I take it you found the ear-piece alright?” Control asked. Even hearing her through one ear, Jerry found that she still sounded like she was right behind him. He thought back to those alluring eyes of hers, the only thing he could remember seeing of her.

“And other things floating about suggesting that I'm not here to simply re-cooperate,” he noted, pulling out several other communications devices similar to what he was wearing now. Just encase he fried out the one he had he guessed.

“That was the original intention, but since I have all the other MARS assets currently occupied through out Mobius, I have found something for you that will not be so strenuous,”

Other assets? Had MARS grown the month he had been under? “You give me enough of these things to start my own little war Control,” Jerry pointed out, tapping magazines together before placing them to the side. “Objective?”

“There are four nodes in your bag, they are detection modules, interference up there is keeping me from scanning the area for energy signatures after I detected a brief Emergency Beacon, I suspect it may be the same Dark Egg Legion stealth technology we had encountered before,” Control explained. “I want you to place the nodes evenly in the area, one in the village nearby, in the forest near your house, in the field a few miles away, and another near the fortification south of you,”

“An emergency beacon?” Jerry questioned, “Who did we lose?”

“We didn't lose anyone, MARS4,” Control replied, “It was a Royal Secret Service Emergency Beacon,”

Jerry rolled his eyes, “Great,” he muttered, “A RSS lost in paradise, I thought we were avoiding them,”

“We are, if you encounter an Agent, you are to avoid telling them anything about your involvement in the MARS program,” Control stated, “However, because of the stationary location there is a good chance that its an Intelligence Drop, you are to secure the intelligence once I pin-point the location, no telling what the Secret Service had Found,”

That made Jerry snort, “Charmy-ing Republic, why can't they pick this up?” he asked, loading the SAS-G and putting a fresh round in the chamber. He peered down the iron sights before putting it back on the bed.

“The beacon comes on from time to time, it is to far outside of the Republic's detection capabilities and it will not register on G.U.N. sensors, so we're it,”

Again, the Fox snorted, this time in contempt. “Right, I'll start now,”

“You can do it tomorrow morning MARS4, that is an order,” Control countermanded. “The beacon isn't moving. You are well within the envelope of anything like we had encountered before, so it may just be atmospheric interference, I calculate no emergency,” she instructed, “Place the nodes, keep the coms around at all times and I'll get back with you; Control out,”

After she disconnected, the Fox placed the ear-piece in his pocket and inspected the 'nodes'. He placed two in a pack he had pulled from the duffel and resolve to place them on his way to the village, he could get the other two later. There were medical supplies and yet another note. This one stated to see the Village Doctor, and have his bandages looked at or replaced.

The last thing he pulled out put him in a slightly better mood.

The Mobian Power Fist. When triggered, he could throw a punch that could send opponents flying, or dent metal, or shatter stone, things he could do with pain killers and persistence. The weapon could be used defensively as it could be used offensively, resembling a piece of armor that would strap on to the top of the arm and covered up to the top half of his knuckles.

This wasn't the one he had used before in his second official mission in the unofficial organization. The last one he had used was a prototype, looking more like the upper half of a SWATBot arm. The current one looked more sophisticated, more like armor then it was a weapon, with a lip on the shoulder to offer him some sort of neck protection. The straps were adjustable, allowing him to use it on either arm, considering he could use either or at the drop of a hat.

There was even ornate lettering along the bicep, he smirked at. “No Retreat,”

He studied it vaguely, this one also came with its own instructions. The previous configuration had a battery pack that held five charges. This one had two charges, and it recharged one charge every sixty seconds by solar power. The Fox fitted it on before putting it off to the side, wanting to finish unpacking so he could get to sleep. After arranging his gear and cleaning up his mess, he walked around the cottage for awhile, leaving the cane behind on the head board.

This place was peaceful, secluded, and out of the middle of nowhere as far as he knew of. But if Control was having problems looking over this place, Jerry made sure every window and door he found was locked.

...including the one leading into the room he had claimed for his own.

* * *

The fortress was active tonight.

There had been a ship of some kind fly into the valley, matching the description of a transport used by a Guardians of some other nonsense that Kalm Jakuul did not care to think on. His scouts followed the transport to the Voxholm 'manor' he enjoyed calling, depositing a fox in the Uniform Blues of the Kingdom of Acorn in a nearby field.

Or the Republic of Acorn it liked to call itself, which spat on everything his father sacrificed for it in the Great War.

Was it possible that Chase had contacted the Republic without his knowledge? The Jackal was unsure. First there was that Republic Spy, then the Dark Legionnaire he managed to capture, and now the Republic again. Who else knew of this valley and how long can he keep it secure and secret until the Army was ready to reclaim the Throne of Acorn?

He rang a bell, his eyes ever focused on that horizon that barely sheltered the forest that had held a thorn to his side.

“Yes my lord?”

Kalm didn't turn toward the voice, but he did gesture them to rise. “Prepare a raid, three of our inexperienced pilots and three of our best infiltrators,”

“Yes lord, our goal?”

Kalm clasped his chin with one hand. “Your going to secure my daughter and bring her back to me here,” he stated, thinking aloud, “If the pilots draw out Chase towards the Temple, the infiltrators will be able to slip into the village, then out with minimal fuss,”

“My lord, a question?”

The Jackal turned raising a thing black brow, “What is your question,”

The feline kneeling before him shifted his gaze from his lord to the floor immediately. They wore dark purple tunics with the Jakuul family crest emblazoned on their chest. They were geared in duelist armor, with a rapier at their sides. He had given everyone who wore the tunic instruction on the use of the elegant weapon, and they all wore the swords with pride.

“Can we not draw her out with the Gollums?” the Feline asked rather sheepishly, “They have beaten her befo-,”

Kalm smacked the feline with the back of his hand, visibly enraged. “And they nearly killed her,” he snapped. He calmed himself, sucking in a few gulps of air before leaning down and forcing the feline back to his previous position with the same hand he had smacked them with

“They are not the enemy, no blood has been spilled in our private little struggle since then,” Kalm explained, “We do not seek to harm them, we have raided, taken a few of them prisoner, they taken a few of us, but this must end, we must force her to see reason,”

The feline simply glanced off the floor up to the lord, then back down again, a hand on their cheek. “Forgive me my lord, I did not mean to stir your wrath,”

“I will ask forgiveness,” Kalm replied, “You asked a simple question and I acted wrongly, I just-” he sighed, rubbing his chin again as he interrupted own excuse, “Just see to the task, I would like my child behind the protection of stone walls and a strong army then a wooden hovel,” he said dismissively.

The feline bowed, stood, back stepped and turned on his heel, heading out the door still rubbing their offended cheek. Kalm watched them and shook his head, unsure where that spark of rage had come from. It occurred to him, as he returned to peer across the horizon once more, his thoughts drifting out to Chase, sleeping in her own bed in the village.

...he still loved her, deeply.

[AngryFox]

Chapter 6 ) Village of the Lost

The woodland trail wasn't walked to often, but Jerry had no problems navigating it either. He carried the pack with two of the four detection devices Control had given him, as well as that cane he had picked up from MARS Medical, and his father sword. Just so he didn't seem to dangerous to anyone, he wore a simple blue hoody, his favorite color. He figured wearing full combat gear on a recovering slash intelligence mission would give way to many clues that he was here for more than just recuperating.

He didn't think he needed either, his legs didn't feel like lead weights anymore, though they still felt odd at times. The sword he carried on a just encase notion, since he still had no idea what he was dealing with up here other then his sister.

When he felt he was midway through, he veered sharply off the trail, shrugging the pack off his shoulders. Placing it on the ground he opened up, reached in and...

...he was being watched.

The male straightened, pulling his sword free with one hand while presenting the cane like an additional blade. His predatory gaze swept over the thick underbrush, hunting for what had set his survival instincts off. For a few moments more, the sensation remained before it slowly went away, but he didn't lay eyes on the source. Uneasy, he quickly removed the node from his pack and went on his way, looking over his shoulder from time to time for some sign of what had been watching him.

He arrived at the village, still peering over his shoulder, when he had a bamboo spear thrust into his face by a fierce looking minx. They demanded something in a language he didn't understand, and he simply held up his semi empty paws, still holding the cane. They were quickly joined by another spear wielder, a canine Jerry couldn't distinguish, yet the fox could tell by the way they were moving that Guests were not only unexpected, but unwelcome.

They spoke at him again, he shook his head, holding his hands up peacefully, but like them, was becoming agitated at lack of communication. Finally, one of them spoke, “Sword, surrender your sword,”

Jerry's ears flatten, his eyes narrowed hotly on the speaker and he hissed a single word of “Never,”

The panda went for it, and Jerry branded them across the face with the cane as soon as their guard had been lowered. The second attacked with the butt end of their spear, clearly prepared for the sudden violence from the Fox. Jerry however, pivoted slightly, the weapon barely missing their mark. As the canine fumbled, Jerry brought his cane back sharpy to jab the them between the eyes with the end, stumbling the assailant back. Neither attack he landed would leave lasting damage, but it got the point across he wasn't going to be bullied.

Jerry made no other hostile move, nor did he move from his spot, his hands returning to the surrender position he was originally in. “I am here as a guest of my sister, Chase Voxholm,” he spoke calmly, “Though if you want to claim this blade, you'll bleed for it,”

The two of them backed away from the Fox, clearly taken by surprise with both the display of skill and his declaration when it was explained from one to the other. “I apologize, we were expecting a fox of a different fur color,”

“Not a problem,” Jerry stated, jutting his arms down to put both hands on the end of the cane so he could lean against it. Apparently she had forgotten to inform these people that he wasn't orange anymore when she came back last night. The reminder he didn't look like the way his sister remembered him put a bitter taste in his mouth. “Just go fetch her will you, it was a long walk, and I'd like some water please,”

When she arrived, she smiled at Jerry and waved him through, speaking fluently in the native language to the panda. “They weren't too much trouble, were they?” she asked, grinning from ear to ear.

“Real terrors,” Jerry responded with a grunt, self consciously limping inward. Now that he didn't have a spear in his face, the fox glanced about the village. The houses were a mix between a few designs that sparked memory of the past glory of Mobotropolis, stone houses with thatched roofs. The others were native Dragon Kingdom homes he gathered, ever having seen such buildings before.

He paused, pointing his cane towards the house to his right, it was a Dragon Kingdom home, that he was for certain, just as he was certain as he spoke, “That one is yours,”

“Oh?” Chase asked, “How can you tell?”

“Its the only one with a pink door,” Jerry noted. And she chuckled. He took a few steps towards it before she quickly guided him away.

“No no, time for that later, you interrupted me during the middle of a class,” she said, pointing towards a group of Mobians wearing white training cloths, some with bottoms, some with tops, others with just gloves. Jerry merfed some as she guided him towards them, wanting to see where his sister had claimed as home.

“This is the village elder,” she introduced him to a raccoon with slanted eyes, graying fur and bleached white chin hair. He wore a simple white robe and walked with a crooked cane of his own.

“Greetings son of Nae,” he spoke softly, bowing towards Jerry as he approached “It is an honor to finally meet the sibling of our treasured Guardian,” Jerry awkwardly returned the bow, before sweeping his eyes towards the group in the yard. Most of them were children, others were elderly, the majority of them were female. He looked back to the Elder, his expression thoughtful.

“I'm honored to be here in a Village my mother treasured,” he returned, trying to think of something formal, and not use every swear word in his vast vocabulary of his to state his confusion. “I am visiting from afar,”

“As we have been told,” the Elder smiled knowingly, “We have heard that you were schooled by my best pupil, as our Guardian here has, is it true?”

The fox tried not to gawk at the old Mobian, looking him over before looked to Chase. “His older then he looks,” she shrugged.

Jerry blinked before looking back to the Raccoon standing before him. “Yes, though my sister here was the better of us in her studies,”

“Perhaps, but I see you bare many scars on you from your life,” the Elder spoke, and Jerry grew considerably uncomfortable, “The years of turmoil may have sharpened your skills considerably,”

The Fox shifted on his feet, remaining silent on that. “Your Master Wune aren't you?”

“Perceptive of you,”

“My mother spoke of you,” Jerry explained his guess. Master Wune could read others through their body language, the way they spoke, and the way presented themselves.

“Your mind works then,” Wune nodded, “I have heard of you as well, from Chase here, and Kalm,”

The Fox's ears flattened at the name, his expression becoming grim. “I'm not the same pup I was in the Academy,”

“I know,” Wune stated, “You were described as arrogant, spiteful, and flaunted your superiority whenever you had gotten a chance,” the Raccoon described Jerry's youth, “I see nothing of those in you, they have long since parted, leaving their mark” Wune's deep green eyes went to Jerry's sword, “But I see hate,” he frowned, “Hate and Bloodshed,”

Jerry was even more uncomfortable, eyes were on him, including Chase who was regarding her brother warily. Wune had hinted on something Jerry would have been very proud to acknowledge, right then and there. Instead, he noted the choice of weaponry, on how they reacted to his arrival. Swords were unwelcome here, not guests.

The fox unbuckled his sword belt, and tossed the weapon to his sister, who nearly dropped the unexpected item. “Better,” Wune stated, shifting aside, then said something sharply to the group. They immediately snapped into a routine they had been preforming before they were interrupted.

The younger ones were preforming a basic combination of punches and kicks, while the elders were practicing with bamboo staffs. Jerry walked with Master Wune, Chase flanking behind them both like an omnipresent body guard. “To be honest, I half expected to explain myself like I did to your father,” Wune stated, “He started carrying the weapon in a bag over his shoulder in order to appease our sensibilities, but he never surrendered it,”

“I don't need a sword,” the Fox replied curtly, “If you would have asked, instead of demanded, if you had stated your case plainly, I wouldn't have to acted the way I acted,”

Wune raised his brows to Jerry, “Really?”

“Charmy-ing straight, really,”

Wune's brows raised higher, and Chase gasped lightly. The Old Master chuckled, which wasn't the reaction Chase had been expecting.

“Such language, I haven't heard that since I've come home from the sea many years ago,” the Raccoon brought them to the front of the crowd. “Welcome to the Village of the Lost, Jerry Voxholm, son of Nae, many here have come from afar to hide beneath the leaves of our forests, some to train, some to simply live their life in peace, others against their will,” He spoke the last, indicating Chase, “But I am thankful they have stayed, I am getting old, too old to do the same duties as I had done before,”

Jerry looked to his sister, frowning in thought. Was this the responsibilities she had indicated? Jerry looked over the villagers gathered, then around the village once more, quickly counting the visible buildings, tiny shops and even a smithy that had been long cold. There was less than half of the village present.

“Everyone else in the forest?” Jerry asked rather boldly as he gestured towards the crowd before him.

Wune and Chase exchanged looks, the Vixen folding her ears against her skull. “I see you haven't been informed of our own little problems here, but...” Wune made a dismissive gesture with his cane, “That is none of your concern, its a local matter and it will be dealt with shortly,”

Jerry grunted, shrugging his shoulders, “Whatever you say,” he let the subject drop as his gaze went back to the training, and simply watched.

“Tell me, would you like to test your skills against our students?” Wune asked.

Jerry laughed sharply, “I love to, but I'm here to recover from...an accident,” he lied. He hated to lie. He'd rather say nothing at all on the matter then to lie. Wune gave him a knowing smile and a shake of a finger, but Jerry continued regardless, “I'm not supposed to do anything to strenuous according to my boss,”

“A Voxholm backing from a fight?” came the challenge, this from Chase. Jerry glanced back at her and she was grinning at the younger looking male. “I'd never see the day,”

Jerry's response was something she was expecting. He tossed the cane up to her, then looked down to Wune with his hands behind his back. The fox's tail swished, reflecting a mild annoyance that it was hinted he would turn away from a fight, “Right,” Jerry said, “Who's first?”

[AngryFox]

Chapter 7) A Fair Fight

Jerry wasn't sure how much punishment his body could take. Beneath the blue hoody he wore, most of his chest had been covered in gauze with padding on his left side and on his left shoulder. Those were the most serious wounds he had suffered in his last mission, short of having half of his fur smoldered off. In a month under the tender care of MARS' resident healer, Jerry had recovered extremely well.

It was that light feeling in his legs that made him wonder if this was a good idea or not.

Wune had called the crowd to form a half circle, or that was the end result of him saying something in that funny Dragon Kingdom tongue of his. There was a brief introduction, bowing, which Jerry returned, before Wune pointed out another Raccoon in the group to step forward.

They wore a simple training vest and carried a bamboo staff. One was presented to the Fox, but Jerry inspected it, took it, then dropped in on the ground before him, showing his general interest in it. Chase stepped between them, looking down at the staff before looking to the Raccoon. “Should I tell him to drop his?”

“Is he your best with a staff?” Jerry asked, tossing her his pack of smokes in an afterthought.

She caught it and chuckled, “No, Master Wune would like to see how good you are before he will put you in a spar with someone matching your skill set,”

“Should have skipped straight to you then,” Jerry mumbled, and Chase laughed, waving the Raccoon onward.

“When I step back Jerry, that's when you can start, don't inflict anything lasting, and don't embarrass them, or yourself, got it?” she asked.

Jerry simply nodded his response.

Chase grinned some. The Raccoon bowed, Jerry returned it. When his opponent assumed a fighting stance, Jerry simply stood there, a hand behind his back while his left simply hanging.

Again the Raccoon looked doubtful, unsure of what he was stepping into. Chase made a cutting motion and back stepped, apparently refereeing this bout.

Jerry's foe spun the staff around him in a display, giving a brief shout. But the Fox stood there, looking genuinely disinterested. Either emboldened, or prompted to attack, the Raccoon raised his staff high and charged.

As soon as they took the first step, Jerry's foot lashed out, kicking up the bamboo staff that had been offered to him. The weapon collided with the Raccoon's stomach, halting their momentum more out of shock then damage. They let go of their own staff to catch the second, just as Jerry had intended. The Fox followed the kicked staff to grasp the one discarded with one hand, and using what was left of the momentum of the Raccoon's faltered charge, timed a strike with his new weapon across his foe's shoulders, driving them to the ground.

When they rolled over, Jerry planted a foot on their chest and the end of the staff he was wielding in their face like a spear. After a frozen moment, Jerry thrust the staff into the dirt, then helped the Raccoon up to their feet.

Jerry bowed to him, and the Raccoon bowed back, grinning some at his own quick defeat. “Well, that was short,” Chase huffed.

“I don't do long fights,” Jerry grunted, rotating his shoulder. That had irritated the claw wound, not painful, but the skin felt tight. “Was that good enough to get you in the ring?” he asked.

“Eager to lose as quickly as he, brother?” she teased him.

Jerry snorted, “Fine, bring on the next,”

Wune chuckled lightly, and pointed towards two different beings in the ring. Jerry glanced in either direction and made a 'gah' sound as he saw the similarities of the Lapines that approached. They were twin sisters, one jet black, the other stark white, both with green hair. Jerry put his hand over his eyes with a sudden head-ache. The way they moved, they were both graceful and confident.

“One of them is my own student, the other is master Wune's successor,” Chase announced, “Their both our best,”

“I'm going to feel this in the morning,” Jerry muttered back, and was rewarded with a soft chuckle. He put his hand down and brought his other from behind his back. He looked between the two and frowned. The black one had to be Chase's, they were slightly taller, their body more defined. The other, the white one, had more of a gait to their step.

“I take it their best as a team,” he observed, reaching out to both of them in a gentlemanly manner. Each one took a hand, and Jerry bowed to them both before stepping back. They giggled lightly, forcing a brief smile on the fox's face. Oh yes, this wasn't going to end well for him at all. “Can you understand me?” he asked.

“Yes we can,” they both spoke in unison.

“Good, hit me with everything,” Jerry said, making the hand motions for them to come at him.

“Oh we will,” again, they spoke together as one.

“Chase?” he asked, glancing to the side at his 'little' sister, “I hate you,”

She laughed, made a cutting motion, then backed away.

They came at him in a blur. Jerry ducked beneath a sweeping kick from the black that would have sent him reeling, only to take a blow to the chest from the white, which had him stumbling backward. He winched, his chest suddenly sore, but he had no time to dwell on it as the black one pressed the attack.

She unleashed a series of punches that Jerry weaved and dodged, his hair whipping around. The black suddenly backed off, throwing Jerry off balanced as he weaved right into flying kick from the white rabbit, throwing him down on his back with a snarling grunt.

Jerry rolled backward, quickly on his hands and knees, glancing up at the two. They were circling, smiling at him. The fox took a moment to stand. At first those legs of his didn't want to support him, he stumbled to the side, then straightened, regaining his composure. “Right,” he said haggardly, “Kid gloves right the Charmy off,”

They danced forward, but this time Jerry met them half way. The black one he sent stumbling with his own flying kick, leaving him a few moments to fend off her sister. When the black one recovered to join the fight, Jerry maneuvered her more agile sister in their path, canceling their immediate team-up. When one backed off, Jerry immediately launched himself at the other, sending them both on a defensive.

They changed their pattern, when the white one lashed out with her feet, trying to sweep Jerry off his own, Jerry instinctively dodged. The Fox didn't catch on until he was in the air, half turning to bring his arms up to defend against the Black's own sweeping foot. The impact was extreme, knocking Jerry slam out of the air and careening across the dirt.

Even then he rolled, back on his hands and knees. This time however, he wasn't getting up on his feet. He rose up to one knee, spittle dripping from his lips and his eyes burned with murderous focus. The fox willed himself to stand, willed it.

He couldn't.

Chase stood between him and the twins after Jerry failed to stand after ten seconds. “Enough,” she said quietly, moving over to her brother to help him. The Fox refused it, glaring up at her for a moment before folding his ears against his head and slowly stood on his own with great difficulty. “I'm fine,”

“No your not,” Chase observed, “That first hit made you sluggish, I saw it, how bad were you hurt from that accident?” she asked, again offering her brother assistance.

Again Jerry refused it. He staggered a few steps towards the twins, reaching out for their hands in the same gentleman manner he did before, “M'ladies,” he spoke, “You both hit like a Charmy-ing sledge,”

Again, they giggled as he bowed to them with their hands clasped s. Neither knew what a sledge was, our what that other naughty word had been, but they took it as a compliment regardless. Chase was at his side, and this time he didn't refuse her assistance. “I think I'm ready to see that Healer now,” he muttered at her, “Pass me my cigs will you?”

“After you've seen the Healer,” she said sternly, but she did give him back his cane.

Wune ordered the group back to their training, then followed along. “Not at all disappointing my boy,” the Elder spoke. “Though I do apologies for the Girl's rough play,”

“Don't need to,” Jerry replied, “It was a fair fight,”

“Not really,” Wune chuckled, “You are still recovering from a previous battle are you not?”

“I wrecked a Hover-Cycle,” Jerry replied sharply. Again, he didn't like that taste of those words in his mouth.

“Come come boy,” Wune spoke, now leading them, Jerry had slowed to regard the Raccoon, “We are all warriors here, some old, some new, some fresh, some scarred,” he said, jabbing Jerry in his wounded side, nearly doubling the Fox. He growled darkly at the jab, clutching protectively of it. Chase was somewhat surprised at her brother's reaction.

“Its not like I'm asking you what you had done in the War, now is it?”

Jerry's expression grew cold. “What do you know?”

“Nothing,” Wune spoke cheerfully. “Nothing at all,”

Jerry's eyes met Chase's, who frowned disapprovingly at Jerry. He didn't like that frown, it reminded him of his mother too much. He cleared his throat, closed his eyes, then opening them again as he came clean. “I was wounded in a mission for an organization that doesn't exist,”

Chase slowly nodded, “I guessed as much, though I had assumed you had done so in the service of the King,”

“Which King? The Fool or Maximillian?” he responded, and as he spoke, the words came out a tad harsher then he intended, “The Kingdom betrayed the likes of me, I have washed my hands of them, the Traitor and Elias, I owe nothing to him,” he wrung his hands at the door of the healer's hut.

He stopped at the door frame, it was open, dark and foreboding. Jerry leaned against his cane far heavier than he had done before as he stared into the darkness.

He felt old. He felt worn and strung out. Was this what Lukus had felt? How Horus feels now?

What about Dunlap Lapine? He was the only other survivor of their Scout Force. Did he feel like this too? All this constant fighting, the betrayals, the stains of dishonor on their souls weighing them down? What about Wade? Was he capable of feeling like this even now? Yes, even in those synthetic eyes, Jerry had seen it.

They were all old before their time. They were all exhausted from the constant strife for simple survival. Each wanted something more, to love, to be loved, to bring something into this world instead of taking things out of it.

However, there was a difference in him that they did not have.

Jerry refused to run from a Fight. Duty was what drove him. He was still needed, still wanted for his fighting prowess, even though they weren't as sharp now as they had been.

“I am sworn to someone who knows what I am, what I can do, and has hints of what I have done for the Kingdom, and Mobius,” he spoke softly. “I am hers until I die, or she relieves me of my oath,” he looked towards Chase again. “But I cannot talk about her or what I do, all that I ask you to do is to trust me as I trust her,”

Chase nodded, then a slow smile crept across her face, “A Her huh?” she asked, ushering him into the Healer's hut.

“If it was only like that,” Jerry got the hint, giving a soft sigh. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he unconsciously reached for the sword that wasn't there. His ears flatten against his bandana swathed skull, and he growled “Oh Charmy no,”

The Platypus that looked at him expectantly had obviously implanted eyes and prosthetic hands that all bore the familiar markings of the Dark Egg Legion.

[AngryFox]

Chapter 8) Unwelcome Guests.

“I take it you have had dealings with my misguided brothers yes?” the Legionnaire said, gesturing towards a table, “Take off the hoody,”

“I sent more then a few to their gods,” Jerry growled.

“How unfortunate, now either take off your hoody or I will remove it for you,” the platypus stated rather calmly, not insulted at Jerry's hostile posture.

“Jerry,” Chase scolded, and the male Fox shot her a glance, his ears still flat.

“Its a DEL,” he spoke like it was a swear word.

“And Aila Swiftwulf sends her Regards,” the Platypus again stated calmly, “Now pull off his hoody so I can see what he has done to himself,”

Jerry blinked at the name of the MARS Healer, then swore quietly as Chase yanked the blue cloth off him. “My my, Mrs Swiftwulf has out done her self this time,” the Legionnaire Healer said, jerking Jerry over to a counter and shoving him on it. “I see scar tissue has started to form though I do not see stitching marks in the tissue, yes, fascinating,” they rattled on regardless of Jerry's less then appreciative manner.

“Your not related to a Duckington are you?” Jerry asked disgruntled, his ears still flat. He tried to scoot away from the Healer, unnerved at the cold gray hands as they touched him.

“No, I do not know of any,” they continued, now checking to see if Jerry sustained any other injuries. “Nothing torn, nothing broken, I see you are healing quite nicely beside the fact that you had just survived the a round with the Twins,”

“More like my ass got handed to me,”

The Platypus looked Jerry over again, then turned away, heading towards a cabinet, “Other then a diminished lung capacity, his fit and recovering nicely, just don't put him back into your barbaric little circle again too soon,”

“Yes Dr. Hyde,” Wune spoke in a fatherly tone, “I promise not to feed him to the wolves again, though they do enjoy fresh meat,”

“Yeah yeah, I get the hint,” Jerry snorted, leaning back again as this Dr Hyde turned back around and stripped him of his gauze with frightening efficiency. The Platypus wrapped him in fresh bandages, then turned away from him once more.

“His bandages have been cleaned and replaced, you may leave now,”

“Thanks?” Jerry asked, winching at how tight the gauze had been wrapped before slipping off the counter and quickly making his way out of the cottage.

When Chase followed, Jerry snatched the pack of cigarette from her and thrust one in his mouth. He then leaned close to a smoldering torch, lighting the chemical relaxant. After inhaling the smoke, settling a sudden mad craving, he glanced at Chase who was again frowning at him disapprovingly. So was Master Wune. “What?”

“Thats not healthy for you,” Chase pointed at the lit object between Jerry's lips.

“Neither is married life, whats your point?” Jerry countered, then noted that Chase wasn't smiling at the crack about marriage. Oh yeah, he hit a nerve there.

“Jerry, there's something you need to know,” Chase begun, but before she started to say anything further, her eyes snapped up towards one of the guards who was coming from the woods. When they were in shouting distance, they had been a brief exchange of words in that Dragon Kingdom language before Wune turned towards the crowd and shouted orders.

They were scurrying, and the way they were arming themselves from a nearby armory, they were expecting a fight of some kind. Spears and curved, blunt weapons that looked like training swords more then clubs. Some of them were dawning themselves in an odd sort of armor. This was obvious some sort of fight.

“Give me my sword, I can help” Jerry held his hand out for his father's saber.

“No, this is a local matter, and your not fighting fit,” Chase stated. She guided Jerry towards her home, opening the door to push him inside.

“Stay inside, whatever you do don't come out,” she instructed her smaller brother, thrusting their father's blade in Jerry's hand. Jerry gawked as she unmounted a sword that was just as long as she was, double edged, thick and undeniably heavy, from its resting place over the door. “If someone wearing purple tunics try to get inside, promise me you won't kill them,”

Jerry was still in shock at the size of weapon Chase was carrying, and he dumbly nodded. “Good, their will be guards outside the door, you should be safe,” she said, and rushed out.

The Fox suddenly felt utterly useless, standing in what was a mix between a living space and the kitchen. What was going on that warranted such a destructive looking sword? Who were these purple tunic beings he shouldn't kill? Wait a second, he asked for water! Did anyone bring him any water?!

A Local matter? Ha! Jerry knew when he wasn't wanted for a fight and settled down in a chair, leaving the saber on the table top. He glanced around, looking for something to drink. He noted the cottage as clean, well kept as his Mother's Home, there were flowers, fresh and pink, bottles.

Bottles? Jerry straightened as his eyes focused on them. Baby bottles. His eyes swept the room, spotting two doors on either end. He raised himself up and made his way towards the first closest door. It was ajar, and he pushed it slowly open with his cane.

There was a bed inside, large enough for two. There were decorations, old family battle standards on the wall with a rapier and saber hanging between the two. One had been the Voxholm Crest, silver, twin sabers crisscrossing behind a palm supporting an acorn shape object on a royal blue backdrop.

The other had a single, silver rapier with hilt of a rose at the end, and six Acorns on either side of the thin blade on a dark velvet background. The Jakuul Family Crest.

Jerry's brain tried to wrap around what he was seeing. This was his Sister's home. But there was a Jakuul flag in her room?

Baby bottles?!

Jerry turned to the other door, staring at it intently as he made his way to it. The world grew still as he finally reached the door, and pushed against it. Well oiled hinges opened the door silently, and inside was a room brightly colored with flowers and other decorations. His eyes shifted downward to the occupants, and he removed his cigarette from his mouth, dousing it immediately.

Inside there was a young Mobian teenager, feline, creamy white fur, standing protectively before a crib that held a jiggling child. The Feline was making demands of Jerry in her native tongue, but the Fox wasn't understanding, nor was he paying attention.

Jerry was ignoring her. His eyes were on the crib. On the child inside. Jet black fur, round golden eyes and sharp ears stared back at him in wonder. The child was at least three years of age, the crib was barely large enough for her, a girl, though there seemed to be work on a new bed for her in the corner.

Then, Jerry's own golden eyes drifted back to the room on the far end.

“There is something you needed to know,” Chase had said.

The implication. The scandal! Jerry put his hand on his chin as he looked inward towards the child once more. Their Fathers would never had approved.

Jerry's attention snapped back towards Chase's bed chambers again. A window had been opened. He could hear the wood floor creak. Jerry turned back about to the teenager, who also heard, pressed his finger to his lips, and closed the door.

As Jerry turned around, there were two Mobians in the room with him, rapiers drawn and they were wearing Jakuul's crest on their tunics. They said something. Gods he grew annoyed at the fact that he didn't understand everything everyone else was saying. But he knew they were trying to question who he was and to stand aside.

Jerry leaned against his cane, putting the cigarette back in his mouth. His sword was out of reach, he was tired from the fight with the Twins, and he was in his sister's home. Jerry tried to be diplomatic, but he knew it wouldn’t work. They seemed to be thinking along the same lines, the problem was that they honestly thought it would.

“You are not welcome here,” he said coolly, “Go out the way you came,”

“Your not from the village,” one them spoke.

“Good damn guess,” Jerry replied, his eyes focused between them. “Now leave, quietly, the youngling is not to be disturbed,”

“We're here for the Lord's Daughter,” the other stated, stepping forward, “Stand aside,”

The temperatures in the room seem to drop dramatically for them as those predatory golden eyes shifted between both of them. It settled on the closest one and they nearly withered beneath the murderous glare. Jerry hissed a single word they both understood meant that the diplomacy had failed.

“Never,”

* * *

When she arrived with the local militia, she knew it was a distraction. Three Power Suits had set fire to the fields, but they had set fire to the ones that needed to be cleared of the under brush anyway. There was some taunting from either side, but in the end, they simply lured her further from the village.

She had a sick feeling in her stomach, and ran from them when they started to run from her. When she arrived at the village, her cottage had a smashed window and the door was wide open. The guards were no where in view of her home. Panic blinded her as she entered, shouting out the name of her nurse maid, but found the house void of any form of life. All that was in there was an arid scent of Jerry's foul cigarette smoke; and blood. She could smell blood!

Her eyes danced around the room. It was a disaster. She spotted Jerry's cane shattered, with nicks all along what was still attached. The table had been smashed, the cabinets were caved in. There was the blood on the floor. Some one had been laying here bleeding in the ruined shards of a glass window.

She exited, on the verge of tears, when she noted that Master Wune stood near the Healer's Cottage, motioning her over. The guards she had left at her door where their as well, standing with prisoners.

There were also three Loyal members of Kalm's faction laying on stretchers outside of the Cottage, being tended by their family. Her worse thoughts surfaced, but as she drew closer, she noted that they were severely beaten, an arm broken, a nose at an awkward angle, yet they were breathing.

Master Wune smiled at her briefly, before gesturing towards the door. Oh gods, Jerry was in there. So was her daughter. He knew! He had to know now. Was he alright? Was she alright?!

She entered, steeling herself for the worse, when she heard the babbling giggle of a happy child, and an odd cooing sound, she was immediately disarmed. Her eyes adjusted, and she saw Jerry having an arm wrapped with a bandage, while the other held her two year old child.

“A light scratch, hard to see where the bleeding starts and ends with his fur,” Dr Hyde stated as they noted Chase standing there. “Edwina is also alright, noisy child,”

Jerry glanced towards Chase, still jostling playfully with the child with arm. “Jerry,” Chase started, speaking with a tone of fear in her voice that Jerry caught on, and now looked at her with disappointment.

“Edwina eh?” he asked, “If you had let me known sooner, I would have brought her candy,” the Fox announced, and with his other arm free, begun ticking Edwina, who squealed merrily.

Chase felt as if a weight had lifted from her shoulders, and settled next to her brother, holding out her arms for her baby girl. Jerry was reluctant, but passed his niece to his sister with a grunt.

“At least tell me you kept your last name,” the Fox grunted.

“I thought Chase Voxholm Jakuul had a ring to it,” she murmured, cuddling her daughter close.

Jerry rolled his eyes up to the ceiling, snorted and slid off the counter again, “A Charmy-ing Jakuul,”

“Language around my daughter, you hear me?” Chase frowned some.

Jerry again rolled his eyes, heading out of the Healer's cottage, “Yes mam,”

[AngryFox]

Chapter 9) History Lesson

Chase's home was being looked after by the carpenter, which would take him a good two days to fix the damage Jerry had inflicted with the Kalm's Infiltrators. She was here in Jerry's Cottage, their Mother's home.

The Family Home.

Edwina was asleep in her Uncle's bed, Jerry had cleared the whole room of everything that could be construed as a weapon and left it under lock and key in the closet far out of her reach. Chase had cooked him dinner, stewed fish, filling the Cottage with more scents of the past.

“So, you were going to tell me,” Jerry started the conversation as Chase sat down. She hesitated, looking away from her brother before placing a plate in front of him and sat opposite of him. “When you came clean about your wounds, yes,”

“You suspected yeah?” Jerry asked.

“We knew you were on the front line somewhere Jerry,” Chase nodded, “Prower kept us up to date, as well as Horus from time to time, he was Hallax's best friend,”

Jerry frowned some, again, Horus was mentioned, Prower he ignored. He wanted nothing to do with the Traitor at all and quickly dismissed him from his thoughts. “I keep hearing of Horus, but not seeing him,”

“Master Wune thinks his ashamed,” Chase explained, “Anyway, after I was forced to leave, Horus found us and let us know to stay low, we thought you had died, then again, Horus returned to inform us that you were apart of the many that 'Bem' derobotized, and you returned to your post as a Royal Guardsman,” she smiled, “Kalm was proud to hear that you were carrying on the Family Tradition,”

“Then the Civil War,”

“Yes,” Chase frowned, “Kalm did not take the news well,” she said, her hand drifting to the scar on her face.

Jerry's thoughts didn't take implication that Kalm did that none to well either. “We have been fighting the Iron Dominion on a very small scale, nothing to what others would have done, The Dutchess, Mooria Jakuul, you remember her yes?”

Jerry nodded, knowing each Jakuul like he knew everyone who had fallen around them. “Yes, well, Mother told her of this place, much to Master Wune's disapproval, and set up a fortification south near the entrance to this valley in order to guard against nearby bandits and the Dragon Kingdom clans, Master Wune told them there was no need, but Mooria wouldn't listen,”

“Horus told us about the end of the Great War, and the Horror in which this Robotnik was bringing forth,” she spoke. “They were coming up the Valley Road, following refugees who were fleeing from the hoard of steel and metal,”

She frowned, “Mooria and the Jakuul Guard met them head on in the valley, buying time for the refugees to hide within the Forest,”

“History repeating itself,” Jerry summarized. Morten Jakuul had seen what the Overlanders did at the Battle of High-Low Tower first hand, being one of the very last to see Tyson Voxholm and a handful of Royal Guard alive. While it had been a general order after that fiasco to avoid open battle with the Overlanders, Morten lead half of his House Guard and volunteers to the Village of Mina, the next of many in a long list of villages the Overlanders would sack and burn.

When the Overlanders arrived, they found grim faced Mobian Soldiers instead of ripe civilians. The battle lasted six days, with only five out of the a hundred and thirteen Mobians who volunteered to go reporting back. Morten Jakuul fell on the second day, his last words to his forces had been to buy time for the children. None of the five survivors were of Jakuul House Guards, nor the Royal Guards who went with him.

Because of the six day battle, most of the villages from Mina to Mobotropolis were cleared of their occupants, and robbed the Overlanders of their sick sports. The King awarded the Knights Cross of Acorn to Morten's Widow, as he had done with Jerry's father. Warlord Kodas took both of these Royal Guard Officers sacrifices into a rallying call that would be later be shouted by Amadeus Prower when the Siege of Mobotropolis finally broke.

“Where was Kalm?” Jerry asked.

“With me,” Chase stated, “Some of those things came up through a cave, and we headed them off,” she stated, “We fought well together, and we collapsed the cavern roof on the whole lot,” she smiled, then it faded.

“He tried to save his mother, but she killed herself before she would be turned into a machine,”

There was silence, and then she continued, “We destroyed the robot versions of the Jakuul guard, we did not know they could have been turned back,”

“Better to be dead then being one of those things,” Jerry spoke up, pushing his plate away, “Whats going on now?”

Chase closed her eyes, frowning as she tried to put into words what she wanted to say. “We did small things against the Iron Dominion that eventually came to rule these lands, we offered shelter to those who ran, wiped out a few patrols that would come through, then they stopped coming, they were more interested in fighting each other in their own private little wars then deal with the likes of us,”

“Then about a year ago, Kalm found a cash of robots that looked like those things, SWATbots, but they were our size, equip with blades on their wrists as well as laser weapons,” she started to rub her scar again, “There were four large ones, larger then I've ever seen, they had swords like I carry, they were junk, worthless,”

“Then the Brothers arrived little less then a month after, Dr. Hyde and Jekle, Dark Egg Legionnaires they called themselves, running from the Legion,” she looked to Jerry now, her expression once more haunted, “Hyde is rough around the edges, but his a good Healer, a good person, Jekle,” she shook her head, “After a few days, he managed to restore a few of those robots, and Kalm became ecstatic,”

Now Jerry was frowning.

“He wanted to launch an immediate attack, but the Villagers were undecided, I supported we destroy the machines, while Kalm wanted to use the tactics of our enemies. I had a strong case, the machines were still worthless, their programming base, I could destroy a platoon with ease. Then the Gollums were brought to life, and then Jekle created the Power Suits. Every month something new was coming out of Jekle's lab, and more and more of the Villagers sided with Kalm,”

“And then he did that,” Jerry pointed towards her face, at the scar, his expression dark and murderous.

“No, no no no, brother no,” she was nearly in tears, “Kalm didn't do this, I did this,” she said, touching the scar, “I did this when I challenged the strongest of his machines, the Gollums,”

There was another pause, and Jerry's ears flicked. “I managed to destroy two of them before the others overwhelmed me, I was wounded badly, and Kalm had been livid in what had happened, but,”

“But?” Jerry said, making a motion with his hand.

“He still wants to launch an attack Jerry,” she spoke softly, “Who will defend the villagers against the Iron Dominion if they came or when they come back?” she asked, “He wants to use that army he is building to reclaim the Kingdom of Acorn,”

Jerry's immediate response was “Good, let him reclaim it,” but her shoulders stooped. “You have no idea what I have done for the Kingdom of Acorn,” he stated flatly, “I rather it be a Kingdom then have a weak willed Republic,”

“What did you do for the Kingdom to want more War and suffering?” she asked, her own tone bitter.

Jerry shifted back against the seat, thoughtful on the question. “I,” he started, then stopped, rubbing his eyes, “Your right, no one deserves to be in a perpetual conflict, not even that damned Republic,” he said in defeat. “Where is he now?”

“In the Fortress in the South, we cut them off from Supplies, but they raid, take what they need only, and leave,” she gestured towards the Fortress in general. “Sometimes we capture a few, sometimes they capture our own, we have exchanges and such, but no one really gets hurt,”

“Was this the first time he came for his Daughter?” Jerry asked.

“No,”

The Fox frowned, rubbing his face some more, “Right,” he said, “I'll see what I can do on my end,”

“What can you do?” Chase asked, somewhat frustrated.

Jerry simply smiled, falling quiet and thoughtful. Chase knew that was a sign that her older brother was done talking.

Chase finished eating, said their good nights, and went to bed. However, when Jerry was alone, he contacted Control and informed her of everything he had learned.

Control was not pleased.

[AngryFox]

Chapter 10) Something Rash

“Explain that too me again?”

Kalm sat on his throne, brooding over the news that his Captain brought to him. It had been the feline he smacked last night.

“They managed to pull Chase out of the Village My lord, I saw her leave, the Infiltrators entered her home and then...”

“...and then they were captured, yes, I understand that, but explain to me how one Mobian defeats three of my best swords, and our best sneaks I might add, and well before the Guards posted outside can manage to get in the front door?” he said.

The Captain shook his head, hanging it low, “When they exited the building, it had been that Mobian in the Guard Uniform we had spotted the day before, he defeated them, and came out with but a scratch,”

“Bah,” Kalm snarled, “One against three and he comes out with a scratch?! And our men they were brought out in stretchers?” he nearly shouted, “Oh my love are you finally declaring war on me?!” he fumed, standing as he paced back and forth on the small landing.

“My lord,” The Captain started, looking back up, “We can end this in one swoop,”

“But without casualties?!” Kalm snapped, “Or have you forgotten you have a sibling in that Village as well?!”

“Yes Lord, I have not forgotten,” the feline replied, “If I may?”

Kalm's fingers played on the hilt of his rapier, eying the feline with resentment. He slowly nodded, waving with a gloved hand for the Captain to continue.

“Deploy the Army,”

“Are you insane?!” the Jackel roared, taking a few steps down toward the feline, who immediately retreated a few paces.

“A show of force!” The captain explained, “We capture the entire village, bring them to the Fortress and no one will be hurt!”

“Chase alone can destroy half of that force of unthinking killing machines without a sweat, I would lose more then I would gain,”

“Not if you deploy everything my lord, and surround the village in a noose, use the new stunning weapons on villagers who resist, even the Guardian can't resist those for to long,” the Captain was still on about this idea, undaunted in the course of action.

“I see merit in this plan,” Kalm frowned, slowly moving back up the dais to settle on the throne. “Yes, and we have the use of that stealth technology supplied to us by our good doctor,” he started to rub his chin, “But remember Captain, they are our family,” he warned, “I don't approve of this idea, I hate it, but there is no alternative,”

The Captain bowed his head, “With your blessing, we can march this very night,”

Kalm's frown deepened, his eyes slowly closing. “Try, try your hardest Captain, to hurt no one, spend the machines before you send in the Power Suits, agreed?”

The feline again bowed, “Yes my Lord,”

“Then deploy the army,”

* * *

Jerry woke with a start at the beeping sound in his pocket. It was the communications device he was supposed to keep on him. Jamming it into his ear, he yawned, “Morning Control,”

“Did you place those devices?” she asked calmly.

“No mam, just the two, though one is in a pack inside whats left of my Sister's house,” he commented.

“MARS4, there is active energy signatures closing on the village right now,” Control said in a such a formal fashion that Jerry was up on his feet and he moved to the closet. He had slept in the living area while Chase took the spare room.

“How many?” he asked.

“Too many, you are to recon, do not engage unless you absolutely have to,”

“On it Control,” Jerry snorted, opening the door to the closet he had left his arms and armor.

“Who is Control and what is going on?” Chase asked.

Jerry glanced in her direction. “This time you stay here,” the Fox informed her, “Guard your daughter,” he told her.

“Whats going on Jerry?” she asked again, his expression become as cold as his own when he wasn't getting what he wanted.

“The Lost Village is getting lots of unwanted guests,” he said, “Now stay here with my Charmy-ing niece so I can do what I do best,” as he spoke, he had dawned his armor, strapped on the falchion, and flexed the Mobian Power Fist on his left arm. “Am I understood?”

Chase shook her head, “What are you going to do that I can't do?”

“Observe and report, if it gets bad, I can come back here for help,”

“Jerry, your not in the condition...” she started, but the male rammed a magazine into the SAS-G, looking back up to her.

“...you have no idea what I can do in the condition I'm in,” he replied, “Now stay with her, and don't argue, here, put this on,”

“MARS4, what are you doing?” Control asked.

“I'm not leaving my Sister in the dark,” he said, presenting her with one of his spare ear-pieces, “Control, Chase, Chase, Control,” he introduced as he walked out the door.

“Hello?” Chase asked, Jerry could hear her on his right. It sounded like she was right behind him. He had to look over his shoulder to make sure she wasn't.

“Hello,” Control responded dispassionately, “Normally I wouldn't allow this, but considering the circumstance, MARS4, remember, recon only,”

“Affirmative Control, Recon only,”

“Whats going on?”

“Chase, let me do my job and we'll know,” Jerry growled softly, hobbling fast up the forest trail before plunging into the underbrush. She didn't answer, apparently content in that response.

He found the energy signatures within sight of the Village.

Combat Robots, they were shorter, sleeker versions of SWATbots. He could make out the wrist blades and laser weapons Chase had described. There were hundreds of them, surrounding the Village with their ranged weapons lowered. There were a few of the Village defenders on the ground unmoving at their feet with a dozen of these machines in pieces all around them. He smiled grimly when he noted the Twins who had beaten him soundly were still fighting, despite overwhelming odds.

He could spot a few of the power suit wearing Mobians, they were little more then boxes the beings sat in with robotic limps that were considerably more powerful then their normal bodies. They were surrounding the Villagers who had surrendered peacefully, or who could not put up a fight to begin with.

And now he saw the Gollums, the ones who had wounded his sister. They were tall, man-like, nearly twice the height and width of Chase, and they were wielding the same long and broad swords she seem to favor.

“Control are you seeing this?”

“Yes, barely, the new headsets don't have the same quality as the old ones,” she replied, “It looks like they are trying to claim the village without destroying it,”

Chase said nothing, or Control had cut her off from the feed. Jerry didn't know, but he was thankful for the moment.

Jerry leveled his weapon where the fighting was still going on, flexing his finger. He wanted to help those two. He needed to. But he didn't. The Twins were overwhelmed. One was shot from range with a stunner, the other fell over her sister protectively, snarling at the robots who closed around them. Jerry closed his eyes tightly, before a sharp shout brought his weapon and attention back towards the center of the Village.

“Where is the Guardian?” a feline called. Thankfully in a language Jerry could understand. There were a few who were clad in duelist armor, they bore rapiers but they were in their sheaths. “Where is Lord Kalm's Wife and Daughter?”

“You are unwelcome here,” It was Wune, he thrusting his gnarled cane at the Feline, “Begone from this place,”

“We come to claim our families, and the family of our lord,”

“You are here to promote War and Violence,” Wune countered. “Your own sister fought your mechanical abominations until she fell,”

“She breaths, they all breath, a stunning weapon only Master, she will be carried to her new home, the rest of you can either walk, or be carried as well,” he ordered, gesturing towards the south, “Please, do not make this any harder,”

Wune looked in Jerry's direction. There was eye contact. The Fox wasn't sure how Wune knew he was there, but Wune shook his head slowly.

Jerry had advanced a few feet forward, fully intent on causing rampant destruction on the robots to distract them.

“Find the Guardian and the Lord's Daughter,” the Feline shouted, turning on his heel, “There is cottage to the west, send a Power Suit with a detachment of twenty robots, if she is there, inform her that we have taken the Villagers to the safety of the Fortress, and she is to present herself there with the Lord's Daughter,”

Jerry retreated, frowning darkly, “Control, are you keeping Chase up to date?” he asked.

“No, if she is anything like you she will do something rash,”

“I want to do something rash Control,” Jerry growled quietly hobbling back towards the cottage.

“What are you suggesting MARS4?”

“I want to ambush these fuckers,”

“That would not be advisable,” came the warning. “You are not in the condition for a stand up fight,”

“I'm always in the condition for a fight Control,” Jerry smiled sadistically, “Just not a stand up one,”

There was a short pause before she spoke again, “Agreed, we can get some basic information on the fighting capabilities of those Combat Robots and Power Suits,” Control conceded, “ETA on reinforcements is fourteen hours, MARS2, 3 and 5 are in route,”

“MARS5?” Jerry asked, “Who did Wade get to agree to do this job?”

“Are you saying that you don't enjoy my company?” Control asked, and she sounded genuinely offended. Jerry had no idea where that had come from, and he was hurt that he offended her somehow.

“Excuse me? You still owe me a Spaghetti Dinner Ms Pretty Eyes,” the Fox commented,”And short of you getting me killed, I plan on enjoying your company for a long time,”

She was silent after that. But Jerry could imagine her face...well, the cheeks beneath those alluring oculars, blushing. With that thought alone, Jerry was smiling.