Rogue Fox Spare Your Soul
XLI
Juggernaut vs. Goliath
SyxxFox

Krystal and Katt had been talking for a while. They had settled down in the barracks in somewhat of a quiet corner of the bunker. She stared at the ceiling with her paws placed on her stomach, relaxing. Katt lay in her own bed on the other side of the room. She too was looking at the ceiling. She tossed a tennis ball up and down, catching it each time in her paw. She would catch it just before it bumped her on the nose. "You're still thinking about it."

Krystal sighed "Of course I am still thinking about it."

Katt shifted in her bed, laying closer to the edge. She threw the ball on the floor, where it bounced off the wall and back into her paw. "You're not going to get the chance to talk to him if Peppy keeps him this busy."

"Peppy is working him to the bone. I just don't get how I am supposed to be keeping him in check when I can't even get a word in to him!"

"Maybe the old man is trying to protect you from that." Katt shrugged. "What does Peppy think about all this?"

Krystal rubbed her temples slowly, pressing her paws into each of them. "He's trying to take all emotion out of it. He doesn't want to see him as the Fox McCloud. He doesn't even want to see him as a person. But he is forced to."

Katt stopped tossing the ball, letting it land in her paw. She looked confused. "Then what does he want to see him as?"

"A tool." Krystal simply replied as she stared at the ceiling blankly. "A machine."

"Maybe it's for the best he sees him like that. Maybe you should too." Katt started tossing the ball against the wall again, catching it as it bounced back each time. "Unfortunately for Peppy, the fate of the Lylat System is resting in the same place it always has; in the hands of a McCloud."

"He is still a person Katt. And he can't hang onto that Krazoa forever. It doesn't belong with him. It needs to go back to Sauria. As soon as possible."

"We have a war to finish before we can even dream of that." Katt took a long pause. "You've got some more explaining to do than that too. How are you going to tell him about the money?"

Krystal bit her lip. The money. She kept forgetting about the money. The millions upon millions of credits that she had come into for capture of Syxx. She didn't know how to handle this one. He had to be told though. He had to know. Part of her felt like she was truly entitled to the money, even though she knew she wasn't. She just hung there in the silence. She wasn't sure what she was so afraid of. Of Fox becoming angry with her, or that he would try to take it. It made her feel greedy and she hated it.

Katt cleared her throat. "It's better he hear it from you than someone else. So what happens when the Krazoa is released?"

Before Krystal could take in a long breath of air, and a let out a sigh, she was interrupted as the walls around her jerked, and an alarm rang out in the barracks. Katt lost track of the ball, as the building jumped, letting it roll into a corner. The vixen shot up in her bed, wearing her white tank top as she rubbed her eyes with the back of her paw as she tried to get her bearings. She glanced around the room. And Katt too was sitting upright in the bed as her and Krystal stared at each other. They had just landed not an hour ago, and the morning and evening were the best times for a drill. Usually drills didn't make the ground and walls around the base shake though.

Krystal struggled to reach under the bed, fumbling with the wrist-band communicator, before being able to grab it and set it down on her lap as her claw-tip danced across the panel. "Peppy. What's going on?"

Both she and Katt hung in the silence as they waited for answer, but none came. Krystal changed the channel on the device. "Falco. Do you read me?"

Once again there was just silence, and as the two girls shared another glance they both shot out of bed. They quickly jumped into a pair of pants, pulling them up their legs and hooking up their belts. Before putting on anymore gear they made for the security door, and tapped at the screen next to the door to open it, but it didn't open.

Katt was nervous. "What's going on?"

Krystal's paw started to shake a little as it danced over the door control. "I-I don't know. The door won't open."

"Can you use the over-ride?"

"I don't know let me tr-"

They both froze as the metal security door rumbled in its hinges. The two girls took a step back from the door, freezing in the silence, listening to only their own breath. They both swallowed hard, and before they could make another move the door rumbled again. Something was banging on the other side of it. Something wanted in, and there was no way of telling what it was. Krystal slowly stepped backward on her heals, making her way back to her bed. She didn't turn her back to the door once, until she had to reach under her bed for her staff. As she reached under for it, her paw mashed the jewel on the end. The weapon extended with a metallic sliding sound. Just as she pointed the weapon toward the door opening, it rattled on its hinges again with a heavy thud. This time, it was enough to bend in the center of the door a little, warping the metal.

With her sharp ears, Krystal could hear Katt's Blaster being drawn, as she pointed the weapon at the doorway. They both waited and listened, and even though an alarm blared, they could only hear the sounds of each of their own heartbeats in their ears.

One more solid thud echoed through the room. It was followed in quick succession by another loud metallic impact sound, as the door dislodged from its hinges and lock. There was a figure behind it as it held onto the door with its arm before throwing it into an empty corner of the room, narrowing missing Katt as she hissed from the loud noise, and dodged back.

A tall dark shadow stood in the doorway, with a rifle hanging from one arm, pointed at the floor. Krystal didn't know if she should be relieved or angry, as Syxx stood in the doorway of the room, clad in his heavily armored Vortec II. Just before she could walk up and start barking at him, she was stopped as Falco ran into the room in front of Syxx.

"Come on you two!" He yelled. "You're not even dressed yet?! We have to get airborne!"

Katt bit her lip. "What's going on?"

"Get dressed! I'll explain to you on the way there!"

It didn't take them long to get rigged up in their flight suits. Krystal made sure to grab both her Staff and her Blaster, as did the rest of StarFalco.

Syxx stood in the doorway as she exited the room. She glared at him as she walked past, but only could be met with her own gaze in the black mirrored UV visor of the helmet.

As they made their way through the door, the pair of Slayers escorted them through the halls. It was strange to see them so empty with only the sound of an alarm filling their ears and the occasional flicker of the lights as the floor and walls shook. The Slayers made them move fast, and she could feel Syxx at her heals, pushing them to go faster as they ran through the empty halls.

As they came to the blast doors of that would lead them outside the complex walls, the Slayers stopped. Syxx pushed past them all, and Krystal watched as they stacked up on the door. Syxx pulled back the manual release on the door and Pyro lifted his weapon, taking point at the edge of the doorway. Marines and soldiers ran through the airfield, and Pyro stood up again, and lowered his weapon quickly as Syxx ran past him. Pyro waited for the team to file out before following.

Slippy struggled to keep up as they ran through the airfield toward the hanger where Starfalco's ships were being stored. The Slayers both ran ahead, and holstered their battle rifles on their belts. Both of the heavily armoured soldiers grabbed the edge of the large hanger doors, and started pulling on them, sliding the massive door sideways to reveal the ships as their raw might overcame the hydraulics on the doorway.

Starfalco filed in through the doors as the Slayers pushed them open. And when the doors were opened enough Syxx and Pyro ran to the Freon gunship. As Krystal and Slippy opened up the canopies of the support craft the warriors each pressed their paws onto a wing of the aircraft. They pushed the craft out through the hanger doors on its landing gears with their immense strength. Slippy and Krystal were still getting their helmets on and strapped into the seats by the time the Slayers had the ship ready for launch.

Krystal's heart filled with butterflies as she felt the ship start to move without any of the engines on. She hadn't expected the Slayers to push the ship outside of the hanger doors. Her paw cycled through overhead switches as she readied the weapons systems of the Freon. She put the helmet firmly down over her head, and flickered her ears to make sure that they would slide through the slits in the helmet. As she tied her helmet on tight and her heads-up-display came to life the ships engines started whistling as they flared up. She looked on either side of the support fighter as two loud resonating thumps echoed through the hull of the ship, and Syxx's voice breathed in her ear through her headset.

"Overlord, this is Apex. Starfalco is secured. Enroute to AA Generators now."

"Apex, Overlord copies all. Be advised, the Generators are under attack by Aparoid forces."

Syxx gripped his glove around the handle on the hull of the Freon. "Captain Ramirez, sit-rep."

"Enemy forces are closing in on the site. We need more time to get these machines back on-line!"

"Copy. Metal Assets on station is ninety seconds." Syxx took a pause. "Slippy. Get us there."

The aircraft smoothly lifted up off the ground with the warriors on each of the wings. Shortly Krystal was able to survey the massive base. The tall armoured walls that surrounded the fortress on all sides were still standing strong, but at one corner of the base, black smoke trailed into the sky. Higher above, squadrons of Cornerian fighters patrolled the skies, waiting for the Apariods that were to come. As she glanced through her peripherals she could see the Slayers watching the base down below, looking for any sign of Aparoids. The flight from one end of the base to the other was a quick minute and as they neared the generators, Krystal could see that a section of the barrier that surrounded the base had a gaping hole blasted in it, and Aparoids were funneling through it, to meet with the onslaught of Cornerian Heavy machine guns and tanks. An entire war raged below.

Syxx pressed his back to the hull of the ship as plasma rounds splashed off the wings. He held the handle with one paw, while the other arm propped the ACX rifle up into his shoulder, while his paw held the pistol-grip. Krystal could hear the muffled sound of the rifle bark in short single shots as the warrior fired the weapon. Krystal was quick to return fire too. She pointed the Plasma cannons of the gunship toward the opening in the wall. Syxx could feel the fur on his arms and shoulders lift as static filled the air on the outside of the Freon. The canons whistled loudly as they warmed up, charging the air around them with electricity, before they unleashed a hell fire into the ranks of the Aparoids that were gathered at the wall.

Before Slippy could get the craft low enough, Krystal watched the Slayers disappear from the wings of the ship, and the Freon rocked in the air. The Slayers fell the fifty meters to the ground, shattering the tarmac as they landed in succession of each other. The two warriors didn't take any time to recover from the drop. They made their way to their feet and started to run up the metal ramp toward the towering turbine generator at the corner of the base. The commination network lit up with the drop of the Slayers.

"They just jumped!" Slippy chimed.

The voice of the Command Center rang over the radio channels. "All forces, Metal Assets are online."

"Falcon-One this is Apex. Provide primary fire support for any ground forces around the generator. Captain Ramirez, assemble a squad and search for additional Seeders in the area. Metal Assets will assist."

"Apex, this is Overlord. New mission objective. General Spears was last reported in the immediate area in an armoured truck. Find and retrieve General Spears' convoy for immediate air extraction."

Syxx growled lightly to himself. "Copy that Overlord." Syxx lowered the muzzle of the weapon toward the ground. "Pyro! Let's go!"

The raccoon nodded his head once, and closed the distance in on Syxx. They looked out over the edge of the railing. The vulpine vaulted over the rail, and landed back on the ground, two stories below. Pyro followed right away, landing right behind the black fox. The Slayers both started running into the battle. Shots flew over their shoulders and heads as Marines took the high ground, barraging the Aparoids on the field with Plasma fire.

"Falcon-One. Track down seeders and provide air support for fire-squads around the complex. Captain Remirez, Falcon-One is at your disposal for tasking."

The Captain responded immediately. "Copy that Apex!"

Syxx lifted the battle rifle to his shoulder. The rifle barked loudly in his ear as he lined up his shots, taking out any walkers along the way, as they made their way to breach in the wall. The large armoured truck was laying over on its side, smouldering with Apariods clawing all over it.

A red mark appeared on Syxx's hud as Pyro pointed it out. "Dragoon, left side."

Syxx sized up the target. "Friendlies in the area. Check fire. Check fire."

Syxx remained light on his feet. His eyes glanced up toward the sky seeing an electric ball of black matter coming down at him. The vulpine only picked up his pace to avoid the downward trajectory of the mortar. The Slayers ran in tandem with each other. As they neared the giant Aparoid the Slayers both split up running on each side of the Dragoon, and behind them each of the Slayers left a plasma frag, rolling slowly between the Monsters feet. It let out a mighty screech and went up in flame landing in a pile of smoking rubble only a moment later.

The Slayers slowed their pace as the neared the overturned truck. They both lifted their rifles strafing to the side slowly as they unloaded on the Walkers crawling around the truck. A high pitched scream was heard as a shadow came flying over the top of the vehicle, landing just beside Syxx. The lean grey feline's fangs dripped with silver saliva as it screamed. The green uniform was ripped up, and its extended claws gleamed. The infected warrior snarled at Syxx as it swung for him. The vulpine grabbed him by the wrist, locking its elbow up, as it came do a dead stop. The vulpine felt bones crack under his might, before with his other paw, he reached to the knife mounted onto his chest, and stabbed it into the neck of the infected Marine, letting him drop to the ground.

The Slayers each jumped onto the overturned transport truck with a single bound. Pyro lifted the ACX rifle and covered the fox as the he gripped his paw onto the door of the truck. With a strong pull, the vulpine ripped the door from its hinges and threw it aside. Pyro's battle-rifle barked out loudly over his head. Syxx reached into the cab of the truck. He pulled out the driver, and set him down beneath the overturned truck. The vulpine reached back in, past the driver's seat and pulled out another man in a suit, unconscious or dead. He put him next to the other one at the undercarriage of the vehicle.

The vulpine stepped forward again, placing his paw on the handle to the back door. He gripped his glove around it, and pulled straight up on the truck door, tearing it off of the body. Before Syxx could throw it away, Pyro put his glove on it, and took it from his paw. The raccoon, set down the weapon for a moment, and curled his glove into a fist. With a swift motion forward he punched out the ballistic glass in the window, and held the door up with one paw. Before picking up his weapon again, the raccoon tossed a grenade out into the field. He used the door as a shield, as he continued to fire into the swarm of approaching Aparoids.

Pyro spoke calmly into the microphone in his helmet. "AO compromised in sixty seconds."

Syxx reached down into cab, and pulled out one more of the men in a black suit before reaching down for the last time, and pulling out a striped tiger in a black uniform with golden badges and accents. He wrapped his glove around the collar of the man, and lifted him from the truck. He tossed the larger man over his shoulder, and dropped back down beneath the truck. The vulpine put the General down, and held his paw on the driveshaft of the transporter. He tilted his head, observing the man as the tiger opened his eyes.

"Overlord, this is Apex. We've recovered General Spears and his crew. Requesting immediate evac."

"Apex, the area is too hot for air extraction. An evac team will be to your position in two minutes."

"Copy Overlord."

Syxx reached off to the side. He grabbed one of the Blasters from another soldier's holster. He primed the weapon, and flipped it in his glove. He forced the Blaster into the Generals open paw. The vulpine growled. "Hostile, you kill it."

With that, the Slayer put his paw on the running board of the truck and vaulted back over the top of the vehicle, next to Pyro, standing on whatever they could. Closing in on them, a hoard of Aparoids swarmed. Small turret fire filled the air, as the Slayers were fired upon. Pyro tried to focus his fire on the infected Cornerian soldiers as they neared.

Pyro kept the weapon on automatic, holding down the trigger when two flaps on the sides of the weapon flipped open. The raccoon removed his paw from the stock of the weapon. "Overheat."

The vulpine ducked back behind the vehicle as plasma rounds shot over his head in both directions. He took cover near the hood of the overturned truck, and rolled his shoulder around the corner of the bumper. He sighted up Aparoids, one after another, putting a metal-plasma round perfectly into each of their heads, but even then it was too much as the Walkers crawled over the collapsed bodies of the other dead bug-like machines.

Pyro widened his eyes as he watched a large infected wolf leap through the air at him with super-strength. He held the door out in front of him, and slammed it into the body of the infected as it leaped for him. "Heads up!"

Syxx turned his shoulder to see a gray wolf tumbling to the ground between him and the General. Syxx took no time to hesitate. He leaped forward, putting his boot down on the chest of the man, and delivering two shots to his head. Silvery, purple blood splashed onto his boot and base of his armour.

When Syxx next looked back up, he saw a squad of military vehicles headed toward him. The fox whistled. "Pyro!"

The raccoon ducked his head behind the truck door, as two shots glanced off of it. He tossed the door aside and jumped off the overturned vehicle. The Slayer threw two men over his shoulders, and made way for the approaching Gillies APC's. Syxx too threw a soldier on his shoulder, wrapping his arm over the man's back as he carried him. He holstered the BR on his belt, and grabbed the dazed General by the collar of his tunic. "Get up!"

The stunned general barely even moved though. Syxx growled out loud, and tightened his glove into the collar of the man's tunic. The fox started running toward the APC, with a man on his shoulder and dragging the general behind him. Marines filed out onto the ground as the hatch doors opened to the transporter. They took position at the doors, and took knee, opening fire into the hoard of approaching Aparoids. Pyro set each man down into the APC carefully placing them on the bench seats. Pyro then grabbed the man from off Syxx's shoulder and placed him down next to them.

Syxx grasped for the handle of the ACX battle rifle with one arm, while at the same time, he tossed the tiger through the open door of the APC. The general tumbled through the back door and into the front of the vehicle.

Syxx turned his head quickly, when out of the corner of his eye, he saw something flying through the air just above his head. He tracked it as an infected Marine pounced through the air above them. It headed right for one of the soldiers standing at the back of the APC. The man collapsed to the ground as the infected landed on top of him, but the Aparoid didn't even have time to lift a claw before Syxx clutched him by the shoulder, and tore him off the Marine. He sent the infected flying back through the air where it had come from.

The Marine slowly made his way back up to his boots, looking up at the Slayer the entire time. He didn't say anything to him though; he just backed his way into the hold of the APC, not turning his back to Syxx for a split second. The vulpine wasn't sure if the soldier was afraid of him or the Aparoids more.

"Packaged Secured." Syxx simply said into the Communicator.

"Copy Apex."

Pyro leaped up onto the roof of the APC. He reached a glove down and caught Syxx's arm as they worked in perfect synchronization of each other. They took knee by the gunner on top of transporter. The Slayers both returned fire in the crowd of hostiles as the convoy drove off.

"Ramirez Sit-Rep."

"Technicians are just finishing up. AA genortors will be online shortly. We've cleared out all pinged seeders. Thanks for the assist Falcon-One."

Krystal's eyes searched around the generators, looking for any stray Aparoid that had gotten too close. She could see blue marks around Syxx and Pyro as they moved along the ground. She made an effort to cover them, as they moved closer to the generators, but as she watched the field, her system blared an alarm and she looked down at her long-range radar. Something was moving in on them, something big and it was moving fast.

"Falco!" She barked. "Do you see this?!"

"Yeah I see it! What is it?"

Krystal's ears fluttered in the helmet. She could feel a strange yet familiar thought pattern fill her head, coupled with the pit in her stomach. She bit her lip. "Falco! It's a Soul Aparoid!"

Falco chimed back. "Alright! Time to get out the big guns team! You hear that Fox?"

It was frustrating to Krystal that his only calm reply would be: "Apex copies all."

Falco rolled his eyes. "Oh he's excited."

Starfalco got into position with a few circles around the generators. As they readied their weapons, they stared down at the radar. "This thing is moving four hundred kilometers an hour!"

Katt chirped. "Falco! I don't think this thing it's going to attack us."

Falco's eyes went wide for a moment. "All ships! Brace for impact!"

Syxx stared up at the ships that were circling over-head wave off, and back away from the generator. Syxx looked up into the sky, but saw nothing, when in the next second the air around him rumbled, filling with smoke and debris as he and Pyro were both knocked off of their feet, skidding across the ground and into the nearest solid object. Syxx coughed as he struggled to catch his breath, and see through the thick smoke that surrounded him. The Slayers quickly switched to thermals to be able to see. The ground around him was littered with a few limp bodies and scattered weapons. His own back was pressed up against a barrier as he struggled for air. He lifted his paw as Pyro reached down to grab it. He looked around, but couldn't see twenty feet in front of him.

Syxx coughed. "Status."

"The Post has received a second breach in the North-West Flank! Apariods have breached the facility." Falco barked. "We need those AA guns online, now!"

As the smoke cleared, the hole in security walls was abundantly clear, Apriods were filing in by the hundred it seemed like, when suddenly a high pitched scream brought him nearly to his knees. Syxx winced as he lifted his head. Through the swarm of Apariods stood a tall figure at the breach in the walls, a figure clad in purple, blue, black and orange accented armor. It stood twice the height of any man. With a shield and long razor sharp sword that it lifted with one arm pointing it forward and screaming its high pitched drone yet again. It was almost like a scene out of a movie, as The Creature stood so tall, leading its forces to victory.

The Creature was here, and inside of the security walls of the Katina post. It almost made Syxx smile. It was the one thing that actually was a challenge for a Slayer, and lucky for him, the Slayers were the first thing that the Creature saw. The ground started to shake as it charged toward them. Its massive legs and armour crushed any Apariods that remained in its way, pushing them aside, and smashing them in its wake.

"Ahhh." Pyro sighed with a smile and long pause. "This'll be good."

"Are you guys seeing this?!" Falco blurted out from the ship above.

"How could it be here!? How could it have come this far?! It's impossible!" Katt stared down onto the battlefield.

Syxx tightened his grip on the rifle. "Overlord, this is Apex. I need Plasma Flares online."

There was a pause before a voice returned. "Copy that Apex. It will be ten-mikes before we can get that kind of munitions airborne."

"Overlord, The Creature has breached the walls. Repeat The Creature is inside the post. We'll try to draw it outside of the post. We need that strafing run on standby in ten minutes."

"Copy that Apex. Ships are being armed."

"Fox! Get out of there!" Krystal's sights tracked the monster as it ran toward them at a full sprint, quickly closing the distance.

"Falcon-One, this is Apex. We need fire support. Keep all Aparoid forces off our backs while we draw The Creature away from the facility. Do not engage The Creature. That means you Krystal."

The vixen slammed her fists down on the controls of the Freon. "You are not-"

"Overlord, this is Apex. The Creature has breached the west complex walls with multiple enemy foot mobiles. Evac the North-West quadrant of the complex."

"Copy that Apex. Overlord to all stations. Evacuate the North West quadrant of the Katina Post. The Creature has breached the complex walls. Repeat. Evacuate the North West Quadrant of the base. Metal Assets are engaging the Creature."

Slippy's voice replied. "Falcon-One will provide fire-support!"

Syxx glanced over at Pyro and they both nodded at each other with a single dip of their heads. The ground began to rumble under their feet as the monster came barreling toward them. The Slayer's boots skidded on the ground as they both took off, running at the creature. Syxx lifted the rifle up to his shoulder at a full run and though he shot clumsily, each of the hardened plasma rounds found its mark on the armour of the Aparoid. As the rifle barked, only momentarily later a metallic whistle wound ping off the plates of the monster.

As the two unstoppable forces grew near each other The Creature lifted the massive blade over its head, and swung it down right in the path of Syxx. The vulpine grit his fangs, skidding on his boots for a moment before leaping into the air. Moments before the massive sword shattered the tarmac, Syxx jumped. His boot landed on the broad-side of the blade and with his next pounce, he tucked his head, flipping his body in the air, before his boots landed on the shoulders of the Creature and he fired off a short burst in the neck of the monster. Pyro was only a few steps behind. At a full run, he dropped his legs out from under himself. Sparks flew off the armour plates of the Vortec, as Pyro slid across the pavement on his side, just past the blade that was mounted in the ground. In the slide he lifted the weapon to his shoulder firing it up between the creature's legs as he slid right between them. He stood as he let his own momentum carry him up and past the monster. As Pyro rose, he spun looking over his shoulder to fire off a few more rounds.

The raccoon chirped happily. "This is what I really call a party now!"

Syxx and Pyro circled the monster, firing off what they could. The black vulpine got behind the monster. His paw reached down to his belt. He pulled off a small orb, and with the flick of his thumb a pin fell to the ground. He cooked the grenade in his paw as it timed down. His quick feet propelled him forward as a boot landed on the center of the back on The Creature. He ran right over top of the monster. His feet shot him over as he lobbed the grenade out behind him. In his flight, he watched another small green and black orb roll under him, as Pyro lobbed another grenade between the legs of the monster. Syxx flew right over the rolling grenade and just before he landed, both of the explosions went off at the same time.

Any other soldier could have been killed from being that close to a plasma grenade detonation, but the Slayer's armour protected them from any debris. An alarm sounded in Syxx's helmet for a brief moment before going away.

The impact from the explosives didn't even phase the monster. It ran from the cloud of smoke, and lifted its blade, setting it back down into the tarmac as each warrior jumped to either side to get away.

Krystal could only glance down from time to time at what was happening. She was more focused on keeping any additional Aparoids off the Slayers backs. The glances she could take were a battle of epic proportion. She watched the Slayers dipping, and jumping. Each leap, throwing them further than she could ever dream of jumping, and every move in perfect sync with the attack of the monster.

Slippy was the first to say something. "I've never seen a Slayer in action until today."

Katt's voice too was filled with awe. "I've never seen anything like an Asset fight... and Krystal you beat him."

Krystal's voice cracked. "I only beat him because he was weak. Because he had the weight of the armour slowing him down. And if the Marines hadn't been there the second time… he would have killed me."

Syxx whistled at Pyro. They had its full attention now. The Slayers skidded on their boots, taking off toward the walls of the complex. The vulpine glanced back over his shoulder at the machine to make sure that it was following them. The Creature was back on their tails once more, chasing after the two Slayers. Syxx bared his fangs and he looked toward the hole in the wall that the Aproids were filing through, and that was far too much resistance to fight their way out of right now. Seeing as how there were no other exits on this side of the fortress they only had one more option.

Syxx opened the communicator. "Falcon-One, make us an exit."

Krystal looked down over the battle field. It was crawling with Apariods, and she was doing the best she could to keep them all off of the two Slayar's backs. She looked ahead at the fortress walls, calculating where the Slayers were running to. She flipped up the safeties for the Nova bombs, and hit the wall with everything she had. A half dozen glowing red orbs appeared from under the wings of the Freon, making the ship jerk as each one fired. They spun in the air, just out of reach of the ship, glowing beautiful red before they lit up brighter, taking off at lightning speed, spinning toward the twenty meter high barrier that surrounded the facility.

Her optics automatically dimmed a little bit as the nova bombs found their marks together. She felt the heavy report through her chest, as the Freon jumped backward in the air and the ground was first enveloped in fire, and then smoke. She watched the Slayers disappear in the cloak with the monster right at their heels.

Syxx felt his fangs rattle inside of his mouth, almost being blown back off of his boots as he headed toward the site of the blast. He readied himself as he was hit by a wall of thick smoke and hot-air. He did his best to navigate his way through the smoke as it started to clear. The Slayers leaped through the rubble of the wall. They vaulted large segments of the remaining structure, while the Aparoid behind them just simply punched through it all, kicking and throwing anything else in its way aside.

The tarmac turned to dirt as they made their way outside of the walls of the post. The plasma weapons of the Slayers barked out loudly as they pushed through any smaller and less significant opposition that stood in their way. The Freon circled over-head in front of them, as the plasma-cannons lit up, strafing across the ground and throwing up dirt as ranks of Apariods were cut into half.

When Syxx thought that they were far enough away from the Katina Post, he spun on his heels, coming to a full stop. His boots skidded as they made ruts in the ground around his feet. The radio hissed into his ear.

"Apex this is Razor-One. Arming is complete and we will be in the air in two minutes. What is your location?"

"Razor-One, we are two-hundred meters North-West of the perimeter walls; just south of the AA-Gun position."

"Copy that Apex."

Syxx ran back toward The Creature. The ACX rumbled as he fired it toward the Aparoid's head. The shots just pinged off the head of the monster, doing nothing to stop it or even slow it down. Pyro was right beside him, as they both attacked the monster. It was hard to judge the reach of the creature. The two meter long sword and two meter long reach made the creature more lethal at a close range. The speed at which it moved for its size was unbelievable.

As it missed its swing with the massive purple blade, the blow from the arm that held the shield was enough to send Pyro tumbling back in a pile of dust and debris. Syxx jumped back onto the monsters shoulders from behind. It didn't have much of a neck, but Syxx pointed the gun into the small opening between the shoulders and the head. He double tapped the trigger inward sending an automatic hell-fire point blank into the neck of the Aparoid.

The vulpine gasped as he felt something wrap around his torso and compress his body. The huge hand of The Creature wrapped around the vulpine's body, and even the Slayer weighing the range of six-hundred pounds was thrown around like a ragdoll. He could feel the Monster heave his body over its shoulder before throwing it forward. He lost grip of his rifle as he tumbled, seeing dirt and sky as his body bounced across the ground. He was quick to make his way back up to his feet, taking a glance around on the ground for his rifle but not seeing it. Before he could look further, he had to get out of the way, as a razor sharp blade came barring down at him.

As the monster implanted the sword on the ground right beside him, the Slayer stepped down on the blade, trying to put it further into the ground. Before he could make another move, his body was met with the broad face of the shield that was attached to its opposite forearm.

Syxx tumbled again though the dirt, and he was quickly able to get his footing again as the radio in his helmet rang in his ear. "Apex, this is Razor-One. We are airborne now. Target needs to be designated."

Syxx used his HUD, marking The Creature with a big red square that appeared over the monster's head. "Target Marked. Fire-Mission dange close."

"Target acquired. Getting into formation for effective coverage. Danger Close. Payload in two minutes."

Krystal was next to speak. "Syxx! Get out of there!"

It was easier said than done. As the monster attacked them once again, it was going to be hard to put enough distance between them and The Creature. Syxx didn't even have a weapon, as he and Pyro were under attack once again. The Monster threw the sword sideways through the air. The vulpine jumped back to avoid it, as Pyro ran around its backside, firing off shots to draw it away, but its focus seemed to be on Syxx, not Pyro. It charged the vulpine again.

"Ninety seconds to payload."

Syxx rolled his paw into a knuckle as it charged. The vulpine ran at the creature, dodging to the side as he let all of his momentum carry him forward. He tightened his fist up into itself, and leaped into the air. He threw back his arm over his shoulder, and shot it forward with all his might right at the monsters head. He expected it to be like hitting a brick wall, but to his own surprise there was some give to his thrust. A metallic impact rang out as the sound of metal impacting metal rattled the air around him.

"Sixty seconds."

Syxx's own momentum carried him over the shoulder of the creature, and he landed on a knee, taking a moment to recover he turned his glance sharply as something heavy impacted the ground beside him, rolling until it was just out of his reach. He stared down at the round object as it came to lie before him. It was silver, and purple metallic with black slits on one side and large orange flares on the other. It was the head of The Creature, staring back at him.

The radio crackled in his ear. It was Pyro, his voice shuttered with unease. "Syxx…"

The vulpine slowly made his way up to his knee, and then to stand, he stared down at the head of the giant. He slowly turned around, to face the goliath once more. Syxx's jaw dropped a little bit inside of his helmet, as before him, sitting atop the shoulders of the massive beast, was a the face of a Lylatian being. Red fur lined the face, with short-ish and messy dark-brown hair over one of the glowing electrical blue eyes of fire and rage that stared back at him. Small black dashes ran across its cheek bone, and snout. Large, oversized and mutated fangs shot from its drooling maw, as the snout winkled from the leering and aggressive gaze it shot back at him. The red colored furry ears were slid back in its thick burnet hair as the eyes narrowed. Though the assailant's gaze at him was so menacing, it was so familiar as the red fox snarled at him. This was no Aparoid. Apariods were strong but they could never fight like that. Not alone. Not with such speed, accuracy and force. To perform maneuvers like that, they would need some kind of special help; and that's what they had. Syxx's body froze as he stared into the eyes of the disavowed and infected Slayer, Kyla.

"Thirty Seconds."

Pyro was just as shocked. He stared as well. He watched as the infected Slayer closed in on Syxx, taking long and heavy steps on the ground to make it shake. But as the distance closed, Syxx didn't do anything. He didn't move and he didn't react. He just gazed through his visor at the goliath.

Pyro barked. "Syxx!" he waited for a moment and barked again. "Syxx!" There was no way that Pyro could close the distance to remove or distract the infected Slayer. He just watched.

The vulpine didn't even see the broad face of the shield that barreled toward him. He was too mesmerized. An alarm rang out in his ear as the shield impacted his body. He was sent flying backward again, rolling through the sand and grit. Before his tumbling began he could suddenly feel the coolness of fresh air on his cheeks before dirt filled his eyes and mouth, and he came to lay with his back propped up on a boulder. His helmet came to rest a few feet away from him. The black visor was cracked and pressed inward in a spider-web of fractures.

"Ten seconds to Payload. Clear the area."

Pyro barked again. "Syxx!" There was no response from the vulpine, even though he was conscious. Pyro had to act, and he had to act now. He spoke into the radio as fast as he could, trying to deepen his voice as he opened the channel. "Razor this is Apex! Abort fire mission! Wave off! Wave off!"

Four ships screamed overhead, as they flew low, pulling back up into the air, and turning upward into the sky as the atmosphere rumbled.

"Copy Apex. Circling around for another pass."

"Not necessary Razor! Do not engage target! Contact Command for additional tasking."

"Pyro?! Is that you!? What's going on down there?!" Krystal asked.

"Situation has changed! The Creature is only to be engaged by Metal Assets. Falcon-One, continue to provide fire support!"

Krystal couldn't put her finger on it, but something was wrong. Something on the ground had changed. She had no idea what it could be though. As much as she wanted to think about it, she didn't have the time. She was too busy trying to keep the Slayers alive at this point.

Pyro quickly reached for the release on his helmet. His paw taped over the control next to his forearm. The seal around the helmet hissed loudly in his ear as he ripped it off his head. He tossed the black helmet onto the ground next to him. The raccoon threw the rifle beside it too. He put his armoured gloves up to his face, cupping around his mouth and shouted at the top his lungs. "Kyla! Kylaaaa!"

The entire body of the giant shifted to face Pyro. The vixen's jaw dropped as it let out a deafening scream, ripping through the air. Drool dripped off of her chin and fangs as she screeched at Pyro. The raccoon put his paws over his ears, wincing from the sound. The black and grey furred man reached around to his belt, pulling out a small syringe. He lifted it to his mouth, and pulled the cap off of the needle. He flipped the syringe in his paw, holding it like he would a knife as the monster barrelled toward him.

He took a deep breath and started running toward the massive warrior. "Just like the movies!" He whispered to himself.

As The Creature lifted its blade over its head, Pyro was able to dodge his way around it, only to be met with the shield of the monster. It felt like getting hit with a truck. His body bounced back off of it, landing nearby in the dirt. Before he could do anything, he felt himself being picked up by the back of his armour, as he was lifted to his feet.

Pyro looked over his shoulder as a Syxx showed his fangs to him, a trail of blood dripping from his jaw. "Back on task."

Syxx too held a syringe in his paw, the way he would a knife, but with his thumb up on the plunger. The two Slayers stood their ground as the monster screeched at them. Kyla's jaw dropped and she screamed from the top of her lugs, sending trails of saliva from her maw. She threw both of her arms on the ground in a fit of rage, making it thunder with the immense force, and toss up and could of dust around her before she rampaged out of it.

Syxx dug his boots into the ground, with Pyro followed right behind him. He grit is fangs together, tasting the blood built up in them. With his fangs bared he hit the dirt, sliding under The Creature as the massive blade swung. He hooked one of his arms onto an armoured plate at the foot of the monster. The fox carried himself with his own thrust, landing his boots up on the arm of the beast. He met eyes with the red fox for a moment, staring at her. Before he heard a heavy thud beneath him, as she dropped the long sword from her massive hand, landing in a pile of dust. And before he could react, the glove reached up, snatching him right off her arm, wrapping her grasp around his torso.

He felt his teeth rattle as the glove pinned him down on the ground, throwing him there. He barked as he impacted the ground, seeing the creature above him. He put one arm up to block Sol from shining in his eyes, before Pyro wrapped his legs around the shoulder plate of the creature. Kyla immediately forgot about Syxx, simply throwing him aside, letting him take another tumble through the dirt, with Pyro shortly behind, as he was bucked off of her shoulders. The raccoon landed on the ground, rolling to the side just in time to dodge a giant fist in the grit beside of him.

Pyro coughed as he made his way back up to his feet. "Just as fast as I remember her being."

Syxx growled. "And she's only going to be faster without the sword. She's got us on the defence. We need to change that right now."

The Creature attacked again, moving faster than before. Syxx leaped to the side, tucking himself and rolling back onto his feet. The black fox recovered just in time to dodge the next attack, rolling to the side as the massive shield was brought down into the dirt, with enough force that it could have cut him in half. He quickly reached up grabbing the top edge of the shield as it was lifted from the ground. He flipped himself over the shield landing his boots down perfectly on her shoulders. He balanced there as Kyla threw herself around. He opened up his paw, only to find small crystalline shards of glass and clear fluid running through his glove.

Syxx scoffed. "F-ck."

Before he could do anything he was bucked off of her shoulders. He carried his motion to get back to his feet again.

Syxx looked back over his shoulder. "Pyro! Assault breach!"

Pyro cocked his head off to one side. "What?!"

Syxx growled. "Just like in Slayer! We take her down like a big door!"

After the Vortec's had arrived in project Slayer, they were able to do so much more than any other soldier could, which meant new tactics. To breach a room, Slayers often didn't need explosive chargers or stunning device, and they developed their own method of entering a room with known hostile activity. This was a trick that Syxx had used a few times as well.

Pyro glanced and nodded quickly. "That's gonna' take a lot of force. We'll have to do it together!"

Syxx nodded once, as he bolted his way to Pyro, skidding in the dirt to settle next to him, with the creature still in front of them. The monster froze in its tracks, throwing it head back, letting out another mighty screech.

"Now!"

The Slayers both sprinted, sending up trails of dirt behind their boots. Syxx narrowed his eyes as the creature stood, screaming at them. At the exact same moment, they both leaped into the air, throwing their legs forward as they both met the shoulders of the monster at the exact same time. As the immense weight, force and mass from the Slayers and their armouring impacted The Creature there was the satisfying feeling of give in its resistance.

The Creature stumbled backward before toppling over onto it back, surrounding them in a cloud of dust.

Krystal was watching from above as she could. She watched the Slayers both charge the Creature. "What's going on down there?!"

Pyro yipped. "Syxx!" He tossed the syringe through the air. The Slayer caught it softly in his glove and lifted up his arm over his head, as Pyro pressed his boot down on Kyla's head, twisting it in the armour. Syxx slammed the syringe down into her neck, and pushed down on the plunger, filling her veins with the clear fluid. Her purple glowing blue eyes rolled back into her head as her eye lids fluttered. She took in a deep breath, as her eye lids shut themselves.

Syxx and Pyro glanced over at each other as they both stood on top of her armour, before together they both piled up onto the wide surface of the shield that came swinging across at them. The Slayers bounced through the dirt, coming to rest just a few meters away from the footing of the monster, which loomed over them. Syxx grit his fangs, as he scurried backward in the soil, when his paw touched something metal. He looked over his shoulder, and wrapped his paw around the pistol grip of an ACX Battle Rifle. He quickly lifted it to his shoulder, as he lay on the ground, with Pyro right next to him.

The Creature screamed at them again as it stomped slowly toward them. Each boot-fall rumbled the soil beneath them. Syxx and Pyro drug themselves backward in the dirt a few more feet as the monster neared them. Syxx growled lowly to himself as his back rested up against one of the few and far in-between trees around the Katina Post. He lifted the rifle to his shoulder again, and pointed the short range scope up to the head of the creature. He placed his finger into the trigger, resting it in the smooth crescent. He took a deep breath as he stared into the red vixen's eyes through the scope as she slowly raised her shield with one arm, ready to strike down the Slayers. The vulpine pulled the trigger inward a little…

But Syxx hesitated as the Creature did. He watched her eyes flutter again, and Syxx immediately put down the weapon as the monster slowly lowered the shield. The massive figure stumbled on its footing once to the side, before it toppled over entirely, falling onto one of its shoulders, rumbling the ground and shaking leaves off of the tree. The dust soon settled around them, as they fell into complete silence. The two Slayers just stared at the mass on the ground in front of them, as they too lay on the dirt.

The only thing that broke their silence was the murmur of a radio. The Slayers both turned their heads, seeing the helmet from Pyro's Vortec lying in the grass next them. They both just stared at it for a moment, unable to make any sense of the radio chatter emitting from it. The raccoon turned his head to Syxx. The black vulpine's eyes were locked on the radio. His electric blue eyes shut for a moment before they shifted back to Kyla. Syxx rested his cheek down on the stalk of the Battle Rifle as he held it across his chest and just gazed. His soft cheek mushed up against his face from the rifle stalk, as he let out a long sigh

Pyro cleared his throat, spitting a trail of blood from his mouth, before rolling over on the ground, reaching as far as he could, wrapping his armoured glove around the helmet, and pulling it back to him. He reached his paw inside of the helmet and pulled out the communicator, placing the headset over his one ear. He opened his mouth, ready to speak into it, before he looked back toward Syxx. The vulpine's gritty face, had a trail of dried blood drip from the corner of his muzzle and down his neck. He didn't flinch though. He remained with his snout rested on the stalk of the weapon, staring at the heap of metal in front of them.

Pyro slowly turned his head, looking back to Kyla. Her enlarged fangs dripped silver saliva, while her eyes remained perfectly shut. "Falco. Report."

"We've got them on the run now! We're just cleaning up the area. We got the AA guns back online, and they couldn't even get close!"

Krystal butted in on the channel. "Pyro? What's going on down there? We've been trying to reach you forever. Is Fox alright?!"

Pyro switched the channels, without answering. "Overlord, this is Apex. Metal Assets have subdued The Creature."

THE END
Rogue Fox II Spare Your Soul
~SyxxFox