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Stone Ghost Colony

Part one: Foggy Colony

The streets of the colony were silent and empty. As the fog moved in to cover the colony, a soft roaring was heard echoing through the colony. Within minutes, several cloaked figures appeared out of the fog. One looked skyward towards the source of the sound. With a quiet wave, the rest of the figures moved back into the fog.

* * *

Above the colony, a single, black drop ship was flying over the fog covered land. Inside it, the pilots examined the fog below, looking for a place to land.

"Can't believe how fast that fog came in." one of the pilots commented, "Almost spooky, you know?"

"Spooky or not, we have our orders." The other replied, "All we have to do is set this bird down in one piece and drop off the package."

With a nod, the first pilot kept a look out below as his partner looked back into the body of the drop ship.

Behind them were two bobcats, both females. These two were dressed in black flight outfits, similarly black helmets over their heads to protect them for when they landed. If the drop ship needed to land in a hot landing zone, these two would each take a mounted gun on either side of the craft to defend it.

Farther back, in the body of the craft, harnessed in for the rough flight down through the atmosphere of the planet, were two foxes. The male was a red fox with a black slash across his muzzle. Thinly built and dressed in red and black protective armor, the fox looked back at the pilot. To anyone else, it would have seemed like the fox was a soldier fresh from training. But both pilots knew that this fox was a highly trained mercenary.

The smaller female beside him, fast asleep with her head on the fox's shoulder, was a blue furred vixen. Unlike the male fox, she didn't seem at all like one to be seen in a firefight. She wasn't dressed in the same armor as the fox beside her. Instead, the vixen only had on a dark blue flight suit that hugged her body very well, showing off her lovely figure. If it wasn't for the long sleeves and leggings of her flight suit, the pilot would have easily seen the white pattern on her upper arm, and the sun design on her upper legs.

Across from her, sitting locked in place along with their weaponry, was the vixen's armor. It had a slimmer build than the armor the red fox was wearing, and had a slightly darker coloration. But the armor was just as protective as the heavier version her partner was wearing.

"Hey Ronin, you might want to wake up your partner." The pilot called to the fox.

The fox laughed, "Already? I was just getting used to being a pillow."

"Well get used to being an alarm clock then." The pilot smirked, "We found an LZ, but we don't know what could be surrounding it. The fog's pretty thick and it's messing with the sensor readings. Mainly just static and ghost signals, though."

Ronin nodded and gently shook the vixen's shoulder. It took a minute, but the vixen finally began to stir.

"Wha-?" the vixen asked tiredly as her emerald eyes opened, "Why'd you wake me Chase?"

The fox nodded to the pilots, "He said we'll be landing soon, Krystal."

With a quiet nod, the vixen yawned and stretched, pushing herself off of Chase's shoulder.

* * *

Once the drop ship had landed, Chase undid the harness that held him and Krystal down. Once he had, the vixen stood up and stretched again. As she did, the fox unlocked the armor that sat across from them.

"Here, you're going to need this." Chase said.

"Alright, but I need you to promise not to look while I put it on." Krystal replied.

Chase smiled and shook his head, "Krystal, it's not like you're removing your flight suit. Why should I turn away?"

Krystal put her hands on her hips, giving him a look the fox new well.

"Fine, fine. I'm turning away." The fox sighed.

In a few minutes, Krystal locked the armor into place and told Chase he could look again.

When he did, Krystal picked her assault rifle up. The new S32 heavy assault rifle Hiigan had told her to use. The S32 wasn't actually 'heavy' in terms of weight. It was surprisingly light at only about seven or eight ounces. The only heavy thing about it was its ammunition. Its magazine held thirty bullets, each one designed to penetrate armor at speeds up to three thousand fifty feet per second. It was a fully automatic weapon that Krystal had been training with to fire in bursts of three rounds per pull of the trigger.

As she pulled the rifle strap over her shoulder, Chase picked up something different. The only type of gun he had ever liked. Strapped to Chase's side his favorite Stinger 9mm handgun along with several clips of ammunition and three fragmentation grenades. He may not have looked like much without an assault rifle or a sniper rifle, but in his hands, a single Stinger handgun became a weapon to be feared. But for this mission, the fox picked up a second one and strapped it to his other side along with two electromagnetic pulse grenades.

As he handed a third handgun to Krystal, the fox asked, "So, did you ever expect to come back here?"

"What do you mean 'back here'?" Krystal asked, "I've never been to one of the corporation colonies before."

"No, but we are close to where you and Fox's team first faced off against the Aparoids." Chase replied, "Katana Outpost is about three clicks East from here."

Krystal nodded, remembering how her former loved one and leader had saved her from being shot down while searching for an SOS signal.

"Come in Dagger, come in." one of the pilots said into a radio, "Dagger do you copy?"

After a few seconds of silence, the pilot sighed and replaced the radio "Looks like this fog is messing with the transmissions too. We'll have to get above it and tell the carrier that you two are down here."

Chase nodded, "You guys do that. Ronin-2 and I will proceed to the objective."

With that, the back of the drop ship slowly lowered, revealing itself to be a ramp used for vehicle drops. As the two walked out, one of the pilots called to them.

"Hey, there's a transmission tower poking above the fog." He called, "If you need help, try to get there and call for back up."

"Will do." Chase called back as he pulled on his helmet.

The two stood back as the ramp pulled back up into the drop ship. With a deafening roar, the drop ship lifted off the ground, soon disappearing above the fog that surrounded them.

* * *

Minutes later, Chase and Krystal were wandering down one of the many empty streets. With the fog still surrounding them, Chase couldn't help but feel that something wasn't right. If the intel they had received was correct, there should still be colonists somewhere inside the protective colony walls.

From what their CO had told them, Colony 104 was about the size of a large town. Like a normal town, it had stores, power and water lines, waste removal units, and many other convinces to make the lives of the colonists not much different than anywhere else.

But unlike a town, the colony was built close to a mine where the colonists dug for the ultimate power source, a type of crystal called xalphidium. This mineral was not only an incredible source of fuel when broken down, but it was also very plentiful. All the crystals grew out from a central hive deep within the crust of a planet.

As long as that central hive was not disturbed, the crystals would continue to grow, replacing the crystals that had been mined within hours. These hives were found all over the various planets in the Lylat system. And where the largest of the crystals grew, it was certain that a colony owned by the very corporation that the Ronin team worked for was nearby to claim the mines.

But now, the fog covered mining colony seemed abandoned. As Chase opened a door to a general store he noted that no one was inside.

"Weird, it's like everyone disappeared." Chase said as he walked into the store, then he noticed that Krystal wasn't with him, "Krystal?"

When she didn't get a reply, the fox ran back out into the fog to find his partner looking into a dormitory building. The vixen turned to him with worry.

"Chase, what's going on here?" She asked quietly, "According to Hiigan there were still colonists."

Chase glanced around "I don't know Krystal, but we aren't going to find answers here."

Krystal nodded, knowing that Chase was right.

As the two continued their search, Krystal began to feel a little naked. Unlike her partner, the vixen had forgotten to pick up a helmet on the way through the armory back on the station. So, while Chase had motion trackers, ammunitions monitoring data, and vital sign data, Krystal had nothing but her wits. With a gentle groan, the vixen shook her head, cursing herself for not thinking ahead about expecting the unexpected.

When Chase heard his partner groan, he looked back at her, "Regretting not picking up a helmet already?"

"Yeah." The vixen replied, "I should have known something like this would happen."

Chase patted her shoulder, "It's alright Krystal. I'm sure you were just tired this morning before we got loaded up. Everyone forgets things occasionally."

Then the fox remembered something. Quickly, he dug into his pants under the armored leggings and pulled out something that looked like a hairclip.

"Just remembered this little baby." The fox said, handing it to Krystal, "Clip it behind your ear and press it."

While mentally, the vixen was thinking this was just an attempt to cheer her up a bit, Krystal sighed and did as she was told. The vixen clipped the device to the back of her left ear. The device extended around their head to their eyes where it parted. Once it had parted to the point where the separated sections were at their full distance apart, a soft blue light appeared between the two points and spread back to where the sections reconnected. On this space of light was a motion tracking device, a digital clock, and a readout of her own vital stats.

"It's a new version of a recon HUD." Chase smiled, "Kind of like what Wolf and his team were using before you rejoined us, only much more improved. It may not be the best defense if someone's shooting at you, but it's better than flying blind."

"And you didn't give this to me before we got off the drop ship because...why?" Krystal asked, her hands on her hips.

Chase looked down, a sheepish smile playing on his face, "I forgot I had it."

With a sigh, Krystal patted him, "Better late than never."

Chase nodded as his ears perked suddenly. The fox's sheepish look was gone, replaced by a more serious look as he looked down an alleyway.

"Chase?" The vixen asked, "What is it?"

"I heard something." The fox said as he drew his Stingers, "This way."

* * *

Seconds later, Chase was peeking around the corner of a building, most of his body still hidden safely behind its sturdy wall. Beside him, still safe in the alleyway, Krystal was cradling her weapon, the S32 HAR. As she attempted to look as well, Chase gently placed his hand against her. Instead of listening to his order, the vixen moved his hand a looked as well. But what she saw sent a shiver down her spine.

A lone figure stood in the street, its long hooded robe barely touching the ground, were in the street, The black cloak covered its entire body, revealing nothing about who or what it could be. But while the figure appeared to be holding something, the fog was making it impossible to tell what.

But what truly made Krystal cringe was the fact that something was also at it's feet. Another figure lay unmoving on the cold street. Much like it concealed the object the figure held, the fog obscured Krystal's idea of what was at the figure's feet.

"Chase, what is that thing?" Krystal asked.

"I don't know." The fox replied, "But I'm about to find out. Stay here and cover me."

Reluctantly, Krystal nodded and Chase holstered his pistols. As she watched, the fox walked into the streets and slowly approach the figure.

For a minute, the figure ignored him, instead looking down at the creature on the ground. But as the fox drew closer, the robed figure looked up at him. Chase couldn't see what the figure was under the robe, but in the fog, the fox was two, glowing, golden eyes.

"Hey! Can I talk to you for a minute?" Chase called to the figure.

When it didn't reply, Chase walked closer. But as he did, he realized what was at the robed figure's feet.

Lying on the street was a wolf, his appearance giving away hints of a struggle. His torn miner clothing and gray fur kept his injuries from sight, but Chase knew better than to think he wasn't harmed.

"What happened here?" Chase asked, "Is he ok?"

The figure still did not reply, instead staring at him from under the hood of the cloak, its face and eyes concealed. But its silence was only making Chase feel more aggressive.

"Ok you, I want some answers." Chase growled as his hand reached for his Stinger handguns.

But then, he froze. Before him, the figure had begun to raise its left arm. But on its hand were four, two foot long, steel claws. Chase's eyes widened, as he realized what he was looking at. The same adversary Hiigan had described to him and Krystal the night before. The robotic Sev`fel unit known as a Reaper.

With a loud, metallic cry, the Reaper attacked, quickly bringing its sharp claws to bear. But just before it could strike, Chase leaped aside, the claws slashing into the fog. As the fox drew his pistols, the robotic creature pulled up its right arm, the multi-barreled repeating energy blaster.

Before Chase could fire a shot, a series of shots rang out, echoing into the fog covered colony. Chase watched as the Reaper fell, its robed body riddled with bullet holes. As he looked back to the alleyway, he saw Krystal down on one knee. Smoke gently wafted from the barrel of the rifle as she stood back up.

"Nice shooting." Chase commented as Krystal walked to his side.

"Thanks." Krystal replied, and then she saw the male on the ground, "Oh my god..."

Chase walked to the wolf and dropped down to one knee, placing a finger on his neck, "He's still alive, but we need to get somewhere safer than out here."

With a grunt, the fox pulled the wolf onto his shoulders. Chase told Krystal to keep him covered if any more Reapers showed up to investigate the noise. With a nod, the vixen pulled her rifle to her shoulder.

* * *

It wasn't long before the two had entered an apparently abandoned building. As Chase set the wolf down, Krystal locked the door.

"Is he going to be alright?" the vixen asked as chase stood back up.

"Probably." Chase replied, cocking his pistols, "It doesn't look like he got shot anywhere. Probably just a major beating."

As Krystal tended to the wounded wolf, Chase tried to call command. But all he got in return was static. With a groan, he removed his helmet.

"Chase?" Krystal asked as the fox paced.

"Ok, so the pilots were right. We need to get above the fog to send up a signal to the carrier." Chase replied distractedly, "But the only place high enough is the com towers about a mile from here. If the entire colony has been taken over by Reapers, it's not going to be a good idea to move our survivor until he's awake. Or one of us will have to go it alone."

"We'll wait." Krystal stated, "I don't want you going out there alone."

As Chase sat down on a chair, the wolf on the ground moved a little, giving a groan. After a minute, his eyes opened.

"Wha?" he asked, his mind still groggy.

"Easy, you're alright now." Krystal said softly.

The wolf looked up at the blue vixen sitting over him, "What happened?"

"That's what we'd like to know." Chase said, "I'm Ronin, this is Ronin-2. We're from the corporation."

The wolf sat for a second, his mind remembering what it could. Then he began to explain. The wolf was one of the soldiers for the privet army the corporation had given their colonies. Usually, this security force could handle whatever came their way, but this time, things were different. When the Sev`fel ordered a surrender, they declined it. Then, everything went to hell.

"They came so fast." The wolf explained, "The robots just came from nowhere, an entire battalion of them. They blew right through our defenses, cut apart our transports, and then took over. That was about four days ago now."

Chase sighed, taking it all in, "Alright, we know what we're up against. Are there any other survivors?"

The wolf nodded, "Most of the colonists survived after we surrendered. Ever since then we've been mining for the robots. If we don't, they kill a few of us. Today, a small force tried to fight back...I'm the only survivor."

"What's your name and rank soldier?" Chase asked.

"Lieutenant Matthews, but my squad called me 'Storm'." The wolf replied.

Chase nodded and unholstered one of his pistols, flipping it around so that the grip was facing Storm, "Time for payback."

"It'll feel good Sir." Storm replied as he got up and took the handgun.

Just as he did, the doors to the building exploded inward.