FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

(A quick note from the author: Pronunciation. The names in this chapter may be difficult for some to pronounce so I offer a short guide. Hikage: Hi-kah-gay. Kogoe: Koh-goh-ay. Baki: Bah-kee. That should do it, enjoy!)

The massive stone monolith loomed before them as the small ship sailed towards the island. A muscular hyena with a smug and determined look on his face was at the helm. The muscles in the canine's arms rippled as he steered the craft closer to the dangerous base of the huge tower. An otter sat next to him, casually reading a book. The mustelid looked up from the pages briefly to look at where the hyena was taking them. He saw the large stone structure and shrugged; returning his gaze to the pages of the book.

The hyena looked down at him; annoyed. "You know, you could look more concerned. I am about to go into a very dangerous place, you know."

The otter shrugged again. "But you'll make it out fine, you always do, captain."

"That maybe so, but it would be nice if you at least pretended to be concerned about me, Tireal."

Tireal looked up from his book and grinned. "Now where's the fun in that? I think it's much more entertaining to watch you squirm."

The hyena chuckled softly and then burst out laughing as he swung the wheel hard to port; parking the small boat neatly snug up against the rocks. He stepped out of the small boat and rummaged through their supplies. He pulled out a wooden torch and slipped it through one of the belt loops on his trousers next to his right-hand pistol. Quint checked the ammo in both of his pistols; making sure each was loaded completely. Before lifting the last weapon out of the boat, he pulled a box of matches from his pocket and looked inside; checking to see if there were enough. When he was satisfied, the hyena picked up the rifle that Alexis had donated to the cause and slung it onto his back before turning back to the boat's only passenger.

"Tireal?" The hyena asked, "Whatever happens, don't follow me inside."

Tireal nodded and continued to peruse his novel. "I'll wait here."

He lifted his eyes long enough from the pages to watch his companion climb the small set of stairs next to the rocks. Tireal shook his head and sighed as he returned to his book.

You can't get away from me that easily, Quint. I want to see the inside of this place too.

Quint looked down the shear wall next to the doors. The wall was steep, but there were plenty of foot and paw holds and Quint had little difficulty descending it. The hyena dropped himself into one of the many steam vents that dotted the wall just above the sea. He had roughly ten minutes to get out of the vent before The Spire expelled more scalding steam. The vent was large enough for him to stand up in; all right, he thought, time to get to work.

The hyena pulled the torch from his belt and lit it; illuminating the vent and allowing Quint to look farther down the passage. There was only one way to go, and that was inward.

Quint set off at a jog.

***

Tireal turned around abruptly; dropping his book as the other life-boat slid up on the rocky shore. Charr and Vicks were beaching the boat as Alexis hopped out of it. Vicks tied the small dinghy to a large rock before joining the others next to Tireal's boat.

"So, what's the plan?" Charr asked as he looked up at the imposing black structure. The Spire was like a black scab on the ocean's surface.

"Well, we have to get through those doors." Tireal said. "Quint is already inside."

"Good thing we have Alexis with us then." Charr grinned as the female rat walked up to the massive doors. "She was part of the best infiltration squad in the Kathseran militia before she joined the resistance."

"Wait a second," Vicks piped up. "Didn't Quint tell us to not follow him inside?"

"Quint needs all of the help he can get." Tireal replied bitterly. "He's got an army to face in there."

"She's done." Charr told them.

"Already? That was fast."

The others trotted to the double doors and marveled at the small hole that Alexis had created.

"I'll go first." Charr whispered as he dropped to all fours and started to crawl through the hole. The tunnel was a short one and there was light at the end of it. There were two avian feet at the end of it as well. Charr silently approached the other end of the hole and cautiously looked into the other room. There were two guards, one directly in front of him, facing the far wall and the other was talking into a radio.

"No, everything is fine down here, sir. There's no sign of any intruders." The talking bird turned his back to the other. "I have no idea what the engineering team heard. I'm not in the engine room. Well maybe if you called the engine room, you would find out sooner-"

Charr took the opportunity to grab the bird legs in front of him and pull.

"-Yes sir, we'll keep an eye out for anything strange. Over and out." The talking bird put the reciever on the wall as he heard his companion squawk in alarm. The talking bird turned around quickly to see no sign of his fellow guardsman except for a few feathers floating to the ground. The lone guard approached the spot where his friend had been standing and looked up curiously; his gun pointed skyward. Charr pointed the other guard's silenced pistol at the standing bird's head and fired.

The bird didn't make a sound as the bullet ripped through his flesh. Charr was out of the hole before the bird hit the ground and he motioned for the others to follow. The rat pulled the other dead avian from the hole; the guard's throat slit cleanly. Tireal grimaced as he pulled himself out of the makeshift entrance. Quint never killed anyone; at least not when Tireal was around. When the others were safely through, Alexis pushed both dead birds back into the hole and placed her palms on the door. As he paws glowed, the hole closed until all signs of their entry were masked.

"Alright." Charr said as he walked over to a lit panel on the wall. "It looks like there are two containment facilities. One is probably for prisoners. The other is probably for important equipment. I'm betting that the sapphire is in this one." The rat pointed to a glowing schematic of a rather small room. Tireal looked closely at the bright screen and tried to decipher the strange writing.

"It would be easier if any of us could understand this." The otter said.

Vicks lifted his paw timidly. "I can."

The lion stepped up to the glowing panel and looked at the words as his paws flew over the keyboard like they were meant to be there. Windows upon windows sprang up on the screen; staying only for a few second before vanishing again.

"You were pointing at something called 'the machine room.'" He said. "I think what we're looking for is 'Lockdown Storage.' There are log reports of a 'gem' being moved there." He pushed a finger into the monitor at the location of another room. "The only problem is it's at the bottom of the ship, eighty-five floors down."

"Then we should move fast." Alexis said. "I hope Quint knows where he's going."

***

Quint was lost. He had made it out of the vents successfully, but a guard patrol had caught him off guard and now he was running blind. He could only assume where the sapphire was, and he was assuming it was on the bottom floor of the ship. All of the hallways looked the same and it didn't help that he couldn't read any of the signs. Quint was following them in hopes that they lead him to an elevator or staircase. The hyena pressed himself into a shadowed corner as a patrol walked passed him. He turned the direction the sign pointed and breathed a sigh of relief as he saw an elevator. There was only one guard there and no other birds in the hallway. Quint looked around for something to use as a relatively silent weapon and noticed a piece of piping at his feet. He picked it up; throwing it hard at the guard's head. The hyena was rewarded with a loud clang as the pipe collided with the bird and then the floor. Quint's celebration was short lived, however as the elevator dinged and the doors slid open. Shit! The hyena thought as he bolted towards the open doors, hoping there weren't more than three guards inside. Quint nearly fell over himself as Charr blocked his punch and pulled him into the elevator. Alexis grabbed the pipe and the unconscious bird; pulling them both into the elevator as well.

"What the hell are all of you doing here!?" Quint exclaimed as the doors slid closed again and the elevator started it's decent.

"We thought you could use some help, Captain." Tireal said. "It looks like we were right."

"I had the situation handled." Quint growled. "You disobeyed a direct order!"

"Well it's kind of hard for us to disobey, since we're not officially your crew." Alexis said.

"I don't care!" Quint was yelling now. "I don't want Tireal in here! Get him out now!"

"But- why?" Vicks asked, noticing the tears starting to form in Tireal's eyes.

"I can't tell you-" Quint looked away and punched the door in frustration. "I'm- I have to do this on my own."

"But you can't do it on your own!" Alexis said. "There are way too many guards and defense systems!"

"I know-" Quint chocked back tears. "I- I just have to do this by myself."

The elevator stopped abruptly. Quint was the first one out of the doors and the hyena was face to face with the largest raven he had ever seen. The bird stood nearly ten feet tall and it eyed Quint with disdain. The jet black bird was standing in front of a high security door and the hallway forked in front of it; both halls leading away in a shallow circular design. The there was more piping on either side of the elevator, but the bird held the entire group's attention. The avian looked briefly toward the elevator and lifted a radio to his beak.

"I have them in sight." The voice was deep and it reverberated off of the steel walls. "What are your orders?"

Quint took the initiative and shot the radio. Sparks flew into the avian's face; making him squawk in surprise. Charr followed Quint's lead; firing a bullet into the bird's forehead. The sound of metal striking metal echoed around them as the bullet hit the raven. He looked stunned for a second and then pulled the bullet from the metal plate behind his feathers.

"No way!" Tireal exclaimed.

"He's an elite guard!" Alexis was readying a grenade from her pouch. "Bullets won't harm him!"

"You just made a big mistake." The bird said as he summoned a red ball of flame around his wing. The metal slug in his feathers glowed white as it melted into an amorphous blob of death. Quint, Charr, and Alexis dove for the cover of the surrounding pipes as the ball of fire hurtled towards them. Vicks held out his hands; trying to stop the projectile but only slowing it slightly before Tireal pulled the lion out of the way. The wall next to the elevator exploded in a shower of sparks and flame.

"There's no way we can fight this!" Charr said as the raven's wing became wreathed in flame again.

"We have to try and make a break for it." Alexis pulled a strike anywhere match from her pocket and lit the grenade. "After this goes off, we run."

She threw the explosive around the pipes that they had been hiding behind, but the raven was waiting for it. Before Alexis could get completely back into cover, the grenade exploded close by; making her scream in pain as the heat seared the fur off of part of her right arm. Tireal grabbed another grenade from Alexis and lit it on the sparks coming from the wall.

"Tireal, wait!" He heard Quint call as he dove out of cover.

The lithe otter rolled onto his feet and jumped backwards just in time to avoid the fiery ball aimed for his head. Tireal retaliated with the small grenade; tossing it directly at the large bird's head. The raven didn't have time to create another fire ball and he moved to shield his face from the explosive. However, the small metal bomb was moving too quickly and it struck the bird directly on the beak before the fuse disappeared. Tireal had just started his decent when the grenade's immense explosion sent him sailing backwards into the still open elevator. The machine dinged and the doors slid closed on the otter; taking him back upwards.

"Tireal!" Quint shouted as the elevator doors closed.

He ran from hiding; oblivious to the charred and smoking corpse of the raven behind him. The control panel for the elevator was broken and sparking. Quint pounded his fists on the doors franticly.

"Quint, calm down!" Charr said as he tried to pry the hyena from the elevator doors.

"Let go of me! Tireal could die up there!"

"He can handle himself." Alexis said. "Why don't you stop babying him?"

"Because he's still a child!"

"Take another look. The reason he wanted to help you was because he doesn't want to be treated like a kid anymore." Charr was still trying to wrestle Quint away from the doors as he spoke. "It's time to have some faith in him for once."

"You don't know anything!" Quint hissed; his fingers trying to lever the doors apart manually.

"Everyone just calm the fuck down!" Vicks shouted.

Quint momentarily stopped struggling in surprise at the volume of the lion's voice; letting Charr finally drag him away from the door.

"There's nothing we can do now. I'm sure Tireal will be able to get the elevator working again, but until he finds his own way back down to us, we can't worry about it. We came here on a mission, anyway and it looks like this is our floor."

The lion looked at a glowing map screen next to the charred raven. He only had to look for a moment.

"We're going this way" he said as he started walking down the left hand corridor.

Charr paused only to look at the smoking and melted wall that used to be a door behind the raven. There were sparks coming out of it and a monitor on the left side of the door had an odd pulsing red light in the lower corner. The rat had no idea what it meant, but something about it made him uneasy. He passed it off as general nervousness and trotted after the others.

***

The cell shook violently and an alarm shattered the silence; waking the wolf from his dreamless sleep. He was a black wolf; clothed in what looked like a skin tight jumpsuit. The suit was black as well with a dark blue stripe down the front and back. It was uncomfortable as hell.

"Systems diagnostic initiating."

The wolf shook himself; trying to stay awake. Gods he was tired. Why was he so tired? He looked down at himself drearily and noticed the tube leading from his arm to an empty I. V. bag. Oh. The wolf thought as he pulled the tube from his arm; cringing at the strange sensation.

"Diagnostic complete. All systems functioning at normal levels."

He sat up; holding his head. That nagging voice in the back of his mind was really annoying and he tried to ignore it. Where was he? How did he get here? The last thing he remembered was the explosion that should have killed him.

"Weapon systems online. Waiting for user input."

He looked around the small cell. It was built from some kind of sheet metal; even the bed frame was cold to the touch. The thin mattress he had been lying on was very uncomfortable. Besides the I. V. there were no other furnishings in the small room. There wasn't even a chamber pot.

"Waiting for user input."

The canine shook his head. His brain felt like it had been sent through a blender on the liquefy setting. What the fuck is a blender? He thought as he slowly tried to stand and shakily stayed on his feet. Well he hadn't been there long enough to make his muscles atrophy. Wait, how do I know that? He had never even heard of atrophy before until now. He suddenly realized that the strange voice was speaking to him.

"Waiting for user input."

The black canine blinked several times and focused his vision on a closer depth of field. A white, transparent control panel faded into his view and he watched; detached as his hands moved on their own. They waved over a few of the buttons on the panel and the voice in his head responded.

"User password accepted. Initiating interface for user: Omega One. Codename: Shadow."

The white panel in front of his eyes shimmered and changed color. It was black now, with gold text. The wolf found it strangely soothing and it was as if the discomfort and stiffness melted away from his body. Now this, I remember. He thought as a surge of strength filled his muscles. He stepped forward to the door and peered through the tiny slit; only seeing darkness.

"Hello?" he asked in a deep voice that sounded almost foreign.

The panel in front of the slit slid back suddenly and the wolf was face to face with a bird.

"What are you doing awake?" The bird asked. "Get back on your examination table!"

"Well the alarm kind of woke me up." The wolf said. "But now that I'm awake, would you mind telling me where I am and why I'm here?"

"That's classified information." The bird spoke gruffly. "Stand back, I'm coming in. Don't you dare try anything 'funny.'"

"I don't know what you're talking about." The wolf said sweetly as the door slid open. The bird took a step into the room and pointed to the "bed."

"Get on there and shut up." The avian barked.

"You first." The wolf responded.

The bird didn't have time to wonder what the canine meant before the wolf grabbed the back of his head and his face made a large dent in the opposite wall; leaving a trail of red as he slid down it and slumped over the table. The canine smiled. That felt good.

"Pleasant dreams." The wolf said as he took the guard's keys; disappearing out of the doorway. He was in a short hallway made of the same metal as his cell. It looked like a cell block. Damn that alarm is loud. He thought as he cautiously approached the cell next to his and slid open the hatch to look inside. This cell was identical to his, except for the reptile on the bed. A chameleon. He thought. She looks familiar. Why do I feel like I know her from somewhere? The wolf opened the door and pulled the I. V. from the lizard's arm none too gently. The reptile awoke with a start and swung at the wolf out of instinct. The canine dodged the blow easily and tried to grab the chameleon's hand. For some reason he only grabbed air before the lizard's other fist connected with his jaw; nearly sending the wolf reeling.

"Whoa! Hold on Ba, Bak-" The lizard started to swing again as the wolf frantically tried to recall a name. "Baki!"

The chameleon stopped in mid swing.

"That appears to be my name." The reptile said slowly. "And you are, Hikage."

The wolf smiled and held out a paw. "Pleasure to meet you I guess."

Baki looked down at the paw and shook her head; saluting the wolf instead. "I follow; you lead, sir. If you wish, you may strike me. I was out of line."

The wolf looked at the lizard and sized her up. She was very muscular for a reptile. She also wore the same kind of jumpsuit as Hikage, but hers had a gray stripe down the middle instead of the wolf's midnight blue. The lizard was at least half a foot taller than the canine.

"I'm not going to hit you. Come on, we have to gently wake up the rest of our squad." At least he thought it was a squad. "Oh, and don't forget to reset your interface or whatever it is."

The lizard nodded and her hands flew through the air in front of her.

"All done, sir; Omega Three, codename: Ghost Fist, reporting for duty!"

Hikage smiled and Baki followed the wolf out into the hallway. Things were slowly starting to drift back into memory.

"Kogoe." The wolf pointed into a third cell. "Apparently he's a cat." The snow leopard was dressed in an all black jumpsuit and the two others had no trouble waking him. It was almost as if he knew they were coming. Almost immediately after the small leopard stood, he spoke in a whisper.

"Omega Four; codename: Whisper, ready and waiting."

"Why do I get the worst looking suit?" Hikage asked. "I'm the leader! I should be dressed the best!"

"Let's worry about that later, sir." Baki said as she opened the fourth cell and walked inside. The cell was empty.

"Where's Tsuuku?" Hikage asked as he looked into the small room.

"Injured, probably dead." Kogoe whispered.

Hikage felt a sharp ache in his chest. "How do you know that?"

"I- don't know. I just do." The feline looked as shaken as the wolf did.

"If he is dead, then we need something to bring him back." Hikage's memory was returning rapidly now. Why did he feel so sad?

"How do you bring someone back from the dead?" Baki asked.

"The Sapphire." Kogoe whispered.

Hikage stared at him.

"A piece of jewelry? I thought it would be something more, I don't know, scientific."

"The Celestial Sapphire has the power to grant anyone a single wish. Its power is limitless so legend has it that returning from death is possible." Kogoe seemed lost in a trance.

"Well we can't function as a team until we get our best gunner and second in command back." Hikage stretched his arms behind his head.

"Sir, we don't have any orders from headquarters yet." Baki said.

"Well we'll have to go there to catch up on what we've been missing since-" He paused. "Since whatever it was that put us here happened. Kogoe, where's the gem?"

The cat looked at the wolf; eyes wide in alarm.

"It's on this floor-"

"Well then, let's go get it!"

"We should just focus on getting out of here right now." Baki stepped out of the room passed the two males and looked at the end of the hallway. The door was bent inward from some outside force and the warp in the metal had created a small passage to the right of the damaged exit that was just large enough for her to squeeze into. The three worked their way through the small makeshift corridor until it broke out into a larger hallway. They were suddenly faced with six heavily armed bird guards.

"Don't move, you three!" The guard in the lead said. "We don't want to kill you!"

"You mean you have orders not to kill us." Hikage said. "What makes us so special?"

"Put your hands in the air and don't move or we will open fire!" The bird responded.

"You would do well to not get in our way." Hikage yawned. "We're dangerous and we're in a hurry."

"I said lift your hands now!" The bird fired a warning shot; clipping the wolf's ear.

Hikage hissed in pain and ducked reflexively; grabbing the remaining half of his left ear as the blood trickled down between his fingers.

"Not so tough now, are you?" The guard said. "Now get the fuck down on the ground!"

"Team? Kill them." Hikage growled as Baki lunged forward at the guards. Kogoe flinched his right arm and the leader of the birds lost his head. The shocked expression on his face stayed there as his body fell to the ground; gouts of blood spraying from the hole in his shoulders. The other guards opened fire.

***

Hikage waited behind the wall of rubble for the gunfire to stop. He was sitting on a vast, but hilly plain in the ruins of an abandoned church. The bullets whizzed over his head in a seemingly endless stream and he looked over at Tsuuku. The other canine was waiting just like he was and he winked at Hikage before diving across the break in the wall; weaving in between the projectiles as he returned fire from his rifle in kind. Tsuuku landed next to Hikage and grinned up at the wolf.

"Showoff." Hikage smirked as he pushed the sixteen year-old canine playfully and stood up to fire off a few shots of his own before the enemy reloaded.

"What? I can't help it if I have cool abilities." Tsuuku stuck out his tongue at his superior officer when the wolf sat back down.

"If you don't start behaving like an adult, I'm going to have to send you home." The wolf tried to keep a straight face.

"Hey! That's not fair, just because I'm the youngest, doesn't mean I can't act like an adult if I want to." The other canine pouted and made a small whining noise; fake tears starting to form in his eyes.

"Oh I can't stay mad at you." Hikage laughed and pulled the younger canine into a hug.

Tsuuku looked up at the older wolf and smiled as the metal projectiles flew over them.

"We really should give Baki and Kogoe more covering fire-" Hikage said suddenly; breaking the moment. "Come on, kid. We actually have a job to do or we don't get paid."

Hikage leaned up over the wall to see how many enemies they had to take out. A large, circular concrete bunker stood where the center of town used to be. There was an enemy in the turret on top of the bunker and three near the wall below.

"Right now, we have to lay down some suppressive fire of our own. Think you can work your magic and dodge some more bullets for the cause?"

The young soldier grinned. "I sure can, sir!"

Tsuuku sprang into action; leaping over the wall and drawing all of the enemy fire.

Good work, Tsuuku. Just keep them busy for a little while longer. Hikage readied his sniper rifle and took aim at the furless manning the turret.

A single shot was all it took and the odd looking mammal was no longer living. Tsuuku finished riddling the other three soldiers with lead as he and Hikage quickly covered the ground between their meager cover and the enemy bunker. They drew their pistols as Hikage threw the sniper rifle over his back. The two commandos nodded to each other as they moved in unison; gunning down the remaining furless in the bunker. It was like shooting fish in a barrel. The bunker was metal plated on the inside; steel running up the walls and on the ceilings. There were two floors and the two commandos wasted no time in clearing out the second floor to set up a temporary base. The second floor had two steel columns in it that Hikage guessed were to hold up the ceiling. Tsuuku opened the supply crates that the furless had been hording and rooted through them while Hikage approached the turret and pushed the dead operator out of it. The wolf sat in the turret and looked out over the ruined town and the plains through the scope.

"Baki and Kogoe aren't anywhere in sight." He said. "They're never late. What the hell happened?"

"Hikage, look!"

The wolf looked to his left and saw what the younger canine had seen.

"Oh shit! Tsuuku, get down!" Hikage yelled as the furless below leveled their anti-tank gun at the turret in the bunker. The wolf leaped out of the turret and threw himself over the young soldier; protecting him from the explosion that rattled the bunker. Hikage felt the chunk of metal as it dug into his ribs; making him wince from the pain. Fuck! The wolf slumped over Tsukuu, but he was still breathing.

"Don't worry, Hikage." Tsuuku told his commander. "I'll take it from here. They don't call me Trigger for nothing."

"Wait Omega Two-" Hikage groaned as Tsuuku pushed the older commando off of him.

"It's time to prove my worth." The younger soldier smiled. "Let me protect you."

Tsuuku moved the older wolf gently behind one of the columns to give him cover. Hikage tilted his head and watched as Tsuuku stood and lifted their pistols; pointing both of them towards the stairs. Before Hikage's vision blurred, he heard Tsuuku open fire.

***

"That's as far back as I can remember." Hikage said as he finished telling Baki and Kogoe his story. The three were standing in the middle of the blood bath they created, but none of them showed any signs of fighting.

"Mine is much the same." Baki said. "I feel as though I die, yet here I am."

Kogoe only nodded in agreement.

"If they used the sapphire to bring us back, then they would have needed The Skyway's temple to do it." Hikage mused.

"What if they didn't go to The Skyway, but used the Sapphire anyway?" Baki asked.

Hikage shrugged. "I have no idea. All I know is what Kogoe here told us."

"Well we seem to have retained our abilities from life, though how we gained such abilities in the first place baffles me." The wolf and lizard just stared at Kogoe. "What?" The feline asked.

"That's the most you've spoken since the war." Hikage replied.

"Well you didn't expect me to stay quiet forever, did you?" The cat was still speaking in whispers.

"'Quiet' is a relative term." Baki chided. "We need to keep moving, though."

"Agreed." Hikage smiled as he looked at the dead guards around them. He bent over and picked up a sword and a nasty looking dagger. "I'll be taking these, since you won't need them anymore." He said to the guard's corpse as the three started walking toward the Sapphire.

Quint kept to the rear of the group; listening for any soldiers following them. Once, he thought he heard fighting, but he just chalked that up to his ears playing tricks on him. The hyena had an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. The group stopped at another glowing monitor; waiting for Vicks to read off the next direction.

"This one's different." The lion frowned. "I think they've started trying to encrypt it. Why avians know and use the old tongue is beyond me, though."

"Can you crack it?" Charr asked

"I can try, but it'll take some time." Vicks responded.

"Take all the time you need." Quint forced a smile. He really didn't want to stay in one place for long, but they had no choice now. The hyena turned his back to the rest of the group and looked back the way they had come. Someone was coming. Quint squinted back the way they came, but he couldn't see anything. He tried harder, almost making his head hurt, but it seemed useless. The hyena tried to focus on the noise; tried to figure out where it was coming from as his head pounded from the mental strain. Suddenly something gave in his mind and it was as if he could see everything around him at once. The hyena heard Vicks typing on the monitor and it felt as though he was looking over the lion's shoulder. This strange new sensation sent him reeling momentarily, but he regained his balance.

"Are you ok?" Charr asked; coming up behind Quint.

"Someone's following us."

It was not something in him that had opened his eyes. The strange vision came from elsewhere; another creature? Upon that thought, Quint was suddenly there; watching as a dying bird guard dragged her upper half down the hallway. The bird was looking back in fear; her entrails spilled and dragging behind her. The hyena watched in horror as the bird squawked a plea of mercy; looking back through him to where her attackers were. Quint was suddenly the one on the floor; looking back over his splattered guts at three menacing figures obscured by shadow. The hyena felt an intense fear before a light wind rustled through his feathers as his head disappeared from his shoulders; landing on the cold ground a few feet away and making him watch his dead body slump to the floor. His life blood stained the metal red. Quint was suddenly in his own body again and he quickly doubled over; retching onto the floor from the disturbing scene. The others turned in surprise as Quint emptied his stomach onto the metal tiles. When the hyena could stand again he turned towards the others.

"We have to move, now!" he said hoarsely as he wiped his muzzle clean.

"Give me a second," Vicks was typing furiously. "They have a triple encryption on this door-"

The lion was interrupted by running footsteps coming from the hallway behind them.

"I don't care what it takes!" Quint turned to face the approaching footsteps. "Get that fucking door open or we're all dead!"

Hikage was leaning against a wall in front of a steel weapons locker. Baki stood across from him arms folded across her chest. Kogoe had been gone for some time and the two were merely waiting for him to report back to them. A metallic grating noise came from above them and the two looked up; expecting the leopard to appear, but he never showed. Hikage sighed and picked his teeth with a claw idly. Suddenly a voice like the chill of winter crept into his mind.

"I've found the gem, sir." It was Kogoe.

"Where?" The wolf asked.

"In Lockdown Storage. There is a small group trying to hack into the room. He is with them, commander. What are your orders?"

"He?" Hikage was puzzled. "He who?"

"I don't know, sir. I only remember him as 'He.'" The leopard's whispering voice was very unsettling, but Hikage was used to it.

"Is 'He' a friend or foe?" Baki asked as Hikage began cleaning his claws.

"I think he is both." The leopard sounded confused. "I'm not sure what it means. Should I kill them?"

Hikage thought momentarily, looking over at Baki.

"What do your instincts tell you, Kogoe?" He asked.

"I want to kill him, sir, but I want him to suffer more than I want him dead." The leopard's voice dripped with eagerness.

"Very well, show him what we can do and have done, but don't kill him. I want him to suffer too." The wolf grinned. He remembered who it was. It was the one who betrayed them in the war and he deserved everything that they would do to him.

"Sir?" Kogoe spoke again.

"Yes?"

"There is a hidden watcher above you. Apparently the watching has a connection with 'Him.' We should take him alive."

"Already on it." Hikage said as he reached into a shadow on the wall. He felt around for a moment and Baki heard a minor scuffle above them. Hikage suddenly pulled a very frightened looking otter back through the shadow.

"You are lucky." Hikage said in Tireal's ear. "You are the first being outside of our team to see my power and live."

"Move quickly Kogoe." Baki said. "We need to get into Lockdown Storage before they do."

Hikage felt Kogoe's power leach into the traitor's mind; felt the creature's fear and heard him empty his stomach onto the floor. Baki felt and heard it too. Hikage saw it in her smile.

Hikage liked the chameleon's train of thought as he quickly rendered Tireal unconscious with the hilt of his dagger. The wolf slung Treal over his shoulder and laughed; taking Baki's hand in his as they descended into the shadows on the floor.

The door slid open suddenly to Vicks's surprise. Quint turned around and jogged towards it.

"Good job, kid." He said as he patted the lion on the shoulder.

"But-" Vicks started, but Quint interrupted him.

"Everyone stay here and hold them off, I'm going alone from here on in." The hyena turned and walked through the door and into the darkened storage room beyond.

"Quint, wait!" Vicks called after him as the door slid closed. "I didn't open the door!"

The patrol of guards rounded the corner suddenly, stopping for a moment when they saw the group of intruders in front of the Lockdown Storage door.

"Fuck!" Charr exclaimed as he drew his pistol and dove to the left; unloading the clip at the avians. Alexis readied one of her grenades and the birds started to fire.

"Stop!" Vicks yelled as he threw his paws into the air. The bullets stopped inches from the two rats; held fast by an invisible barrier. Alexis doused her explosive quickly and helped Charr to his feet. The guards looked quizzically at the invisible wall and tapped on it with their weapons. Vicks was sweating.

"Hold it for a while longer until Quint comes back. We're counting on you, lion." Charr told Vicks as he cautiously stepped away from the frozen metal projectiles.

The room was dark. Quint could barely see his paw in front of his face. He fumbled around for a light switch or something, but found only a smooth wall. The hyena turned and pounded on the door.

"Hey!" he called. "Any light switches out there?"

There was no response.

"Vicks?" Quint called. "Charr?"

"They can't hear you." Quint gulped at the voice. It was frighteningly familiar.

The hyena turned around slowly and a floodlight suddenly ripped through the blackness of the room; blinding him momentarily. The room was sparse save for a few shelves and a large, reinforced security container in the center. It was open. Quint held a paw in front of his eyes.

"Hikage-?" Quint said as he tried to look around the bright light.

"So you remember me." The wolf's smile was apparent through his voice. "Good. That makes this easier."

The light dimmed and Quint could see the three commandos clearly now. I am so fucked- Quint thought to himself. Hikage held something in his hand, something blue and round. The Sapphire!

"That's right, traitor." Kogoe whispered. "That's the Sapphire you want. It's a pity we need it more than you."

"Ah yes," Hikage mused. "I suppose we could have tortured you by smashing it if we didn't have a powerful need for it ourselves." The wolf tossed the gem idly into the air like a ball.

"Why do you need it?" Quint asked. "What could you possibly gain from using that gem?"

"We'll get our fourth team mate back." Hikage said. "We'll get back what you took from us."

What the hell? Quint thought.

"But there is a better way we can torture you." Kogoe whispered into Quint's mind. "We have something of yours that we can take, just like you took Trigger from us."

Hikage stepped aside and Quint stared in horror at Tireal's unconscious body lying slumped against the far wall.

"You had better not hurt him!" Quint growled as he sunk into a judo stance.

"Oh you want to fight do you?" Hikage grinned. "I will oblige you, but not yet. Tell us why you betrayed us and killed Trigger and maybe I'll go easy on you."

"Sorry, Hikage. I promised I would put all of that behind me."

"How dare you claim Omega Two's life is so insignificant! Tsuuku is the only remaining factor, hyena. Then we will finish what our squad began so long ago!"

"But I'm-" Quint started, but thought better of it.

"You're what?"

"I'm standing in your way." Quint clenched his teeth. "You'll have to get through me first."

Hikage laughed.

"You think you pose a challenge? You've seen what Kogoe can do." The wolf was grinning. "Perhaps you need a demonstration of our other abilities." He handed the gem to Kogoe before sinking through his shadow into the floor. Quint's mouth fell open. He had never seen Hikage do that before.

The wolf's voice reverberated around the small room. "Where am I, hyena? I could be anywhere. Maybe I haven't moved, maybe I'm hiding in a corner, or maybe-" Quint jumped and his stomach leaped into his throat as the wolf's arms wrapped around him from behind. "I'm right behind you."

Hikage lifted the muscular hyena off of the ground easily and threw him into the steel door. Quint's head hit the metal with a sickening thud, but he shook the blow off and slowly got to his feet.

"Is that your worst?" The hyena said, turning around to face the wolf. "You have no idea what I've been through since the war."

Quint settled his feet into the same judo stance as before.

"That may be so, but I'm not finished with you yet!" Hikage started to sink into the ground again, but Baki's voice stopped him.

"Wait, sir!" She called. "Let me do it."

The wolf rose back up to the floor slowly and nodded.

"Very well, Baki, show this traitor your talents."

This might be easier than I thought. Quint thought as the lizard approached him; cracking her knuckles.

"Don't be so sure, scum." Kogoe whispered.

Quint shivered slightly and tried not to think.

Baki threw a left hook at the hyena who dodged it easily; dancing out of her reach.

"You'll have to try better than that." He chuckled.

The lizard gave him a right this time, which was also easy to dodge, but the hyena missed the left fist sailing for his head until it was too late. Fuck! I have to block! Quint thought as he put up his hands in defense. Hikage smiled as he watched. Baki's fist was the last thing Quint saw in front of his eyes before he skidded along the floor from the blow; wondering what hit him.

"How did you-?" He started to ask before Baki jumped towards him again.

He dodged her strikes; trying to not get cornered. Left, right, left; the lizard's fists flew almost faster than the hyena could move, but he barely kept up with her. She punched a wall without flinching. Her fist shattered one of the aluminum shelving units; sending the contents crashing to the floor as the two combatants moved around the room. Quint saw an opening and jabbed for the large lizard's ribs. His hand passed through her and he widened his eyes in surprise as her right fist connected with the side of his head. Quint's ears rang as he hit the floor; blood trickling down his head behind his left ear. He slowly pushed himself up on all fours and shrank back as Baki's outstretched hand came into his view. He looked up at her; unable to hear anything except for the ringing in his ears. He took the hand and stood with the lizard's help. She steadied him and stepped back into what looked like a kung fu position. Quint reluctantly readied his fists as well. At least the ringing was leaving his brain. Sound came back into his world just in time for him to hear her move. Quint dodged the first punch clumsily; leaning against the wall next to the door. He ducked the second as it dented the sheet metal. He scrambled to get away from her as Hikage's laughter filled his ears.

The hyena could smell the blood dripping down his head. I probably have a concussion. He thought as he sidestepped another punch; making the large lizard strike the security container. She didn't make a dent in it, but the loud bang right next to Quint's head made him cringe. Baki snorted; inhaling the scent of sweat and fear from her opponent. Her leg was suddenly flying towards Quint's gut. Shit, I have no choice! The hyena thought as he threw his arms at the limb, but to no avail. The hyena saw what happened this time. The chameleon's leg phased through Quint's arms; becoming solid again beyond only milliseconds before it struck his ribs. Quint felt more than heard the crunch that told him his ribs were broken. The hyena coughed violently as all air left his lungs and he was sent flying from the powerful kick. Time slowed down while Quint flew through the air. He saw the blood from his mouth falling towards the floor slower than he was moving; his spine suddenly met the cold steel of the shelves; resulting in another sickening crack and more blood from the canine's mouth. Quint fell to his knees and then to the floor; trying not to breath heavily. Everything about him was in pain. He couldn't move.

"I see you've been beaten by Omega Three." Hikage was saying. "Her code name is Ghost Fist. Now you know why." The wolf took the Sapphire back from Kogoe and smiled at Quint as he approached the prone hyena. "It's a shame you didn't last long enough for Kogoe to interject. He desperately wanted to be the one to incapacitate you."

Hikage was standing in front of Quint as the hyena twitched on the floor; blood leaking from his mouth.

"I suppose I should put you out of your misery like the bug you are." Hikage drew a serpentine dagger from his jumpsuit and Quint recognized it immediately.

My dream! The hyena closed his eyes in preparation for the finishing blow, but it never came. Instead he heard Hikage walking away from him.

"Or maybe, I should use this to torture you further."

Quint opened his eyes only to have his worst fears come true.

No! Quint screamed in his mind as he saw Tireal stir and open his eyes. Hikage was standing over the otter. Get out Tireal!

Tireal looked from the wolf, to the leopard, to the chameleon, and then to Quint as his expression turned from surprise, to fear, and then to horror.

"Well then Tireal. It looks like your time on this world is through."

Hikage grinned and grabbed the otter by the scruff of the neck; lifting him off of the ground. The wolf brandished the dagger in the air and grinned at Quint. For the love of the gods, please no! Quint wanted to move, wanted to speak, but just like his dream, he was helpless.

"This is for all the pain and suffering you've caused us." Hikage laughed as he plunged the dagger deep into Tireal's stomach; making the otter scream in pain. The wolf dropped the otter onto the steel floor and signaled to the others as he held his arms outstretched. The two soldiers quickly grabbed a hand and the three of them descended into shadow; Hikage's laughter still reverberating around the room. Tireal crawled over to Quint; trying to hold the wound in his gut closed. The otter cried over the hyena as the door finally slid open and Charr and Alexis ran into the small room.

"Please don't die." Tireal said. "You can't die-"

He was interrupted by the two rats as they lifted both injured creatures from the floor. The pain was overwhelming Quint's mind and all he wanted to do was sleep. Images fluttered into his head; images of the war, of Hikage, and of Tireal. The hyena looked up at the lights on the ceiling and let himself fall into darkness.

END?