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** CHAPTER 52** The Third Offense Part II

It was strange. Despite the situation that Canis Major went through at that moment, the ship was in dead silence. Retcans taught Evocanis to always remain calm no matter the situation and it seems that their teachings did take effect. But what was going through their minds was something that not even decades of Retcan Warrior training could calm.

This was very predominant in older Evocanis; the ones who had the misfortune to live through one or even both attacks. They weren't going to sit and wait for that nightmare to come true once again. They were going to stop all this before it could even start.

"Everyone in?" Luke yelled at his sister. With help of the other Zone managers of their complex, they were making sure that every single Evo that lived there were inside and safe.

Zone Complexes housed many Evos in 10 to 20 Zones. The door that leads to the complex was made to seal away even the vacuum of space if necessary. Once closed, nothing came in or out the area.

"Everyone is in, Luke!" Rika confirmed after finishing with a quick counting of the Evos that lived in the Complex.

Immediately, all the Evocanis that were reunited at the Complex's green area were ordered to go to their Zones as these were going to be sealed as well.

It didn't take much time until everyone was finally inside their zones, and the door that leads to them was manually sealed as well. The feeling of enclosure was frustrating, but it gave them some sense of security.

In H2, Husky, Fx and others were the last to enter. They were helping Luke and Rika keep the Zone in order.

"We shouldn't be here." The orange Evo uttered something that Husky didn't quite understand.

"What was that, Fx?"

"I said we shouldn't be here. It's our duty as D.E1 to go out there and defend Canis Major." Fx repeated, now with a more serious tone.

"We are not going through this again, brother. Not now. You know that the D.E Project is incomplete. And after what happened in that planet... we cannot make the same mistake."

Fx slammed his back into a wall and slid down until he sat on the floor. He looked very concerned. It was normal that Fx didn't talk too much after what happened at the planet, but he had been even more quiet for the last 4 hours since the situation had arisen.

"Let's go to our room, Fx. We will try to keep contact with the Retcans so they can inform us about what's going on. Canis Major is bigger and stronger now. If we stay put, nothing bad will happen."

But the desperate cries of Rika suddenly broke the silence of the sealed Zone. It was unexpected news; terrible ones indeed.

The information about the machines surrounding Canis Major and R105 had now spread throughout the colony. These were the worst news that older generation Evocanis could hear. But that wasn't all.

"No..." Luke gasped. "Not again; we've had enough!" Desperation mixed with fear and anger now overwhelmed the chestnut Evocanis. Both he and his sister had the worst time of their existence when they barely survived through both attacks. It was so hard for them to finally leave everything in the past and adapt to a new life. Now they would relive the nightmare.

"That's not all," Rika said. It was hard to find the right words. "A large number of Zone managers have reported Evos missing."

The situation grew worse. Now there was a large number of Evocanis missing and nowhere to be found. What made it difficult was that there was no way to locate them and most didn't carry a ComPod. That's were Husky noticed something that chilled his spine.

"Where is Hasky?"

"She was helping with the counting. I though she was with you two." Luke said after he overheard Husky.

"I haven't seen her in almost an hour!" Husky yelled. He was furious now. He knew what was going on. Immediately he reached for his ComPod and dialed Hasky's frequency.

Attempt after attempt, Husky didn't get any response. He knew what Hasky did.

"What are you doing, Husky?" Luke watched confused after Husky punched the wall furiously and walked to the zone's storage room. Luke followed Husky trying to calm him down but nothing seemed to work.

"I knew it..." Husky whispered as he looked around in search of something.

"Calm down Husky!" The chestnut Evo tried to calm Husky's altered state, but every single attempt to calm him was futile.

Husky dug through storage compartments erratically.

"She is fine, Husky. She will be back, I'm sure of it. Hasky is probably helping in other zones."

"No!" Husky yelled. "She will break her promise. That's what she is doing now."

"We must go and get her, brother." Fx who stood at the entrance of the storage room said.

Husky looked at him, but he didn't do anything to contradict him. He looked at his brother and nodded.

"No, wait..." Luke tried to stop both from doing something rash.

"Where are the E.M.P guns and the D.E equipment, Luke?" Husky asked without even listening to what Luke said.

"Husky, Fx, I won't let you do this. My job is to ensure yours and everyone's safety!"

"Tell me where the equipment is, Luke!" Husky yelled. "You know Hasky very well. You know she's going out there and if the machines manage to get into Canis Major she will be the first one to jump into battle. I won't let her die!"

"Answer my brother, Luke!" Fx yelled from behind.

In shock because of the two Evos that he saw grow up, two Evos that he helped raise were now so aggressive with him, Luke broke. The situation had already gotten into him, he didn't oppose resistance.

"Here..." Luke walked them into an adjacent room and after imputing a code, a wall opened. Inside this smaller storage room, there were armors, tools and weapons made for the D.E Squad.

Husky and Fx didn't loose any time and quickly wore the PX 500LD Spec-E. They also took an E.M.P gun and a Lanthracit blade. Luke watched helpless as both were readying themselves for battle.

"Promise me that when you get to Hasky the three of you will return immediately." Luke said. He was leaning in a wall, staring at the ground. He was no warrior. His will was pretty much broken at that point.

The chestnut Evo felt someone place their handpaw on his shoulder. "We will bring her back, Luke. Don't worry." Husky stood next to him. His tone of voice was now much calmer.

"Thank you for being such a great Evocanis, Luke." Husky continued. "Fx and I always admired you. We see you as our father." Gently and quickly nuzzling Luke's cheek, Husky ran to the Zone's entrance along with his brother.

"Wait!" Luke stopped the brothers. "I'll transfer all the codes you two will need to open the gates."

Quickly, Luke transferred the codes to their ComPods.

"Some gates will require a manual override. Others are opened with my master codes. Communications will be difficult, if not impossible, so please take care of yourselves and return as fast as you can."

"Thank you Luke. And don't worry; we'll be back."

The Evos living in 112 were perplexed when they saw Husky and Fx running to the exit of the Zone wearing armors. Rika was the first one to try and stop them, but Luke quickly explained the situation. Even though she deeply disagreed, she had no strength to oppose them. Besides, it was their only chance to bring Hasky back.

Luke's master codes worked and soon they were outside the complex, running through the massive corridors of the sector.

"If we find the missing Evos, we will find Hasky!" Husky said as both ran through the city-sized sector. Their voice made echo through the desolated huge open area.

"Quick; get in that Bullterrier!" Husky told his brother after he devised one of the small transport vehicles used inside the Sectors. It was a small cart that could fit four passengers and they were scattered around the Sectors in designated areas for everyone to use. Evos preferred to walk, but in emergencies like these considering how far the station was, it was the best choice.

The Bullterrier had its own energy source so it fired up instantly. Husky and Fx soon drove to H2's tram station that was close to a kilometer from their location. It didn't take long for them to finally arrive since there was absolutely no one outside in the Sector that could get in their way.

The station was completely desolated. Husky even drove inside it to gain as much time as possible. They soon got close to the platform and jumped out of the vehicle.

"Please, let the train be in this station..." Husky said to himself. He knew that there was a big chance that the train wasn't going to be there.

"How do we know where are we heading, Husky?" Fx then asked an obvious question.

"To the hangar; where else?" Husky replied during their run to the platform. "If I know Hasky, she'll do whatever she can to stop anything from getting inside Canis Major. I bet the other Evos will be there as well."

They finally made it to the platform. But to their disappointment, there was no tram to be seen.

"Darn it!" Husky yelled. "Now what?"

"The control room, brother." Fx replied as he didn't wait a second and headed to where the control room of the station was. Husky followed him very close.

The door control panel to the control room exploded when both Evocanis blasted it with their E.M.P. The husky and the vulpine Evos rushed in directly to the main panel of the room.

They were not sure of how to call in a tram, but they did their best.

"This can't be!" Husky yelled, smashing his fists in the control panel. The panel didn't respond whatsoever; it was dead.

"There is no energy getting to the panel! What do we do now?"

"Calm down, Husky. I think I know what we can do." Fx said as he was clearly thinking the situation over and over. "If Hasky went to the hangar as we think she did, there was only one way she could've done it. Come with me."

Trusting his brother, Husky followed him outside of the room.

"There's got to be a service vehicle in the tram's tunnel system. There are many maintenance centers across it." Fx said. He might be right. All they had to do is climb down into the tunnel and look for a maintenance center.

Both Evos made it to the tunnel and ran as fast as they could in search for a service vehicle. These were made specifically for servicing the tram tunnels and they were incredibly fast. If they were lucky, they could manage to get to the hangar as fast as if they were traveling in the tram itself.

About five minutes passed, five minutes that seemed like never-ending hours and they finally came across the first service center within the tram tunnel. Next to the center, there was a rail in the wall that ran across the tunnel section of the Sector. Attached to it there was a flat capsule that sat parallel to the wall; this was the service vehicle.

It seemed that someone had taken the tram since the rails below them were still warm. That would also explain why the service vehicle was still in its place. Finding a tram wouldn't be a choice anymore; they would need to ride that service vehicle all the way to the Hangar Sector.

This time they were lucky. The service vehicle also operated with an individual power source. They soon got in and manage to understand how it worked.

At almost 100 kilometers an hour the capsule took them through the tunnel. But they soon encountered themselves with a problem.

"Why is it stopping?" Husky asked. Fx drove the service capsule and was also irritated and perplexed of why the capsule was slowing down.

"I don't know, Husky!" A frustrated Fx replied.

The answer was soon obvious. The capsule was already a clever design that permitted the service vehicle to operate even if the tram passed next to it. Being flat and engaged in special rails parallel to the walls of the tunnel, both the service vehicles and the tram could cross paths without hitting each other.

But there was another problem due to security. So two service vehicles wouldn't collide between each other, there was a dedicated rail for one service vehicle per Sector. That meant that they were reaching the end of this service rail.

Husky and Fx noticed this and got out the vehicle very quickly and had no choice but to look for another that could take them further. It was the only thing they could do.

It was absolutely frustrating. After almost an hour of changing vehicles and running, they finally made it to the hangar sector. All sorts of things crossed their minds at that moment. Things like the machines breaching the hangar tunnels, or even worse...

Both Evos ran as hard as they could until they finally accessed the last portion of the hangar Sector that led to the hangar itself. They were very shocked to see that all the access gates were opened.

Finally making it through the last gate, they were afraid to even look at the hangar. They didn't know what they would encounter. But surprisingly, everything was in silence. However, scattered around in large groups, there not only were Evos there, but also Retcans.

Without loosing any time, Husky and Fx ran to the largest group. They saw Retcan warriors heavily discussing with Evos.

"Please, be reasonable, brother Evocanis!" A Retcan yelled at a group of furious Evos.

"We will take care of this, we promise! Silver has given the order to keep all of you safe!" A female Retcan warrior then added.

"We appreciate what you've done for us, Retcans, but you can't stop us! We will show the machines that we do not fear them! This time we will banish them from existence and demand them to return our loved ones." A seemingly old Evocanis yelled. Most of them were wearing engineering suits and held tools that were used in industrial areas of Canis Major. They were not warriors. What they were thinking? Were they going to fight?

"Please, Evos!" A male voice said firmly. "We don't want any of you to get hurt or even die. Don't see this as if we are underestimating you. We know you are as strong as us, but most of you lack the training to confront a situation like this. We don't even have the extra weapons to give you right now. The smartest choice will be to return to your Sectors and wait until this is over."

These words were spoken by a very familiar Retcan. A red-eyed, grey-furred Retcan; it was Alpha.

"Alpha, what's going on?!" Husky asked the known Retcan once they were close enough.

"You two! What are you doing here? You have to help me convince your brothers to return!" Alpha said desperately. He thought that since Husky and Fx were part of the D.E Development Team, they might give out a sense of authority over their own.

"We are looking for someone!" Husky said irritated. He was now confused seeing all these Evos there ready to give a fight. There were thousands of them. They were even more than the Retcan team.

"Order!" Alpha yelled now that he lost his patience. "No one is fighting today. These doors are sealed now and nothing will get in or out. We understand how you feel brothers, but please, you also have to understand what we are avoiding here. You don't want something like what happened thirteen years ago to happen again, and neither do we."

But it was impossible to make them understand. And Alpha knew they had no right to stop them from defending themselves. Most of these Evocanis were the ones who lost their families and lived through one or even both attacks. They would give their lives for their new families and for Canis Major once again.

Soon, Husky and Fx found themselves desperate to find Hasky. Evos kept on appearing in the hangar and made it more difficult to locate them. Hasky's scent was nowhere to be felt either.

Suddenly, a familiar face approached. They didn't expect to find this Evo in that place.

"You two!" A Rottweiler approached them. He wore a light unpressurized engineering suit and carried a huge wrench. It was obvious he was ready to fight.

"Panzerfaust, what are you doing here?" Husky asked confused. The Evocanis they had saved not a few weeks ago from the machines was now ready to fight them again. Next to him a younger Rottweiler stood. It was evident that he was also there to fight for Canis Major.

"It's strange..." Panzer said. "I never though I would be in this place again, living the same experience I lived thirteen years ago." Panzer stepped aside and placed his arm across the younger Rottweiler. "Schwartz and I will fight again. This time we will show the machines that we've grown stronger and that they are no menace for us anymore."

"No, but we just rescued you! You should head back now!" Husky tried to convince the large Evo. "You've done enough already; more than everyone here."

"My father and I fought once already." Schwartz said. "But that doesn't matter. As long as Canis Major is in danger, we will be here to guide it into safety once again."

"You can't stop us, Husky. No one can. If not, then why are you wearing those armors?" Panzer then stepped in.

"We need to find our only family member. That's why we are here. We have to stop her from giving her life for our safety." Husky tried to justify himself. But there was something odd; Fx was not showing any support. He was just standing there staring at the hangar gates.

"Your brother Fx is proving that what you say is not the truth." Panzer said. "I can see it in his eyes, and also in yours."

Slowly turning around, Fx looked directly into Husky's eyes. Something was different in that usual tender orange furred Evo that Husky always knew as his brother.

"You know why we are here, brother. We are here to fight for Canis Major. You can feel it inside of you. The reason why you were furious was not because Hasky ran away to the battlefield, but because she didn't take us with her. You and I, we want to fight as much as Hasky and our other brothers want to." Fx never looked so blank, so serious. "Or tell me, Husky; what are we going to do after we find Hasky?"

"I..." Husky couldn't find the right answer.

"Are we heading back to hide in our sector? Are we going to leave all our brothers here fighting the machines by themselves if they manage to breach Canis Major? No, Husky. You and I, we are warriors."

"We don't belong in the battlefield, Fx! We are test subjects!"

"You don't believe yourself anymore Husky. You know we are warriors. You know you want to fight and you know you're capable of it. We did it already in that planet. Now let's join Hasky and our brothers and do what we must do."

Husky couldn't respond. He knew his brother was right. After all the training they received, after all they had seen in the last months, they were one of the very few Evocanis in Canis Major capable of confronting that situation. They were not test subjects anymore. They were D.E Defense Squad Soldiers. They were warriors, and as such, they would give their lives for Canis Major.