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Halo: First Contact

Chapter 2: Just Another Day In The Core

Fox and the others were running through the jungles of Papetoon with a small patrol of CDF marines, hounded by a unit of venomian hunters. The venomians had launched a surprise attack on the planet hours ago, engaging the fleet overhead while swarms of dropships landed all across the surface. Before the sudden invasion, he and the team had been relaxing at his family's old dwelling. They had finished a small job for Pepper the week before and where taking some hard earned time to relax when the distressing news came on alerting them of the imminent invasion.

Afterwards, they had left the house in order to get to the nearest military base, where they could do some good. They had arrived without incident, but the base was already overrun, forcing them to run. While running, they managed to pick up a small patrol that had been away from the base during the attack. They teamed up and tried to get to another base using the highway when the venomian hunters stumbled upon them. This forced them to drop into the thick forest along the paved thoroughfare in an attempt to stay ahead of the superior force.

It seemed as if this would be the end of the legendary Starfox team, no matter how hard they ran, the hunters were only drawing closer and they were rapidly becoming physically drained from the prolonged grueling pace. The enemy would be upon them in minutes. Running alongside his friend Falco, Fox turned and spoke breathlessly. "We can't keep this up."

The winded avian replied in an equally hard-pressed voice, not slowing down. "You gotta point there Fox, watcha thinking? Last stand eh?" The blue and red striped bird assumed with forced cheer.

"Seems like it old friend, it's been fun." Fox muttered sadly before turning to the squad leader of the CDF patrol jogging alongside them. "Looks like its end of the line Arden."

The husky nodded grimly and slowed down, tail flopping resignedly from the back of his armor. The weary group stopped in a clearing. "Let's give em hell." He barked as he ordered his squad to take up positions around a fallen tree while Fox turned to his own people with a determined and concluding tenor.

"Well guys, it looks like this is where we will make our stand." He regarded his beleaguered team. It had been hard for Peppy and Slippy to keep up, the others had fared better but where still exhausted.

"Well at least I can die sitting down." Slippy grumbled falling on his butt next to a tree.

"That's the spirit!" Falco said with a laugh before sitting next to the tired toad, sighing. "I think I'll join ya."

Fox smiled at their continued, albeit grim, optimism and turned to Peppy. "You gonna be alright?"

"These old bones are ready to rest." The aged hare answered, gripping a blaster in still firm paws. "But before I go, I'll put a few others down first."

Fox patted the old hare on the shoulder and looked over to the girls. Fay was sitting on a log quietly, Fox supposed she was preparing. Miyu sat next to her and was leaning on her friend, talking quietly. The Lynx was doing her utmost best to comfort the snowy spaniel.

Krystal sat to the side, cross-legged, eyes closed. She was mumbling softly to herself, probably something to do with her telepathic powers. Fox frowned sadly as he watched the girls; he couldn't help but feel that this was his entire fault. If only they had gone to some other place, his family wouldn't be about to die.

Krystal opened her emerald eyes and looked to Fox, speaking firmly. "This was not your fault, if anything, blame the venomians for coming here."

"But this was my idea." He fired back, burning with self-loathing.

She shook her head. "It doesn't matter, what's done is done, we all must deal with the consequences. Besides, I have a feeling that our days don't end here." She added thoughtfully, looking up into the sky.

Before Fox could ask her what she meant, one of the patrolmen called out. "Contacts!" seconds later, the forest erupted into a whirlwind of blaster bolts as the team vaulted for cover. Fox took refuge behind the same log as Falco and Krystal, while fay and Miyu took one on the far right. Peppy and Slippy were in the back, far as they could be from the fight, doing what they could from there.

On the other side of the field were around seventeen heavily armed and armored venomians, a blend of apes and reptiles, led by a particularly large and angry looking gorilla. He was bellowing out orders as he one handed his rifle. One of the patrolmen took a red bolt to the chest and fell over on the opposite side of the log, in the venomians line of sight. Fox heroically leaped out of cover and hauled him back by the scruff of his neck fur, almost getting his tail blown off in the process. The poor feline trooper was breathing heavily as he looked down to the carbon scouring on his abdominal plate. The cat would live, if the fight was won, a prospect that seemed far off in the realm of impossibility.

Krystal poked up and let loose and a small barrage from the blaster Fox gave her. The azure vixen's staff was lying back on her bed back aboard the great fox...on Corneria. Krystal had decided to leave it behind, a decision she was coming to regret. She was forced to duck as a flurry of angry bolts came back. Falco did his shift, popping up and firing accurate pulses into a venomians chest, sending the ill-fated reptilian's corpse sprawling backwards to lay unmoving on the forest floor. Fox capitalized on the gap in enemy fire to let loose a withering fusillade of accurate green bolts. The cone of green light smashed into a pair of apes trying to set up a heavy blaster. Fox grinned in triumph and hid behind the log.

Before he could bask in the lesser victory, the ape commander tossed a spherical red device which rolled to stop at his boots, beeping rapidly. Acting fast, he grabbed the wounded feline next to him and hauled ass. Falco and Krystal relocated and the grenade went off. The log exploded, sending shrapnel across the entire field, spraying the air with wooden flecks and nocking everyone down. Fox shook his head, clearing the disorientating effects of the explosive, and sat up to see the venomians draw closer with a foreboding finality.

Just as the courageous vulpine was about to do something incredibly stupid, he heard an earsplitting roar as a flash of fiery grey came crashing into the ground in-between the two factions with enough force to make the ground shake and cause the very air to detonate with a percussive bang. The battle halted as both sides were thrown to the ground this time. It took several minutes for the combatants to regain their legging and look at the steaming boxy metal object as it wisped cooling vapor into the smoggy air.

Suddenly, the top of the box jettisoned upwards into the sky, releasing a hiss of air. A black shape poked out, and the venomians tried to cut it down, casing the shape to retreat back into its steel hole. At that both sides resumed their fight, with renewed ferocity.

Yet while both sides clashed, Fox remained distracted by the box, watching as the black shape came back up once more. The ape commander saw it and fired another burst, causing it to duck once more. Seconds later, a terrifying growl emanated from the metal box and a large black armored figure rolled out onto Fox's side of the battlefield. Still howling, the figure unloaded some sort of ballistic weapon at the venomian hunters. The gun was loud and horrifyingly deadly, showering the hunters in steel and blasting massive holes into the villains. Who or whatever this thing was, it had single handedly wiped out the venomian group with one brutal fusillade.

But even after it won, it still growled, throwing its weapon and fumbling for a sidearm, of which it unloaded that also, while limping over to the corpses. When the slug thrower ran out the thing collapsed to its knees in the midst of its slaughtered foes and gunsmoke.

Not a single one of them moved, enraptured by the thing's sudden appearance and subsequent attack. When the thing began to crawl back to its pod, someone finally moved. Krystal got up from her crouch by a decayed tree and walked over, ignoring Falco's shouted warning. The armored figure reached the pod at the same time Krystal did, causing it to turn. In an almost panicked and desperate move, the figure reached for a knife on its chest and tried to cut her as it spoke, surprising them with its use of familiar language.

"Back...get back!" It growled dangerously, swinging a knife without enough force to even hurt her. Krystal backed up slowly, paws raised, appearing satisfied, the armored being dropped the knife and spun its attention back to the steel contraption, rummaging around inside with a piteous desperation and pulling out a white and red container with unsteady bloody hands. It tried to open the pack, but it was obvious that it had lost too much blood to function properly. That's when they all noticed the mauled leg with the bone protruding nauseatingly from the calf, wound leaking deep crimson blood endlessly. Just the sight of the leg made theirs ache in sympathy.

Krystal neared him again and spoke in her native language, softly and kindly as she reached for the container, opening it for the bleeding person.

"Th-thank...you." The male sounding voice replied gratefully, riffling through the pack and pulling out a needle. The now gender identified man did something to his thick breastplate, causing it to slide off to the side. Then without ceremony he jabbed the spike into his chest letting out an immediate sigh of relief. Then he tipped his helmet down to his leg and then in the direction of Krystal, who had been watching him with an unusual intensity.

"If you can...understand me...you have to...set it back." He said, with a pained and labored tone.

Krystal looked to Fox, obviously pleading for his assistance. With a sigh he got up and walked over. The orange vulpine crouched down by the man's leg. "Why is your face so long?" the man asked in an odd tone, probably a little loopy from what must have been the painkiller he injected. Not amused, Fox grabbed the man's leg and pulled it outwards without ceremony, causing him to snarl and pound his fist into the sodden mud.

Krystal gave Fox a displeased look and grabbed one of the man's trembling bloody gauntlets and closed her eyes. Moments later his shaking stopped and he seemed to calm down, by this time the others got out of cover and joined Fox and Krystal around the stranger and his box thing.

The cerulean vixen stared down at their strange savior. "Whatever this guy is, he will be okay now."

Fay walked up besides the vixen, not quite as certain and with a pang of sympathy as she stared down at the bleeding leg. "Are you sure? He looks like he lost allot a blood."

Krystal turned to the spaniel. "Yes Fay, he will be okay."

Falco chose that moment to butt in. "Jeez, did you see that guy go? He tore through those venomians like nobody's business." His tone was surprisingly awestruck.

"Yeah, but we have no idea who, or what, he is. Nor what we are dealing with." Fox added seriously as he looked down at the unmoving warrior. His weapons were clearly of foreign origin and Fox didn't see any tail on him. For all the orange vulpine knew, they were dealing with an alien.

Suddenly, the armored man reached towards his sheathe on the discarded breastplate, moaning fearfully, subconscious troubled by something. Krystal squeezed his hand firmly and he stopped, other arm going back to rest in his lap.

Krystal then looked to the stranger's medkit and grabbed what appeared to be gauze and disinfectant. Not caring that her paws were going to get bloody, she sprayed the canister on the wound and wrapped it up in the gauze. "We can worry about all that later, for now we should focus on helping him." She looked down and stroked the man's helmet, adding softly. "After all, he did save our lives."

"Krystal's right, we owe him." Miyu supported. "Even if we have no idea what he is." She admitted also, with a slight frown.

Fox was inclined to agree. "Alright, we can wait until he wakes up before questioning him, but then we get some answers." They nodded in acceptance and Fox turned from the group to look for Slippy and Peppy. He found them standing beside the stranger's odd weapons. Slippy was hefting the machine gun and looking it over with a craftsman's eye, and the old hare was staring thoughtfully at the carnage it caused. Leaving the others to watch over the man, he went to stand next to Peppy. "What's on your mind, huh Pep?"

The hare hummed and shifted his attention to his step-son. "A lot my son, venom, this stranger from the sky, life, it's almost too much for this old hare to think about."

"It's almost too much for this young Fox to think about." He replied jokingly, causing Peppy to smile.

"Indeed so, indeed so. But it would appear that Slippy is coping quite easily." The pair turned to the amphibian who was busy mumbling theories to himself and staring at the strange weapon he was struggling to hold in weak muscled arms. He had seemed to already forget his brush with death at the thought of studying previously unseen technology. Fox grinned; the little guy was tougher than most people thought.

"Hey Slip, what's got you so interested?"

The lime shaded toad looked up from his careful observation. "This weapon Fox, I've never seen anything like it. At first I assumed it was some glorified slug thrower, but it is something else entirely. Wherever this guy came from, they have taken ballistic weapons to a new level; I mean it tore through the venomians armor like tissue paper. If I were to form a hypothesis I could say that it is more dangerous than a blaster. The gun is not as it appears. It has elements of both old fashioned cordite and some aspects of railgun technology." Slippy sounded almost captivated by the exotic weapon, Fox and Peppy could understand. Hundreds of years ago, the people of Lylat had shifted away from gunpowder armaments and rail tech to focus on lasers. Those types of weapons were considered obsolete, so that begged the question. Where was this guy from?

Liam opened his dazed eyes, blinking steadily. 'Where in the hell am I?' He groaned internally, he was unable to move at the moment. His body was sore in placed he didn't know he had and his right leg was numb. He looked around his surroundings; he was in some kind of jungle, leaned up against his cooling pod. He could detect voices through his helmets outer comms system. Slowly, he shifted his head to the sound of conversation and froze, there were talking animals wearing clothes! Then, it all came back to him in a flash, the crash, gunfight, and the blue and orange blurs. What stunned him was that he could understand the talking animals, and they were chatting about him.

"Where do you think Mister Mysterious came from, a feline like woman asked a white dog, also female. They were standing off to the side a couple meters from his position.

"I don't know, maybe...space?" The spaniel suggested weakly, cringing. She and her feline accomplice were wearing some sort of uniform he could not recognize. The garments were white with green highlights.

"Well I guessed that much." The feline smirked rolling her golden eyes sarcastically.

"You know what I mean!" The dog huffed, tail lashing as she pouted and stamped her foot, she was clearly not amused.

"Calm down Fay, I was just playing." The feline soothed, laughing good naturedly.

The Fay woman...dog, muttered intelligibly and went quiet. Liam waited until the lull in conversation subsided before trying to move his left arm. After some considerable effort he managed to gain control of the stubborn limb. Once he had, he reached for the combat knife buried in the spongy mud next to him. He closed his gauntlet around the hilt when a playful voice emanated from behind him making him freeze in the act, like a thief with his hand in his victim's pocket.

"You know, I can sense the fact you are awake." He turned his helmet to see cerulean, now identified as a cobalt vixen with strange white patters in her fur, wearing some kind of purple armored suit. She was sitting on the top of his pod, legs swinging idly, holding a picture of him and his brother in full gear before his final drop, the one he always brought with him. The sneaky vixen must have liberated the photo from the band around his shoulder. "You are not very subtle." She added as she observed the photograph curiously, tail wagging idly.

"Give that to me!" He snarled, and grasped at it with his weak arm pathetically.

She tutted and made it disappear behind her back. "So rude, after I helped save your life too."

"Give it back...please." He said quietly, dropping his head in defeat; he did not have strength to fight the evil woman.

Her playful grin faded and her tail drooped as she looked upset, handing the photo back gently. Liam slowly took it from her paw, arm tingling when he touched it. He disregarded the feeling in favor of staring at the photo, the last he and his brother had taken together. "I didn't mean to upset you." She apologized sincerely, ignored by the man too busy in the past.

He shoved it back into the band on his armor and looked to his leg. These animal people had bandaged him up, but had not applied the biofoam. He grabbed it from the still open kit to his left and placed it beside his leg. By this time the others had noticed he was awake and were watching him closely. He continued to ignore her and now them as he unraveled the bandage, growling as he felt the gauze peel off with dried blood. The wound was worse than he had anticipated, with biofoam he would be able to walk, but only for a day or so. It had been set thankfully, but the damage to his muscle was terrible, it would take weeks, or possibly months without medical treatment to heal. Bracing himself, he jammed the nozzle into the wound with a grunt, startling the watchers, and depressed the plunger, filling the cavity in his flesh with the lifesaving froth.

With a sigh of relief he dropped the tube and let his helmet fall back against the HEV with a clang, closing his eyes. Liam almost drifted to sleep, but was interrupted when that infuriating vixen opened her muzzle. "What was that?'

"Biofoam." He muttered dismissively, hoping she would leave him alone, preferably by going somewhere far away from him. The novelty of finding alien life was quickly wearing off for the ODST. At this point he could care less; all he wanted was some peace and quiet, something that would be denied to him.

"What's biofoam?'

He groaned. "It is something used to stabilize injuries and keep soldiers combat effective on the battlefield." He explained stiffly, trying to politely let her know in a subtle manor that he wanted peace and quiet.

"How?' she asked again.

That's it, Liam was done. He reattached his breastplate, grabbed his knife and stood up, taking longer than he would have liked. Not missing a beat he looked around. There were a total of twelve of these strange aliens in the clearing, bar the ones he killed. Five garbed in obvious military dress (one wounded), and the other seven in a hodgepodge of apparel. He spied an amphibian among them with something that did not belong to him; the small toad was staring at the helljumper's rifle as he held it.

Liam did not like that; he limped, (snarling quietly as the movement pained him), over and stopped in front of the diminutive fellow. Standing up, the helljumper was at least a head taller than every one of these animals, and much more so than the toad. The little guy looked up and froze, dropping the machine gun. Liam reached down with some difficulty, almost having to fall to his knees, and retrieved the fumbled weapon. After that the helljumper looked it over quickly, ejected the empty drum and grabbed another of his waist, jamming it home. He racked the slide, chambering the first round, and then slung it on his shoulder.

He picked his service pistol up from its half buried position in the mud and holstered it, intending to give the firearm a proper cleaning when he had a plan of action. With his weapons stowed, he walked back to his pod, still ignoring the vixen and her compatriots, grabbing what supplies he could and placing them on locations all across his armor in and on the clips, hooks, and bags. The vixen was still sitting on the pod, watching him with a smile, as if she could tell how grumpy he was and it amused her. In fact when he thought that her smile widened considerably, showcasing a maw full of needlelike teeth.

He shook off the impossible assumption and grabbed his DMR; it had been ripped from its home on his back, courtesy of his 'elegant' landing. Once it was locked up on his back he gathered the scattered components of the medkit and closed it, snapping it onto a clip on his waist. Now he was ready to go. "Watcha doing?" The vixen asked as he turned to leave.

Liam decided to humor her, considering he had no intention of staying. "I actually have a mission to complete, and a team to find." He replied with a grunt.

She nodded her head. "It wouldn't have to do with rescuing a certain crashed aircraft, could it?"

At that he halted, turning to her slowly. "How do you know that?" He demanded suspiciously.

"Oh I can read minds." She replied nonchalantly, tail swinging softly behind her, her legs still kicking innocently.

He scoffed, his disbelief evident. "Yeah sure, and I'm the pope."

"No, I may not know who the pope is, but I know you are Liam Callahan, lieutenant of the Blood Dragons, first squad." She said slowly, as if calling up the information from another source.

Liam's jaw went slack, almost incapable of speech. "Holy shit."

"I also know that you yourself told your team to go on without you and that you are too far to help...and they think you are dead." She added looking at him kindly.

He was at a loss for words; this foxlike woman could read his mind, he was not enthusiastic about that. "Stay outta my head." He growled. Liam didn't like the thought that she could see into his mind, and all the terrible things that lay within.

She just smiled that maddening smile and looked at him, neither accepting nor declining his command. "What are you going to do now?"

His rage deflated in an instant as he thought about her question, it was true. He was too far to help his team, they were out of radio range, and his positioning system was broken he realized as he saw the small part of his HUD for that function offline. He was stranded, MIA, and would probably never be found by the USNC in time to be rescued. "I...don't know." He replied, significantly less hostile than before. He had no idea what the fleet would do after his team retrieved the team and bugged out. How would they react to aliens? There wasn't really any plan in place when they set out; the thought of it was so unbelievable that it had not received any serious consideration.

"You could always...tag along; we could sure use the help. We are heading to a base to regroup and het out of here." She suggested with a devious smirk.

"No, you are not my team." He denied, limping away from her and heading for a random direction in the forest. "I rather die somewhere else...alone."

Before she could call out he was gone, disappearing into the foliage. Falco walked over to stand by Krystal. "What a charming guy." He muttered sarcastically.

She only frowned sadly and turned away as Fox walked over. "Come on, it's time to keep moving. Arden says that there is a base nearby past a ravine. The last transmission puts them as still holding. We can hopefully get a ride off world from there. We don't have time to worry about strangers"

"Alright Fox." Krystal sighed, looking at the area the stranger disappeared into. The team gathered themselves and left in the wake of the patrol, still curious about the man that had fallen from the sky.

"We didn't even get our questions answered." Fay frowned as she followed after them.

"Stupid consciences, they can take care of themselves. They aren't even my responsibility. They're freaking aliens!" Liam grumbled as he limped through the sweaty rainforest, armor barely providing any protection from the unbearable heat. He had been debating with himself for an hour; something in his mind would not let the matter go. "No, I am not going back!" He declared finally...and tripped over a protruding root, smashing his helmet on a low hanging branch and tumbling to the floor painfully. "Goddamn it! Fine I'll go! Just leave me alone karma!" The helljumper groaned as he lifted his battered, broken, and bruised body.

The persistent ache in his body told him that karma was not through with him just yet. "Yep, it's just another day in the core." He muttered tiredly as he turned around and began to limp back in search of the strange furred people, mumbling to himself.

Liam walked for what seemed like hours, hobbling over small hills and through thick undergrowth. He was getting tired and the biofoam wasn't mean to last forever. Still he supposed it beat walking without a place to go. Just as he was about to collapse in defeat, he pulled a large leafy...leaf to the side and spied a huge ravine, with a complex on the opposite side. It was in flames and he could see flashes of light being flung into the air at what could only be fighter craft. "Yep, this will be a piece of cake." He groused, tightening his grip on the light machine gun and marching doggedly, refusing to let his injuries interfere, headed in the direction of the battle.

Meanwhile, the others had reached the base and joined the garrison. The fighters and other airborne assets had been hit in the opening moments of the attack. All that was left were a handful of landmaster battle tanks and the base's automated turrets. The defenders were hard pressed to hold the venomians back. The arrival of Starfox and the patrolmen had helped but would ultimately only delay the outcome.

Currently, Falco, Fox and Arden's squad were hiding behind one of the destroyed tanks, (a victim of a handheld rocket launcher), and taking potshots at the approaching opposition. "You know Fox, when we got here; I thought we would be getting out." Falco said with an unamused tone, dodging a lethal bolt of red energy.

"Yeah well I'm sorry I couldn't prevent the bastards from attacking." Fox retorted as he shot an ape that was trying to toss a grenade with his salvaged rifle. The grenade fell from the dead ape's mitts and rolled back into his comrades before detonating in a blinding flash.

"Apology accepted." Falco replied with a cocky grin as he laid down a field of death with two blaster pistols.

Fox rolled his eyes and reloaded his weapon. Arden remained quiet, blasting at the venomians with deadly precision. The husky was a quiet one, but a good soldier. "I hope the girls are doing okay." He growled, flinging a grenade from his bandolier, arcing into an approaching gun truck. The resulting explosion stopped the firefight for a few minutes as both sides waited for the fire to die down.

"Are you kidding?" Falco snorted. "They are probably having an easier time than we are. They actually have one of the working tanks. The only ones having it easier would be Slippy and Peppy. All they have to do is fix the radio."

As it turns out, the girls in point of fact were having a worse time. The landmaster had taken a rocket to the treads and was stuck in the doors of one of the hangers. They had been forced to retreat back behind the disabled tank. "I bet Fox is having an easier time." Miyu remarked from her prone positon on top of the tank. She was using the heavy blaster on the top to hose-down anyone stupid enough to stick their head out. Her paws were aching from holding down the trigger of the lifesaving weapon. The vibrations were starting to jar them. But she kept firing, the moment she relented the venomians would advance and they would be overwhelmed.

"They are probably already done." Fay agreed, firing her small blaster with Miyu, adding her meager support to the main gun. The landmaster's cannon was currently overheated and needed a few minutes to cool down, minutes they did no possess.

"I'm afraid not." Krystal said with a sigh. "Falco thinks we are better off than they are,"

"Well that's just great isn't it?" Miyu muttered, knocking down a group of venomians that had gathered the foolish courage to try and move up.

"I wish we had our interceptors." Fay pouted.

"Yeah, then they would be the ones hiding!" Miyu yowled angrily, wishing it were true as well.

"Take heart my friends, I have a feeling that out luck is about to change." Krystal said with a smile.

"Yeah, how so?" Miyu demanded ears flicking in annoyance.

"Liam is here." Krystal replied, before looking at somewhere on the opposite side of the tank barricade.

"Liam?" Miyu meowed in confusion.

"He is the stranger from earlier." Krystal explained

At her words, the familiar roar of the gunpowder weapon emanated from a place they could not see. The accurate barrage hit the venomians; the attack was from the side they were taking cover in. A full half of the remaining soldiers were either wounded or killed.

The venomians turned to the new more dangerous threat, giving the girls a breather and letting them see their savior emerge.

The black armored man leaped over a flaming tank, firing a large bullpup rifle. The weapon barked in a staccato of death. Each burst of light from the muzzle signaled the end of a life, snuffing them out with the ease of an experienced warrior. When he hit the ground, he collapsed as his leg gave out and was forced to roll behind the wing of an overturned fighter. Instead of waiting, he surprised them and the enemy as he rushed back out, less than a minute later, the drum loaded rifle blazing with unmatched fury as he charged the enemy. His reckless attack earned another six kills, but also a laser discharge to the shoulder.

He faltered for only a moment before recovering and limping faster to regain his lost momentum, firing his weapon until it went dry. The man let the gun hang on its sling and grabbed a grooved ball from his bandolier, tossing it at the surviving group of venomians. The object detonated, scattering the remainders in confusion. Capitalizing on his hard-won advantage, he pulled out his pistol and emptied the firearm with precision into the last two.

When it was all said and done, he had successfully taken out the entire force on this side of the base in three minutes. He stood over the bodies, and then fell to the ground, exhausted and hurt. His shoulder burned and smoke was wafting from the painful area of the hit.

Krystal and the other girls rushed out of the hanger and to the side of the fallen warrior. "Are you alright?" She asked him, voice laced with distress.

"Yeah...I'll be okay." He waived off, before hissing in pain as Miyu placed a paw over the smoking crater in his shoulderplate.

"We should see about that." She suggested, as she felt the area of the wound with experienced paws.

"Now is not the time, we should be fortifying this position." He shifted priorities, dragging himself up to his feet. "My injuries can be worried about later."

"No, we are taking care of them now." Krystal refuted his attempt at deflecting them and dragged the belligerent man into the hanger by his armored collar with surprising strength, ignoring his complaints, with a smirking cat and dog in tow.

She made him sit down next to the tank. "Alright, strip." She ordered.

'Uh....how about no?" He countered.

She frowned and grabbed the warped shoulderplate, peeling it off, snubbing his protests. The fatigues he was wearing under the armor were burned and the smell of scorched flesh could be easily detected by the sensitive noses of the women. Miyu jumped in and grabbed his combat knife, using it to peel the clothes open.

'I'm telling you, I am fine." He said, voice betraying him with its inherent discomfort.

They widened the hole in the fatigues and gasped in worry. The flesh around the wound was a deep red and the edges were burnt, but was most concerning was the lack of fur. "What happened to your fur?" Fay asked.

"I don't have any fur." He replied in confusion.

"What? Everyone has fur." Miyu muttered.

"Well if you haven't noticed, I am not from around here." He deadpanned.

"....Take off your helmet." Krystal demanded.

"How about...no again?" He chuckled weakly, before visibly wilting under the unimpressed predatory eyes of the girls. "Okay...okay, just don't freak out." He said hastily before griping the seals on the inside rim of the black helm. He turned it to the left and it popped with an audible hiss of air, He raised the helmet to display a complete foreign head.

The stranger had fur, but it was only lightly sprinkled on his face and on his head. It gave him an exotic and roguish look. He was strikingly handsome in his own way, and caused them to stare for quite some time, making him uneasy. "Uh so yeah, not one of you guys."

"You sure...aren't stranger." Miyu agreed, half absorbed into his remarkable features.

Krystal shook her head and turned to the wound. Her curiosity had been inflamed, but there was a more important task to go about. While she treated his wound, Miyu and Fay talked to the stranger. If he knew anything about them, which he didn't, he would have noticed the twitching ears signaling that she was still paying attention.

"What are you?" Fay inquired, tail wagging with anticipation.

"I am a human." He replied with pride.

"Where are you from?" Miyu asked next.

"I come from a place very, very far away from here."

"Are there more of you here?"

"Yes." He replied vaguely, not willing to divulge numbers or anything else that could be considered an important secret, not until he had come to a decision.

"What are you doing here?' Krystal asked as she bandaged him up.

"Exploration, I am part of an expeditionary group, sent by my people to travel the stars."

"Sounds amazing." Fay said with wonder. "I always wanted to be an explorer."

"Yeah well I don't really explore, I'm a soldier, tasked with defending the explorers."

"That's a noble job." Miyu replied.

"Yeah well, it sure has its downsides." He muttered with a smile, making them laugh.

After the giggles had subsided, Krystal turned to look at him with an inquisitive expression...at least he thought it was inquisitive. "Why did you come back...Liam?" She asked, using his name.

"I...." He trailed off. Why did he come back? Sure he blamed it on karma, but he knew that's just what he convinced himself was responsible. He still wasn't sure yet, but he knew this much. "I came back to help, because I wanted to." It was hard for him to admit that much. Thankfully they did not ask for more information.

Krystal smiled warmly. "Well I for one am glad you came back. You saved us out there."

"I was just doing a soldiers duty, to protect those in need." He replied with conviction.

"That may be, but we appreciate it all the same." She reinforced her point with a light peck on his forehead. "Thank you."

He froze as he felt the vixen's wet button nose and fizzy lips brushed against his head. It was a surprisingly pleasant feeling. "Y-you're welcome." He stuttered. "Uh...I never caught your name." He added, embarrassed.

"My name is Krystal." She answered as she stood up.

"That's a beautiful name." Liam said as he got up, he had never heard one like it.

The three women smiled at this different side of the man, the softer side. "I hate to be a mood killer here, but the situation is still dire." Miyu said reluctantly, not wanting to have to focus on the problem again. The lynx was rather enjoying her time with the human without the threat of death hanging over her head.

Liam nodded grimly, returning his helmet to his head, much to their dissatisfaction. "We should get moving, this position in no longer tactically sound." With that statement, the group left the hanger, walking past the bodies of the venomians that had tried to kill them. "We should regroup and concentrate at a single fixed location, any ideas?" He asked as he prepared to leave.

"We can head to the command center, the soldiers were still holding out last we heard, and maybe Slippy and Peppy have got the long range transmitter operational." Fay suggested.

"A sound strategy, you would make for an excellent tactician." Liam praised as he shouldered his rifle with difficulty, the weapon aggravating his wound.

The shade of her fuzzy cheeks turned pink at the praise, no one had told her she was smart before. "Really?"

"Absolutely, I don't see why not." He replied as he gestured for her to lead the way. With vigor and a wagging tail, the spaniel took the lead, others following behind. It was in actuality, an easy place to find, all they had to do was follow the harsh wine of blaster fire. Jogging ahead, Liam made it to the scene to see a battle of epic proportions being waged fiercely.

The defenders were arrayed around a pair of tanks and any other available cover, his warrior's eye picked out about fifty or so, including the Fox and bird from earlier. They were taking cover behind a tank. "That's not good; it looks like they were forced away from their position." Miyu murmured worriedly at this fact.

Arrayed against them were up close to two hundred of these 'venomians' as he had heard them called. The defenders were lucky, the opposition was composed entirely of infantry, no vehicles deemed to be deployed, although he did spy the smoking wrecks of a few small rectangular ones. They were brave, but it looked like the tanks were on their last legs and it will only be a matter of time before they were destroyed.

Liam pulled a pair of frags from his bandolier, (leaving him with one left), and switched his LMG for his DMR, holding it one handed. He had the grenades in the other. What they needed was a helljumper, and he was here to deliver. "What are you doing?" Krystal demanded.

"What I was trained to do." He replied before running as well as he could into the, midst of the battle, much to their dismay and the enemies surprise.

He pulled the pins on the two deadly spheres and lobbed them at two of the most heavily populated groups. Then he raised his free hand to grip the rifle securely and waited for the explosives to activate.

The bombs went off, scattering body parts and cries of pain into the wind. He used the confusion to pick off a squad of stunned apes, putting them down with ruthless efficiency. His bullets tore into their skulls, blasting out the other side in a shower of cranial bone and grey matter. Now aware of the danger, half of the attacking force shifted their focus on him, just the way he liked it. Liam grinned darkly as he somersaulted into cover, taking the precious time to shift to his big gun. He burst out of cover, steadying the muzzle of his weapon on the ruined vehicle he was behind. Then, the helljumper squeezed the trigger, laying down a withering hail of bullets, scything any ape or reptile stupid enough to stay standing. The bullets over penetrated, traveling through multiple layers of thin cover to lodge in or past any target in effective range.

Liam's attack had taken out a large chunk of the invaders and bolstered the defenders resolve. The only problem was that he was now effectively stranded between the battling forces. All he could do now was fight and hope that he somehow managed to make it through it all alive. Krystal, Miyu, and Fay were helpless to act, unable to do more than provide some ranged support.

"That was possibly the stupidest move in the history of the ODSTs...Mark would be proud." Liam muttered with a chuckle, before ducking to avoid a beam of energy that went soaring past to smash into the floor meters away, the shockwave nocked the injured helljumper off his feet. 'Or most likely, he would have slapped me upside the head.'

With a grunt, he picked himself up and poked out of cover, shooting at the one holding an oblong shaped weapon. 'Later asshole' the sights of his gun centered on the ape's dome. He pulled the trigger and it vanished under the muzzle flash. The weird cannon fell from the unfortunate soldier's limp arms to spin under a flaming tank. 'Hello new toy.' Liam grabbed the last grenade from his bandolier and tossed it into the air; the explosion distracted the enemy and allowed him to close in in the foreign weapon.

He dived and grabbed the cannon, leg screaming in protest. Still forcing his blazing nerves aside, he managed to seize the deadly device. Hiding behind the truck the previous owner of the cannon had used, Liam looked it over. The controls appeared to be simple enough, a few buttons and a trigger. Taking a minute to make sure he was not going to blow himself up, he aimed it at a group of baddies that were closing in on the girls. He pulled the trigger and the bright beam of red energy roared out of the cannon's glowing barrel. The massive laser hit right on target in the middle of the group, eliminating them in a dazzling show of light. When the smoke cleared, all that was left were bits of molten armor. He waived gamely at the girls, and heard them cry out as a heavy object smashed into his back, sending him to the ground.

Acting quickly, he rolled away. Seconds after he vacated his spot, a double hammer fist smashed into the floor. He looked to his opponent and saw an enormous reptile like creature, it roared into his face, blasting him with its fetid breath. It was a good thing he had his helmet on, or it could have been overpowering. "Here, have a tic-tac." Liam offered, and pulled his combat knife out to bury it hilt deep into the reptile's throat.

The helljumper did not expect it to shrug off the attack and punch him in the chest. The impossibly heavy hit cracked his breastplate (and his ribs), sending him sailing a good thirty feet backwards to land at the cusp of the defenders position. He could not move to safety though, the impact and resulting cracked ribs made it impossible to do so.

Yet before he could count this as his finale day, someone grabbed him by the collar and dragged him into the battle line. With a groan he shifted his body to see his savior, it was that orange vulpine from before. "Thanks for the save; I thought my days as a soldier were through."

The vulpine smiled. "It would appear that your days are not over. And thank you for the timely arrival. We just might have a chance now. Name's Fox Mccloud." He stuck his paw out.

"Love the name, mines Liam Callahan." He returned the gesture, grabbing the paw and shaking firmly. "Now, how about we see about getting rid of the neighbors eh?" Fox chuckled and helped the helljumper to a leaning positon. Liam reached for his DMR and frowned, the marksman rifle lay where the lizard had hit him from. He was forced to switch the more powerful but less accurate LMG. He placed the gun on the wrecked tank and began to fire in controlled bursts; he only had two drums left so he would have to ration the weapon.

Sometime during the fighting, Krystal and the others had made it, now all that was left was taking care of the enemy. "What's the plan exactly?" He asked as he loaded the last drum into his rifle.

"Two of my friends are trying to fix the long range transmitter, at the moment it can only communicate in system, if they manage to boost it, we might be able to get a signal out to the military H.Q." Fox replied as he blasted a hole into a berserk ape's chest.

"Transmitter..." Liam muttered thoughtfully. "Where is it?"

"It's inside the building behind us. Why?" The curious vulpine inquired.

"I just might have a way for us to get some help faster." He replied cryptically and dragged himself up with as much strength as he could. He turned to head to the building, and dodged through laser blasts and explosions, Fox and the girls tagged along, to help him open the door.

He reached the door and waited for them to open it. Krystal got there first and began to press the code into the pad. Just as she was finishing up, Liam noticed an inconspicuous little red dot centering on her back. His blood froze in realization. "KRYSTAL!" He shouted and moved to push her out of the way; he shoved her but stumbled do to his injury, causing him to slam into the door. They all turned to the commotion and watched in sudden shock as a bright red beam of energy lanced into the center of his breastplate, boring right through the armor. He seemed to stand there as if he had not just been shot, until he crumpled to the ground, dropping his machine gun with a solemn bang.

"Fuck!" Fox shouted, pulling the possibly fatally wounded man into the now opening doors. He dragged Liam inside and propped him onto the wall besides the door closing, it after them. "Come on man, say something!" Fox demanded, shaking the motionless soldier.

The girls watched the vulpine attempt to bring him around with a gripping despair. They had only just met this alien and he had risked his life for them without question, and now he was most likely dead.

Yet Fox's efforts produced results, the young warrior moved. "That hurts...a lot." He gasped as he held onto his chest with trembling hands.

They all exhaled in relief. "I thought you were a goner." Fox laughed his anxiety away.

"Not yet, I still have something to do." He replied firmly, surprising them by standing up. He almost collapsed but Krystal and Miyu provided support. "Now let's go see about that transmitter." Liam suggested. Fox nodded and led the way, he knowing where to find it.

As they walked, Krystal turned her head up to gaze at her helmeted savior with something akin to care and worry. "Why did you do that? Why did you save me?"

"It's my job Krystal, to put others before myself, it was instinct. Besides, I could never let someone like you get hurt." His breath was labored as he spoke, and it held a watery rattle that was terrible to hear.

Still, she found herself smiling at his answer and at a loss for words. "I....."

"Think nothing of it; I'm sure anyone would do the same. Now I do not wish to be rude, but it is very difficult to breathe so I would appreciate it if this could wait."

"Of course, forgive me!" Krystal hurriedly begged.

"No need to beg forgiveness, I would do it again if I had to." At the word to, he wheezed and clutched his chest tightly, going silent. Krystal and Miyu exchanged worried looks and put more effort into holding him up, Fay walking behind them with her tail flicking nervously.

"We're here." Fox called out suddenly from the front, standing beside a steel door. The sounds of the battle outside had still not abated; the defenders were still putting up quite a fight. Fox opened the door and stepped inside.

When Krystal and Miyu helped Liam in, he saw the toad and hare from before sitting in front of some console. "I'm sorry Fox; I don't think I can do this." The toad said as he turned around to face his friend, freezing up when he saw the stranger from before being held aloft by Miyu and Krystal. "What's going on?"

"Our new friend he has a plan." The vulpine explained as he turned to gesture to the man.

"Whoever he is I hope he has a good one." Peppy replied grimly. "We are running out of time."

"I...have a plan." He affirmed, having a hard time speaking. "Toad c-"

"The name's Slippy." The toad cut him off.

Liam's diaphragm seized and he coughed violently, collapsing to his knees. They could all hear the wet splatter inside his helmet; the girls gave Slippy a seething glare making the toad loosen his bowels. Liam recovered his strength. "Right sorry, Slippy can...you switch the frequency...to one-four-seven point two-zero-zero?"

The frog nodded quickly and did as ordered. When he finished he handed the man the headset. Liam grabbed it in one hand and took his helmet off with the other. When his head was revealed, the guys gasped at the alien visage, but the girls gasped for a different reason.

Liam was much paler than before and there was blood coating his teeth and chin, leaking down his neck to pool around his armored collar. Liam situated the headset with a little difficulty as it was made for different shaped heads, and began to speak. "This is Lieutenant Liam Callahan of the Blood Dragons, first squad. Admiral Mathias, do you read?"

Seconds later, a smooth but worried voice broke in. "God Liam, we thought you were dead! What happened to you boy, you sound close to death!"

"You're right on that sir, currently I am with the planets inhabitants." He replied as the others listened in on the conversation with varying degrees of emotions.

"Really Liam?" The admiral sounded amazed.

"Yes sir, but before I continue, how is my team?" He asked, his face visibly hanging on to the upcoming response.

"Do not worry son, they are just fine, they picked up the recon flight and got out without a hitch." Mathias replied with a smile in his voice.

Liam sighed in relief. "That's good sir. Now, I have a suggestion that could alter the role of the UNSC in this area of space...if you trust me sir."

"Son, you wouldn't be in this fleet if I did not trust you. You more than proved your worthiness in the Arcadian Insurrection."

Liam paused and removed the headphones for a second and looked at Fox. "Quick, give me a description of your ships up in space."

Fox frowned but complied. "They are blue and white with wedge shapes, quite different from the venomians."

Liam nodded and put the headset back on. "Sir, I want you to mobilize the fleet, and engage the ships fighting the blue and white wedge designed ones. It is my belief that they are the aggressors and that these people could use our help."

"That is a difficult thing you are asking of me son...and if it was anyone else I would have said no. But I trust you are making a good decision." They could hear the sigh from the line. "Alright, I'll move the fleet. The Midsummer's Solace is still on task over the planet. I'm going to have them mobilize their ground forces on your position."

"Copy that admiral, targets will be wearing red and black armor and mostly comprised of lizards and apes."

"Lizards...and apes...okay son, I'll let the men know."

"Friendlies will be in green and white, species include foxes, birds, amphibians, cats, rabbits, and other animals."

"Sounds like quite the place, do not worry son I will make sure the men won't get confused. Admiral Mathias out."

"Thank you sir."

"Did we just get help from an alien species?" Slippy exclaimed excitedly, bouncing in his seat.

"So it would seem Slip." Fox said, looking to Liam with a something along the lines of awe. "Thank you."

"No thanks needed, I am just letting my people do the right thing. Your world will not fall today." Liam said confidently. Before frowning and falling to the floor heavily, the last of his energy finally giving out.

"Shit not now, not after all this!" Fox shouted, running to the man's side. "You can't die!"

"It's okay, I am ready, this soldier's time has come. I think that that sniper did me in," Liam said easily, at ease with his end.

"That's not fair!" Krystal exclaimed, close to tears. "You can't just die after all this, after saving me!"

"Life can be unfair, but it is worth living anyways." Liam replied, closing his eyes and going limp. There was no great gasp or long winded death rattle. He just closed his eyes...and died, blood pooling around him.

"NO! I won't let you die yet!" Krystal growled, placing her paws on his head and closing her own eyes, whispering in her native language. She was fighting to save his life; meanwhile the human fleet was emerging from slipspace portals to appear near the battling fleets, intent on saving a world.