“What the hell are you doing up already?”
     Fox groggily shambled into the rec room, shielding his sleepy eyes from the bright light and slinging his jacket over his shoulder. Gage, seated at the table, glanced up from his mug of coffee and shrugged disinterestedly. He wore army-issue combat boots and camouflage pants topped off by a plain black t-shirt. “Force of habit, I guess. I’ve been up for an hour already.”
     “Doing what?”
     “Getting to know the ship.”
     Fox nodded and moved towards the coffee maker to get himself a mug. Gage’s tone was still on the unfriendly side, but it was a step up from the malice he had received the previous day. For the few seconds that Gage had looked at him, Fox could see that it was not like the usual look of hate. It was more like the distrusting stare he and Falco had exchanged the day before.
     After he had poured himself some of the steaming wake-up call, Fox took a seat on the opposite end of the table and sipped a bit. “It takes me a while to get functioning completely in the morning, and Falco’s lazy ass won’t be up for another hour at least.”
     Gage nodded slowly, like he couldn’t care less, then said, “He seemed real friendly yesterday.”
     Fox chuckled and took another sip. “It’s funny, our fight yesterday reminded me of how he and I met. It was back in the Academy, just after an examination flight run. The results were displayed on this big screen that everyone crowded around, and I got the top score. I didn’t know who he was then, but Falco got second place by a really thin margin. So, of course, he was pissed as hell at me.”
     “There’s one thing we have in common,” Gage muttered under his breath.
     “What?”
     “Nothing.”
     Fox took another sip from his mug and continued. “Anyway, I was walking back to my room with Bill, a friend, and suddenly I hear this voice from behind me shout out, ‘Hey, McCloud!’ I turned around and there he was, glaring at me with a few punks he always hung around with. A few people stopped and a small crowd started forming around us. He said something like ‘Let’s see who’s really the best right now’, and Bill told me who he was and that I should just ignore him. So I turn and start walking, but a few seconds later he grabs my shoulder, spins me around, and slams me in the face.”
     “It was the first time I had really been hit, and it took me a second to recover. I stood up and saw the huge crowd that had formed, all of them staring at me, seeing what I would do. Falco was still standing there, smirking at me, so I said, ‘Back off, I don’t want to fight you,’ and he said ‘I don’t care if you want it or not,’ and came at me again. Well, I paid attention at my martial arts classes, and it paid off. I blocked his blow and countered with a punch that put him on his back. After a bit, the crowd started breaking up and Falco was just lying there, obviously embarrassed, so I went over and offered my hand to help him up. Then we started talking and the rest is history.”
     “And I would’ve laid him on his ass again if we kept at it,”
     The two foxes turned to see Falco leaning on the doorframe, looking more asleep than awake. Without so much as a glance at Birse, he got his own serving of coffee and plopped down next to Fox.
     “I don’t think so,” his friend replied with a grin. “What are you doing up anyway?”
     Falco managed a puzzled look through his sleepiness. “What… oh, shit, I forgot to tell you. Pepper called last night while you were tucking in our buddy over there. He said he needed to talk to us around eight-thirty.”
     Fox shook his head. Falco was always forgetting to tell him things, and one day it was going to catch up with him. He looked at his watch and said, “Well, we still have ten minutes, but we’re all here.”
     As Fox stood up to call Pepper on the viewscreen, he noticed that Gage was still staring down at the cold remnants of his coffee, as if he hadn’t heard a thing. ‘I know these special forces types, though,’ Fox thought as he punched in Pepper’s office number. ‘Sleep with their eyes open and a gun under their pillow, memorize a conversation they barely heard and say it a week later, can kill someone a billion different ways with a toothpick…’
     His thoughts were interrupted as Pepper’s old, creased face appeared on the screen. Gage was ready and stood with a salute, which Pepper returned. “Good to see no one’s dead yet. How are thing’s going?”
     Fox glanced over at Gage as he sat and resumed his vigil over the coffee. “Fine so far. Falco said you needed to see us?”
     “Yes.” Pepper squirmed a bit in his seat and cleared his throat. “We got our first lead. Well, it’s not really a lead, it’s definitely Venom activity. We probably should’ve seen it coming from our last situation with Overlord.” He stopped and looked at Fox for a few seconds.
     “Well? What is it?”
     Pepper sighed and said, “First of all, promise me you’ll stay right there and hear me out. We have a squad mobilizing as we speak to head out there and help. They should be at Zoness in six hours, at the most.”
     “Zoness?” Falco asked. “What---“
     “Emayn,” Fox said, a pit forming in his stomach. “It’s Emayn, isn’t it?”
     “Yes, but listen---“
     It was too late. Before Pepper could finish, Fox was out the door. The general sighed and shook his head. “Captain Birse, your mission is to hold off the Venom forces en route to Emayn until reinforcements arrive and find any information regarding Overlord. And keep an eye on Fox, you know his history with Emayn. Don’t let him do anything reckless.”
     Gage sighed and downed the rest of the coffee. “Knew I should’ve joined the Navy.”
 
 

     * * *
 
 
 

Great Fox, bridge
1124 hours, 1624 Emayn local time
 
 
 

 
      The small green and brown island of Emayn appeared on the far below against the bright sun, which was beginning its slow descent into the horizon. Fox McCloud gazed at the island, where it had all begun over a year ago. What began as a usual job from Pepper sparked a time in his life that was the most painful, and yet the most beautiful. His struggles on the island itself lead to his captivity and torture at the hands of Wolf O’Donnell. After his miraculous escape, the Cornerian government asked him to go back.
     Despite these situations, there was still that one source of energy that had made Fox risk impossible odds to rescue the ten hostages in Emayn. That same source lifted his spirits in the dark, blood-soaked cells and halls of Overlord’s prison, giving him the energy to escape. It appeared again shortly after, giving him the courage to face his worst nightmares and return to Overlord alone. It was always there to comfort him and tell him that everything would be alright.
     That source was Vixy Hohleran.
     ‘Vixy Hohleran... not Vixy McCloud… so close.’
     New sorrow rose in Fox’s chest as he continued staring at the island. He felt an obligation to that bit of land and its inhabitants, a responsibility. Emayn was Vixy’s home, and no goddamn Venom soldier was going to desecrate it with his presence.
     Fox faintly heard the door to the bridge slide open and footsteps as someone walked in and stopped. “So what now?” Gage asked.
     “We’re almost in contact range,” Fox replied, tearing his eyes from the island and turning around. “We contact the governor and see--- whoa.”
     Fox stopped short as he saw Gage’s outfit. The standard Special Forces black jumpsuit (with the Cornerian flag on the right sleeve), boots, and gloves complete with two empty thigh holsters, body armor, elbow and knee pads, and a knife on his left calf. “Someone came prepared.”
     Gage shrugged in his usual ‘whatever’ way and said, “I know you have guns, but I wanted to bring my own gear.”
     “Whatever floats your boat,” Fox said, turning back to the nearing island. He had too many things going on in his head to worry about Birse’s attitude, and it was starting to get annoying. After a few seconds, he heard the footsteps continue and Gage stood next to him, arms folded, looking at the oblong land.
     “Looks like we’re a little late, they’ve already been invaded. Look.”
     Fox followed Gage’s pointing finger to the left side of the island. Black shapes materialized from the clouds, at least three visible ones. Smaller shapes shot forth from their larger counterparts, heading down onto the island.
     “Dropships,” Fox said. “They’re attacking almost the exact same way they did last time, from the left side. Hope the militia learned from it.”
     “Emayn is now in contact range,” ROB’s monotonous voice said from across the bridge.
     “Good,” Fox replied, turning to face the hologram comm. “ROB, call the governor’s house.”
     Fox felt the strongest déjà vu of his life as the comm. beeped, trying to connect. After a few seconds, a white canine face, early thirties at the most, flickered into sight above the projector…a familiar face.
     “Yes, this is Governor Ecklin,” the beagle said in a hurried voice. He was surprisingly well composed considering what was happening. “Who is this?”
     “Ecklin?” Fox replied, eyes wide. “Jay Ecklin?”
     The memories all came back to him from his last visit to Emayn, when he and Wolf first saw each other during Wolf’s speech. The confrontation, Wolf’s abduction of the ten civilians. When Fox went after the hostages and busted up the execution, he put the most calm-looking person in charge of his fellow civilians, a person who would later visit him in the hospital with his family and thank him personally…Jay Ecklin.”
     Jay’s eyes widened also. “Fox! Oh God, it’s been so long. How are you?”
     “I should be asking you. We got here as soon as we heard, but it looks like they’ve started. What’s going on?”
     “Yeah, we can catch up later. So far, we’re doing alright. They seem to be hitting us with a similar size invasion force as last time, but they underestimated us. Since the last invasion, we’ve built a more serious militia. But I don’t know if it’ll hold.”
     Fox nodded. “Ok, we can do some strafing runs from the Arwings to soften them up a bit, then—“
     “No good,” Jay cut in, shaking his head. “It looks like they also learned from last time. Almost every rooftop on the west side of the island has an anti-aircraft weapon on it. A fly couldn’t get through.”
     “Shit,” Fox muttered. “The west side? Construction finally got done?”
     “Yeah, after we cleaned up the new square from the last battle when you saved me and the others, we continued construction and finished a couple months ago. The town’s really grown since you were last here. Two squares now.”
     Fox sighed and shook his head. This was going to be harder than he thought. Even if they did somehow get onto the island, they had a larger area to cover, and with less of a force. “Alright, we’ll find a way in, don’t worry. We’ll try and land near the west side so we can attack from the back, sandwich them in. Tell the militia to look out for two red foxes.”
     “Two? Who’s the other?”
     Fox hooked a thumb over his shoulder at Gage. “Him. Long story, I’ll tell you later.”
     “Ok. Thank you so much Fox.”
     “Thank me after we win. Oh, and we’ll be listening in to the militia’s radio chatter so we know where to go to help. Does this new square have a name?”
     “Yeah,” Jay replied, a weary grin creeping onto his muzzle. “McCloud Square.”
 
 

     * * *
 
 
 

 
Minutes later
Great Fox, armory
 
 
 

 
     A soft blue glow filled the armory as Fox searched the viewscreen’s records for a certain map sent to them over a year ago. Falco leaned back in one of the chairs while Gage propped one foot up on another one and unsheathed his knife, running his gloved fingers slowly over the blade. His tail slowly swung from side to side, like a metronome keeping time.
     “Alright, here it is,” Fox said as the glowing map of Emayn occupied the screen. “It’s a little out of date. This whole area over here on the west side isn’t under construction anymore, so pretend that there’s a bunch of buildings there.”
     Falco chuckled sarcastically. “And McCloud square, right?”
     Fox rolled his eyes and continued. “Anyway, according to Jay, we can’t go in by air, so here’s what I was thinking. Falco, you take to the air and shake up the ships. Three carriers and a bunch of dropships. Take out as many dropships as you can and keep the big boys busy. Think you can handle that?”
     Falco scoffed and rolled his eyes, which was all the response Fox needed.
     “Gage, you and I land here,” Fox tapped the shoreline on the far western side of the island. “And attack them from behind. That work for you?”
     Gage’s eyes widened and he stood straight up, the knife gleaming in the blue glow. “No, no way! There’s no way in hell I’m going down there with you.”
     Fox sighed. He was afraid he would get a response like that. “Gage, we—“
     “McCloud,” Birse cut in. “Even if I did trust you in the least, which I don’t, you would only slow me down. You’re a pilot, stick to the damn air. You do what you’re good at and I’ll do what I’m good at, ok?”
     “Hey,” Falco said, sitting up and half-turning to Gage. “Maybe it slipped your attention, but the invasion is happening on land. I can handle a few dropships, but I don’t know what kind of one-man army you think you are.”
     Gage slit his eyes and opened his mouth to retort when Fox cut in. “You claim to know everything about me, Birse. So you have to know that I liberated this island once already and single-handedly rescued ten civilians in the middle of enemy territory. Not to mention that I escaped, infiltrated, then re-escaped Overlord all by helpless little self. Hey, I can go into the ground fights with IceStorm if you want, or did I make my point clear enough?” It was a rhetorical question, so he continued. “I may not be Special Forces, but you know damn well I’m qualified for ground combat. Emayn means a lot to me, so put aside our little quarrel for now and work with me, ok?”
     Falco smirked and leaned back in his seat as Gage put his foot back on the chair and settled down. After a few moments with a look that expressed more annoyance than anger, he said, “Fine, just don’t get in my way. Have you even thought about the little detail of actually getting on the island?”
     “Well, if we can’t go in from above, we’ll go in from below. The Bluemarine.”
     “The what?” Gage asked with a confused look.
     “The Bluemarine, our submarine craft. It’s made for one, but two can fit in if they get chummy. They won’t be expecting that, so we might be able to get on the island unnoticed.”
     Gage seemed satisfied with that and went back to his knife.
     “Alright then,” Fox said, flicking the screen off. “Let’s go.”
     Falco left for the hangar while Gage began a slow round of the armory, looking at each rack of weapons closely, as if looking for one in particular. His eyes stopped on one and he muttered, “I’ll be damned.”
     “What?” Fox asked as he took off his jacket and strapped body armor over his black shirt.
     “The SLX-109 assault rifle. These things just came out a month ago, I’ve been using it a lot.”
     Fox nodded, securing the final strap. “Spent some time in the range with it, great gun. Help yourself to anything in here.”
     Gage grabbed one of the rifles off the rack and took it apart on a nearby bench before Fox could even say anything. He checked over each part and put it back together with the sureness of someone who’s done it hundreds of times. Slinging the rifle over his shoulder, he moved down the rack and repeated the process with two pistols, which he placed in either thigh holster.
     The whole show took no more than two minutes, and Gage looked at Fox expectantly. “What are you waiting for?”
     “Uh…nothing.” Fox was amazed at the speed in which Gage took apart and repaired the guns, and he realized he was staring. Feeling like a kid who had just been outdone in the school talent show, Fox prepared his own pistol and grabbed the same model rifle.
     “Uh, McCloud?” Gage said as Fox headed out the door. “Unless you want a really fancy club, that rifle’s not much use without ammo.”
 Fox stopped and mentally kicked himself. The comment Gage made about slowing him down had made him a little angry. He was trying too hard to look good, even somewhat competent, in front of him.
     ‘He’s a frickin’ specops captain,' Fox told himself as he backtracked into the armory. ‘Stop comparing yourself to him. He may be able to kick your ass on the ground, but he can barely pilot.’
     With that established, Fox grabbed a few energy mags from the bin and shoved them in his pockets. Gage may have fancier clothes and better aim with a gun, but Fox knew that he would fight just as hard on the ground. What was that old quote he always heard at the Academy?
     ‘It’s not the size of the man in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the man.’
     “Damn straight,” Fox muttered under his breath as he turned to give leaving another shot.
     “What?”
     “Nothing. Let’s go.”
 
 

 
     * * *
 
 
 

Off the west coast of Emayn
1736 hours, Emayn local time
 
 
 
 

     “Seventy-five knots,” Fox said, glancing at the display panel in the Bluemarine’s cockpit. The craft vibrated harder as the digital counter continued steadily upwards past ‘75’, pushing the maximum speed to its limits. It hadn’t been used in a while, and Fox prayed it would hold together until they reached the shore.
     Gage, who was crammed behind the pilot’s chair with their gear, had a bit more pessimistic view. “This hunk of crap’s not going to make it.”
     “She’ll hold,” Fox shouted back over the creaks and groans of the ship’s hull, hoping he was right. “It’s really not supposed to be going this fast for so long, but we’re in a hurry.”
     Gage sighed and nearly fell over as a hard rumble shook the ship. “How much further ‘till shore?”
     Fox looked at the laser distance-finder, surprised to find that they were already almost there. “Another mile or so, thirty or forty seconds. How do you want to work this? Pop the hatch and swim?”
     “We could, but we’d be exposed for a long time, not to mention the gear would get wet.”
     Fox thought for a few seconds, watching the distance-finder rapidly count down. Finally, he decided that there was really one option. “Hang onto something!”
     “What?” Gage called back. He saw that Fox wasn’t slowing down at all as the counter dropped below one-thousand feet. “Are you crazy?!”
     “She’ll hold!” Fox shouted, less sure of himself this time. Gage grabbed hold of the hatch handle as Fox inclined the ship slightly upwards, poking slightly over the waterline. Through the canopy he could see the three large ships high above…and one island approaching very quickly.
     The craft violently jolted and rumbled as it hit the beach, an earsplitting groan of bending metal filling the air. The Bluemarine slid and spun over the sand, tossing its occupants around the cockpit like socks in a washing machine. After a few more seconds of creaking and sliding, the ship halted on its side, dead silence returning to the beach.
     Gage groaned and sat up, rubbing his head from where it hit the side of the ship as it did its acrobatics act. He looked around and saw that Fox already had the hatch opened and was looking outside.
     “Fun, eh?” he said, ducking back into the cockpit. “Wanna go again?”
     “Fun for you,” Gage mumbled, gathering their gear and passing it to Fox. “You had a seatbelt.”
     Fox grinned and shoved the weapons and pouches out onto the sand, then followed. With a sigh, Gage hopped out after him, greeted by a burst of warm tropical air. Without more than a moment’s hesitation, he grabbed one of the rifles from the sand and carefully scanned the border of the long line of trees further up the beach.
     Satisfied that they were alone, he turned back to Fox, who was looking over his handiwork. A long groove lay behind the ship, at least a hundred yards from the ocean. Fox folded his arms and looked at the craft itself.
     “Well, she held together…” A chunk of the hull broke away and clattered to the sand as he finished his sentence. “…sort of. Slippy’s gonna be pissed.”
     “Hey,” Gage hissed. “We need to get off the beach, a patrol could come by to see what happened.”
     Fox nodded, grabbing his rifle and ammo and following Gage towards the trees. “Don’t forget, we’re parked in the west beach.”
     He thought he could see a grin pull slightly at the corners of Gage’s muzzle as he slipped into the shadows of the dense trees, then it was down to business. The captain moved slowly, his rifle up to his shoulder and pointed straight ahead. Fox followed in the same manner, his humor turning to anxiousness. He knew of the dangers they were about to face. Luck had been a hundred percent on his side last time he was here, and he hoped those odds were still with him.
     As the trees began to thin out, faint gunfire and shouting could be heard. The backs of the buildings surrounding the west square came into view through the trees, only fifty or so yards from the tree line. The only thing between them and the town was a pair of feline Venom soldiers, their backs to the trees.
     Fox raised his rifle to fire, but Gage put his hand up in a ‘stop’ gesture and shook his head. He lowered his rifle as Birse slung his over his back and quietly unsheathed his knife. He looked at Fox and gave a series of hand signals: two fingers pointed at his eyes, then pointing at the soldiers, then a fist in a downwards motion. Fox wasn’t too familiar with hand signals, but he figured it meant, “Cover me, and if they see me, drop them before they drop me.”
     Gage moved forward, hunched over in a nearly full crouch, taking each step as if navigating a mine field, so silent that even Fox could barely hear him. The soldiers continued chatting, neither aware of the shadow that was creeping up just behind the one on the right. With swiftness, even grace, Gage grabbed the right guard in a choke hold and swung the knife in a short arc at the left. He went down with a string of choking noises, the whole front of his throat sliced open.
     The other guard struggled and gasped in Gage’s firm hole. “P-Please! Don’t kill me! D-D-Don’t!”
     Fox jogged up them as Gage spoke in a low, rough voice. “I won’t hurt you if you tell me what I need to know. How many soldiers have landed?”
     “I-I don’t know. A hundred maybe.”
     “What’s the attack plan?”
     “Uh…” Gage pulled tighter and the feline’s eyes bulged. “Ok, ok! It’s nothing special, just squads moving up through each street towards the east square.”
     “Thanks, you’ve been helpful,” Gage said. Relief showed in the soldier’s face, but only for a second. With one quick move, Gage jolted his arm to the left, breaking the guard’s neck with a wet snap. He let the body crumple to the ground and sheathed his knife. “Told him I wouldn’t hurt him. He didn’t feel a thing.”
     Grabbing his rifle, Gage looked back at Fox and met a surprised stare. “Hey, if you don’t have the stomach for this, then wait here. I don’t need you puking at every drop of blood.”
     Fox’s surprised look turned to anger. “Hey, I already told you, I’m fine with this. Break all the necks and slice all the throats you want. I was just surprised because…well…”
     Gage nodded as if he completely understood and stared at the corpses. “Because you’re used to firing at a shape, not grabbing one and talking to him. I know the feeling, we’ve all had it.” He crouched and started rummaging through the pockets of the soldier he had knifed. “You see that they’re people too. You can see the color of their eyes, whether they’re married or not from a ring on their hands, all that stuff.” He finished searching the body and tossed Fox a small black object; the soldier’s wallet. Fox opened it and found a few transparent slots with pictures in them. The first showed a young feline with the same color fur, presumably the soldier years earlier. The next one showed him older in a Venom Army dress uniform, two middle-aged felines standing on either side; his parents. Fox knew he would’ve felt remorse if it weren’t for one thing in the picture; the Venom flag hanging in the background.
     “What you have to remember,” Gage continued, as if reading his thoughts. “Is that they’re not just any people. They’re Venom soldiers, and they would kill you if they had the chance. Hell, look at what they’re doing here, killing civilians. Remember who they are and what they stand for and the fact that they’re people too doesn’t matter.”
     Fox nodded, but shuddered as he flipped to the soldier’s military identification card. He was nineteen years old.
     ‘Yeah,’ he thought, tossing the wallet back onto the body. ‘And Vixy was only twenty-two. I’d trade a million of these bastards for her.’
     Gage looked at him with an expression that actually wasn’t anger or annoyance for the first time since they met. “You know, it’s good that you felt that. It means you still have half a heart left. You have to put it behind you now, remember what I said. They’re Venom.” He stood up and readied his rifle again. “Maybe you’re not as much of an asshole as I thought.”
     “Gee, thanks.”
     “But that still doesn’t mean I trust you.” With that, Gage turned and jogged silently towards the town. After a minute of reflecting on what Gage had said, Fox shouldered his own rifle and followed.
     ‘I’ve killed plenty of soldiers on the ground, and I’ll rack up more today. Birse is right. They’re Venom, they’re the ones who kill civilians, the ones who killed my parents.’ The pit in Fox’s stomach vanished at this thought, and he knew he would have no more qualms about killing anyone related to Venom.
     The sun sank lower in the horizon, setting the sky ablaze in red and orange light, providing the shadows that would hide the duo in their battle through the streets of Emayn. They reached an alley between the first two buildings they encountered, and Gage nodded to Fox. With a deep breath, Fox pointed his rifle ahead and entered the alley, Gage following.
     Not a single soldier would be allowed to enter the east square where the governor’s mansion was located, where Fox had met Vixy for the first time at the front door. He would see to it...