Gage peeked around the corner of the brown stone building, careful to stay in the shadows of the alley. McCloud Square stretched before him. It was large for a town square, at least a hundred yards long and wide, and bordered by shops and offices in the similar quaint brown stone design. The road leading into the residence area of the town was at the far end of the square and guarded by a mounted heavy machine gun and a line of soldiers. At least fifty other soldiers spotted the rest of the square, along with supply crates, trucks and one light fighter.
     He ducked back into the alley and gave Fox the report. When he was done, he added, “I wonder why they’re not using the fighter. An air attack would probably be more effective than a straight ground fight.”
     Fox shrugged. “That’s what I’d do. There’s probably a good reason for it, we’ll ask Jay when we get there.”
     Gage nodded as a low hum filled the air. The duo looked back into the square and saw a dropship slowly descend and open the back ramp. After ten soldiers hopped off, it closed back up and flew away over the rooftops. When it was clear, another dropship appeared high overhead and began its descent.
     Gage pushed Fox back into the alley. “Ok, time to get to work. You ready?”
     Fox nodded. ‘Just like old times. Another overwhelming-odds fight in the west square. Hope this one goes as well.’
     “Ok,” Gage said, grabbing a grenade from his vest. “Just follow my lead and shoot anything that looks in our direction.” He pointed to the fighter halfway across the square on their side. “When I say so, break for the ship and use the main guns.”
     “No problem.”
     “Just watch your fire. I’m going for the machine gun when I see the chance.”
     Fox nodded again as Gage looked back into the square. The second dropship slowed as it hovered a few feet above the ground, closer to the alley as Gage had hoped for, and opened its rear door.
     One soldier was able to hope out before he saw a small black object fly through the air and into the gaping mouth of the ship. Before anyone could react, the grenade exploded, tearing off the right side of the ship and sending it crashing to the ground in a ball of flame.
     Gage shouldered his rifle, aimed for no more than two seconds, and fired a single laser that traversed the square and killed the soldier manning the machine gun at the road. The remaining soldiers looked around in frantic confusion, trying to piece together what happened. The smoke from the destroyed ship partially blocked the view of the alley.
     “Go! Now, before they get the machine gun up!”
     With a quick prayer and a deep breath, Fox sprinted from the shadows into the setting sun, Gage’s rifle rattling behind him. Before long there was more rattling as soldiers saw him and fired, lasers whizzing by his head and pounding the buildings to his right. He fired off a few blind bursts towards the center of the square, hoping to get their heads down.
     After a few seconds, which seemed like hours, Fox reached the fighter and climbed the ladder to the cockpit, a few lasers pinging off the hull. He slammed the canopy shut, finally letting out his breath, and looked over the controls. He’d seen them before.
     “Today’s just one big happy trip down memory lane,” Fox grumbled as he powered up the engine. It was the same class fighter he had stolen in his escape from Overlord, so he already knew the controls. For a moment, he again saw the bright hangar outside the canopy, the thick smoke from the oil barrels he had shot…the blood from his shoulder wound covering the seat and control panel. Then it was gone.
     “Fox!” Gage’s voice sounded in his headset. “What are you waiting for?!”
     Fox shook his head hard and worked the buttons on the control panel. The ship’s landing gear retracted, and it hovered a few feet off the ground. He saw the guns were fully charged and grabbed the stick as more lasers bounced off the fighter, slowly but steadily bringing the shields down.
     The sound of the rifles was drowned out by the roar of the fighter's twin laser cannons. The red beams tore across the square, cutting down the soldiers and ripping chunks of stone from the far buildings. Fox rotated the hovering ship, shooting up the line of trucks and supplies. One of the supply crates must’ve contained ammo, because it went up in a large explosion when a laser hit it, taking at least four soldiers with it. The rest of the disoriented army ran for cover, firing random shots in Fox’s direction.
     “Ok, I’m going, check your fire.”
     “Ok,” Fox replied, looking over and seeing Gage sprint across the square. Every few seconds he would drop to one knee and fire a perfectly-aimed burst at a soldier daring enough to step out of cover. When he ducked to reload, Fox loosed a volley of lasers across the square to keep them at bay.
     Gage finally reached the machine gun and kicked the gunner’s corpse out of the way like it was a child’s toy blocking the staircase. He swung the huge gun away from the road on its mount and fired a rapid stream of searing red destruction towards the Venom soldiers. Between him and Fox’s fighter, soon the square lay in smoking desolation, dead soldiers and twisted metal strewn all over.
     Gage ceased fire and carefully scanned the square, breathing heavily. Nothing moved except the flames and billows of smoke from the ruined trucks and dropship. After a few more minutes of dead silence, he raised his hand towards the fighter in a beckoning gesture. The canopy opened with an echoing creak and Fox hopped out, taking a look around at his work.
     He walked over to Gage’s position, keeping his eyes and rifle pointed towards the other end of the square the whole way. “Think we got ‘em all?”
     Gage shrugged and wiped the sweat from his forehead in the tropical heat of the setting sun. “Either that or the rest ran off. We don’t have time for a body count, we need to get outta here before more dropships come.”
     “Shouldn’t be a problem if Falco’s doing his job,” Fox replied, hand going to his ear. “Falco, you there?”
     “Yeah, how’s it going down there?”
     “Good, but we can’t hold out against more dropships. Are you on it?”
     Falco scoffed over the comm. “Come on, I’m getting bored up here. The dropships are like targets in a shooting gallery and the gunners on the big boys must be blind. Don’t worry, none will get through, just hurry up before I fall asleep. Looks like they’re giving up on sending more out anyway.”
     “Good, I’ll get back to you soon,” Fox replied with a sigh of relief. He switched back to the local frequency and turned to Gage. “Looks like we’re clear from the rear.”
     “Good,” Gage said, turning towards the road into town. “Between us and the militia, we should be able to sandwich them in. Shall we?”
     “After you,” Fox replied with a grin, glad that things were going well so far. The grin was quickly wiped off his muzzle as he followed Gage a short distance down the road. Lying in the middle of the street was a trio of canine bodies, a male, a female, and a kit t hat looked no more than ten years old. Their corpses were riddled with blackened holes, apparently from the machine gun placement guarding the road. None were armed.
     Fox felt a pull on his arm as he stared at the wide, lifeless eyes of the female, who had a permanent look of shock on her face.
     “Fox!” Gage yelled, pulling his arm harder. Fox finally snapped out his gaze and looked at Gage. “Come on, we have work to do. We’ll have time for sympathy later.”
     Fox nodded and the duo continued their jog down the street. After a block of nothing but the sound of muffled gunfire and explosions in the distance, Fox’s headset began to buzz and receive static-filled voices. “You hear that?” he asked Gage.
     Gage held up his hand to silence Fox and listened intently to the random voices.
     “—square! I repeat, we sighted explosions and gunfire at McCloud Square!”
     “What? That’s where the enemy is based, do we have any men up that way?”
     “Negative, that’s why I’m reporting it. Does anyone know--?”
     Jay’s voice cut in. “I’ll be damned, looks like he found a way down. Attention all soldiers of the militia! Be on the lookout for two red foxes, one of them Fox McCloud himself. It looks like they’ll be working their way towards you, so check your fire. With their help, we should be able to repel these bastards.”
     There were scattered whoops across the frequency at the news, which gave Fox even more optimism. The militia was far from beaten, and Venom had nowhere to fall back to. The sun finally sank below the rooftops, shrouding the streets in darkness as Fox and Gage continued down the street to end the invasion.
 
 

    * * *
 
 
 

Emayn, Main Street
1854 hours
 
 
 

     The sound of gunfire intensified and was now mixed with shouting as the two foxes moved cautiously down the right side of the dark stone street, small shops and houses lining it. A good portion of the streetlights were broken, for which Gage was thankful for. They had no idea what was up ahead, and the shadows were their only cover unless they felt like stacking up some of the bodies that littered the street…which they didn’t.
     Gage put up his fist in a “stop” command as they neared a sharp right turn. He flattened his back against the corner building and peeked around the corner. After a few seconds, he ducked back and said, “Looks like we found the fight. Bunch of militia guarding the entrance to the square, using an overturned truck as cover. Not very effective.”
     “How many Venom soldiers?”
     Gage peeked again and said, “Twenty, twenty-five. All with their backs to us.”
     Fox nodded and shrugged. “Well, you’re the specops guy, how do we do this?”
     Gunfire continued as Gage furrowed his brow in thought. He looked around the corner again and stayed out longer, thinking of possible approaches. After a minute or so, he ducked back and put his hand to his ear, trying to muffle the noise, and spoke into his comm.
     “This is Captain Gage Birse of the Cornerian Army. If anyone in the Emayn militia can hear me, acknowledge this transmission.” He gave it a few seconds, then tried again. “I repeat, this is—“
     “Yes!” a deep, rough male voice sounded over the channel. “Yes, this is Harlan Donlan.”
     “Say that five times fast,” Fox muttered from behind Birse.
     “Mr. Donlan, I need to speak to whoever’s in charge,” Gage continued.
     “I would if I could, son, but a laser got to him first. I’ve assumed command of the militia.”
     “Alright, listen to me, sir. You see the corner past the Venom soldiers?
     “Yes.”
     “I’m right there, with Fox McCloud.” Gage waved his arm in a wide arc around the corner.
     “Ah, you boys couldn’t have come at a better time. We’re in trouble here, and if they send reinforcements—“
     “There are no reinforcements, McCloud and I took care of their base and we have a man in the air guarding against dropships.”
     Donlan’s relieved sigh could be heard over the comm. “Then we have hope. Do you have any ideas of how to deal with these last ones?”
     “Yes, but it will be a little risky.”
     “Bah, that’s ok. My men are used to a little—“
     “Not for you, for us.”
     There was an awkward silence from the other end, as if he was wondering whether to accept or not. A small grin formed on Gage’s muzzle, as if he had seen this a million times. “Don’t worry sir, I’m use to a little danger too.”
     “Well, if you say so. What do you have in mind?”
     “Pretty simple. McCloud will be watching me. Whenever he gives you the word, have your men fire for about two seconds. It doesn’t matter if they hit anything, I just need the noise. Ok?”
     There were a few seconds of silence from the other end, then, “I have no idea what you’re up to, but ok. We’ll be standing by.”
     Gage beckoned Fox to the corner and they both looked around it. “You heard that, so you know what to do. As soon as I get within a foot of a soldier, give the word.”
     Fox looked over the scattered soldiers, none clumped together, and his eyes widened as he saw what Gage was thinking of doing. “Whoa, are you crazy? If you make one noise, you’ll have twenty soldiers on top of you.”
     “Yep,” he replied, almost nonchalantly, slinging his rifle and securing it tight so it didn’t make any shifting noises. “So hope I don’t slip up. Same deal as before, if one turns around, drop him and I’ll try to make it back here.”
     “Does this mean you finally trust me?”
     Gage glanced at Fox and grinned slightly, the shadows hiding most of his expression. “Well, I don’t see anyone else around here to cover my ass, so I guess I have no choice.”
     Fox grinned also and replied, “I can live with that.”
     “I hope I don’t die with that. You ready?”
     Fox lowered himself into a prone position around the corner, rifle pointing towards the oblivious soldiers. “Ready. Good luck.”
     Gage nodded, took a deep breath, and stepped out into the road. All the streetlights were on, so there were no shadows for him to duck into in case one decided to just glance over his shoulder. He slowly moved towards the rear-most soldier in the same hunched over silent walk he had done after their graceful arrival on the beach. He kept his right hand over his pistol holster, ready to pull it out in case, and his left hand slightly out, palm down, for balance.
     When he was a step away from the soldier, Fox whispered loudly into his comm., “Now!” The end of the road lit up in a deafening explosion of gunfire, giving Gage all the time he needed to grab the soldier in a choke hold, snap his neck, and let the body crumple to the ground. Some of the soldiers returned fire, but none of the militia had actually shown themselves. Fox hoped they wouldn’t wise up.
     It went exactly according to plan for the next thirteen soldiers. Gage made it look effortless, child’s play, but Fox knew better. The sneaking and snapping of a neck that quickly took extreme precision, not to mention the tension that came with the knowledge that a single wrong step could end your life. It was what Gage was trained for, and he did it until the fourteenth soldier. By then, however, it was already over. There were only six soldiers left, hardly enough to put up a decent fight against the militia.
     Gage approached him like the previous ones, waited for the burst of fire, and grabbed for him. But the soldier was ready. Gage had accidentally brushed against his tail, alerting him and making him spin around. He managed to yell out for help before Gage spun him back around and grabbed him in the choke hold. Birse knew the shit was about to hit the fan and didn’t break the soldier’s neck. Instead he grabbed his pistol and pointed it at the remaining six soldiers as they too turned around to see what their comrade was yelling about.
     “Take a look!” Gage shouted at the soldiers, but he didn’t have to. The soldiers were gaping at their dead men, contemplating what it meant and how it could happen, unsure of what to do next. Gage spelled it out for them. “It’s over. You have two choices. Surrender, or we have the militia and my buddy back there come out shooting.”
     Some of them stole a glance back at the west end of the island, at their former base, so Gage added, “Oh, and you can forget about reinforcements, in case you were wondering. Your dropships ran into a little trouble.”
     Their faces sunk a bit at this, and some of them whispered to the others. Gage’s hostage squirmed in his grip; it was pretty clear which choice he wanted. “What’s it gonna be?”
     A canine sergeant, highest rank in the remaining six, turned to Gage with an icy glare and hesitantly threw down his rifle. The rest followed his example in a more frightened way.
     “Good choice,” Gage said. He released his shield, who fell to his knees, breathing heavily. An elderly brown badger with large, droopy eyes peeked around the front of the truck blocking the square, then walked out and over to Birse, steering clear of the disgruntled soldiers.
     “Captain Birse?” Gage recognized the voice as Donlan’s. He looked over the road at the thirteen corpses and McCloud walking up towards them. “Outstanding work, I didn’t hear a thing.”
     “That was the point,” Gage replied, holstering his pistol as Fox came up and stood next to him.
     “Mr. McCloud,” Donlan said, shifting his eyes to Fox and extending his hand, which Fox shook. “It’s an honor. Thank you both so much, I’m not sure how much longer we could’ve held.”
     “Glad to help,” Fox replied. “Is Jay around?”
     “The governor? He should be somewhere in the square.”
     “Thanks.” Fox walked past the soldiers without even a glance and disappeared into the square.
     Donlan turned back to Gage and said, “What should we do with them?”
     “Put them in your jail for now, always have a few guards watching them. When the Cornerian reinforcements get here, they’ll take over.”
     “Alright.” Donlan wiped sweat off his forehead and shook his head wearily. “I’m so glad that’s over.”
     Gage looked back at the thirteen corpses and thought about the events of that evening. He had managed to cheat death again, to rid the galaxy of more Venom soldiers. If it were up to him, the six remaining soldiers would be lifeless on the stone road, but they needed to interrogate them. Overlord was the priority, not his kill count. He was done for the night, and he was glad.
     “Me too.”
 
 

    * * *
 
 

Emayn, Main Square
1932 hours
 
 

     Main Square was in the shape Fox had feared. As he walked past the truck, the brightly-lit square, slightly smaller than McCloud Square, sprawled in front of him. People on their backs vastly outnumbered the people on two feet, and even the standing people looked weary and half dead. Bodies lined the square, most wounded and shouting for help, and others silenced forever.
     There were some familiar faces among the crowd from the last time Fox was there, and they nodded to him or shouted their thanks. Another familiar face, that of Jay Ecklin, was coming towards him from a group of wounded people on the right side of the square. His clothes and white fur were streaked with blood, but not his. He had apparently been helping with the wounded, and it showed in his grave expression.
     Fox held out his hand, and Jay took it then embraced him. “It’s so good to see you again. Thanks you so much, you’re like this island’s…guardian angel.”
     “I’m just glad we got here in time. This is terrible. Do you have any casualty count?”
     Jay pulled away and shook his head. “No, and I don’t want to know right know. This was far worse than last time. They didn’t even give us a chance to surrender, just an all-out attack.”
     Fox nodded. “We’ll find out what this is all about. What about you? How did you get governor?”
     Jay grinned wearily and said, “Funny, really. After the last invasion, when Hohleran was killed, no one had any idea who to nominate. Somehow my name came up because I was big in the militia and led the hostages back from the square after your intervention. They said we should have a governor with combat experience, and there weren’t too many of us. So here I am. What about you, how have you been?”
     Fox hesitated, then said, “I’ve been getting along.”
     “We all followed that whole ordeal when you were falsely accused. Of course, no one here believed it for a second. Was no surprise when IceStorm came up as the real terrorists. And Fox…” He put his hand on Fox’s shoulder. “I’m sorry about Vixy. I know you two were close. She meant a lot to this town also.”
     Fox nodded, wanting the subject to change. He felt somewhat guilty, like he had taken something from this island, robbed it, then broke it. Thankfully, Gage walked around the truck and into the square at that moment, giving Fox an excuse to turn away. He waved to the captain, who had a surprised look on his face as he walked over to them. Fox guessed he didn’t expect mayhem like that either.
     “Jay, this is Captain Gage Birse of the Cornerian Army Special Forces.”
     Jay extended his hand and said, “Captain, thank you very much for your help.”
     Gage returned the handshake and replied with a cliché line that made Fox grin. “It’s my job, sir.”
     “Peppy and Slippy are away,” Fox said. “So Gage was assigned to help with the investigation.”
     Jay cocked an eyebrow. “What investigation?”
     Fox opened his mouth to reply, but Gage beat him to it. “We think this may have something to do with a new version of Overlord being built. When the Cornerian reinforcements arrive, they’ll take a look at things and interrogate the prisoners.”
     Jay nodded, a worried expression replacing his weariness. “You really think there’s another Overlord?”
     The two foxes shrugged in sync, and Fox said, “Maybe, we don’t know enough yet.”
     Jay nodded and looked up at the night sky with a deep breath. “Well, good luck with it. You two are welcome to stay in my house for as long as you need. Oh, and you said Slippy and Peppy were away. What about Falco?”
     Fox’s eyes widened and he laughed. “Oh crap, I forgot about him, he’s still up there!” He turned away from Jay and spoke for a few seconds into his comm., then turned back. “He’s pissed. Oh well, nothing new.”
     Jay grinned as a tall black wolf came up behind him and whispered something in his ear. Jay nodded and said, “I need to go. Things are still pretty hectic around town. Fox, you know where the guest rooms are, please make yourselves at home. And thank you again.”
     Jay walked off, leaving Fox and Gage in the middle of the chaotic square. Things were starting to calm down, and Falco’s Arwing soon appeared overhead and descended into the middle of the square, earning an amazed stare from most people. It was a small island town, and the last time they saw a fighter was probably the last time StarFox was there.
     The stars became clear overhead as full dark descended on the island, bringing a close to the day and to the invasion. The events of the battle would never be forgotten by the survivors, but it was over for the citizens of Emayn. Fox and Gage were also glad the battle had ended, but the preservation of Emayn was only the beginning for them.
 
 

    Chapter 5 coming soon!