The Drums of War

[evilwaffles]

Drums of War

Chapter 6:

Some wounds can’t be healed

***

Fox desperately placed his two fingers on Marcus’s neck and felt for his son’s pulse, he felt nothing; Fox’s heart skipped a beat in fear, he pressed his fingers on his neck harder, nothing. Fox rolled Marcus on his back, Marcus’s head limply fell to the side, a small amount of blood slid out of Marcus’s left ear, Fox saw the trail, his heart started pounding against his chest, wanting to break the ribs and escape. Fox noticed that Marcus wasn’t breathing, Fox swore loudly in desperation. Todd, Lola and Kari could only stand and watch as Fox crouched over his only son. Fox placed both of his hands on Marcus’s chest and started pressing down, attempting to make his heart start flowing blood to the body. Fox pressed his muzzle over his son’s and breathed into his muzzle. He resumed pressing down on Marcus’s chest,

“Don’t you give up on me!” Fox yelled to his lifeless son, he breathed into his son’s mouth providing oxygen,

“Come on... come on...” he continued mumbling as he resumed pumping, Marcus was unresponsive, Fox gave Marcus a couple more breaths, tears ran down Fox’s face as he continued to press on his son’s chest,

“You are stronger than this!” he yelled at his son, he pressed harder on his chest, Pox slammed his fist on his son’s chest,

“Wake up you son of a bitch!” he desperately yelled as he started pressing down on his chest again. Kari stood there in shock, tears were flowing down her cheeks, her brother lay on the ground, lifeless, her father was on top of him performing CPR to try keep him alive, Kari knew Fox was desperate and upset, he would never call his own son anything negative, or even curse at Krystal for that matter. Fox continued pumping, he quickly looked over at Todd and Lola,

“Give me a damned stimpack!” he told them desperately,

“Fox, that won’t...” Lola told him

“Just give it to me!” Fox yelled over top of her. Lola quietly passed the syringe to Fox, he snatched it from her, he quickly injected the healing liquid into his son’s veins, he continued pressing down on his son’s chest. Fox did this for another ten minutes, he knew it was hopeless, he knew that his son was dead. Fox bit his bottom lip trying to hold in his pain, he couldn’t. Fox rested his head on his son’s chest and started sobbing, unable to hold back the overwhelming emotions. Kari saw her father’s reaction, she knew straight away what happened, she started crying harder, Lola leant in next to Kari, she wrapped her arms around Kari in attempt to comfort her. Todd slowly walked over to his cousin, he placed his hand on Fox’s back, trying to comfort him. Todd looked back at Lola, she looked at him, they were upset by this as well, but they knew they had to be strong for Fox and Kari.

***

An hour passed since the loss of Marcus, plenty of tears were shed by all, a dark aura of grief, shock, sadness and sorrow filled the area. Fox still had his head on his son’s chest, Kari sat in the snow with Lola by her side, not a word was spoken since the loss of Marcus. Fox and Kari were traumatised, overcome with shock. Todd and Lola could only try to sympathise with Fox and Kari. The sound of snow crunching underneath some feet broke the silence. Todd turned to face the sound, a large lizard wearing a black suit walked towards them. Todd slowly left Fox and moved to Kari and Lola, where the Lizard was walking,

“Who are you?” Todd asked quietly, trying not to disturb Fox and Kari,

“That’s not important,” he told Todd as he drew his blaster from its holster inside his jacket, “now all three of you lay belly first on the ground.” He ordered pointing the gun at them; Fox lifted his head and looked towards the lizard,

“We can’t have you three ruining our little operation we have going on here after we worked so hard to destroy that cruise ship.” He told them as he started to charge his blaster, Fox heard every word, rage took over his mind, his body, trapping the true Fox in a little box. Fox gritted his teeth together in anger; he quickly jumped to his feet and made a mad dash towards the lizard, he cried out in rage as he ran towards the lizard, the lizard turned around as Fox cried out, he noticed Fox too late, Fox jumped into the air and landed a shoulder into the lizard’s face at full speed, the lizard dropped his blaster as he fell on his back into the snow. Fox landed on top of him, Fox clenched his fists together rage consumed Fox, his mind was no longer under his control, a man responsible for the death of his son was underneath him and his mind longed for vengeance. Fox landed blow after blow to the face of the lizard. The lizard was clearly knocked out after the first couple of blows but Fox didn’t care, he just continued to punch the face of the lizard in pure anger. Todd rushed over to Fox; he grabbed Fox by the arms,

“Stop Fox!” Todd told him, “We can question him and find out who he works for!” Fox ignored him; he broke free of Todd’s grasp and continued to punch the face of the lizard. Todd tried to restrain him again but to no success. Fox stopped punching the lizard, his rage was satisfied when his hands were covered in his foe’s blood. Fox stood over the lizard’s body, it was clear that the lizard was dead, Fox’s rage made him satisfied with what he had accomplished.

“Fox! What have you done?” Todd asked him, Fox was silent for  moment, he looked back at Todd

“What was needed to be done.” Fox replied. Kari was terrified at what Fox had done, that wasn’t like him, he always wanted to take prisoners, he never wants to resort to killing anyone unless it is absolutely necessary. Fox slowly walked over to the body of his son, pain, sorrow and grief took over Fox again. Fox looked directly into Marcus’s closed eyes,

“I promise you... those people who did this... they will suffer... I will make sure of it!” Fox growled, a single tear fell down from Fox’s eye onto Marcus’s forehead.

***

A/N: This was a really hard thing for me to write... seeing as I really like  Marcus. Oh and sorry for it being short.

[Guest Julius Quasar]

Wow...very, very intense....nice touch... O_o

[Kursed]

If only krystal had been there perhaps she could have done somehting... well i suppose somebody had to go. I really feel for Kari...

[rainfyre66]

Wow, I was not expecting that! Great emotion and intensity, awesome chapter.  You did a good job with that. :yes:

[evilwaffles]

Drums of War

Chapter 7:

Fallout

***

Krystal and Kadie continued to trek further into the blizzard, the blizzard using all its might to make their goal of finding Reece, and possibly the others, an insane goal. Blinded by snow and deafened by the whistling of the gale force winds, Krystal and Kari put their lives in the hands of the electronic communication gauntlet which was leading them to the co-ordinates of Reece’s position when he posted his last log entry. Kari was walking behind Krystal, following her every move so she didn’t fall down a waiting hole or lake. Krystal suddenly stopped walking and quickly placed her hands on her stomach, Kadie saw Krystal stop, Kadie grew both confused and worried, the stress of the situation still limiting their telepathic abilities so Kadie could not tell what Krystal was feeling. Kadie placed her hand on Krystal’s shoulder,

“Krystal?” Kadie called, Krystal jumped in fright as she felt contact and heard her name, “Are you okay?” Kadie added, Krystal paused, unsure of how to answer her,

“I… don’t know.” Krystal replied, “It’s a weird feeling that just stabbed into my stomach, I don’t know how to describe it, it’s… it’s like a part of me just died inside.” Kadie was silent; she did not know how to respond to Krystal’s revelation,

“I’m sure it was nothing.” Kadie assured Krystal, Krystal sighed, ignoring the feeling,

“I hope you are right.” Krystal replied. Kari nodded in conformation, Krystal started walking again, confident that Krystal was feeling okay, Kari followed Krystal further into the blizzard with the goal of finding the others, safe and alive.

***

Krystal and Kadie continued to trek through the blizzard; the co-ordinates entered into the gauntlet were close by. Krystal noticed that the blizzard was starting to dye down,

“Looks like it is starting to calm down.” Krystal noted, Kadie looked around, noticing that more was visible than before and the wind was beginning to dull down. Kadie looked ahead across a frozen lake, she noticed a large cliff, there was a cave entrance at the bottom, what she found odd though was the crudely made cages, she remembered a line from Reece’s log:

‘… sit in this cold, cramped, uncomfy cage…’

“That’s where Reece is supposed to be.” Kadie pointed out to Krystal. Krystal nodded,

“I know, but from what I can tell, those cages are empty.” Krystal added as she pointed towards them. Kadie grew worried, she quickly re-read Reece’s log entry,

‘…bury me neck deep in snow in the middle of the blizzard.’

Kadie’s heart skipped a beat,

“If Reece is with the others, we will have to hurry and find where they are, Reece says that they were going to be buried neck deep in the blizzard.” Kadie told Krystal desperately,

“We need to go over to those cages and see if there is any sign of Reece or the others, if they aren’t there then we can try to follow any track that may have been left.” Krystal suggested, Kadie nodded, Krystal appeared to be handling the situation a lot better than Kadie, Kadie knew this so she listened to her. Krystal leant down onto her knees, she groaned as her knees creaked as she leant down. And placed her hands on the ice covering the lake, she pressed down on the ice, transferring her weight onto the ice,

“The ice is good.” Krystal stated, “It is the middle of winter here, so the ice should be frozen all the way across.” She added. Krystal stood upright, groaning as her knees creaked again. Krystal walked onto the ice, being cautious as she did, making sure she didn’t slip. Kadie begun to follow Krystal across the frozen lake to begin looking for clues which would hopefully lead them to Reece and the others.

The lake proved to be a sturdy bridge across the freezing waters trapped below, the light snow cover on the ice proved to be little help to stop either of the two vixens from sliding or falling over. The lake was bigger than it looked; it took the vixens almost thirty minutes to cross the frozen lake. Successfully crossing the river, Kadie and Krystal were happy to have their feet back on the earth once again,

“I never did like ice skating.” Krystal mumbled as she shook her foot, shaking it to slightly relive some pain on her ankle. Kadie looked ahead at the cages in view, they were most defiantly empty. Kadie’s heart sunk. Krystal noticed too that the cages were empty; a wave of disappointment hit her. She placed her hand on Kadie’s shoulder,

“Let’s go see if there is anything that can lead us in the direction of where they took Reece,” Krystal suggested, “perhaps we still might find Reece and the others.” Kadie saw the logic in Krystal’s words,

“Alright, well let’s not waste time.” Kadie told Krystal. The two begun to walk towards the cage, the snow getting deeper with each step they took.

Krystal and Kadie approached the set of cages outside of a small cave entrance; the cages were open and empty. A few of the cage floors had blood stained on the snow. Kadie inspected one of the cages. She noticed a large, thick piece of black fabric, thick enough to make a jacket or vest. She picked up the piece of fabric in her hands, it felt familiar, she turned the fabric over, a torn white tag clearly stood out, ‘Corneria City Tailors’ was sown into the tag, beneath it in thick black pen was written ‘Reec…’ this was a piece of Reece’s vest, it must have been torn during his struggle in the cage. Kadie looked down at her feet, she had noticed some tracks leading down a slight hill before she inspected, but before she thought of these to be nothing more than the tracks of hunters, but now she knew that these tracks lead to where Reece was buried. Kadie quickly stood up,

“Krystal, Reece is down here!” Kadie called out to Krystal, Krystal looked over at Kadie,

“Are you sure?” Krystal asked, Kadie nodded in conformation. Krystal stood up, groaning as her back ached as she moved her spine, “Then lets not waste another second.” Kadie started walking as fast as she could down the hill, she squeezed the fabric in her hand and placed it in her pocket, that small piece of fabric was all she had that kept her hopes up of Reece being alive along with the others.

***

Kadie and Krystal reached the bottom of the hill, Kadie took a step forward, Krystal placed her hand

“Don’t move.” Krystal warned, Kadie was confused, she looked further down the small field of snow, a rather large four legged beast stood over top of an oddly shaped rock, Kadie tilted her head on an angle slightly, that was no rock, that was Reece’s head. Kadie knew she would be killed if she went into battle with the beast unarmed. Krystal moved her eyes from side to side quickly, looking for any type of weapon, she noticed a rather large and thick stick just in front of them, the beast growled loudly, defensive over it’s potential meal, Krystal ran up and grabbed the stick, she then continued to run towards the beast, she took a swing a swing at the beast, she missed, the beast roared in anger, it placed its belly on the floor, ready to pounce, the beast instead turned around and ran in the opposite direction. Kadie was confused, why would the beast run away from Krystal when it could have easily killed her, Krystal turned around and faced Kadie,

“That was a Lamin, they are scavengers that feast on the weak and or dead and will do anything to avoid conflict.” Krystal noted, Kadie rushed over to the head of Reece, she quickly fell to her knees to be more at level with him, Kadie placed her fingers in-between the fur on Reece’s face, his skin was terribly cold, even through his layer of fur,

“Reece!” she called, Reece didn’t respond… nor move, “Reece!” she called louder, no response, “Reece?” she whimpered slightly, she placed her fingers on the slightly exposed part of Reece’s neck, checking for a pulse, Kadie was very worried, Reece was possibly dead, she couldn’t even understand what emotions were…

She felt a slight pulse, her train of thought stopped; she waited again, a small throb in the vein of his neck happened once again. Kadie let out a small smile, Reece was alive, but she knew he wasn’t out of the woods yet,

“Krystal!” Kadie called, “Help me dig him out!”

***

A/N: Hell... it's about time. After a long hiatus due to school and computer issues I have finally finished another chapter! Now with school being easier on my schedule, not having a job, and having a computer of my own, I will be able to write chapters more often, hell, I will probably start posting in the Cornerian Bar tomorrow! Yay for free time.

[Kursed]

Quoteing Tychus Finlay?

Keep it coming.

[Guest Julius Quasar]

I hope he makes it!  Wow...great job, waffles!

Sorry to go OT here, but in my "Sauria's Plight" fanfic, I just realized today, that I forgot to put Miyu in the first chapter, oops!  I added her now, and what she was wearing and doing.

[rainfyre66]

Glad we'll get chapters coming more frequently, this is a good story! Can't wait to read more.

[evilwaffles]

The Drums of War

Chapter 8:

The Beat of War

***

Krystal quickly walked over to Kadie, the news that Reece was right there in front of them, although he was buried up to his head in the thick, heavy snow. Krystal quickly leant down, ignoring the pain that came from doing so; she placed her hand on Reece’s unresponsive head,

“Kadie!” she called, “Give me your jacket, quickly!” Kadie nodded, she quickly unzipped her thick, warm jacket and passed it to Krystal. Krystal quickly took the jacket from Kadie, she quickly wrapped it around Reece’s head, making sure the end of his snout and mouth was uncovered so it allow him to breathe,

“We need to keep his head warm as we dig him out.” Krystal told Kadie, Kadie looked up from Reece to face Krystal,

“I know, we just have to get him out now,” Kadie noted, she looked back down at Reece, “He must be freezing, he wasn’t wearing clothes for this environment.” She added as she started using her hands to throw away the snow that was holding Reece within it. Krystal too was starting to dig at the snow, trying to free Reece from the snow. The task they had set was a difficult one; the snow seemed to get heavier with each handful of snow they removed, their hands got number as the snow caused their hands to get even colder than they already were. Kadie was digging the snow out around Reece’s shoulders, being careful not to scratch him or hit him whilst doing so, she noticed Reece’s nose twitch, she waited to see if Reece would regain consciousness, his head fell back a little, he let out a loud sneeze, some of the snow they had dug out must have gotten up his nose a little, Kadie sighed in disappointment but she was also glad as this confirmed her first impression that he was unconscious and not in a coma. Kadie and Krystal had dug down to the start of his waist, Krystal looked at Reece’s right forearm,

“Looks like Reece didn’t escape injury either.” Krystal noted, Kadie raised an eyebrow, confused, she looked over at Reece’s arm, she cringed at the sight of his badly broken arm,

“We’ll have to be extra careful then.” Kadie told Krystal, not liking to look at his arm. They continued to dig Reece out, they dug down to Reece’s knees,

“Okay we should be able pull him out from here.” Krystal noted, Krystal and Kadie carefully grabbed one of Reece’s shoulders each, they pulled and tugged on Reece’s shoulders, trying to free him, Reece felt like as if he had put on a ton of weight as the snow still held Reece down with some great strength. Kadie and Krystal paused for a moment,

“One three we pull as hard as we can.” Kadie told Krystal, Krystal looked up at Kadie, she nodded in conformation, Kadie and Krystal braced themselves for the resistance the snow would give when they tried to give Reece up. Kadie counted to three, on three both of the vixens pulled on Reece’s shoulders with all their might. The snow begun to crumble with the pressure that the two vixens were causing to the snow. The snow eventually gave way to the pressure of the vixens, releasing Reece the vixens fell backwards, Reece fell limply on top of the ankles of the vixens, the girls carefully removed their ankles from underneath Reece’s back. Krystal reached into the pocket of her pants, she pulled out the two remaining stimpacks she had. She removed the from the packet,

“Hold his leg straight.” Krystal told Kadie, Kadie held Reece’s leg, Krystal removed the plastic cap from the prick of the syringe, she jabbed the prick of the syringe into Reece’s leg, injecting the healing liquid into Reece’s bone. Krystal, then injected the other syringe into Reece’s leg. Krystal stood up, and started walking back up the hill, Kadie looked over at her puzzled,

“Where are you going?” Kadie asked, Krystal turned around,

“I’m going to go find some herbs somewhere around that lake,” Krystal explained, “They will wake him up.” She added before she continued walking towards the lake.

***

Fox trekked across the snowy field, the body of his deceased son in his arms, Todd, Lola and Kari followed close behind him, they were all upset at the loss of Marcus, but were getting increasingly worried for Fox’s mental and physical well being. Fox groaned and fell onto one knee, the increased weight from his son putting more pressure on his legs, Fox cringed as he forced himself up. Kari walked up to her father,

“Dad,” she called out, “You need to rest, we’ve been walking for hours and you are starting to hurt yourself more.” She added, Fox ignored her, he kept walking, Kari put her hand on her father’s shoulder, “Dad, please.” She plead, Fox shook his shoulder, letting her hand slide off, Kari grew upset at her father, he was ignoring her, he wasn’t himself, anger and vengeance have consumed the one she called ‘Dad’. The black box that was underneath Lola’s arm begun to beep. Lola stopped walking, she looked at the screen on the black box, some information started appearing on the screen,

“Hey guys,” Lola called out, the group stopped, except for Fox who continued to walk across the field. “You need to see this!”

***

Krystal returned to the gulley where Kadie remained with Reece, she had a bunch of different herbs in her hand,

“Those the herbs you were looking for?” Kadie called out, Krystal walked over to her and Reece, she placed the herbs on Reece’s chest, she shifted Reece’s muzzle down onto his chest so that his nose was just at the herbs,

“We’ll see in about ten minutes.” Krystal replied, Kadie nodded as she sat down on the snow.

Fifth-teen minutes past and Reece hadn’t awoken, Kadie grew worried for Reece,

“Are you sure those are the herbs you were after?” Kadie asked,

“I am sure, they looked just like the ones…” Krystal was stopped by some slight coughing, she looked over at Kadie, Kadie looked down at Reece, Reece was coughing, he gasped loudly before coughing again, his eyes blinked open repeatedly, he gasped again, his eye sight adjusted to his surroundings, he saw the faces of Krystal and Kadie,

“Why hello there.” He groaned, Kadie quickly hugged her husband, happy and glad to see him alive. Krystal was also happy that Reece had pulled through, she looked down at his leg,

“Well it looks like your leg has mended well.” Reece looked down at his leg, he cautiously pressed both his legs on the ground, there was still some pain n his right leg but it was able to be walked on now, he looked at his left arm, it was still broken,

“Thank you,” he thanked them, “but there is something I have to tell you.” Reece desperately told them.

***

A raccoon military personal for the Cornerian army marched up the stairs to the military board room, she carried some reports in her hand. She knocked on the door of the board room before entering, General Bill Grey sat at a table,

“Yes?” he asked, the raccoon placed the report on the table,

“I think you should read this sir.” She told him, Bill took the papers, he started reading over them, they reported on the Skycutter being shot down with the mass number of casualties, included in that list were the members of Star Fox that were aboard, Bill placed the papers on the desk,

“Prepare the fleet.” Bill ordered, “The Venomian Government will regret that they ever made that decision.”

***

A/N: Short but sweet, I will be ending this soon, running low on ideas for this storyline.

[Fluxy]

Heya! Evilwaffles, you are an awesome writer! I just joined this site like 2 weeks ago, and found out about the fanfiction section like 5 days ago. I saw this title and wanted to take a look through, and i saw i had to read Twisted Fates, Nemesis, and The Essence of Hatred. I was a little upset by that, but i was bored so i decided to start reading... and reading... and eventually got up to date (even though those were made a long while back). I love all of your storylines, and hope you get ideas soon so you don't have to end this one too early. I like your sense of knowing when it is okay to add a dash of humor, while still keeping it realistic. And also how easy it is to be drawn in with the beggining chapters of each of your fanfics. I know I don't have much to offer (character bio's and stuff), but I don't mind helping with ideas. I saw what happened with Marcus  especially since he is so young, I hope that you can make it at least a couple more chapters before you feel like you need to wrap it up. And there, that hopefully catches me up on all the applauding i wasnt able to give in the past. So just remember, you have one more reader that also loves your stuff.  :D

[evilwaffles]

Hey Nick, glad to see you're enjoying my stories, it makes me feel glad inside whenever I get a positive comment/review from a reader.

Sorry for making you read those three other stories But they are there so you get a fair idea of what I am describing as I make references to my other stories and the characters I randomly put in.

I hope I get some more ideas as well, funny as I say that I already have a few ideas for what I can do for the next story, but this one will end soon.

Thanks, if I need some ideas or characters I will send a PM your way

Yeah, I am one of these rare Marcus fans so I didn't like killing him off, but if I killed one of the other characters off I fear that I would not be able to sleep at night with people after my hide (jks)

Don't worry, there will be at least four more chapters before this story reaches the 'back cover' so to speak.

And thank you once again!  :friends:

[Kursed]

Hey Nick, glad to see you're enjoying my stories, it makes me feel glad inside whenever I get a positive comment/review from a reader.

Sorry for making you read those three other stories But they are there so you get a fair idea of what I am describing as I make references to my other stories and the characters I randomly put in.

I hope I get some more ideas as well, funny as I say that I already have a few ideas for what I can do for the next story, but this one will end soon.

Thanks, if I need some ideas or characters I will send a PM your way

Yeah, I am one of these rare Marcus fans so I didn't like killing him off, but if I killed one of the other characters off I fear that I would not be able to sleep at night with people after my hide (jks)

Don't worry, there will be at least four more chapters before this story reaches the 'back cover' so to speak.

And thank you once again! 

let me guess starfox in starcraft?)

Well considering Kari is my creation i donno how i could get at you for ending her role.. who knows perhaps you couild revive marcus before the end of the story anyway.

[Fluxy]

That would be nice if Marcus came back some how *wink wink, nudge nudge*. But in either way, I think Marcus is okay (since we have never seen him do too much in the games), but i really like how you made him turn out in your series, waffles! And Krystal is a good medic, maybe Fox was really bind in the idea that he was dead, and failed at checking the pulse or something... . But either way, the story is amazing and am glad to hear that there will at least be more than 10 chapters, and also that there will be anouther story after it.

[evilwaffles]

let me guess starfox in starcraft?)

You'll have to wait and see

That would be nice if Marcus came back some how *wink wink, nudge nudge*. But in either way, I think Marcus is okay (since we have never seen him do too much in the games), but i really like how you made him turn out in your series, waffles! And Krystal is a good medic, maybe Fox was really bind in the idea that he was dead, and failed at checking the pulse or something... . But either way, the story is amazing and am glad to hear that there will at least be more than 10 chapters, and also that there will be anouther story after it.

Lol, I didn't expect people to request that I bring Marcus back

Maybe I will find a way of bringing him back, maybe I won't I'll need to finish the story to to find out

Thanks again.

[Guest Julius Quasar]

Great job, dude!  Sorry you're low on ideas...maybe you just need to take a hiatus, rather than end the story.

Lola: "Oh s***, I broke a nail!".

[Kursed]

Great job, dude!  Sorry you're low on ideas...maybe you just need to take a hiatus, rather than end the story.

Lola: "Oh s***, I broke a nail!".

Akasha:"Oh your so punctual Lola *chewing on todds magazine*

Well I hope this continues soon.

[evilwaffles]

Thanks Julius, I am not ending the story for at least another 3 chapters so that will be posted soon.

Kursed I will have the next chapter up by the end of the day, I promise.

(By the way, Kursed, you going to reply to my last post at Galaxies?)

[Kursed]

Thanks Julius, I am not ending the story for at least another 3 chapters so that will be posted soon.

Kursed I will have the next chapter up by the end of the day, I promise.

(By the way, Kursed, you going to reply to my last post at Galaxies?)

(whoops thought I did.)

[Guest Julius Quasar]

Thanks Julius, I am not ending the story for at least another 3 chapters so that will be posted soon.

Kursed I will have the next chapter up by the end of the day, I promise.

You're welcome, and that's good to know.

I'm also willing to help lend a hand if you fall short of ideas.

[evilwaffles]

Thanks for the heads up Julius. If I need a hand in the future chapters I'll throw you a PM ;)

[rainfyre66]

So far, so great evilwaffles! I hope you don't let writer's block discourage you, it's a good story and I'd be sad if it was left unfinished 

Killing off Marcus was a ballsy move, but as long as his death is not in vain...

[evilwaffles]

So far, so great evilwaffles! I hope you don't let writer's block discourage you, it's a good story and I'd be sad if it was left unfinished 

Killing off Marcus was a ballsy move, but as long as his death is not in vain...

Oh it will be finished, just when I do finish it is a different story.

I think people didn't like me killing off Marcus, I thought people wouldn't have cared.

Presenting:

Drums of War

Chapter Nine:

Preparations

***

Krystal looked at Reece, puzzled with what he had just revealed to both Kadie and herself. It wasn’t that she didn’t believe him but it sounded too far fetched to be logical. She placed her hand on Reece’s good shoulder,

“Are you sure Reece?” Krystal questioned him, Reece looked up at her, he was still sitting down in the snow where he had been revived from his unconscious state,

“I am sure,” Reece assured her, “he was wearing that exact suit I told you and it was even a type of blaster that I hadn’t seen before.” He added, Kadie extended her hand out, offering it to Reece to help him onto his feet, Reece gratefully took her hand and used it to help himself up, he picked up Kadie’s jacket that was on the ground, thrown onto the ground as Krystal had placed the herbs underneath Reece’s nose, he dusted off the snow and passed it to Kadie. Kadie thanked him as she took the jacket from him, she put it on, zipping it up happy for the warmth it provided. Reece looked down at his vest, it was a mess, he sighed,

“That cost me one hundred credits.” He groaned, as he used his good arm to remove the vest from his body, he looked at both of the vixens,

“Do one of you mind helping me make this into a sling for my arm?” he asked with a smile. Kadie and Krystal both helped to turn Reece’s tattered vest into a crude sling. It was unreliable and uncomfortable but Reece knew that it would have to do for now. Kadie looked at her husband,

“Are you one hundred percent sure of this.” She asked him, Reece nodded,

“As sure as I’ll ever be.” He replied confidently, Reece carefully re-activated the communication gauntlet on his broken arm,

“If I am right,” Reece started as he begun punching in some commands into his gauntlet, “then an energy signal should appear on my scanner, indicating the presence of a base somewhere.” He added as he started waiting,

“I hope you are right Reece.” Krystal told him,

“I do too.” Reece added, he watched the cracked screen of his communication gauntlet, the scanning progress was slow, it continued to scan but found nothing, “Come on…” Reece grumbled, still nothing showed up on the scan, Reece sighed in disappointment, “It must be broken.” Reece mumbled to himself, Reece placed his finger on the power button, a beep was heard, Reece’s eyes quickly jumped to the screen of his gauntlet, there was a message on the screen, it read:

‘Energy Signal Detected

Registry Number: 739209fd

Co-ordinates: 728-102-384-1029

Structure Type: Military Base’

Reece smirked, “I thought so.” He told himself, “Look at this.” Reece told the girls. Krystal and Kadie walked up behind Reece and looked over his shoulder, they read the information on the screen of Reece’s gauntlet, “Care to put in those co-ordinates into your gauntlet Kadie?” Reece asked with a smirk, Kadie activated her communication gauntlet, she pressed a few buttons,

“Done.” Kadie told him, Krystal started walking up the slope,

“Well let’s not waste any time.” Krystal told Reece and Kadie, Reece cautiously took a step on his previously broken leg, making sure it was perfectly okay to put pressure on, he smiled as no pain arose in his leg, he started walking normally towards Krystal, Kadie followed behind Reece.

***

“…Co-ordinates: 728-102-384-1029, Structure Type: Military Base.” Lola read out loud to Todd and Kari, Fox was still storming off further into the unknown snowy terrain, Kari did some thinking in her mind,

“728… 102… 384…1029…” she mumbled to herself, “That is only about an hours walk to the… uh… south east.” Kari told them, they looked over at Fox, he was a far distance away from the group now,

“Dad! Come here!” Kari called, Fox ignored her, “Dad!” she called again, he kept walking, Kari was already hurt by the loss of her brother, it cut her deep that her father was neglecting her. Todd placed his hand on Kari’s shoulder,

“Don’t worry,” he told Kari, “he is just upset, he doesn’t mean to act this way.” Kari sniffed,

“And I’m not upset?” she growled, “He is all I have at the moment, I don’t even know what has happened to my mother and he is just neglecting me in a time I need him the most!” she yelled, a tear flowed from her eye which ran down her cheek, Todd was unsure of what to say, he understood things were tender for everyone, he wanted to make them feel better about the situation but didn’t know how. Lola stepped forward,

“I know what will get his attention.” She told Kari. Fox’s legs collapsed on him once again, the pressure on his legs becoming almost too painful to walk on.

“Hey Fox!” Lola yelled, “You want payback? We know where they are!” Fox paused, he quickly stood up and turned around to face Lola, Todd and Kari,

“Where are they?” he growled loudly,

“Before we even think of telling you where they are, you need to calm down!” Lola told him, Fox bared his teeth in anger,

“Do you know what I’m going through?!” He yelled, “I’ve lost my only son and possibly my wife, do you know what that feels like?”

“I am going through what you are Dad!” Kari cried in rage, “You are all I have left, I need you and you are just ignoring me as if I don’t even exist! It’s not all about you Dad.” Kari yelled, ears clearly visible on the fur on her face. Fox was taken back, Kari has never talked to him like that, he heard what she had said and knew he was treating her badly.

“I’m… I’m sorry Kari.” Fox replied, “But I must have vengeance on those who did this to Marcus. Nothing can change that.” He added, Kari nodded, she walked over to her father and hugged him, Fox rested his muzzle on her shoulder as he is unable to hug back since he is carrying Marcus’s body, Fox looked over at Lola,

“Now… where are they?” he asked her.

***

The Cornerian fleet arrived into Bill Grey’s war room, the theater was full of around one thousand pilots and ground troops. Bill stepped in front of the microphone, the chatter amongst the troops stopped out of respect for their general. The room’s lighting was turned off apart from one spotlight above Bill. Bill took a deep breath before starting his presentation,

“Good afternoon gentlemen.” Bill spoke in a professional voice, instead of using his usual wording, “At around 0637 hours, the cruise ship the ‘Skycutter’ was shot down over the planet Kali. Our reports have confirmed that aboard the ship were around two thousand civilians, among those are members of the mercenary squadron Star Fox, Fox McCloud, Krystal McCloud, Todd McCloud, Lola Foxglove, Reece Kilza, Kadie Hornbrew, Marcus McCloud and Kari McCloud. All aboard the ship are presumed dead. Our intelligence department has confirmed that those responsible for the attack are in fact the Venomian Government. The Venomian Government has failed to take our warnings and now action must be taken. We have a war on our hands gentlemen. As for action, Fleet Alpha will level the building responsible for this attack. Fleet Bravo and Squadron Beta will storm Venom directly. We move out in three hours, best of luck gentlemen.”

***

A/N: Okay, now I’ve hit a majors writing block… I will have to leave this for a while.

[Guest Julius Quasar]

....so far, so good great.    I'll help you if you want/need some ideas from me.

You really captured Lola's character (and Todd's character) perfectly!

[evilwaffles]

Thanks Julius, it's been a while since I have written a Lola or a Todd chapter. Glad to see I got them right.

Thanks for the offer, I'll give it a couple of days and see if I can get an idea, if not I'll PM you.

:)

[Kursed]

Thanks Julius, it's been a while since I have written a Lola or a Todd chapter. Glad to see I got them right.

Thanks for the offer, I'll give it a couple of days and see if I can get an idea, if not I'll PM you.

I'm up for help here too if ya need it.

nice job on Kari there.