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Chapter 1

Her senses were heightened to their limits with adrenaline and fear. Now escaping her pursers was not a problem any other day and would have been no different today, except today was unique. Today they weren't just trying to kill her. No, quite the opposite, they were trying to capture her alive. And she knew this. And the only thing keeping her ahead of them was her keen senses. She moved so swiftly through the moonlit forest it was almost as if she was dancing. She could hear them stumbling through the trees behind her as well as an occasional profanity from one of them tripping on a root or hitting a low hanging branch.

Finally they reached the extraction zone where she would have to wait. It was a well hidden little clearing surrounded by brush. "What the hell do they want with you?!?" she asked as she grabbed her objective and spun her around so they could face each other.

They were trying to catch her because this time her mission was to 'rescue' this canine scientist from their holding camp. The 'target' was an attractive young collie that specializes in biomechanical physics. The collie was thin and slightly taller than she was, her brown hair was cut at her shoulders and she had emerald green eyes. The collie was wearing a long white lab coat, high stiletto heels, which probably weren't the best footwear for a run through the woods, and glasses she wore toward the end of her muzzle. The scientist just looked at her and didn't answer, she couldn't, and the words got stuck in her throat each time she tried to speak. All the assailant could see in the scientist's eyes was pure terror and panic, for she didn't yet know who she was safer with, her captors or this new assailant. They just sat there in their little hiding spot staring at each other.

In front of the scientist sat a beautiful vixen, she had a typical red-fox fur pattern however all of the black fur was replaced with snow white fur and what should have been reddish fur was instead a brilliant cerulean blue. She had sapphire eyes that one could easily loose themselves in, and long flowing cobalt blue hair that was pulled up into a ponytail that ended at around her mid-back. She wore a rather revealing outfit that confused the scientist at first until it hit her that it was probably how the assailant got to her without much controversy.

Just as she started thinking about the vixen's coloring the scientist's concentration was suddenly broken when she started to speak, "Damn it! Where the hell are you? Could you, for once in your life, be early?" she asked herself in a hushed tone, as she looked down at her watch, worrying that she may have taken on more than she could handle alone.

"Excuse me, but where is whom?" the scientist decided to ask.

Suddenly the vixen froze and her ears twitched, "Shhhh. Get back behind me and stay quiet." she told the collie as her grip tightened on a weapon that the collie was sure belonged to one of her captors at some point. "Here, take this" and she pulled out a matte black pistol and handed it to the collie.

"Why?" she asked looking at the weapon and then at the vixen "Is there something wrong? I don't hear anything." She said rather confused about the situation and trying to figure out where the vixen just pulled that pistol from.

"That's exactly it." The assailant pointed out, slightly irritated.

Sensing the vixen's frustration, she complied and started to move around behind her. She was almost around the vixen when a hand reached out and grabbed her, knocking loose the pistol. "Gotch ya," her captor called out. Right as the captor reached out of the shadows the vixen turned to face him, but was caught off guard when in the midst of the confusion another got up behind her, it was a trap. She let out a shriek of pain as he seized hold of her, sending her weapon skittering across the ground, and there was a third that gathered the scattered firearms. They both struggled to get free but it was no use.

"Well, well. Aren't you easy on the eyes?" croaked the captor holding the vixen. He took his free hand and started trying to relieve her of some of her clothing.

"Maybe we could have a little fun with her before handing her to the boss," chuckled the one holding the collie, as he eyed up the vixen. The third one just stood there watching in silence and looking over the weapon that the vixen had been holding and sniffed the pistol with a confused reaction.

"I'd rethink that if I were you," came a voice from behind the vixen as her captor's body went limp, releasing her. She fell to her knees gasping for air and holding her shoulder. Before the second captor could react the back half of his skull erupted with bone fragments and brain matter, as the collie he was holding whimpered and fainted while the third captor lowered the rifle he just was aiming in that direction. "Hey, which one do you think dropped faster, him or her?" he called out to the voice indicating to the collie and her captor. He walked over to help her up as she regained consciousness. Fearing the worst she started to panic and struggle, quickly crawling backwards until she bumped into the body of her deceased captor where she just curled up and started crying.

"It's ok, we're here to help you," said the voice as he stepped into the moonlight. The collie just stared at him as he bent down and removed a knife from the side of his victim's neck. He wiped the blood from the blade as he leaned over and knelt next to the vixen, "Are you ok?" he asked her with a concerned tone as he removed his helmet.

The collie couldn't help but stare at him curiously; he was like nothing she had ever seen before. Much like the vixen he was also a fox-breed anthromorph. However he seemed taller and broader than any other fox that she had seen before. The collie just figured it was because of his very distinctive armor suit. His armor he resembled that of a type of modern-day knight-of-old, it was plated and covered his entire body and there seemed to be a panel on his left gauntlet with a variety of small buttons and switches on it, she wondered how heavy the whole suit must be. It had a dull black base color and a dull, almost, blood red color for the accents. But that wasn't what caught her attention. No, it was his personal markings and appearance; it was almost as if he had a presence about him. The fox also had a red-fox pattern however his was much more unique. He had jet-black fur primarily. The bottom half of his muzzle as well as a stripe that ran down the front of his neck to the rest of his undercoat was a gleaming brilliant white. The tips of his ears and the iris of his eyes were a luminous crimson red. His eyes were bright and looked as though they carried a lot of emotion. And his tail protruded from his armor, it was full and luscious with similar colors to his armor. It was black and it was red at the tip. His gear prevented her from seeing the rest of him.

She turned to see the other who still had his hand out to help her up. Just then she realized that he wasn't a human and wondered how she didn't notice that before. Now he wasn't as "suited-up" as the other. He just had on standard combat gear and that's how he was able to blend in so well with the captors and he still had his facemask on and his tail must have been tucked under his uniform. All she could see of him were his dark blue eyes with snow-white fur around them. He had a broader build and wider muzzle so she doesn't think he's the same as the other two, maybe a wolf-breed. She decided that it was safe to trust them; they either didn't want her dead or just couldn't aim.

"Sure now you could come up with a joke. The absolute last place you 'want' to say one." She thinks to herself.

The other one was tending to the vixen that was still kneeling on the ground whimpering softly, favoring her shoulder.

"Dude it's got to be broken. Did you hear her cry? Damn! What decibel was that?" the wolf commented. Neither one of them looked at him it was like he didn't even say anything.

The black furred fox whispered to the vixen, "I'm sorry," as he grabbed her arm and thrust it into her shoulder. There was a loud crack accompanied by an ear splitting cry that chilled the collie to the bone and even made her 'rescuer' cringe.

He called out, "Wow Shadow I didn't think you could move that fast" almost instantly after jamming her shoulder the fox had embraced her to stabilize her, "I think you broke the sound barrier on that one."

The collie mustered up what courage she could and spoke up, "Excuse me. Um, S-Shadow is it? Do you mind if I take a look I am a doctor? It may need medical attention…" she stopped her sentence out of fear that she had gone too far.

Shadow looks down at the vixen as if waiting for an answer, "its ok Fox," she answers his unasked question. He stands up and looks at the collie as he takes a step back.

"Allow me to introduce myself," he says to her as she approaches the duo, "I am ShadowFox," he continues with a polite bow and sight nod, "and this is…" he indicates to the vixen on the ground as she finishes his introduction, "KrystalBlaze." She raises her good hand to shake that of the collie's.

"Dr. Felecia A. Moore, pleased to meet you both." She responded while inspecting KrystalBlaze's shoulder.

"If you don't mind my asking if you're a mechanical scientist, how much could you truly know about medical science?" the wolf asked her rather bluntly.

"And may I ask why hired hands have to die their fur!?!" she snapped back, her stress levels finally catching up with all that just happened to her. The three were taken aback by her sudden reaction, "I mean come on, what do you expect to accomplish like that? Sure as heck isn't hiding or avoiding being noticed! Ya that's funny, no one will notice a blue vixen, or a black and red fox, and I don't even want to know what you are or what crazy colors you've got on you!" most of her outburst was aimed at the third member of the group. She just stood there staring him down. ShadowFox gave KrystalBlaze a hand getting up and the two of them commenced in their own side conversation.

He indicates to Dr. Moore, "note to self, don't insult intelligence," he says with a chuckle.

"It took you long enough to show up"

"Ok then, next time I'll just let them rape you first" he shot back in a slightly irritated tone.

KrystalBlaze gives him and irritated look and chances the subject, "So Fox, who's your friend?"

"A freelance. I called in a favor from way back."

"And he wants part of the hit doesn't he? How much?"

"He only wants a fraction."

"How much!?!"

"1.5K, like I said not much"

"What are you talking about the whole job is only worth 3K!" she yells slightly louder than she meant to because she now had the complete attention of their other companions. "How do you expect us to cover all of our expenses if you keep doing things like this? Military funding only goes so far you know there is going to be a point when they stop hiring us for those 'iffy' jobs."

"You know we're not supposed to discuss this type of stuff in front of the objective. And that's what you get for reading over my shoulder. If you really must know it was 3K for the body and 12K if we got it alive! That's why I stressed we try not to get this one shot and why I passed over that other mark that you got so pissy about!" he snapped back with a little bit of a growl in his voice. Then returning to normal as if nothing happened he turns to the gaping onlookers, "now doctor if you would please, our transportation is over this way and we must be going before any more guards make their way over here." He indicates to the other mercenary, "thanks for the help. I'll transfer the money over as soon as we get paid."

He quickly dismisses himself and right before he disappears into the darkness turns around and runs over to KrystalBlaze holding out her sidearm, "I think this is yours," he sniffs it again, "ya its yours, and nice hiding place by the way." And with that he vanishes.

KrystalBlaze looks at the firearm in her hand and then turns to look at ShadowFox "Fox sometimes I really wonder where you find the characters you work with. And would you please remind me to wash this when we get back." She tells him with a disgusted look on her face.

"Will do" he replies holding back his laughter.

After walking for fifteen minutes of complete silence the trio comes upon a clearing with a large industrial looking motorcycle parked along a small road. Dr. Moore couldn't identify the motorcycle's make or model, even though she will admit at not being up to date with vehicles, but she did know that this one was custom made. She defiantly knew that it belonged to ShadowFox by its paint scheme, black and red. It was rather long, length and a half of a normal motorcycle she guessed, and the tires were larger as well she noticed. Something she found very strange was that there were actually four tires, two in both the front and another two in the back. They were placed up against each other so at first she only thought there was only one at each end. There was high gloss black plating that covered most of the bike and what she could see of its engine looked very complex and was painted red. She couldn't even imagine the power that it could probably produce and the speed it could max out at, and she didn't want to find out. She had already experienced way more excitement than her body wanted to handle and it was threatening to stop working if she gave it any more.

"The bike, really?" KrystalBlaze asked him as he approached it, "I know you love that thing but how in the world do you expect us all to fit? In case you haven't noticed there are three of us here."

"Don't worry," he answers her as he approaches the bike, "I've already called Ordo, and he's bringing out the car, my car." Relief rushes over the scientist when she hears this. "Besides we can too all fit on this thing." He starts feeling around on part of the bike as if he is looking for something, "Why can I never find this damn switch unless I'm riding it," he says out loud to himself as he is now fully engaged in trying to find something on the bike. Frustrated by this defeat he climbs onto the bike and sits as though he's about to ride off, "Ha! Found it!" He calls out as the scientist hears a small click, then suddenly the large fairings on the side of the bike spring open and the scientist let a little yelp of surprise escape her. KrystalBlaze hears her shock and chuckles a little to herself. Carefully hidden under the panels the scientist notices a variety of weapons. He sees her staring and calls out, "never know what you need or when you'll need it," as he slides his rifle into an empty slot and the panels spring shut.

The trio waited for their ride in a peaceful silence and Dr. Moore took this time to examine ShadowFox's armor. It was very complex, a true work of mechanical mastery. The armor covered his entire body and the plates even overlapped in sections connecting to each other using various joints and hinges, depending on their location, creating a solid line of protection. Yet somehow even with all of the armor plating he didn't appear that much bigger than she assumed he was without the armor on. The plates themselves must fit very close to his body and that would also explain his ease of movement. The plates didn't appear to be that thick either she could only assume that they were comprised of some kind of titanium alloy keeping them rather strong and surprisingly light considering.

Suddenly the silence was broken when ShadowFox starts talking to Dr. Moore. "So doctor what did those humans want with you anyway?" ShadowFox asks her. "It's not every day that one finds a human only company holding an anthromorph without a ransom or other motives."

"I don't think they wanted anything specific, some of them were rather kind. I think, that like you, they were employed by someone else and told to keep me there." She answers with a surprisingly soft tone. She looks again at their eyes and becomes entranced by their beauty, "did you dye them too," she asks innocently and when they give her a puzzled look she continues, "Your eyes. They look so… …vibrant." ShadowFox seeming to ignore the question just puts his helmet back on and connects two cords from the neck of his suit to it.

KrystalBlaze is the first to answer her, "well mine's simple, I have naturally blue eyes and my contacts just make them brighter."

ShadowFox just remains silent and appears to be deep in thought. Thinking that maybe she created a sore spot from her comment earlier, "I apologize for my comment earlier about your fur that was not my place to be critical." And she looked at him waiting for some type of response and felt rather discouraged when he still had yet to move. KrystalBlaze placed her hand on Dr. Moore, "its ok. He's not upset; he's just talking to someone over the radio. If not Ordo then the person that hired him to come get you." At that moment his head bobbed a little and he waved his hand around obviously engaged deep in conversation at this point, "he completely sound-proofed his helmet and probably muted his external microphone"

Just then ShadowFox turns towards them and calls out "hey, he's here" at that moment a midnight black Corvette, or at least she thinks it is a Corvette it seems a little larger than a normal one, with heavily tinted windows pulled up and stopped right in front of him.

"What no red?" the collie jokingly asks KrystalBlaze looking at the car. The two walked up to it, "oh, never mind" she states as she sees the curved red spikes that run down the car's hood and continue over the trunk. KrystalBlaze just laughs. ShadowFox walks around to the driver side as the door opens and the driver gets out. The scientist is shocked when she sees a human get out, or what she believes is a human, it has armor that is similar to ShadowFox's just different colors and a few other minor things, but its appearance and structure is defiantly human. The two made body gestures as if talking but the scientist couldn't hear anything. She looked at KrystalBlaze who just tapped the side of her head indicating their helmets. Just then they high-fived as ShadowFox gave him the keys to the motorcycle, this still fascinated Dr. Moore because usually humans and anthromorphs didn't work together, in fact there were quite a few that couldn't stand the other.

She climbed into the car and was overwhelmed by the advancements made to the vehicle. She had to enter from the passenger side because that is where the only other seat was; the rest of the back area was walled off. It was almost as if she was put in a box, there was a solid wall going from the floor to the roof and ran behind her, up along her left side then behind the driver's seat to the other side. And the front console was covered with technological advancements; it could have easily rivaled that of a military fighter cockpit.

This ShadowFox must have put a lot of work into customizing it. It appeared to be made out of an armored shell for protection and with all of the extra weight the engine must have been custom as well. And that was just what she could notice she was sure that there was so much more to the vehicle.

As the other two climbed into the car ShadowFox says to the scientist, "please be kind enough to put your seatbelt on cause the last guy didn't and when I ejected his seat it took me forever to clean up the mess." Terror shoots across the scientist's face.

"Stop trying to scare her" KrystalBlaze says as she hits him and turns around in her seat to look at Dr. Moore, "don't worry it's not an ejector seat, that I know of, and besides he's not mean enough to do it anyway. No matter how hard he tries to act like it."

"Excuse me but how will you see if you're being followed without a back window" Dr. Moore asks in a worried voice thinking that she may have been safer on the motorcycle.

"All book smarts and no common sense," he states, "with mirrors and side windows." He points to the side view mirrors, "How do you drive doctor?" Dr. Moore remained silent in her defeat.

ShadowFox takes some wires and plugs them into the base of the back of his helmet and the car came to life with lights and readings; the sight completely amazed Dr. Moore. The windshield displayed everything, "that's an amazing HUD. I've never seen anything like it," she started.

"Excuse me?" ShadowFox cut her off.

The doctor continues, "The HUD, heads-up-display. It has everything, radar, heading, speed, fuel, proximity readings, elevation, and," she pauses and takes a closer look at the bottom corner, "…armament? This thing is armed!?"

He laughs, "I know doctor I designed it." He shifts the car into gear, and drives off.

They drive in silence, cruising for a couple hours until ShadowFox speaks, "I don't like those Jeeps that are following us."

"Why?" KrystalBlaze asks as she looks in the mirror to get a view of two identical SUVs behind the car.

Sarcastically he responds, "Well the color sucks but all joking aside they're too far back. They have been behind us for eighty-seven miles now."

Just then a bullet ricochets off of the rear of the car.

"Damn it! That'll take hours to buff out!" ShadowFox shouts out in anger, "pushy little bastards, aren't they?"

"Can't we just outrun them we are in a much faster vehicle I can see the speedometer maxes out at 190 miles per hour." Dr. Moore points out.

"That's only where the numbers stop doctor, but I don't run." he answers her.

"It's kind of a pride thing," KrystalBlaze adds to her.

KrystalBlaze reaches back to Dr. Moore to hand her a set of earplugs, "oh, I don't need those. I've been around gunfire before." She tells KrystalBlaze pushing away the plugs.

"They're not for the gunfire." KrystalBlaze assures her.

As she finishes her sentence ShadowFox turns on the stereo and kicks the car into high gear. At that moment Dr. Moore realized that much of the front panel was for the audio settings because everything else was already on the windshield and possibly controlled by ShadowFox's suit itself. She quickly took the plugs offered to her and not a moment too soon. As she finished putting them in her ears he cranked up the volume and began slightly head banging to the beat. Now completely in "the zone" he starts driving very aggressively, some would consider it borderline a death wish. Out of nowhere he started singing along with the song:
"Another mission, the powers have called me away.
"Another time, to carry the colors again.
"My Motivation, an oath I've sworn to defend.
"To win the honor, of coming back home again."

"Is he serious?!?" Dr. Moore asked herself, "Is he trying to kill us? What does he think this is, a game?"

"Krystal be dear and see if you can hit one of them, please?" he asks calmly, as if on a normal Sunday drive, while shifting gears to farther accelerate the vehicle.

She pulled out her pistols and lowered her window. Carefully she turned around in her seat and started climbing out the open window. She sat up on the base of the window to better stable herself; she unloaded a full magazine from each one before climbing back into the car. "I couldn't get a clear shot off."

At that moment the car hit a pothole and KrystalBlaze smacked her head off of the dashboard dazing her momentarily.

"That's ok I got it." He says to her as he hits some buttons on the dash and his gauntlet then suddenly part of the HUD changed. The bottom corner now displayed a rear view image with a targeting reticule in it. He pressed a few more buttons without looking at them and there was a buzzing radar lock signal. The other view on the HUD disappeared and the car shook a little, a few seconds later the scientist thought she heard an explosion.

"Try that one on for size, that's going to need a little more than a buff." He said in a triumphant tone. Then he continued to sing the chorus,
"I'm indestructible.
"Determination, that is incorruptible.
"From the other side, a terror to behold.
"Annihilation will be unavoidable.
"Every broken enemy will know that their enemy had to be invincible…"

Still driving like a creature possessed he looks over at KrystalBlaze to see if she's ok. She starts regaining full alertness as a proximity alarm goes off and the car gets rammed from behind.

"Huh, I forgot about them." He says almost uncaring.

As KrystalBlaze picked her pistols up off of the floor, "I can take another shot at them." More bullets start to bounce off of the car.

"No, I got them this time. I don't need you getting shot." He tells her as he presses another button. Suddenly the cables detach from his helmet, the music dies, and a hole opens in the wall behind him as an assault rifle sticks out for him to grab. All he says is "grab the wheel will you" and before KrystalBlaze has any time to argue he locks the wheel and speed while lowering his window. Bullets are still hitting the car and one zings off of his helmet as he starts to climb out almost knocking him out of the speeding car. KrystalBlaze knows he killed his radio connection with the car to yell in pain and frustration.

"You ok?" she asks him as she starts getting into the driver's seat.

"Yeah I'll be alright. I'm just gonna feel that one later." He grunts in response getting the rest of the way out of the car. Just then Dr. Moore realized that his voice has been coming through the stereo the whole time.

He climbs the rest of the way out and kneels on the back of the car. He starts returning fire that causes the other vehicle to swerve across the lanes and almost sideswipe a tractor-trailer. He adjusts to reload causing himself to be a little off balance. Their precursors notice this and try to take advantage of this speeding up to ram them again. KrystalBlaze noticing their advance also speeds up to cancel out their chance. However she fails to see a pothole in the road in front of the car. Right as ShadowFox is ready to start shooting at the approaching Jeep, the Corvette slams into the pothole. He gets dislodged and catapulted off of the car. He smashes into the windshield of the Jeep completely winding him. His grunts and groans can be heard over the radio as he rolls over the top of it just barely catching a hand hold on one of the roof rails before going off of the back end of this car as well. He continues to groan in pain as he holds onto the roof rack clutching his side with his other hand.

"Oh my god!" Dr. Moore cries out. "Is he ok?"

"I-I don't know," replies a shocked KrystalBlaze emotionally torn apart because of her carelessness.

Just then a grunt came over the radio, "I rather liked that gun."

"Thank god you're still alive" Dr. Moore sighed.

Relief washed over KrystalBlaze, "ok, so now what?"

Another grunt came over the radio "Don't know. I'm kind of making it up as I go along. If you come up with anything please, let me know."

At that moment the person sitting in the passenger seat started to climb out of the window to 'remove' him from their car.

"Bad move man" ShadowFox called to him as he swung down the side of the SUV with his boots connecting with the man's chest, bending him backwards around the door's frame severing his spinal cord. ShadowFox scrambled to get back atop the vehicle. The driver, now enraged, starts firing into the roof in hopes of hitting ShadowFox. He gets so engaged in trying to kill the "animal" atop his car that he neglected to watch the road. ShadowFox looks up the road ahead of him and notices a disabled tanker, that road crews haven't been able to get clear of the road yet, directly in the Jeep's path. He gets up into a kneeling position facing the back of the vehicle.

KrystalBlaze shouts over the radio, "Don't even think about it!" seeing what lies ahead of him and knowing what he was going to do.

"Never do" he answers her and dives off of the speeding Jeep. He hits the pavement hard and loses consciousness as he slides and rolls down the highway. Several cars nearly hit him and had to swerve frantically to avoid doing so. The driver of the jeep notices the tanker in time to change his direction and avoid hitting it. He spun his vehicle around into oncoming traffic with his sights set on the helpless and injured fox in the middle of the road. He forced the accelerator as far as it could go speeding toward the defenseless mercenary. KrystalBlaze and Dr. Moore could only stare in horror from the side of the road, unable to do anything but watch and wait for the tragic outcome.

Just as the vehicle is about to pummel the fox there is a flash of a motorcycle that cuts in front of the Jeep scooping up the unconscious fox, just barely missing the Jeep and a few other cars as it tries to regain its balance.

Ordo then places his comrade in the grass off the side of the road, where the two females rush to the fox's aid. Ordo turns the bike to face the Jeep he just played chicken with and revs the bike to prepare to play another round. He takes something from his belt as he accelerates toward the Jeep again and tosses it in through the open window as he narrowly skims alongside it again. He just laughs a little as he presses a button on his gauntlet and the Jeep erupted into flames and shrapnel.

He went back to where he placed the fox. KrystalBlaze and Dr. Moore were already tending to him, or at least trying to because they were unable to get any of his armor off. He was slipping in and out of consciousness as Ordo dismounted and approached him.

"It's a good thing you had this suit on, it defiantly saved your life." Dr. Moore told him as he lies in the grass dazed, confused, and in immense pain.

"That's what I designed it for doctor." he forced out and groaned as he tried to sit up and failed falling back to the dirt. He stuck his hand into the air and Ordo grabbed it with a brotherly grip, "Thanks pal now I owe you one."

"No that's just one less that I owe you" Ordo corrected him.

The two females helped him up and Ordo assisted him to the car where he climbs into the back seat and passes out.

The other three remain standing in the grass outside of the car discussing what to do next.

"Well that puts a damper on things." Ordo tells KrystalBlaze as he backs out of the door. "He's the only one that knows enough to cash in on the objective."

"That's how they see me? As an object, a target, a thing." Felecia thinks to herself disappointedly.

"I think we should continue this conversation on the move," KrystalBlaze says as she points out Ordo's handiwork, "I don't feel like explaining this to the authorities."

Ordo agrees and drives off on the motorcycle.

Felecia climbs into the passenger seat in silence and doesn't even look at KrystalBlaze. "Is everything alright doctor?" KrystalBlaze sincerely asks her after driving a while without a word being said between the two.

"Yeah, why wouldn't it be," she answers very sarcastically.

"Well you've been through a lot and I'm sure that you have even more questions that you want to ask." KrystalBlaze responds in a very calm tone. "I know I di-would."

Still under the impression that she is nothing more than another paycheck to them Dr. Moore finds it hard not to be sore, "Are you sure that you should be talking to the objective?" her irritation was very evident in her voice.

KrystalBlaze sighs seeing that they may have given her the wrong impression but then again what other impression could a group of mercenaries give to their target. "I think I can take the risk doctor." She pauses thinking about how Dr. Moore must feel right now. "I'm sorry if we seem insensitive."

"Isn't that how individuals who kill for a living are supposed to be?" Dr. Moore asks her.

"Well just because we kill for a living doesn't automatically mean we have to be heartless." She glances at the unconscious fox in the back seat. "We try not to kill someone if we don't have to." She suddenly chuckles a little, "ShadowFox says it's to save money on ammunition but I don't think that's the only reason."

KrystalBlaze pulls up to a medical clinic and asks Felecia for some assistance getting ShadowFox inside. The two struggle a little with the dead weight of the unconscious fox and his gear. "This was a lot easier with Ordo's help," KrystalBlaze groaned as she fought to keep ShadowFox up and get up under his arm. Dr. Moore was also having a little difficulty trying to do the same on his other side but together they were able to carry him.

"Aren't you worried about someone asking questions about his injuries, armor, or anything else?" Dr. Moore asks her as they approach the door.

KrystalBlaze smiles at her, "you'll find that others tend to turn a blind eye to a lot of things if they are too busy counting money."

Felecia waits in the lobby while KrystalBlaze talks with a doctor in an 'empty' room. Then KrystalBlaze walks back into the lobby without ShadowFox and approaches Dr. Moore, "He said it'll take a few hours for him to run the proper tests and patch up ShadowFox. So would you like a quick bite to eat while we wait?"

Dr. Moore is taken aback by KrystalBlaze's behavior. "Excuse me?"

They start walking back to the corvette, "Drive-through sounds good to me. What do you think doctor? Any preferences?"

Still confused she doesn't answer.

KrystalBlaze looks her in the eyes, "Just because it's our job doesn't mean it's our life. Outside of work we're just as normal as anyone else." she stops to think for a second, "…ok so maybe we're not exactly normal but you get my point don't you?"

Dr. Moore never thought about it like that before, "I guess I figured you were like the mercenaries from the movies and stories, all cold and heartless."

"That's ok. It sure beats hiring someone to do Public Relations for us." KrystalBlaze jokingly answers. "So how about that drive-through because, I don't know about you but I'm starving."

Dr. Moore's natural scientific curiosity started to kick in and she found herself wanting to find out more about these mercenaries since she found out that they were just like anyone else, well aside from their profession. Besides this KrystalBlaze character seemed kind enough, friendly even. "Now that you mention it I'm kind of hungry as well."

With that both females climbed into the vehicle and drove off in simple conversation.

Description
Chapter 1

Her senses were heightened to their limits with adrenaline and fear. Now escaping her pursers was not a problem any other day and would have been no different today, except today was unique. Today they weren't just trying to kill her. No, quite the opposite, they were trying to capture her alive. And she knew this. And the only thing keeping her ahead of them was her keen senses. She moved so swiftly through the moonlit forest it was almost as if she was dancing. She could hear them stumbling through the trees behind her as well as an occasional profanity from one of them tripping on a root or hitting a low hanging branch.

Finally they reached the extraction zone where she would have to wait. It was a well hidden little clearing surrounded by brush. "What the hell do they want with you?!?" she asked as she grabbed her objective and spun her around so they could face each other.

They were trying to catch her because this time her mission was to 'rescue' this canine scientist from their holding camp. The 'target' was an attractive young collie that specializes in biomechanical physics. The collie was thin and slightly taller than she was, her brown hair was cut at her shoulders and she had emerald green eyes. The collie was wearing a long white lab coat, high stiletto heels, which probably weren't the best footwear for a run through the woods, and glasses she wore toward the end of her muzzle. The scientist just looked at her and didn't answer, she couldn't, and the words got stuck in her throat each time she tried to speak. All the assailant could see in the scientist's eyes was pure terror and panic, for she didn't yet know who she was safer with, her captors or this new assailant. They just sat there in their little hiding spot staring at each other.

In front of the scientist sat a beautiful vixen, she had a typical red-fox fur pattern however all of the black fur was replaced with snow white fur and what should have been reddish fur was instead a brilliant cerulean blue. She had sapphire eyes that one could easily loose themselves in, and long flowing cobalt blue hair that was pulled up into a ponytail that ended at around her mid-back. She wore a rather revealing outfit that confused the scientist at first until it hit her that it was probably how the assailant got to her without much controversy.

Just as she started thinking about the vixen's coloring the scientist's concentration was suddenly broken when she started to speak, "Damn it! Where the hell are you? Could you, for once in your life, be early?" she asked herself in a hushed tone, as she looked down at her watch, worrying that she may have taken on more than she could handle alone.

"Excuse me, but where is whom?" the scientist decided to ask.

Suddenly the vixen froze and her ears twitched, "Shhhh. Get back behind me and stay quiet." she told the collie as her grip tightened on a weapon that the collie was sure belonged to one of her captors at some point. "Here, take this" and she pulled out a matte black pistol and handed it to the collie.

"Why?" she asked looking at the weapon and then at the vixen "Is there something wrong? I don't hear anything." She said rather confused about the situation and trying to figure out where the vixen just pulled that pistol from.

"That's exactly it." The assailant pointed out, slightly irritated.

Sensing the vixen's frustration, she complied and started to move around behind her. She was almost around the vixen when a hand reached out and grabbed her, knocking loose the pistol. "Gotch ya," her captor called out. Right as the captor reached out of the shadows the vixen turned to face him, but was caught off guard when in the midst of the confusion another got up behind her, it was a trap. She let out a shriek of pain as he seized hold of her, sending her weapon skittering across the ground, and there was a third that gathered the scattered firearms. They both struggled to get free but it was no use.

"Well, well. Aren't you easy on the eyes?" croaked the captor holding the vixen. He took his free hand and started trying to relieve her of some of her clothing.

"Maybe we could have a little fun with her before handing her to the boss," chuckled the one holding the collie, as he eyed up the vixen. The third one just stood there watching in silence and looking over the weapon that the vixen had been holding and sniffed the pistol with a confused reaction.

"I'd rethink that if I were you," came a voice from behind the vixen as her captor's body went limp, releasing her. She fell to her knees gasping for air and holding her shoulder. Before the second captor could react the back half of his skull erupted with bone fragments and brain matter, as the collie he was holding whimpered and fainted while the third captor lowered the rifle he just was aiming in that direction. "Hey, which one do you think dropped faster, him or her?" he called out to the voice indicating to the collie and her captor. He walked over to help her up as she regained consciousness. Fearing the worst she started to panic and struggle, quickly crawling backwards until she bumped into the body of her deceased captor where she just curled up and started crying.

"It's ok, we're here to help you," said the voice as he stepped into the moonlight. The collie just stared at him as he bent down and removed a knife from the side of his victim's neck. He wiped the blood from the blade as he leaned over and knelt next to the vixen, "Are you ok?" he asked her with a concerned tone as he removed his helmet.

The collie couldn't help but stare at him curiously; he was like nothing she had ever seen before. Much like the vixen he was also a fox-breed anthromorph. However he seemed taller and broader than any other fox that she had seen before. The collie just figured it was because of his very distinctive armor suit. His armor he resembled that of a type of modern-day knight-of-old, it was plated and covered his entire body and there seemed to be a panel on his left gauntlet with a variety of small buttons and switches on it, she wondered how heavy the whole suit must be. It had a dull black base color and a dull, almost, blood red color for the accents. But that wasn't what caught her attention. No, it was his personal markings and appearance; it was almost as if he had a presence about him. The fox also had a red-fox pattern however his was much more unique. He had jet-black fur primarily. The bottom half of his muzzle as well as a stripe that ran down the front of his neck to the rest of his undercoat was a gleaming brilliant white. The tips of his ears and the iris of his eyes were a luminous crimson red. His eyes were bright and looked as though they carried a lot of emotion. And his tail protruded from his armor, it was full and luscious with similar colors to his armor. It was black and it was red at the tip. His gear prevented her from seeing the rest of him.

She turned to see the other who still had his hand out to help her up. Just then she realized that he wasn't a human and wondered how she didn't notice that before. Now he wasn't as "suited-up" as the other. He just had on standard combat gear and that's how he was able to blend in so well with the captors and he still had his facemask on and his tail must have been tucked under his uniform. All she could see of him were his dark blue eyes with snow-white fur around them. He had a broader build and wider muzzle so she doesn't think he's the same as the other two, maybe a wolf-breed. She decided that it was safe to trust them; they either didn't want her dead or just couldn't aim.

"Sure now you could come up with a joke. The absolute last place you 'want' to say one." She thinks to herself.

The other one was tending to the vixen that was still kneeling on the ground whimpering softly, favoring her shoulder.

"Dude it's got to be broken. Did you hear her cry? Damn! What decibel was that?" the wolf commented. Neither one of them looked at him it was like he didn't even say anything.

The black furred fox whispered to the vixen, "I'm sorry," as he grabbed her arm and thrust it into her shoulder. There was a loud crack accompanied by an ear splitting cry that chilled the collie to the bone and even made her 'rescuer' cringe.

He called out, "Wow Shadow I didn't think you could move that fast" almost instantly after jamming her shoulder the fox had embraced her to stabilize her, "I think you broke the sound barrier on that one."

The collie mustered up what courage she could and spoke up, "Excuse me. Um, S-Shadow is it? Do you mind if I take a look I am a doctor? It may need medical attention…" she stopped her sentence out of fear that she had gone too far.

Shadow looks down at the vixen as if waiting for an answer, "its ok Fox," she answers his unasked question. He stands up and looks at the collie as he takes a step back.

"Allow me to introduce myself," he says to her as she approaches the duo, "I am ShadowFox," he continues with a polite bow and sight nod, "and this is…" he indicates to the vixen on the ground as she finishes his introduction, "KrystalBlaze." She raises her good hand to shake that of the collie's.

"Dr. Felecia A. Moore, pleased to meet you both." She responded while inspecting KrystalBlaze's shoulder.

"If you don't mind my asking if you're a mechanical scientist, how much could you truly know about medical science?" the wolf asked her rather bluntly.

"And may I ask why hired hands have to die their fur!?!" she snapped back, her stress levels finally catching up with all that just happened to her. The three were taken aback by her sudden reaction, "I mean come on, what do you expect to accomplish like that? Sure as heck isn't hiding or avoiding being noticed! Ya that's funny, no one will notice a blue vixen, or a black and red fox, and I don't even want to know what you are or what crazy colors you've got on you!" most of her outburst was aimed at the third member of the group. She just stood there staring him down. ShadowFox gave KrystalBlaze a hand getting up and the two of them commenced in their own side conversation.

He indicates to Dr. Moore, "note to self, don't insult intelligence," he says with a chuckle.

"It took you long enough to show up"

"Ok then, next time I'll just let them rape you first" he shot back in a slightly irritated tone.

KrystalBlaze gives him and irritated look and chances the subject, "So Fox, who's your friend?"

"A freelance. I called in a favor from way back."

"And he wants part of the hit doesn't he? How much?"

"He only wants a fraction."

"How much!?!"

"1.5K, like I said not much"

"What are you talking about the whole job is only worth 3K!" she yells slightly louder than she meant to because she now had the complete attention of their other companions. "How do you expect us to cover all of our expenses if you keep doing things like this? Military funding only goes so far you know there is going to be a point when they stop hiring us for those 'iffy' jobs."

"You know we're not supposed to discuss this type of stuff in front of the objective. And that's what you get for reading over my shoulder. If you really must know it was 3K for the body and 12K if we got it alive! That's why I stressed we try not to get this one shot and why I passed over that other mark that you got so pissy about!" he snapped back with a little bit of a growl in his voice. Then returning to normal as if nothing happened he turns to the gaping onlookers, "now doctor if you would please, our transportation is over this way and we must be going before any more guards make their way over here." He indicates to the other mercenary, "thanks for the help. I'll transfer the money over as soon as we get paid."

He quickly dismisses himself and right before he disappears into the darkness turns around and runs over to KrystalBlaze holding out her sidearm, "I think this is yours," he sniffs it again, "ya its yours, and nice hiding place by the way." And with that he vanishes.

KrystalBlaze looks at the firearm in her hand and then turns to look at ShadowFox "Fox sometimes I really wonder where you find the characters you work with. And would you please remind me to wash this when we get back." She tells him with a disgusted look on her face.

"Will do" he replies holding back his laughter.

After walking for fifteen minutes of complete silence the trio comes upon a clearing with a large industrial looking motorcycle parked along a small road. Dr. Moore couldn't identify the motorcycle's make or model, even though she will admit at not being up to date with vehicles, but she did know that this one was custom made. She defiantly knew that it belonged to ShadowFox by its paint scheme, black and red. It was rather long, length and a half of a normal motorcycle she guessed, and the tires were larger as well she noticed. Something she found very strange was that there were actually four tires, two in both the front and another two in the back. They were placed up against each other so at first she only thought there was only one at each end. There was high gloss black plating that covered most of the bike and what she could see of its engine looked very complex and was painted red. She couldn't even imagine the power that it could probably produce and the speed it could max out at, and she didn't want to find out. She had already experienced way more excitement than her body wanted to handle and it was threatening to stop working if she gave it any more.

"The bike, really?" KrystalBlaze asked him as he approached it, "I know you love that thing but how in the world do you expect us all to fit? In case you haven't noticed there are three of us here."

"Don't worry," he answers her as he approaches the bike, "I've already called Ordo, and he's bringing out the car, my car." Relief rushes over the scientist when she hears this. "Besides we can too all fit on this thing." He starts feeling around on part of the bike as if he is looking for something, "Why can I never find this damn switch unless I'm riding it," he says out loud to himself as he is now fully engaged in trying to find something on the bike. Frustrated by this defeat he climbs onto the bike and sits as though he's about to ride off, "Ha! Found it!" He calls out as the scientist hears a small click, then suddenly the large fairings on the side of the bike spring open and the scientist let a little yelp of surprise escape her. KrystalBlaze hears her shock and chuckles a little to herself. Carefully hidden under the panels the scientist notices a variety of weapons. He sees her staring and calls out, "never know what you need or when you'll need it," as he slides his rifle into an empty slot and the panels spring shut.

The trio waited for their ride in a peaceful silence and Dr. Moore took this time to examine ShadowFox's armor. It was very complex, a true work of mechanical mastery. The armor covered his entire body and the plates even overlapped in sections connecting to each other using various joints and hinges, depending on their location, creating a solid line of protection. Yet somehow even with all of the armor plating he didn't appear that much bigger than she assumed he was without the armor on. The plates themselves must fit very close to his body and that would also explain his ease of movement. The plates didn't appear to be that thick either she could only assume that they were comprised of some kind of titanium alloy keeping them rather strong and surprisingly light considering.

Suddenly the silence was broken when ShadowFox starts talking to Dr. Moore. "So doctor what did those humans want with you anyway?" ShadowFox asks her. "It's not every day that one finds a human only company holding an anthromorph without a ransom or other motives."

"I don't think they wanted anything specific, some of them were rather kind. I think, that like you, they were employed by someone else and told to keep me there." She answers with a surprisingly soft tone. She looks again at their eyes and becomes entranced by their beauty, "did you dye them too," she asks innocently and when they give her a puzzled look she continues, "Your eyes. They look so… …vibrant." ShadowFox seeming to ignore the question just puts his helmet back on and connects two cords from the neck of his suit to it.

KrystalBlaze is the first to answer her, "well mine's simple, I have naturally blue eyes and my contacts just make them brighter."

ShadowFox just remains silent and appears to be deep in thought. Thinking that maybe she created a sore spot from her comment earlier, "I apologize for my comment earlier about your fur that was not my place to be critical." And she looked at him waiting for some type of response and felt rather discouraged when he still had yet to move. KrystalBlaze placed her hand on Dr. Moore, "its ok. He's not upset; he's just talking to someone over the radio. If not Ordo then the person that hired him to come get you." At that moment his head bobbed a little and he waved his hand around obviously engaged deep in conversation at this point, "he completely sound-proofed his helmet and probably muted his external microphone"

Just then ShadowFox turns towards them and calls out "hey, he's here" at that moment a midnight black Corvette, or at least she thinks it is a Corvette it seems a little larger than a normal one, with heavily tinted windows pulled up and stopped right in front of him.

"What no red?" the collie jokingly asks KrystalBlaze looking at the car. The two walked up to it, "oh, never mind" she states as she sees the curved red spikes that run down the car's hood and continue over the trunk. KrystalBlaze just laughs. ShadowFox walks around to the driver side as the door opens and the driver gets out. The scientist is shocked when she sees a human get out, or what she believes is a human, it has armor that is similar to ShadowFox's just different colors and a few other minor things, but its appearance and structure is defiantly human. The two made body gestures as if talking but the scientist couldn't hear anything. She looked at KrystalBlaze who just tapped the side of her head indicating their helmets. Just then they high-fived as ShadowFox gave him the keys to the motorcycle, this still fascinated Dr. Moore because usually humans and anthromorphs didn't work together, in fact there were quite a few that couldn't stand the other.

She climbed into the car and was overwhelmed by the advancements made to the vehicle. She had to enter from the passenger side because that is where the only other seat was; the rest of the back area was walled off. It was almost as if she was put in a box, there was a solid wall going from the floor to the roof and ran behind her, up along her left side then behind the driver's seat to the other side. And the front console was covered with technological advancements; it could have easily rivaled that of a military fighter cockpit.

This ShadowFox must have put a lot of work into customizing it. It appeared to be made out of an armored shell for protection and with all of the extra weight the engine must have been custom as well. And that was just what she could notice she was sure that there was so much more to the vehicle.

As the other two climbed into the car ShadowFox says to the scientist, "please be kind enough to put your seatbelt on cause the last guy didn't and when I ejected his seat it took me forever to clean up the mess." Terror shoots across the scientist's face.

"Stop trying to scare her" KrystalBlaze says as she hits him and turns around in her seat to look at Dr. Moore, "don't worry it's not an ejector seat, that I know of, and besides he's not mean enough to do it anyway. No matter how hard he tries to act like it."

"Excuse me but how will you see if you're being followed without a back window" Dr. Moore asks in a worried voice thinking that she may have been safer on the motorcycle.

"All book smarts and no common sense," he states, "with mirrors and side windows." He points to the side view mirrors, "How do you drive doctor?" Dr. Moore remained silent in her defeat.

ShadowFox takes some wires and plugs them into the base of the back of his helmet and the car came to life with lights and readings; the sight completely amazed Dr. Moore. The windshield displayed everything, "that's an amazing HUD. I've never seen anything like it," she started.

"Excuse me?" ShadowFox cut her off.

The doctor continues, "The HUD, heads-up-display. It has everything, radar, heading, speed, fuel, proximity readings, elevation, and," she pauses and takes a closer look at the bottom corner, "…armament? This thing is armed!?"

He laughs, "I know doctor I designed it." He shifts the car into gear, and drives off.

They drive in silence, cruising for a couple hours until ShadowFox speaks, "I don't like those Jeeps that are following us."

"Why?" KrystalBlaze asks as she looks in the mirror to get a view of two identical SUVs behind the car.

Sarcastically he responds, "Well the color sucks but all joking aside they're too far back. They have been behind us for eighty-seven miles now."

Just then a bullet ricochets off of the rear of the car.

"Damn it! That'll take hours to buff out!" ShadowFox shouts out in anger, "pushy little bastards, aren't they?"

"Can't we just outrun them we are in a much faster vehicle I can see the speedometer maxes out at 190 miles per hour." Dr. Moore points out.

"That's only where the numbers stop doctor, but I don't run." he answers her.

"It's kind of a pride thing," KrystalBlaze adds to her.

KrystalBlaze reaches back to Dr. Moore to hand her a set of earplugs, "oh, I don't need those. I've been around gunfire before." She tells KrystalBlaze pushing away the plugs.

"They're not for the gunfire." KrystalBlaze assures her.

As she finishes her sentence ShadowFox turns on the stereo and kicks the car into high gear. At that moment Dr. Moore realized that much of the front panel was for the audio settings because everything else was already on the windshield and possibly controlled by ShadowFox's suit itself. She quickly took the plugs offered to her and not a moment too soon. As she finished putting them in her ears he cranked up the volume and began slightly head banging to the beat. Now completely in "the zone" he starts driving very aggressively, some would consider it borderline a death wish. Out of nowhere he started singing along with the song:
"Another mission, the powers have called me away.
"Another time, to carry the colors again.
"My Motivation, an oath I've sworn to defend.
"To win the honor, of coming back home again."

"Is he serious?!?" Dr. Moore asked herself, "Is he trying to kill us? What does he think this is, a game?"

"Krystal be dear and see if you can hit one of them, please?" he asks calmly, as if on a normal Sunday drive, while shifting gears to farther accelerate the vehicle.

She pulled out her pistols and lowered her window. Carefully she turned around in her seat and started climbing out the open window. She sat up on the base of the window to better stable herself; she unloaded a full magazine from each one before climbing back into the car. "I couldn't get a clear shot off."

At that moment the car hit a pothole and KrystalBlaze smacked her head off of the dashboard dazing her momentarily.

"That's ok I got it." He says to her as he hits some buttons on the dash and his gauntlet then suddenly part of the HUD changed. The bottom corner now displayed a rear view image with a targeting reticule in it. He pressed a few more buttons without looking at them and there was a buzzing radar lock signal. The other view on the HUD disappeared and the car shook a little, a few seconds later the scientist thought she heard an explosion.

"Try that one on for size, that's going to need a little more than a buff." He said in a triumphant tone. Then he continued to sing the chorus,
"I'm indestructible.
"Determination, that is incorruptible.
"From the other side, a terror to behold.
"Annihilation will be unavoidable.
"Every broken enemy will know that their enemy had to be invincible…"

Still driving like a creature possessed he looks over at KrystalBlaze to see if she's ok. She starts regaining full alertness as a proximity alarm goes off and the car gets rammed from behind.

"Huh, I forgot about them." He says almost uncaring.

As KrystalBlaze picked her pistols up off of the floor, "I can take another shot at them." More bullets start to bounce off of the car.

"No, I got them this time. I don't need you getting shot." He tells her as he presses another button. Suddenly the cables detach from his helmet, the music dies, and a hole opens in the wall behind him as an assault rifle sticks out for him to grab. All he says is "grab the wheel will you" and before KrystalBlaze has any time to argue he locks the wheel and speed while lowering his window. Bullets are still hitting the car and one zings off of his helmet as he starts to climb out almost knocking him out of the speeding car. KrystalBlaze knows he killed his radio connection with the car to yell in pain and frustration.

"You ok?" she asks him as she starts getting into the driver's seat.

"Yeah I'll be alright. I'm just gonna feel that one later." He grunts in response getting the rest of the way out of the car. Just then Dr. Moore realized that his voice has been coming through the stereo the whole time.

He climbs the rest of the way out and kneels on the back of the car. He starts returning fire that causes the other vehicle to swerve across the lanes and almost sideswipe a tractor-trailer. He adjusts to reload causing himself to be a little off balance. Their precursors notice this and try to take advantage of this speeding up to ram them again. KrystalBlaze noticing their advance also speeds up to cancel out their chance. However she fails to see a pothole in the road in front of the car. Right as ShadowFox is ready to start shooting at the approaching Jeep, the Corvette slams into the pothole. He gets dislodged and catapulted off of the car. He smashes into the windshield of the Jeep completely winding him. His grunts and groans can be heard over the radio as he rolls over the top of it just barely catching a hand hold on one of the roof rails before going off of the back end of this car as well. He continues to groan in pain as he holds onto the roof rack clutching his side with his other hand.

"Oh my god!" Dr. Moore cries out. "Is he ok?"

"I-I don't know," replies a shocked KrystalBlaze emotionally torn apart because of her carelessness.

Just then a grunt came over the radio, "I rather liked that gun."

"Thank god you're still alive" Dr. Moore sighed.

Relief washed over KrystalBlaze, "ok, so now what?"

Another grunt came over the radio "Don't know. I'm kind of making it up as I go along. If you come up with anything please, let me know."

At that moment the person sitting in the passenger seat started to climb out of the window to 'remove' him from their car.

"Bad move man" ShadowFox called to him as he swung down the side of the SUV with his boots connecting with the man's chest, bending him backwards around the door's frame severing his spinal cord. ShadowFox scrambled to get back atop the vehicle. The driver, now enraged, starts firing into the roof in hopes of hitting ShadowFox. He gets so engaged in trying to kill the "animal" atop his car that he neglected to watch the road. ShadowFox looks up the road ahead of him and notices a disabled tanker, that road crews haven't been able to get clear of the road yet, directly in the Jeep's path. He gets up into a kneeling position facing the back of the vehicle.

KrystalBlaze shouts over the radio, "Don't even think about it!" seeing what lies ahead of him and knowing what he was going to do.

"Never do" he answers her and dives off of the speeding Jeep. He hits the pavement hard and loses consciousness as he slides and rolls down the highway. Several cars nearly hit him and had to swerve frantically to avoid doing so. The driver of the jeep notices the tanker in time to change his direction and avoid hitting it. He spun his vehicle around into oncoming traffic with his sights set on the helpless and injured fox in the middle of the road. He forced the accelerator as far as it could go speeding toward the defenseless mercenary. KrystalBlaze and Dr. Moore could only stare in horror from the side of the road, unable to do anything but watch and wait for the tragic outcome.

Just as the vehicle is about to pummel the fox there is a flash of a motorcycle that cuts in front of the Jeep scooping up the unconscious fox, just barely missing the Jeep and a few other cars as it tries to regain its balance.

Ordo then places his comrade in the grass off the side of the road, where the two females rush to the fox's aid. Ordo turns the bike to face the Jeep he just played chicken with and revs the bike to prepare to play another round. He takes something from his belt as he accelerates toward the Jeep again and tosses it in through the open window as he narrowly skims alongside it again. He just laughs a little as he presses a button on his gauntlet and the Jeep erupted into flames and shrapnel.

He went back to where he placed the fox. KrystalBlaze and Dr. Moore were already tending to him, or at least trying to because they were unable to get any of his armor off. He was slipping in and out of consciousness as Ordo dismounted and approached him.

"It's a good thing you had this suit on, it defiantly saved your life." Dr. Moore told him as he lies in the grass dazed, confused, and in immense pain.

"That's what I designed it for doctor." he forced out and groaned as he tried to sit up and failed falling back to the dirt. He stuck his hand into the air and Ordo grabbed it with a brotherly grip, "Thanks pal now I owe you one."

"No that's just one less that I owe you" Ordo corrected him.

The two females helped him up and Ordo assisted him to the car where he climbs into the back seat and passes out.

The other three remain standing in the grass outside of the car discussing what to do next.

"Well that puts a damper on things." Ordo tells KrystalBlaze as he backs out of the door. "He's the only one that knows enough to cash in on the objective."

"That's how they see me? As an object, a target, a thing." Felecia thinks to herself disappointedly.

"I think we should continue this conversation on the move," KrystalBlaze says as she points out Ordo's handiwork, "I don't feel like explaining this to the authorities."

Ordo agrees and drives off on the motorcycle.

Felecia climbs into the passenger seat in silence and doesn't even look at KrystalBlaze. "Is everything alright doctor?" KrystalBlaze sincerely asks her after driving a while without a word being said between the two.

"Yeah, why wouldn't it be," she answers very sarcastically.

"Well you've been through a lot and I'm sure that you have even more questions that you want to ask." KrystalBlaze responds in a very calm tone. "I know I di-would."

Still under the impression that she is nothing more than another paycheck to them Dr. Moore finds it hard not to be sore, "Are you sure that you should be talking to the objective?" her irritation was very evident in her voice.

KrystalBlaze sighs seeing that they may have given her the wrong impression but then again what other impression could a group of mercenaries give to their target. "I think I can take the risk doctor." She pauses thinking about how Dr. Moore must feel right now. "I'm sorry if we seem insensitive."

"Isn't that how individuals who kill for a living are supposed to be?" Dr. Moore asks her.

"Well just because we kill for a living doesn't automatically mean we have to be heartless." She glances at the unconscious fox in the back seat. "We try not to kill someone if we don't have to." She suddenly chuckles a little, "ShadowFox says it's to save money on ammunition but I don't think that's the only reason."

KrystalBlaze pulls up to a medical clinic and asks Felecia for some assistance getting ShadowFox inside. The two struggle a little with the dead weight of the unconscious fox and his gear. "This was a lot easier with Ordo's help," KrystalBlaze groaned as she fought to keep ShadowFox up and get up under his arm. Dr. Moore was also having a little difficulty trying to do the same on his other side but together they were able to carry him.

"Aren't you worried about someone asking questions about his injuries, armor, or anything else?" Dr. Moore asks her as they approach the door.

KrystalBlaze smiles at her, "you'll find that others tend to turn a blind eye to a lot of things if they are too busy counting money."

Felecia waits in the lobby while KrystalBlaze talks with a doctor in an 'empty' room. Then KrystalBlaze walks back into the lobby without ShadowFox and approaches Dr. Moore, "He said it'll take a few hours for him to run the proper tests and patch up ShadowFox. So would you like a quick bite to eat while we wait?"

Dr. Moore is taken aback by KrystalBlaze's behavior. "Excuse me?"

They start walking back to the corvette, "Drive-through sounds good to me. What do you think doctor? Any preferences?"

Still confused she doesn't answer.

KrystalBlaze looks her in the eyes, "Just because it's our job doesn't mean it's our life. Outside of work we're just as normal as anyone else." she stops to think for a second, "…ok so maybe we're not exactly normal but you get my point don't you?"

Dr. Moore never thought about it like that before, "I guess I figured you were like the mercenaries from the movies and stories, all cold and heartless."

"That's ok. It sure beats hiring someone to do Public Relations for us." KrystalBlaze jokingly answers. "So how about that drive-through because, I don't know about you but I'm starving."

Dr. Moore's natural scientific curiosity started to kick in and she found herself wanting to find out more about these mercenaries since she found out that they were just like anyone else, well aside from their profession. Besides this KrystalBlaze character seemed kind enough, friendly even. "Now that you mention it I'm kind of hungry as well."

With that both females climbed into the vehicle and drove off in simple conversation.