Katheeri

[Naza Sutera]

That was a fucking Katheeri, Amelia thought as she ran, barefoot--boots in one hand, phone recording in the other. She should have known what she was seeing when she saw it. A Katheeri! She had to follow him, and get the evidence.

She ran out of the park and into the busy street. A car's horn reverberated in her ears, and the blinding sounds of tires screeching made her life flash before her eyes. She could have sworn that she just peed herself a little. Opening he eyes, she saw that she was standing before a taxi, the driver wide-eyed with a white-knuckle grip on the steering wheel.

Getting out of the vehicle, he berated her. "Bitch, are you out of your fucking mind??! I almost hit you.

"I--I--...Uh..." She stood there breathless for a second before running around to the rear door of the taxi. "I need a ride!"

He looked at her, mumbling something about crazy bitches, but nonetheless he got back into his car. "Where you headed?"

"Down Yarborough Avenue. GO!"

[Sylono]

Compiling a list both mental and digital, the vixen made a check for what mercenary groups would, by their renown or success rates, would likely end up being hired. It made her snort in amusement just how many bootleg Star Fox groups were trying to ride the coat tails of the famous mercenary team. Solar Dogs, Celestail Lizard, Stellar Horse, Brown Dwarf Wolf, Pulsar monkey... Those were merely the ones that weren't simply adding star to whatever species their leader was.

This... would take a bit.

Faintly, she sensed fear, her first instinct was to dismiss it, the Cerinian didn't have the time or the patience to play vigilante for whatever trouble some poor sod had gotten themselves into. Though, curiously, Shepherd noted that she was nowhere near some shady alleyway nor was there any evidence of a crowd panic.

Curiosity got the better of her as she turned her attention toward the memorial park she'd now found herself driving past. By a glance, there was definitely a scene in place, she noted a figure in full sprint away from the crowd. As far as Shepherd could tell at this distance, was a canine, possibly, regardless she'd already written this off as gang related by how urgently the figure was trying to escape. Though as amusing as it would be to hang around and watch whatever would result from this, her focus was drawn back to her findings.

She'd have make an appointment with an information broker, that was a thought that made her grimace, the only way she'd be able to pay for the info she'd soon be seeking was by owing 'leash' a favor. Shepherd fixed her holo-com and debated making the call to her handler first or just make contact with a broker now and ask forgiveness to 'leash' when he inevitably sent an angry holo-call her way. With a sigh, she made a decision an reached for the Holo-com...-

-a flash of movement on the road made the vixen panic and slam the breaks.

Her stomach dropped.

A little to late, as evidenced by the audible thump that sounded and watching the person who she'd just hit crumple onto the road.

 

[Zaphyr Stone]

Zefran ran for all he was worth, heart pounding in his chest and legs on fire. He could see people running after him, and a haze of terror fell over him. Antoine was right. Without that disguise, he was immensely vulnerable, and he had been taking it for granted. Why did he have to be right? He wanted to be back home, to get him and Antoine as far away from people as possible. They would be okay if they had each other. He knew he could depend on him.

He glanced back to see a group following him at a healthy clip. His mind was in too much of a buzz to think rationally, and he picked up the pace. He had to lose them. Veering off suddenly, he vaulted over a trimmed hedge line and out into traffic. Cars and cabs screeched to a halt as he streaked in front of them. He was almost to the other side of the street when a massive force collided into his side. The hit knocked the wind out of him and slammed him against the hood. Everything went black as he rolled up the hood briefly and then fell into a heap on the ground in front of the car.

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

"Shit, shit, shit...!" muttered Pawel as he pedaled to the metal. The gears cranked up more and more, although he felt exceedingly uncomfortable on the child-sized bicycle. As he was a Sclav, however, it was more toddler-sized to him. Nevertheless, he made do with what he had.

"Holy shit!" he exclaimed as the Katheeri ran into traffic and was turned into roadkill. He too traversed into the middle of the street, and he too fell victim to the traffic, his rear tire being clipped by a sedan. He swerved out of control and fell onto the ground, sliding into a position beside the boy. "Dammit!" cursed Pawel. He inched to the boy's side. Noticing he was unconscious, he pulled himself up a bit. "Damn, kid, you're damaged pretty bad."

[Kurt]

Now dressed in his civilian clothes Sven oversaw the last bag of equipment being loaded onto the shuttle when a small blue two door car came screeching down the road, the wheels smoking as it came to a stop and the window rolled down. 

"Sven get in!" The female Doberman, Jess, leaned over and threw the door open. He was shocked but did as she said, barely managing to close the door before she the car in gear and floored the accelerator.

Grabbing the door and center console Sven held on for dear life "Holy fuck slow down!" The car screeched through a turn narrowly missing another vehicle "What's going on?!?"

She tossed him her phone with the video still pulled up after she shifted gears "Your targets down town, it's live feed." 

He lurched as she weaved in and out of traffic, flying past other drivers. "They're real?" He gazed in shock at the display 

"You know it."

[Tiger Carson]

Tiger was the first to see the hedge line that Zef vaulted over. "Shit!" He swore out, "DON'T DO IT KID!" He shouted, but it was too late, and as he himself vaulted over the hedge line, he saw the horror unfold before him.  Though he had seen a lot of stuff in combat, this was something quite horrifying.  He froze for a moment at the edge of the street, cars stopping to check it out.  Tiger though, was frozen from PTSD, as he flashed back to the war, on Fichina, assault blaster in hand, a dead, though armed, venom aligned civilian before him.  He was in shock from what he had done.  Then he heard Zera's voice, and shook it off.

"Tiger, get it together!" She shouted at him as she started to make her way to the incident, trying to clear away people from the scene. "Stand back, stand back everyone!" The others were soon doing the same as they jumped over the hedge.  Tiger himself got a serious look on his face, and headed in as well.

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

"Great, the Star Fox wannabees..." Pawel said to himself quietly, as he was being quickly surrounded by them. While he was taking a knee beside the downed young one, he felt something not quite right with him. He deduced that he got a nasty scrape or bruise on his side, although now was not quite the right time to take off his shirt and check it out.

"Can anybody on this damn planet get a doctor here or something?" Pawel said loudly. He tried his best to examine what was wrong with the young Katheeri, however he was only given rudimentary first aid training, training he had largely forgotten since it was given to him almost a century ago.

[Tiger Carson]

Zera came there to their side. "I didn't pack my medical scanner." Zera said as she began to check his vitals first via the old methods of tactile touch.  Something from when she had received medic training as a back-up to this sort of thing. "He's got a weird pulse...  And since he is what he is, I don't dare do any further exploratory examination to assess his injuries.  I'm gonna call an ambulance." She then pulled her phone out to call them in.  Tiger meanwhile started to issue some commands.

"Make a perimeter, we don't need any look-loos making things worse." HE said, "And someone cover him, this is a bad enough scene as it is.  You!" He said to Pawel, "Make those damned wings useful, and cover the boy until that ambulance gets here.  No more civies than already have seen it, don't need to see this!"

[Sylono]

At first, Shepherd wanted to get out of there, this would only prove a distraction if she got out to surveyed the damage. Though, if she ran, there was a good chance her fair mug would end up next to a warrant and that would make her job a bit more troublesome. Pushing the driver side door open, Shepherd stepped out to see her handiwork first hand... and saw the extra addition of a dragon lying nearby (She kept that one in mind, maybe, just maybe, she could lay some sort of accusation on him while she made her self scarce).

Examining her victim from as close as she could without seeming too invasive of the scene, Shepherd examined him for a moment, just then, prior information clued in the fox as to what this heap of hurting meat was. She'd have to thank 'leash', he'd thoughtfully added images and and a detailed estimation of what a Katheeri, like the one lying before her, looked like.

Silently, frustration started forming inside her, here was the Katheeri, practically fallen into her lap, and she couldn't even capitalize on that.

"You've gotten me in more trouble than you'll ever possibly realize..." The vixen muttered eyeing the 'cryptid' as she would now dub him.

 

[Kurt]

Even though he was buckled in he had to hold on for dear life as she and took the turn, the rear end swinging out as the came around the corner, the tires chipped as they slid to a stop a few cars away. Immediately Sven opened the door and stumbled out of the car 'Never again will I ride with that woman.' Shutting the door he took off towards the small group gathered about the creature.

Jess took off after him, wearing her fatigues and a white tank top still oily from the shop. 

[Dr. Orange]

Alek saw that traffic was at a stand still. He threw some credits at the driver and proceeded to exit the vehicle and see what happened. Body on the ground and a security team formed. "Fuck he's not alone." he murmured as he motioned to the body. He got into a sprint waving his arms. He could not miss the opportunity to see him up close. 

"I'M A DOCTOR IS HE ALRIGHT?" He yelled in the crowd's direction.

Edited May 25, 2017 by Dr. Orange

[Tiger Carson]

"Better than nothing, if he's for real." Tiger said to himself as he heard the german shephered. "So long as you're a medical doctor, then do what you're trained for."  Zera meanwhile continued to call for the Ambulance.

"Yes, that's right, street on the south side of Memorial Park." She said into the phone. "Guy got hit by a car, no idea of the extent of his injuries at the moment.  A perimeter has been established to prevent any further harm coming to the boy."

[Dr. Orange]

Alek nodded and stepped forward. He stopped and ran his fingers through his hair and scalp. He wasn't prepared for this. For all he knew the genome of this ... this thing could be completely different than anything he has seen. "No,"  he thought to himself "This is a chance I couldn't miss." He took of his sport coat and rolled up his cuffs, placing both hands behind the base of the creatures skull and tried to feel any possible paralyzing fractures. Nothing. He was breathing but his pulse... unobtainable? There was something but he couldn't make it out. Bruising on his side, gash on his head. 

Alek peered up. The strike team surrounded him. What was their game? He wanted to know. A crowd was forming and traffic was piling up. The more people knew and questioned, the more he was at risk. But should he risk moving him? He had to take it. He threw his coat on the ground and asked for assistance in moving the creature to the sidewalk.

[Sylono]

After seeing that the Katheeri was going to be taken care of, the Cerinian reached into one of her pockets and retrieved a little metal piece and examined the large feline and his little entourage he had arrived with.

She'd recognized each of their faces through the database.

What was their name again? Sun Cat? The vixen brought a palm to her face, having just realized the tiger's team name, this was Star Tiger, it wasn't hard to guess their motives here. Shepherd would need to keep tabs on them from now on, perhaps 'leash' could further help with that... No, the last thing she wanted to hear now and for the near future, was 'leash' hounding and berating her for something she'd had no control over.

A thought occurred to her, they'd probably escort the ambulance to whatever hospital the cryptid ended up in and even if they didn't it was clear to her that keeping tabs on the known competition would be in her best interest. That would require her to use the piece of metal in her hand, a tracking device, that she had initially planned to use on the Katheeri.

Well, that wasn't happening anytime soon. She'd have to make do.

In order to use the little tracking devise, she needed to get close, but in order to get close without suspicion thrown upon her she needed a reason.

Being a relatively young, a girl and having just injured someone, Shepherd didn't even need to think up an excuse. Doing her best to work herself up and come across as adequately guilty, the clone feigned timidness as she approached the german shepherd from behind.

"I-is he... um-" The now teary eyed vixen spoke up once she had gotten close enough that the was certain that someone would physically remove her from the cryptid, her little tracking device between clasped hands, "Is he going to be okay?"

[Naza Sutera]

Traffic had come to a standstill. Something happened up ahead.

"Alright, this is far enough. Thanks."

Hastily paying the driver, she leaped from the cab, and took off on foot. She figured that the obstruction was just a traffic accident, but something in her spirit told her to rubberneck. She was winded by the time she got to the surrounding crowd of onlookers. She squeezed her way through the crowd to see what was up, only to have the first row view blocked by a Sclav who used his wings to obstruct the scene. She could tell that there were several other people at the scene, and evidenced by the cab there with spiderweb cracks all over the windshield, Amelia conjectured that someone was hit by a car. Amelia had a sneaking suspicion of who it was, which might warrant all the secrecy.

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

Pawel frowned at Tiger's peremptory attitude towards him. He did not budge.

This guy, he thought to himself. "I only take orders from one person: me!" he exclaimed, pointing to himself. He did not cover the young man with his wings, only silently looking on.

"Besides, you bunch are doing a decent job of keeping people and eyeballs away yourselves."

[Dr. Orange]

Alek didn't notice vixen behind him at first. He was too engulfed with the injured and had was fazed out. 

"Yeah he'll be fine," as he moved about preparing the creature for movement. "Just a little banged up ... Maybe a broken rib. Nothing too crazy." Granted he wasn't entirely sure but this should calm the audience down.

[Sylono]

"Oh thank goodness..." The Cerinian breathed a sigh of relief that was only partially false, much to her own surprise. Raising a hand to wipe away the crocodile tears that threatened to fall, Shepherd cleared her throat.

"Is there... ahem, anything I can do to assist?" She asked, hoping she could irritate the medical professional enough to sic one of the others on her, "I took a first aid course in school."

The vixen explained meekly, though she immediately wished she hadn't added that last bit considering she hadn't actually been in any standard educational platform. Did Cornerian schools even host first aid classes?

[Kurt]

Sven shouted to the small group as he grew close "You folks ok?"

Jess barreled past him, the Doberman barked out "Clear a path! Clear a path!"

[Tiger Carson]

"Do not TEST me!" Tiger said to Pawel with some clear agitation. "You being here, assisting and calling for assistance, means you have to do what is expected of you once an official arrives until more can come to properly handle the situation.  And right now, as a temporarily recommissioned CDF Major, I'm the highest ranking official here who is now on duty, despite appearances." Tiger was of course using the honorary officer clause for those mercenary groups made up of officers from the CDF who were given an honorable discharge.  His rank wasn't fully in effect, not for the last eight years.  But it was something to help protect those who fought on Corneria's behalf, even if part of the reason was for money.  The reason being was that certain members of Star Fox had been captured during the war at certain points, and the rules of war at the time didn't allow the CDF to properly barter with Venom to get them back.  No matter how much Fox himself had tried to call himself a POW, the Venomians didn't listen to him due to that particular rule with who could be considered a POW, and who couldn't.  That was different now, but there were some limitations, and Tiger was sort of stretching it, but he hoped that Pawel wouldn't argue, and would be at least somewhat decent. "And even if that wasn't the case, how would you like being where the boy is?" Tiger meanwhile stayed in a position to keep the crowd back.

Zera meanwhile finished with the ambulance call, and turned to the German Shephered and the Cerinian.  She helped him to get the boy to the sidewalk where it would be safer. "Ambulance will be here in less than ten minutes." She said, "I told them that it sounds like nothing is broken, thankfully.  As for what you can do to assist," She said to the Cerinian, "Just stay here, give the police a full report, as we all will too.  And help us move the boy to the sidewalk for his safety."

"You two have any proper clearance?" Jeena asked as she noted Sven and Jess who were making their way through the crowd which she was holding back in conjunction with the four available team members.  She did note the fatigues Jess wore though. "I suppose you're on duty?" She said to the doberman girl.

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

"Oh, my God man, I do not have the patience for this crap..." bemoaned Pawel, rubbing his forehead.

Now, Pawel at this time could have mentioned how he too was a major in the CDF, but left shortly after the end of the Lylat Wars. Technically, Pawel is no longer in the service, although that would not stop him from bringing it up. Nevertheless, he would not mention his previous affiliations, and would instead decide to respect his fellow comrade in arms.

"Fine. I'll make my wings his blankie." Pawel draped one of his membranous appendages over the cat-thing in an effort to conceal him.

[Dr. Orange]

"Thanks..." Alek said to Zera has they moved him to the sidewalk. He leaned back, his calves were killing from all the squatting. He took note of the scalv, he wasn't with the mercenaries, what's his role in this all. He sat back and looked at the vixen, "He should be fine." He took a breather, all this action and not in the proper 'literally anything else' attire. "I'd just be getting your license and registration ready." He gave out a slight chuckle. 

With that smile he initialized his eye into action to collect data. A lens whirred and a click and it began recording and collecting. He tried to look inconspicuous while observing the creatures head, acting like he was looking for more fractures while taking note of the skull shape and the such. It was a slow process trying not to look like a maniac while doing so, watching his lovely charity watchdogs.

[Sylono]

As ordered, Shepherd did what she was told and assisted with moving the cryptid. Frustration flared up once again, someone would probably notice her if she took a second to place the devise, so she held to the plan waited until they were setting the injured boy down before feigning a loss of balance and ended up leaning against Zera somewhat.

"Erm, sorry..." The Cerinian apologized as she used the woman's arm to steady herself (deftly she placed the tracking devise on the inner wrist side of the glove), before adding an excuse, "He was a tad heavier than I'd expected." 

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

Pawel grumbled a bit as he jostled with his wing covering the Katheeri's unconscious body. He hoped that nobody in authority would show up to report him to his father. God, how Pawel hated when his father went into his business. He glanced around worriedly for a brief time. An eyebrow raise came from him when an ambulance and police vehicle sirens could be heard in the distance.

"Aww, shit..."

[Zaphyr Stone]

The ambulance arrived with a whir of its siren and a flash of reds and blues, the driver laying on the horn as it muscled its way through traffic. Once in position, EMTs leapt out onto the scene and took over with a thank you to everyone who had assisted. Strapping an oxygen mask to his muzzle, they immobilized the boy, got him into a stretcher and wheeled him into the trailer of the ambulance. It's sirens blaring, the vehicle swiftly made its way back down the street.

Watching from the hedge line was the white wolf from before. Pale yellow eyes sharp as he took in every detail, he finally spoke as the ambulance departed. "He's on the move. Tracking his position now."

-----------------

Veterans Hospital was one of the largest medical facilities in the city. It stood five stories and spanned several blocks, including wings for research labs along with wards for just about any condition imaginable to most people. It was the perfect place to house an injured cryptid and hide him in plain sight.

A young teenage cat with soft black fur and green eyes made her way through the revolving door. She was dressed in regular street clothes, a pastel graphic v-neck tee, a jade green jacket with sable fur trim on the hood, dark jeans and sneakers. She caught a few eyes as she made her way confidently to the counter, tail swishing casually behind her.

"Excuse me, my friend was admitted here yesterday." She explained, "Can you tell me what room they put him in?"

"Of course, sweetie," the nurse, a good-natured hippo, smiled back at her and began to clack the keys on her keyboard, "What's his name?"

"Zefran. No last name." She answered, brushing off the raised brow the woman gave her.

"I don't have a Zefran on record." She shook her head.

"But that's impossible! They told me he was here!" She whined desperately, frustration gnawing in the back of her mind, "He was hit by a car by Memorial Park! Please, I'm really worried about him."

The nurse's eyes widened at this, having been briefed of the situation. "Young lady, if this is true, I'm going to need a little more proof of your relationship with him. As of right now, this young man you're speaking of isn't allowed visitors without clearance."

"Clearance!? He's my /friend/! We go to /school/ together!"