The Watchdog Army Files

2049: The Common Enemy

"We're here?"
"Yes Sir. We're approaching the planet as we speak." Said the messenger.
"Assemble a team of eight as a search party. The sooner we find him, the sooner we can get out before Hemlock finds us." Nerve ordered the Watchdog in question. After the messenger gave a salute and turned to assemble a team, Nerve turned toward the eye shaped windows. After months of waiting, they had finally reached the place where Peepers had hidden after he had faked his death to protect them all.

Still, Nerve wondered if they had made a mistake by going to the planet to retrieve their previous commander.

———

"Can you believe it, Syl?"
"Not entirely. It's hard to believe. After all this time, he's still alive."
"What do you think his reaction will be?" Asked her nomadic husband.
She replied hesitantly. "Well, I'm sure Peepers will be happy to see us. But I'm not sure if he'll approve. The reason he faked all this in the first place was so he could protect us from Hemlock."
"I know Sylvia. But I can't wait to see him."

Just then, their son and adoptive daughter, Sylvester and Elise came in. Elise's birth parents, Hater and Dominator, had died several years ago due to a mysterious illness. She was the same species as her mother, but white in colour like her father.

Sylvester, a Zbornak with orange fur spoke steadily. "Mum, Dad. We're here. Do you wanna join the search party?" When they didn't answer he continued in a singsong voice, something he had picked up from his father. "Come on, there's only two spaces left, so when it's gone it's gone."

They nodded enthusiastically, following their son to the hanger. When they arrived, Nerve presided over the other six people: Eyela, Cornea, Iris, Retina, Andy and Jim. They swiftly joined their friends in the line. Nerve paced back and forth. "Remember, team. We're getting Peepers back no matter what. Use force if necessary, but don't harm him. And keep in mind, these may be our last few hours before Hemlock cracks the code, so be careful. You have your orders. Commence the mission."

They did so, marching down the Skullship's tongue. All of them, including Wander, carried a small blaster just in case. The team leader, Eyela, led them surely, referring to a holographic map when required.

Whenever they heard a rustle in the bushes, as the planet held a great deal of woodland, they would stop. It never was Peepers, but once or twice the sound was indicative of the right size.

Eventually, they had almost lost hope. But Andy saw something the others did not. A small figure in the tree tops caught his attention. He tapped the downcast Eyela on the shoulder, who turned and gasped. Whispering harshly, the female said, "Who are you?"

Dropping down from the trees was, not Peepers, as they had hoped, but...

"Westley!" Wander cried with glee. The small Watchdog gave a big grin. Like Peepers, he faked his death. Only Wander and Sylvia had known until now. When they last saw him, he had been traveling across the universe. He must have stopped here if he had been living here. And if he had been living here...

"Wander! Sylvia! Fancy meeting you here!" As he leapt up to embrace his friends, he also said, "I know why you're here."

A collective "You do?" rang out. He nodded steadily. "Yeah. Peepers told me everything when he met me here. He'll be so happy to see you."
Eyela could barely contain her tears of joy. "You mean he's really here?"
"Yep. He's here. I have to say, I was really touched. Him faking his death just to protect everyone. He sure has grown a lot."

They all smiled knowingly. Westley continued, leading them through a trail. "We camped right through here."
As they entered a clearing, Westley yelled out, "I'm back!"
"Thank grop. I was so worried about you. Hemlock is getting closer to finding out, I'm sure of it."
"Speaking of people finding out, look who discovered the secret."

Peepers' head poked round the corner in curiosity, and his eye widened when he saw who it was. "Is it really you?"
The search party beamed. Peepers fully came round the corner. He was still wearing his uniform, but his gloves and helmet were gone. "Now get home before Hemlock arrives!" He said, slightly panicked.

Eyela gave her husband a puzzling look. She knew he would be hesitant about coming home, but she never expected this. "Peepers, calm down. Hemlock isn't coming." When he did so, she quickly hugged him, planting a brief kiss on his 'cheek'. He took her by surprise when he took hold of her eyelids in his, the two sharing a kiss for the first time in years. They just barely caught the twin's looks of disgust. Retina gave a joking gag. Wander and Sylvia gave each other loving looks of their own. Andy and Jim turned away uncomfortably whilst Westley just nodded in approval.
They broke apart slowly with satisfaction. Eyela muttered, "That was worth the wait."
And Peepers replied, "Yeah. It was."

They continued to hug each other tightly until Wander seemingly came up from the floor between them, saying, "Okay lovebirds. Break it up. This was getting too sappy, even for me."

Everyone present chuckled. Peepers suddenly turned toward them, starting to explain. "I'm sorry I did that. I understand if you're mad..."
He was interrupted by Eyela. "Mad? Why would we be mad? We're just happy you're okay. Thank you for protecting us for long enough so we could figure out who we're up against."
Andy continued. "Yeah. Hemlock seems to be really dangerous."

The next voice was one they didn't recognise. But Peepers seemed to register it, pushing everyone else behind him. "Oh. I am little one. I am."

Hemlock slid from the bushes, continuing her monologue. "Oh Peepers. You should have known better than trying to trick me like that. I know the way you tick better than you realise. I've had years to study you and the Watchdog race. I knew you weren't really dead, I just had no idea where you had hidden yourself. Hence why I followed your friends here."
Peepers took her pause as his chance to reply, "You must have been really determined to get your revenge if you've waited this long."

As the two enemies continued to converse harshly, Eyela brought out her blaster and communicator. She aimed to do something and then radio the ship to pick them up.

Hemlock paused when she saw a flash of red and felt a harsh pain in her lower leg. She looked down to find that someone had shot their blaster at her. When she turned her attention back to where her enemies had been though, they were gone. She cursed. They had obviously run back to their ship. And she couldn't run after them in her condition. She called for her minions to catch them. Smaller than her, but just as dangerous, a group of 10 Aconites rushed off to apprehend the 8 Watchdogs, Nomad and Zbornak.

Westley and Wander had taken up spaces on Sylvia's back. Peepers had taken a large piece of bark from the camp, tying it to Sylvia's tail, who didn't mind in the slightest. Now, the Watchdogs sat on the repurposed tree bark as Sylvia pulled everyone away, reaching her top speed almost instantaneously.

The Skullship was in sight when the Aconites sped toward them, weapons raised. They made a jump for those in the saddle, but were knocked back by Westley swinging a huge branch in their direction. They fell to the ground.

Everyone gave a cheer as Sylvia slowed to a halt across the Skullship's tongue, coming to a stop in the hanger. Nerve ran into the room, pushing up the lever for the hanger release in the process so that the mouth closed, denying access to the ship for the Aconites that were swarming the hull.

The Watchdogs themselves surrounded the returning party. Some were crying, welcoming Peepers home. "Commander, you're back!"
"We've missed you Sir!"
"You're not gonna leave again are you?"

They were halted by Peepers holding up a hand. It felt right to be among them. "Calm down. I'm not going to leave any time soon. Grop, it's good to be back." He said, pulling on a pair of gloves he had stored away in one of his pockets as the army laughed at his comment. Nerve handed him back the helmet, and Peepers slid it over his own head. As an afterthought, the Commander added, "So, did anything happen when I was gone?"

Nerve hesitated before informing him about Lord Hater.

As the Skullship sped back to it's galaxy of origin, it was shook by Peepers' yell of "WHAT?!!"

A/n: He's finally home!