Infinity's Arrival

by Ringshadow

The citizens of Lylat have faced many perils, but can they face the destruction of all they hold dear?

Infinity's Arrival General Pepper stared at the holographic projector sitting on his desk. He got them all of the time; he was used to his aide dropping them off. Usually it meant a message from someone else in the High Command, or perhaps a politician, and usually it wasn't all that important. That fact had left him completely open to the blow of the message, and the air felt like it had been squeezed from his lungs. Shock shivered his muscles as he slowly stood, walking over to his window and staring out. Corneria City spread out before him, beautiful and peaceful, the gem of the system, his home for all of his life and the home to 3.1 million people counting the suburbs.
He had watched the holographic message five times before it really, truly hit him, the facts creeping into his subconscious like some sort of virus, a plague of pain. He dropped his head, choking back a sob and taking off his sunglasses, rubbing his burning eyes with a shaking hand. 3.1 million people, living out their lives, totally unaware of what he had just learned, and that was just this city alone. Corneria had a population of about 5.4 billion, and the entire of Lylat had just hit 8 billion at last count. Eight billion lives, innocent beautiful lives, unaware that their days were numbered.
He set his jaw, sliding his sunglasses back on and stopping his shaking hands even as a single tear slipped down his dark brown fur. He rubbed it away automatically as he squared his shoulders, walking back to his desk and pressing the page button for his aide. He had fought for those eight billion people once, he would do it again. If needed, he would die fighting. It was the least he could do.

Peppy laughed, leaning his elbows back onto the hood of his SUV and watching as Fox sprinted by, Falco close behind, trying to knock the ball away as Fox dove and passed it to Katt, who leapt into a slam duck, landing gracefully and bowing smugly as she passed the ball back to Falco.
"Game set." Fox said, grinning and pulling off his sopping wet tank top, tossing it to land on his duffel bag and accepting a water bottle from Bill. "Not bad."
"Since when… do you… kick my ass in basketball?" Falco wheezed, walking over and taking the water bottle from Fox in mid-drink.
"Listen, you're the one with the pack-a-day habit. Those things are going to kill you, and in the mean time, they're ruining your game."
"Truer words never spoken." Katt said cheerfully, snapping Falco with the towel. He squawked indignantly and dumped the water bottle on her, making her screech. Bill and Fox both laughed as the two tore back across the basketball field, this time Falco trying desperately not to get caught by Katt.
"Young love, eh boys?" Peppy said, walking over and handing them sports drinks. They nodded their thanks, opening the bottles almost immediately.
"Like you're all that old, Pep." Fox smiled.
"Oh, flattery will get you nowhere. I'm just a chubby old man." He smiled a touch, shaking his head.
"Speaking of young love, when are you going to find someone to spend all of your cash on, Fox?" Bill asked. "You haven't been on a date since the dark ages."
"Thank you for reminding me."
"Don't be a crab, I'm serious."
"No kidding." Falco walked over, leaned forward. Katt was riding on his back, arms wrapped around his neck and chin resting on his shoulder. "You're burning so much testosterone it's getting on all of our nerves. Go burn it on something else, will ya?"
Fox snorted. "Why don't you just tell me to get laid, since that's obviously what you're hinting at?"
Katt laughed so hard she fell off, then winced when she saw Fox's look. "Sorry, Fox."
"No, I can see his point, but he's still getting a black eye for it later." Fox huffed to himself. "I'm outa here, guys." Still glaring, he scooped up his duffel bag and stalked off to his car, tail snapping and ears twisted back.
"I think we made him mad." Bill remarked.
"I'm not worried yet, his hackles aren't up." Falco replied. "Besides it's the truth, isn't it?"
"Obviously cigarettes kill off common sense." Peppy remarked. "Katt, make him quit."
"I'm working on it."
Fox growled to himself, yanking a shirt out of his duffel bag and tossing it in the back seat of his car, shrugging into the shirt. Falco had been bugging him almost nonstop lately, getting less and less subtle as he went, and it was really starting to frustrate Fox. It wasn't like a single night of fun was going to make all of his problems vanish, and he certainly wasn't just going to go pick up a girl with just that in mind. Just because Falco hadn't been below that at one point didn't mean that he wasn't.
He started the car and pulled onto the road, merging easily with busy traffic and heading downtown. His car, a fairly recent sports model, always drew a few eyes, but he was used to it. After the war he had felt the need to trade in his older sports sedan and upgrade a bit, and he was still pleased with the result. He pulled up to a stoplight, leaning back in the driver's seat and trying to relax, listening to the music coming from his speakers. No matter what his friends said, it wasn't like he had a deadline for finding a girlfriend, so he was in no hurry.
The light changed, and he pulled the car forward, smiling and nodding at a college girl in a convertible, then jumping and staring around as the air-raid sirens started to scream. Milliseconds later the road jumped and rolled, and the convertible that had been next to him was thrown into the air, landing in the bed of the truck beside it. Cracks and rifts opened down the road, water shooting up as pipes burst, glass coming down like hail as windows shattered out. The buildings held, but barely, cracks crawled visibly up walls as traffic came to a standstill, cars locked in a messy gridlock, drivers protecting their eyes and gaping around as the world heaved.
It was over in seconds, and Fox got out of the car, staring around. The air-raid sirens continued to howl, and other sirens had started in the distance, fire trucks and ambulances. Ignoring the fact that a luxury sedan had careened into his sports car during the ruckus, Fox sprinted over to the convertible and climbed into what was left of the truck bed, helping the girl to the ground as water rained down from the pipes. The girl, who was sobbing hysterically, clung to him, quivering. He rubbed her back absently, looking around as other drivers got out of their cars, all wearing the same look of shock.
An earthquake? Here? Corneria City wasn't anywhere near any fault lines, and had never in the entire history of the city had had even the most mild of quakes. Now it had been thumped by one that had done some sustaining damage. Looking at the breaks in the road and shaking his head, Fox had to be surprised it wasn't worse, fishing for his cell phone as it rang. "McCloud."
"Fox? Thank god you're all right." Peppy's voice sounded harried. "Where are you?"
"Main Street and State Drive." Fox replied, looking up at a road sign absently.
"Is the damage bad there?"
"The window companies are going to do quick business. Peppy, since when do we get earthquakes?"
"Since never! This is a new one on me, Fox…"
His phone chirped, and he looked at the ID flashing on the screen. "Pep, I have an incoming call. It's General Pepper."
"Somehow, that doesn't reassure me at all."
"Same here. I'll call you back."

"The cleanup has been successful, and the city appears calm." Pepper sighed, leaning on his desk and looking across at the Star Fox team, which had arrived in clean uniforms about an hour after he had called Fox. "Which is a relief, but we can't predict when the next quake will happen."
"Why are we having earthquakes in the first place, General?" Fox asked. "Last I checked, we weren't anywhere near a fault line."
"That's still true, but it hasn't stopped this from happening." He sighed again. "And I'm not really the person to explain why it is happening. All I can tell you is that it's terrible, and that it's basically unstoppable. There's a meeting tonight, emergency called, all planetary representatives, High Command, politicians, scientists, the works. I want you to be there. You'll be sitting at the front with me."
"Of course we'll come General! But what is this about?" Fox frowned. His superior looked exhausted, weighed down by a great and horrible sadness.
"You'll find out soon enough. Be on time tonight." He wove a hand in dismissal, and the group left.
"Why didn't he tell us?" Falco grumbled. "If it's so bad, you think he could have."
"I get the idea he thinks he couldn't explain it well enough." Peppy replied. "We can wait until tonight for an explanation."
"You guys are here too, eh?" Bill said, meeting them at the elevator, looking stressed. "Katt and I were called in right after you were, and it looks as if every High-brass we've ever heard of is here. I haven't saluted this much since the awards ceremony after the war."
"Any chance you got a better explanation then we did?" Slippy asked.
"We were told that we'd be filled in tonight. You?"
"That's what we were told as well. I don't get it, myself." Said Falco.
"There's a coffee shop nearby, I say we duck down there until the meeting tonight." Fox finally said. "From the impression I'm getting, we'll want to be as calm as possible when we arrive."

"Take a deep breath, Al…"
Albert Scottsman, a geological scientist, snorted, lighting up a cigarette with a shaking hand and wishing he had some pot instead. "I'm going to be hung by the people in there, Steve, so don't even try to calm me down." He scooped up his folders, shaking his head, snorting smoke through his nostrils. "I hate being the bearer of bad news."
The door opened, and a uniformed marine nodded to him. "Sir, it's time."
"Yes, I know." He knocked ash off the cigarette and followed the marine, walking down the long corridor and through the door onto the speaking platform. The other scientists were already there, and the auditorium was filled with a variety of important people—military, politicians, everyone who had an influence in the system. His eyes caught silver fabric in the front row; someone had even invited the mercenary team Star Fox. He wasn't surprised, stepping forward to the podium and clearing his throat, setting the folder down and flicking ash off the cigarette again. "I'm Doctor Albert Scottsman, a geologist. I'll be the one filling you in on the current situation." He touched the controls, and the lights dimmed, the holographic display turning on behind him. "As you know, earlier today Corneria City was hit by an earthquake of about 5.1 on the Richter scale, which came as a shock to everyone as Corneria City does not lie on a fault line. However, a small group of people in my field including myself knew it was going to happen." He held up a hand to stop questions. "Just listen.
The seismic activity of the planet has been steadily increasing since last year, but on such a small level only the sensors have been noticing it. The Ring of Fire has been particularly volatile, and six months ago we got the go-ahead to build the planet's first deep-mining rig." He cued up a picture of the installation, held off the half-molten ground by a hover rig, huge drills going deep into the ground. "Deep-mining is meant to go down to the upper mantle and tap the molten minerals there. It's harmless as long as it's done in an area that already has volcanic eruptions, hence the location. We were drilling down to the upper mantle itself and broke five drill bits on an obstruction, in the end we had to bring that obstruction up. It was over a mile under the surface, just between the mantle and the more solid areas above it." He cued the picture to change from the installation to a strange oblong blackened lump. "Our first thought was a meteor piece from prehistory times that had been pulled down by an earthquake, as the metals were nothing we had seen before. We spent a lot of time cleaning it up and pondering, and we've made some very, very disturbing discoveries." The picture changed again, now the oblong was clean, made of gleaming silver-black metal, twisted and oddly wrought, but clearly not natural. "It wasn't a deposit or part of a meteor. Our find, which we dubbed the Enigma, was actually an alien artifact, and by carbon dating it's been on Corneria since shortly after the planet's surface cooled after initially forming." Another rumble of noise, he cut it off again irritably. "It gets worse. We did some deep-sonar readings of the surface, and there are fully a dozen of these things under the crust, one not far from this city."
"So what are these things exactly?" One of the planet representatives asked, voice tight.
Al looked at him with tired eyes, breathing a cloud of smoke and lighting another cigarette. "Bombs."
The rumble became a confused, angry roar, filling the room and rippling, hundreds of questions, curses, denials. Al waited it out, shaking his head and sighing slowly. That had been his reaction to, and with every passing day he grew surer of what his find was, and he knew there was not much time left. Let them deny it for now; he knew that they would soon realize just how real and how terrible this situation was.
"Bombs." He repeated once order had been reestablished. "Seismic wave bombs programmed to trigger at once." A diagram of the planet came up. "They're riding the tectonic plates, at very, very precise spots. When they go off, the planet's surface will rock with an earthquake so high it's not even comparable on the Richter scale." As he spoke, the planet's surface changed, showing the result. "Dozens of volcanoes will go off. Millions of people will die. The entire surface of the planet will become molten again, to slowly reform over the next million years and become what is basically a new planet." He looked across the now deathly silent auditorium. "Corneria, our beloved home world, is rigged with a suicide device." He turned off the disturbing image, replacing it with a number.
377 Rotations Until Program Initiation
"And the clock is ticking."
He let the roar reestablish itself, let them yell, let them voice their confusion and pain. He felt it too, he felt how ridiculous it sounded, how much he wanted to deny the cold, hard truth. He retreated from the podium and sat down, passing the box of cigarettes down the line of scientists, then a lighter.
"Oh, my god." Fox whispered, staring at the flashing number. "They're serious, they are dead serious."
"No way, man." Falco said, also holding a smoking cigarette, hand shaking violently. "No way. It's not possible, it's just not possible."
"It's true." General Pepper said in a distant, flat voice. "It's completely true. I saw the bastard device myself, and it is a bomb. I've been around enough of them I know how to recognize them, even alien ones."
Peppy slumped in his chair as Slippy whimpered to himself, shaking his head weakly. Shock rippled through the auditorium, no one could quite believe it. It was over ten minutes before the debriefing continued.
Al went back up to the podium when he felt like his knees had stopped shaking, looking out over the scared, angry people in the auditorium. "I'll take questions."
Hands shot up, and he wove at one of the politicians weakly, who stood immediately. "You are sure that this device is a bomb?"
"Completely."
"Why?"
"Because it sent off seismic waves at the same time that Corneria City had an earthquake." He replied calmly. "Just not on the same level. The devices are warming up for detonation, which will be this long from now." He pointed at the flashing number. "That's translated from the alien programming that we hooked into. Its hacker proof, we were lucky we were able to read the timer. A rotation is a day. Corneria will be remade in just over a year."
Hands shot up again, and this time he gestured at one of the High Command, who stood stiffly. "Is there any way to stop these things?" He asked heavily.
Al shook his head. "No. There isn't. There's only once choice right now and that is complete evacuation of Corneria. Every person, every creature, every plant, everything that means something to us. Art, books, you name it must be evacuated. We must abandon Corneria forever."
Another wave of shock rippled over the auditorium.
"It gets worse." Another scientist on the platform stood and walked over, taking the microphone. "When Al here first found out about this, he put the call out to scientists around Lylat, and we all started scanning every planet we were able to…" He closed his eyes. "Katina has at least eight of the doomsday devices. Zoness has at least twelve, Macbeth almost sixteen. From what we can tell, all of Lylat is rigged. We are not just abandoning our mother planet, friends. We are abandoning Lylat, and we must do it in less then a year."
Utter silence in the auditorium, so complete a feather's fall could have been heard. After a few moments, the scientist continued.
"We are facing our possible extinction, because we think this entire galaxy arm could be rigged." He cued the timer to shift position on the display, another picture coming up, this one a molten planet. "This is Lethes, an exploration planet in orbit around a red sun, which used to be a yellow star, much like our own. Lethes was a puzzle to us because the planet seems fairly new in its stages compared to the age of its sun, but now we now why. We had the exploration team look for the devices, and they found none. Only remains." He looked at all of the faces that he was looking at, war-hardened faces, politicians trained not to show emotion, all horror-stricken. "We're already looking into possibilities for where to go. We must start the evacuation immediately.
This briefing is adjourned."

"I can't believe this." Falco rasped as the Star Fox team staggered into General Pepper's office, collapsing into chairs immediately. Pepper himself flopped onto a couch rather then sitting behind his desk. "How can this be happening?"
"Forget the how, forget the why, all that matters is that it is." Pepper said, shaking his head. "And now we have to figure out how to evacuate the entire system. "Eight billion people live in Lylat, gentlemen, and we've got to build warp-capable transportation for all of them, not to mention somehow fit the culture of Lylat itself on those ships." He spread his hands, looking helpless, worn.
"We are yours to command, General." Fox replied. "What can we do to help?"
"Well, for starters…" Pepper stood and picked up a holographic messenger off his desk, pressing it into Fox's hands. "If the rest of the system is rigged, so is Venom. We know Andross is still alive, along with a portion of his forces." He met Fox's eyes. "And he's still a human being. Deliver this to him in person under a white flag."
"Oh this is just getting better and better." Falco said. "You're kidding us right? They'll blow our arwings out of the sky on sight."
"We'll do it." Fox stood, slipping the holographic projector into his pocket. "We'll leave immediately. We'll call you when it's been delivered."
"Thank you, Fox. Good luck." He touched his hand to his brow, and Fox returned the salute, then left, stride long and proud in spite of the shock that still edged through his body, his team close behind him.

"Fox, why did you agree?" Falco asked as the Great Fox leapt into warp for Venom. Fox was sitting in his command chair, rubbing his temples, looking tired. He hadn't said anything since they had left Pepper's office, seemingly deep in thought.
"To be honest, some part of me would just as soon leave Andross to rot." Fox finally replied. "After what he's done to Lylat, he deserves no less. But Pepper's right, Andross is still a human being. He at least deserves to know."
"Even if you're under a white flag, how can you trust it Fox?" Slippy asked. "I'm not sure Andross would even honor that."
"I'm still willing to try." Fox sighed. "To be honest, it's not Andross I'm worried about. I'm more worried if Star Wolf survived, because if they did, they're a bigger danger their boss is."
"I'm inclined to agree with that." Peppy nodded. "Are we going with you to deliver the message, Fox?"
"No, I'll go alone. Safer that way, if anything. And that way if I get killed under a white flag, you can at least tell Pepper to have Andross bombed into oblivion."
"Way to look on the bright side, Fox." Slippy remarked.
"Oh, shut up."

"Sir?"
Andross sighed, turning, still holding the book, taking off his glasses. Wolf stood framed in the doorway, still wearing his worn, battered flight uniform. Most Venomians had fallen back to wearing casual clothing, whatever worked best as they fought for a clawhold on the vicious planet, trying to survive. Wolf himself was only still alive by technical definition. Metal wrapped part of his body, one arm completely cybernetic, his heart replaced, his lungs supported by internal machines. One eye was also wrapped, the once-empty socket replaced by a mechanical eye, the metal continuing up to circle one torn, notched ear. He had died, been dead for over an hour before they had brought him back online. The damage was still unknown, that long with oxygen deprivation should have left him unable to process thoughts anymore. Andross knew that the internal AI was the only reason Wolf still existed, and so did Wolf. He was a being of hate and rage, a storm behind his eyes and silent thunder following his steps. He was the only surviving pilot of Star Wolf; the others had died in the war or shortly thereafter. Leon had died in intensive care, screaming in pain until he had no voice left. In the end, it had been Wolf who had finally silenced him forever, walking into the emergency room and aiming the handgun at his teammate's head. Leon had nodded once, blood streaking from his nostrils as he breathed, and Wolf had pulled the trigger.
"I've said it before, O'Donnel. I don't like being disturbed when I read." Andross remarked quietly.
"I know, sir, but the situation rather demands it. The Great Fox is in orbit around the planet, and they're broadcasting a signal across the planet on every band." He met his leader's eyes. "Sir, they're requesting a temporary white flag."
"… Interesting." Andross closed the book, setting it on his desk. "Are they saying why?"
"Not yet. We haven't responded. They've been broadcasting about fifteen minutes, looping the message."
"Can we open a channel to them?"
"Of course, sir."
The two walked down the hall, pacing each other. The others in the hallway stepped out of their way, saluting absently. There wasn't much left of the Venom forces, about three hundred and fifty soldiers altogether from a variety of divisions, holding together from sheer stubbornness. Better that, they figured, then surrender to Corneria.
"Where are they right now?" Andross asked, walking into the communications room. The personnel there looked up and smiled tiredly at their leader, glad to have someone in charge during such a strange situation.
"Above the southwestern hemisphere, still broadcasting." Replied one, bringing up an image of the Great Fox's position. "Do you want to hear the message sir?"
"Please."
The soldier pushed a button, and Fox's voice echoed through the room, calm and serious. "Forces of Venom, this is Fox McCloud in representation of Corneria. I would like to propose a temporary truce and land at your location, which we will not report to our superiors. Our intentions are peaceful, and we will not stay more then ten minutes."
"Interesting indeed." Andross rubbed his chin. "Ping them. Get their attention."
"Sir."
The radar noise, like a bell tolling, vibrated silently through the air from the small, hidden ground base, upwards toward space, eventually hitting the Great Fox and jolting their radar. A few minutes later, the recording cut out.
"This is Fox McCloud. Have I reached the Venomian forces?"
"You have. This is Andross." He lifted an eyebrow, McCloud sounded stressed beyond what most men could take. "What's the occasion? We're not going to agree to let you land just to visit."
That drew a very weak chuckle. "Understandably so, Emperor of Venom. I am here delivering a message from General Pepper, a hologram. It's urgent."
"You're a delivery boy now, are you?"
"Under the current circumstances, yes."
"Stand by for a response." Andross gestured to turn off the microphone, and sighed. "What do you think, O'Donnel?"
"We can't trust him, sir." Wolf replied. "He's almost single-handedly responsible for the fall of Venom, he's the last person we should let near us."
"True enough, but he is honorable. He wouldn't go back on his word, and it does sound like something is going on." He gestured again, then said, "Fox, we accept the truce. You can land. We're transmitting the coordinates now."
"Thank you, Emperor. Clear." The radio band shut down.
"Are you sure?" Wolf finally asked.
"I'm curious." Andross shrugged. "Besides, I don't really have anything better to do."

Fox stared around at the dusty, grassy landscape as his arwing gently touched down. Now wonder the military hadn't found the last Venom base, it was almost completely underground, camouflaged so the most advanced spy jet wouldn't notice its existence. He popped the cockpit open and leapt out easily, touching down on the grass and standing, looking around. It was warm here, and dry, like being on a prairie. But in its own primal way, Venom was beautiful. He felt pain clench his heart, knowing that in a little over a year all of Lylat would be wiped clean, all its beauty lost eternally.
"Long time no see, McCloud."
Fox froze, moving only his head to see the speaker. Wolf was sitting on the hill that the base's entrance was hidden in, regarding him from afar, fingertips pressed together and legs tucked under himself. Shock rippled through Fox when he saw the cybernetics that spread over his enemy's body, the amount of metal that meshed with his fur. So this was how Wolf O'Donnel had survived? By becoming a cyborg? He was both horrified and not all that surprised at the same time. "Indeed. I have the message for your Emperor."
Wolf stood and strode down the hill easily, walking over to him. "I'll give it to him, and you can be on your way."
"Afraid not, I have to deliver this to Andross himself."
They looked at each other silently, then Wolf growled and turned, walking toward the door. "Come on, then, we don't want to hold you up."
Fox followed a few feet behind him, ducking through the half-open door which closed behind them slowly. The base was softly lit by ambient light, and what personnel Fox saw stared at him in shock, clearly unable to believe he was here. These people looked stressed, worn, and Fox understood why.
They turned into a communications room, and Andross stood, touching his hand to his brow in a salute as Fox did. "Well, McCloud. You said you have a message for me?"
Fox took the device out of his pocket and held it out wordlessly. Andross took it after a moment, setting it on a table and activating it. An image of General Pepper appeared, clearly tired and sorrowful, thanked Andross for accepting the message, and began to explain the situation. Fox leaned against another table nearby, pain rolling through him as he heard it told again, slowly bowing his head, biting back his sorrow.
Andross listened silently, rubbing his chin, letting the message play until it stopped. The end of the message, though, stunned all including Fox.
"Lylat is facing its death, and we our extinction. Our survival depends on our ability to toss away all of our differences and unite. I know that you will never forgive us, and I understand why. You are an undeniable genius, Emperor Andross, and your powerful mind might be able to help save us all." Pepper paused, taking a deep breath. "We are offering a permanent truce in exchange for sharing of all information and supplies in an attempt to evacuate all of Lylat—all people, all species, all culture. Please contact the president within the next forty-eight hours if you are interested in our offer. Thank you." The image fizzled out, and the playback stopped.
There was a very long silence in the room. All of the Venomian personnel seemed to be in shock, and rightly so.
"And they're sure about this." Andross finally said.
"Very, sir." Fox replied softly.
"Well, then." Andross slowly stood. "I will contact your president with my response within the time allotment." He held out his hand, and Fox took it. "Thank you, McCloud."
"No, sir, thank you." Fox turned and left, easily walking down the halls, escorted by a stray guard to the door.
"What do you think, O'Donnel?" Andross asked, looking at his second in command. "Are they lying? Is it an elaborate scam to lure me in?"
"No, sir, I don't think so." Wolf said very carefully, looking thoughtful.
"Why do you say that?"
"Because McCloud was crying. Sir. Silently, without tears, but he was crying." Wolf met his leader's eyes. "And you heard the pain in General Pepper's voice. All of these emotions are real, true. They aren't lying."
"What are we going to do, sir?" Blurted one of the soldiers. "I, I come from Corneria, sir…"
"So do I." Andross said heavily. "So do I. And though I may loathe the government, I did once love my home." He shook his head, weary from many different pains. "If we all expect to live more then a year, we'll need their help as much as they need ours. We'll have to agree to this, no matter how much we hate them." He looked around. "Is everyone here in agreement?" Nods all around. "Good. Wolf, call a meeting. Let's announce it and get packed up, we'll want to move to Corneria if they'll let us."

The next day was one of the most horrible days in history.
The president made a system-wide announcement, on every channel, telling all citizens of Lylat what was going to happen to their beloved home worlds, telling all of Lylat that evacuation was the only option, and that it had to happen in a year from that day. The reaction was the same around the system, no matter what the race. A cry of wordless pain tore the air from eight billion throats, rending the air, screaming sorrow at the sky and the stars beyond. Seconds later, another cry echoed it, one of rage, fury that burned and consumed, rage that something or someone had done this to Lylat, beautiful Lylat, that something or someone would have the gall to destroy Lylat, destroy everyone within it.
The day was marked: Black Monday, The Day of Mourning. Even as production stopped system-wide for most markets, elsewhere industries sprang to life, under orders from the government to change their schedules. Arspace Dynamics stopped production completely and began a massive revamp of their production floor as their researchers went to work, trying to design ships that would carry all of Lylat to safety. All of the other design corporations that had once been in bitter rivalry with them—StarReach, Divinity Designs, Corrin Productions—also went through the same redesign, all shaking hands, all companies agreeing to work together in the search for an answer.
Black Monday, the Day of Mourning… and Hope.

"What's the next step?" Fox asked as the group walked down the hall.
"Research and lots of it." General Pepper replied. "Andross is on his way, so we're preparing for that mess, but the real issue here is designing ships that can contain Lylat." He shook his head. "We've never had the need before to build colonization ships."
"They've been designed, though." Slippy remarked.
"Naturally. Hence why we're here at Arspace. This corporation is acting as a hub for all of the designs." He opened a door and led the group into a huge lab. "Beltino Toad?"
"Good to see you, General!" The engineer grinned, looking up from the computer screen he was looking at. A younger engineer was showing him some designs. "Hello, son, hello Fox, Falco, Peppy." He looked back to the General. "Terrible times, eh?"
"Horrid. How goes things?"
"Busy. We've unearthed all of our old designs, but none of them are on a big enough scale to accommodate what has to be done." He gestured at the printouts that newly decorated all of the walls, all of which had been scribbled on, arrows pointing to bits of ships, scrawling engineer code written by assorted hands. "We're all working long shifts, General, don't worry. We're good at creating things on deadline."
Pepper's face softened. "I know, and I thank you for it. So, what do you think about Andross working here?"
Beltino huffed, crossing his arms. "If he can be trusted, I don't have a problem with it. He's smart, god damn smart."
"Lord knows we need all the help we can get right now." Remarked a female voice, and the group turned to see a young lady vixen joining them, smiling. She was a fennec fox, only about nineteen, wearing a lab jacket tossed on over a flight suit.
"Well, gentlemen, looks like I have the pleasure of introducing you to one of our best test pilots. This is Fara Phoenix. Fara, I believe you know everyone here?"
"From the news, but yes." She smiled, shaking hands with everyone in the group.
Fox, the last to shake her hand, let his gaze wander once she had turned to look at Beltino. Why, he wondered, would fate pick now of all times to drop a bombshell on him? He had of course heard her mentioned in conversation before, but had never even seen a picture of her, and she was beautiful enough it hit him like a slap to the face. And a pilot as well? He sighed inwardly and forced himself to listen to the conversations going on.
"I have a report from the engine department." Fara was saying to Beltino. "They say that they've never built mother ship-sized cold fusion reactors, but the engines were originally meant for cruisers, so the transition should be fairly easy."
"Cold fusion?" Fox heard himself ask.
Fara and Beltino both nodded. "Concept engines have been running for over a year, completely safe. It's self-sustaining, too, so they don't need to be refueled… Once the fusion power runs down, which takes about four years, it can be swapped to a fission reaction instead, so the fuel lasts as long as the half-life, which is about a thousand years."
"Damn, that's good."
Slippy spoke up. "You need me here dad?"
"I'd appreciate it, you're good with planes." Beltino replied. "Fox, we'll call you if we need more test pilots. We probably will, sooner or later."
"All right, then." The group nodded, and left. Pepper stayed behind to talk to Beltino.
Falco snickered, punching Fox's shoulder lightly. "Having some bad thoughts, Fox?"
"What are you talking about?" Fox asked irritably.
"I saw that look, man. You looked like you wanted to eat her alive."
"Shut. Up."
"Leave him alone, Falco." Peppy said with a smile.
"Fox, for god's sake, just ask her out the next time you see her." Falco persisted, ignoring Peppy.
"Nowadays isn't a very good time to be dating I think…" He started.
"Just the opposite is true, actually. Tragedy brings people together for comfort and safety." Peppy interrupted. "I'm inclined to agree with Falco on this one, but do what you want, Fox. You always do."
He grumbled, shaking his head.

Fara sighed, perched on one of the desks, watching as Andross wandered the main lab, getting used to his surroundings. He was wearing a button-down white shirt, black slacks, and a nondescript lab jacket; he looked almost normal. He would probably have looked completely normal if Wolf O'Donnel hadn't been posing temporarily as a bodyguard, leaning against a wall and looking bored.
"You have an amazing facility, Beltino." Andross finally said, smiling at the slightly younger toad. "Thank you for letting me work here."
"I'm just happy that there's a peaceful resolution to this after all." Beltino replied. "I'm honored to have you working here."
The pair shook hands warmly. Beltino had been a follower of Andross' work before the exile, and Andross had borrowed from Beltino's designs for his warships, so in a way they were comrades-at-arms, fellow experts in their fields, fellow scientists.
"So, you're working on mother ships, hmm?" Andross asked, looking at the designs hanging on the walls.
"Yes, those are old proposed designs. We've never had to build one before, and the designs used for capital ships just aren't very economical for a colonization ship."
"Granted." Andross agreed. "What say we start from scratch then?"
"I have got a team of younger thinkers working on that, would you like to head that one up as my group tries to get something useful out of the old designs?"
"That'll work. O'Donnel?" Andross said, looking at his current bodyguard. "I'll be fine here, so you can go."
"Go? Go where?" Wolf wanted to know.
"Call up Pepper and ask him, because that's something I honestly don't know."

"So Slippy's working with his father, eh?" Bill said, looking at Fox through the telescreen. "Where's Falco nowadays?"
"Inner city organization. He knows his way around Corneria City, so he's helping everything in that neck of the woods. Talking to people, making sure everything's ready when the time comes." Fox shrugged. "Peppy's helping the agricultural district. They've been given a pair of revamped cruisers for their cargo, which is basically several of every plant in Lylat, on a genetic level if not a lot of actual seed and living plants."
"My group is cargo ferrying nowadays, but it's a lot, so at least we're busy." Bill admitted. "You didn't say what you were up to, Fox."
"Truthfully? I donated our two empty cargo bays to the literary preservation project." Fox smiled a bit. "You would not believe you many data crystals it takes to store a copy of every book ever published in the Lylat system, let me tell you. The Great Fox is currently parked in Corneria City, and we must get deliveries twice an hour or more from libraries and colleges around the system."
Bill laughed. "Well, that's unusual, but I'll tip my hat to you. Wherever we end up, I'm going to go crazy if I can't read my fantasy novels."
"To be honest, as much as I like what I'm doing for society, it's busywork." Fox admitted. "I couldn't figure out what else to do. Arspace and the other companies don't need test pilots, so I'm kind of a useless figure."
"You'll get your day, Fox."
"Critics would hold that I already have, what with the war."
"Don't worry about it. Now what is this about you having a new love interest?" Bill's voice took on a deeply interested tone, leaning his muzzle on his palm and lifting an eyebrow.
"Damn it. Falco told you, didn't he?" Fox growled, shaking his head. "I've talked to her three times so far, I think."
"Bah, you think. I bet you have every word of the conversations memorized, if Falco's not kidding about how infatuated you are. So who is she?"
"Her name's Fara Phoenix, she's a test pilot at Arspace." He said in a begrudging voice.
"I've heard of her. Heard a lot of good things, actually. Go for it, man."
"Not you too…"
"Yeah, yeah. Take a risk, Fox." Bill rolled his eyes and disconnected.
Fox moaned and flopped back, rubbing his eyes.
"Just so you know, you're not the only useless figure."
He jumped a foot in the air, turning to look toward the door. Wolf leaned on the frame, looking at him, mechanical eye refocusing. "ROB, why didn't you tell me…?"
ROB blinked awake. "Fox, I have something like a trillion pages to catalog. Security systems are on their own right now, and you turned them off."
"Oh. Right." He sighed. "Afternoon, Wolf. What brings you here?"
"As implied." He strolled in and sat down, pulling out a clove cigarette and offering one to Fox, who politely turned it down. "Andross is working with Arspace, and has no need for a bodyguard. What's left of the Venomian army has been dispersed, and I'm the last living member of Star Wolf. I spoke to Pepper, and he's got nothing for me to do. So here I am." He smiled sourly, breathing smoke through his nostrils. "Kind of sad, really, considering we were both the conquering hero for our side not long ago."
"Tell me about it." Fox heard himself say. "So you come here looking for something to do?"
"Looking for someone to talk to who won't attempt to kill me or attach magnets to me."
He laughed, standing. "Well, ok, but if we're going to talk, I need a beer."
"You sharing?"
"You won't believe how many six-packs I bought the day after I found out about this mess, so sure, the more the merrier."
Two hours later the pair was relaxed in the den, empty bottles scattered over the coffee table and an ashtray full of burned-out cloves. Wolf had been tempted to come here, kill Fox, then just cue the AI in his head to shut him off and therefore commit suicide, but he had dismissed the idea shortly after making himself known.
He hated Fox, hated him with all his heart. Fox had always had everything he couldn't, always done better, always succeeded where he had failed. It had been Fox that had shot him down in the war, killing him in the subsequent crash, making him rely on cybernetics and AI to carry on surviving. Fox was the reason why he was alone…
He shook off those thoughts wearily, looking across the cluttered coffee table at Lylat's hero, who was sprawled on a couch comfortably, talking lazily and easily. This was the same person who had hated him with such passion during the war? How did he hide it? Had it been faked?
#He is not a danger to us now.# Remarked the cool, emotionless voice in his head, the AI that monitored his vital signals, kept his thought patterns straight.
'I know.' Wolf replied, feeling tired. 'But I can't help but hate him…'
#That's rather wasteful if you ask me. Your energy could go toward something useful.#
'Like what?' When he got no answer, he decided to ignore the AI. "Fox?"
"Yeah?" Fox twisted his neck to look at him, eyes half closed. Four bottles of beer, and he was pretty much down for the count. He was surprised that he was still able to coherently understand Wolf.
"Don't you hate me?" Wolf heard himself blurt, then gaped when Fox began to hysterically laugh. "What? Stop laughing! I'm serious! You loathed me during the war, but you're friendly now. Why?"
"I didn't hate you during the war, Wolf." Fox said, gasping. "You hated me, yeah, sure. Everyone and their brother knows that." He wove he mostly empty bottle in his hand absently. "But I never hated you. You were a competitor, a match, and for that I thank you. I don't know what I did to you, but I apologize for… for whatever it was." He struggled to his feet, staggering. "I need to go to bed before I loose my ability to walk. You can stay here if you really want to, ok?"
"All right." Wolf watched him leave, then moaned, cupping his face in his hands.

Time passed quickly, and with each day the desperation that seemed to permeate the system increased, little by little. There were literally thousands of things to be done before the evacuation, many of which had to be coordinated perfectly. But, in spite of the odds, very few problems were found in the first month of the evacuation project. Everything raced forward smooth as silk, getting ready for that final, terrible day when they would bid Lylat goodbye forever.
A month and a half into the deadline, Arspace announced that they had a working design for the mother ships, and once again hope rippled through the system. Twenty of these ships had to be built in ten months, but they had a design. Production companies would meet their deadline, they said with certainty. No one would be left behind.
No one.

"In prisons across the system, there are around a thousand convicts on the green mile." General Pepper said, looking across his desk and Fox. "And there are more then a hundred thousand with sentences that last longer then a decade. This is a problem, Fox. We're talking about rapists, murderers, extortionists… these people can't be in normal society." He shook his head. "The word's already gone out to the prisons to proceed with emptying the green mile. No extra hearings, nothing, just carry out the sentence. It's not worth the space on the mother ships to carry convicts who have to be killed once we get where we're going."
"Cold, distant, but understandable." Fox agreed, nodding. "Politicians are probably having a field day with it, too."
"That they are, but we're keeping it pretty quiet, all things considered. But that doesn't really solve the problem. What do we do with the others? The president promised that no one would be left behind, but is it worth it to the Lylat system to carry convicted felons?"
"I'm not sure I can answer that, General." He admitted.
"No one can, and that's the problem."
There was a long silence.
"Well, have the prisons do evaluations. The ones with more minor sentences can probably be allowed. Self defense, robbery… those people can probably be straightened out eventually." Fox finally said. "But murder, rape… General, I have no love in my heart for those people. We can't spare the room on our mother ships for them."
"I can't agree more. But can we leave them to die?"
He was silent for a long moment, closing his eyes, imagining knowing that a multiple-time convicted rapist was on one of the mother ships, knowing that no prison would be built when they reached where they were going… he had a sudden, brutal image of Fara trapped by one of these people, and opened his eyes. "I would." He said quietly, flatly.
Pepper stared at him for a long moment, and nodded once. "We'll order the evaluations. I guess once they mother ships have all launched on d-day, we'll trigger all of the locks to open on the prisons. If they can survive, I guess we can let them. But we're not taking them with us."
Twenty minutes later Fox was sitting in his car, staring at the ceiling with the engine idling, wondering if he had said the right thing. He had already paid the money to have the car repaired, even though he knew it would be left behind when the evacuation happened, and as he listened to the engine purr, he wondered about himself.
He had just condemned an unknown amount of people to death, to being left on a planet that would dissolve into a magma-ridden volcanic deathtrap. But by the same token, he knew that he would not want those people on the mother ships, at the colonies, where they could do damage. That image of Fara brutalized had stuck with him, and he tried to shake it off. In spite of Falco's nagging, he hadn't asked her on a date, content just to talk to her at Arspace, finding out things about her as he went. She loved to read, loved flying, and miracle of miracles was single. Fox knew he was completely and utterly infatuated, and tried to ignore it. He wasn't sure that he wanted to start a relationship now, with all of the problems, all of the worry.
Eventually he shook himself awake and put the car in gear, merging with traffic and leaving the downtown area, heading away from the city, into the hills. The road was long and winding, a two lane blacktop, eventually passing through a large, gothic gate that had been left open. He parked in the small lot and walked down the path he knew by heart, eventually ending up at the peak of one of the hills.
He spent a lot of time here, if he was troubled, and he had convinced himself that it was only natural. He sat down with his back to the cool marble gravestone, looking out over the city. Even if his parents were dead, he still spoke to them; it was comforting even if he couldn't hear them answer.
He zipped up his jacket as the wind picked up, watching the leaves that had already fallen blow by, staring down at the city, his city, his beloved home. In less then a year, it would be wiped from existence forever, the slate wiped clean, history all but erased except in the data crystals that were aboard his ship. He had always lived in Corneria City, he knew the roads like the back of his hand, and thousands of his memories lived there, both good and bad. He had fought for the city during the war, kept it from falling, and now there was nothing he could do but watch as it did so.
He let the tears fall, hugging his legs to his chest, looking down at his home until his vision blurred, choking on sobs long repressed. It felt as if some part of him was going to die soon, die with the collapse of his home, and he could do nothing but wait for it to happen.
"I was under the impression that soldiers didn't cry."
Fox jumped looking up. "How did you find me, Wolf?" He demanded, staring at the figure which was standing about ten feet away, carefully not standing on the graves, trench coat flapping in the early fall winds.
The figure shrugged. "I followed you. You were so wrapped up in your thoughts you didn't notice." He walked over easily, also looking down at the city, eyes distant. His dog tags still hung around his neck, Fox blinked when he noticed that there were four on that chain, not two.
"Why?" Fox stared up at him, wiping his tears away on his sleeve, not understanding at all. Wolf had been hanging around the Great Fox, but they actually didn't talk all that much. Both were wrapped up in their own thoughts and troubles. Part of him wanted to be angry, but he knew it wasn't worth it.
"Had nothing better to do. Mind if I join you?"
"Sure."
Wolf sat down next to him, in between graves, tucking his legs under himself and leaning back on his palms. Both were quiet for a while, not looking at each other, just sitting, looking down at the city, enjoying the companionship even if they didn't admit it. They weren't enemies anymore, but they weren't exactly friends either, mostly because Wolf was holding onto his hate, even if he didn't explain that to Fox.
"So." Wolf said suddenly, voice oddly twisted, pained. "Can soldiers cry?"
"Weird question. Of course they can." Fox said, staring at him. "Given a good reason. Death of a friend or something like that…" He trailed off, finally awkwardly finishing, "I don't want to loose my home, and that's why I'm crying."
"Ah." Wolf said, voice distant, playing with the dog tags around his neck. After a very long moment, he closed his eyes, and a whimper rose from his throat, chest jerking in a sob as repressed pain started to rise. "I haven't cried since I was five or so, even if it was a good reason… I was beaten if I cried… beaten bloody…" He choked on the words. "But, the pain, the loss of someone I cared for… I can't take it anymore…"
Fox just continued staring, processing this slowly. Beaten? "Let it out then."
"I don't remember how."
Silence fell again, broken by Wolf's muffled, jerking sobs. Fox just continued to watch his old enemy, watch and wonder, but neither said anything, both afraid to break the silence.
Eventually, Wolf did again, holding onto his dog tags so tightly his knuckles were white. "Can… can you imagine having to shoot your lover?"
Fox gaped. "No. No I can't imagine that."
"I did. There wasn't really a choice… he was screaming, dying… I had to stop the pain somehow…"
"Uh. 'He'?"
Wolf looked at him, and fury flashed in his eyes. "Let me explain something to you, McCloud. As a child, I was beaten until I couldn't move, then left to rot. I was abused, neglected, ignored. I'll take any sort of attention, affection I can get because of that, because I've been deprived of it all of my existence. I don't care who's holding me as long as that person really cares for me." He looked away. "To be honest, I haven't been in that many relationships, and until recently they were only with girls. I guess Leon figured me out, he was good at body language…" He choked, whimpering, and it was several moments before he could continue. "We kept it quiet of course, Pigma would have ratted on us if he found out, but it was wonderful while it lasted. He was badly injured when he crashed after your buddy Falco shot him down. I died, and was brought back thanks to modern technology." Sarcasm and spite dripped into his voice. "And the first thing I heard when I woke up was Leon screaming in agony. I shot him myself to end his pain. I killed him, killed my lover…" He gave in and started to cry, rocking back and forth a bit as he hysterically sobbed.
Fox continued to stare, bewildered by this confession, having no idea what to do. If a girl was upset, his first impulse was to hold them, hug them. A guy, he just stayed, offered a kind presence, a kind word. But these rules counted for friends, and he wasn't sure what Wolf was, especially with this admittance. He knew Wolf had no love in his heart for him, and yet Wolf had just admitted to his face that he was bisexual. Unable to do anything, he sat and blinked, watching Wolf rock and cry, face buried in his knees, still-living ear pressed down to his skull—the other one didn't have the mobility it had had without the cybernetic support. Over ten minutes passed before either spoke again.
"You're staring." Wolf remarked thickly, not looking at him.
"Sorry." Fox immediately looked away, looking back over the city.
"Why? Why be sorry for me?" He made a choking noise. "I'm already dead."
"Well, that unto itself is a perfectly good reason, but why are you taking offence Wolf? You lost someone you cared for. I can sympathize with that."
"You lost your parents. I lost my partner. Slightly different." Wolf wiped at his tear-striped fur, bitterness crawling into his voice.
"Still, we've both lost people we loved."
"I never said I loved him."
Fox looked back at him. "You never said you didn't."
Wolf blinked once, mechanical eye lagging slightly behind the real one, hands curling into fists and vibrating with pent-up emotion. Sorrow and rage stormed through him, colored his vision. "Bastard." He finally whispered, and looked away, shoulders shaking.
"What the hell did I do?" Fox demanded, voice sharp. "I try to be nice and you bite my god damn head off! For Christ's sake, Wolf, make a choice! If you're dead, die already!" He stopped, blinking, watching pain ripple over Wolf's face. "I didn't mean that."
"Yes you did." He looked away.
"I'm sorry." Fox finally said honestly.
There was another long silence, during which Wolf started slowly rocking again, hugging himself by not crying, staring off into the distance without really seeing. It seemed a harsh, odd contrast, the childlike response from a body that was battered and adult, partly robotic.
"I hate you." Wolf finally said, sounding helpless and exhausted.
"Yeah, I know." Fox pushed himself off the ground and knelt beside his old enemy, wrapping his arms around Wolf's shoulders and rocking very slowly. Wolf sighed after a moment and accepted it, wrapping his arms over Fox's.
"You are the strangest person I know, McCloud." Wolf finally said after several minutes had passed, breathing rate finally normal again, tension leaving his muscles.
Fox laughed and let go, sitting back down beside him and staring back out over his city. "Lucky for you I'm such a nice guy, eh?"
"Arrogant bastard, but so was Leon, and if I can handle him, you'll be a piece of cake." Wolf snorted softly, working his robotic arm absently.
"Did you love him?"
"Yeah. Yeah I guess I did."
"He love you?"
"… He loved to take advantage of me." Wolf finally said. "I was just another toy to him, something else to torment. I've known that a long time, but it still felt like I had ripped out my own heart when I shot him."
"Sweet Jesus."
"I wish…" He rubbed at his eyes irritably as they burned again, trying to fight down another wave of tears. "He was such a sadist, Fox."
"I know. I heard all about what he did to prisoners. I actually met one of the survivors after the war… a basset hound that had no tail, no ear flaps…" Fox shuddered.
"Eh, that was minor then. He liked hurting me, liked cutting around my veins so death was close but never there." He closed his eyes, shivering.
"It's behind you now."
"I know. And some part of me wants it back."
After a moment, Fox stood and held a hand down. "I'm going back to the Great Fox…"
Wolf accepted the hand up. "Guess I can head back to the hotel, fry what's left of my brain with Jerry Springer."
"You've been staying at a hotel all this time?!"
"Unfortunately…"
"You're going to retrieve all of your things, then you're going to stay on board. No, don't argue with me." He poked Wolf in the chest when he started to protest. "Because the way I see it, if we're both useless, we might as well keep each other company."
Wolf slowly grinned, then burst into laughter.

"Grey! Commander Grey! Wake up! Please sir wake up!"
Bill gasped and rolled out of bed, hitting the floor and sitting up. It was a moment before he staggered to his feet and limped to the door, opening it and looking at the disheveled private that had been pounding on it. "What?" He asked around a yawn, rubbing sleep from his eyes.
"Sir… there's been an earthquake. Sir."
An hour later Bill was standing beside a personnel truck, just staring down. His base was isolated, within driving distance of several large towns, but it was several hours driving to get to the planet's capital. And now he was standing on a hill overlooking the city, and could not believe what he saw.
It was leveled. The entire city had been flattened. It was if a great hand had just smashed it to the ground, grinding down the buildings, blowing them down as if they were sand. Even from his position, he heard sirens, saw dozens of emergency vehicles fighting their way through the rubble.
The quake had been in a very precise area, as if the bastard doom machines had aimed. The shockwaves had struck at over 8.0 on the Richter, taking out the entire capital and all suburbs. Roads had been opened into rifts, hundred-story skyscrapers collapsing to the ground.
"How many?" Bill rasped, staring down at the disaster site, tail between his legs.
"Sir, we haven't gotten any accurate figures…" Started a nearby pilot slowly.
"Just tell me."
"We think at least 80% of the city is dead, more by the time we unearth all of the wreckage… that's over a million people."
Bill slumped to the ground and cried, howling hysterical sorrow to the sky as the first rays of dawn crept over the horizon.

Fox watched numbly as Wolf hauled the flag down hand over hand, securing it at half mast mechanically, like he had done it a dozen times. A million people wiped out in a blink of the eye, an entire city destroyed.
"Did the bastard device really target the city?" Wolf asked as he finished with the flag, walking over to Fox.
"That's what Pepper told me when he woke me up this morning. I tried to call Bill… nothing. He's not answering. I guess he's helping with the rescue operations."
"This is getting out of hand." Peppy's voice said, and he joined the pair. "Morning, Wolf." He added, lifting an eyebrow. "What brings you to the Great Fox so early?"
"Fox is letting me stay here." Wolf replied. "Misery loves company."
"That it does." He looked back to Fox. "The agriculture project is over halfway done, zoological about 40% along. They'll be done when the time comes."
"Good news. Wonderful. God knows we haven't had enough of that." Fox smiled weakly, ears perking up when a motorcycle's purr reached him.
Falco pulled up, setting a foot down and looking up at the lowered flag. "Morning guys… morning Wolf." He added. "I take it you heard. All of the people in my division are scared that Corneria City is next."
"Why would someone set up the devices to do this?" Fox asked. "Wiping the slate clean I can sort of understand, but targeting major cities first?"
"To prevent interference, I suppose." Wolf said, shaking his head. "So what's the plan now?"
"I don't know." Fox admitted slowly. "I just don't know. Let's go on board, see if we can contact the General. Maybe he has new orders…"

"We've made good progress, but this could ruin everything." Pepper said, sitting back. "A million people dead… the system will never recover from the shock. We can't spend the resources searching for survivors either, at least not the resources we should. Horrible… I tell you, if I ever meet the… the bastards that built these bombs, I will personally kill them. This is evil, and that's that."
"We won't argue, believe us." Fox replied, looking at his superior through the camera. "What's the next move?"
"Well, the first mother ship is almost completed, the next several over halfway finished. They'll be done on deadline. Most large cities have evacuation plans; barring any other large catastrophes D-Day itself should go smoothly. Agriculture and Zoological are progressing as planned, cultural transfer is ahead of schedule, resource gathering is ok… There's only one problem." He closed his eyes. "Fox, we have no idea where we're going."
"Yeah, that'd be a problem all right." Falco said.
"We've got a few planets targeted for investigation, we'll move like a convoy and search for a suitable place. 99% of the people will be in cool-sleep, so we can keep searching for a year or two before it becomes a real problem, but that's still not much time to find a new home world. Especially since this entire arm of the galaxy might be out." He growled. "It'll take a month just to get off this arm."
"Of these planets, how sure are the eggheads at NASA that they'll be inhabitable?"
"Only about 30%."
"Christ."
"Yes, my thoughts exactly. Fox, we're going to escape all right, but this ejection pod of ours has no trajectory. We just might be screwed after all."
"Keep optimistic, General. Something will come through. It has to. We've gotten this far."
"Nice to hear someone upbeat for a change. Pepper out." The screen blanked.
"What is the chance of us finding a world that's inhabitable?" Falco asked, looking at ROB.
"Under one percent." ROB replied. "I won't tell you how many zeros after the decimal."
"Now wonder this hasn't been told to the public. Can you imagine what the suicide rate would do? It's already quadrupled."
"The important thing right now is making sure D-Day happens." Peppy said sharply. "So let's all stay focused on that. We will survive." He put out a hand, and immediately Falco and Fox covered it with their own, looking at Wolf. Wolf blinked, then added his living hand over theirs uncertainly, bewildered that he was seemingly accepted into their clique. "We will survive."

"Hi, Fox." Fara looked up and smiled, blowing a strand of hair out of her eyes. "Come to check up on how the Mother ship Hope is coming along?"
"Something like that, yes. Hope you don't mind if Wolf tagged along." He added this when Wolf wandered by, looking over an engineer's shoulder at some designs. The engineer didn't notice.
"Nah." She stood and handed him a hard hat. "Come on, I'll show you our baby."
"Our?" He blinked.
"Well, our as in Arspace's."
She led him out of the design wing and into the huge production warehouses, walking over catwalks and holding the door as they went into the largest of them all. Fox gaped, staring at the huge, beautiful ship, the size of three grand cruisers, the name already painted along the side.
"She's beautiful." Fox finally said.
"She's nearly done." Fara smiled, leading him down a stairway and over to where Beltino and Andross stood. "Visitor, boss."
"Hi Fox." Beltino smiled. "What do you think?"
"It's one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen." He stared up at the ship. "My god, the wings… the wings look feathered."
"Entirely functional, I assure you." Andross grinned. "Angel wings to carry us to safety. The feathers are for temperature control."
Fox grinned at them. "You are geniuses."
"Flattery gets you a tour. Would you mind, Fara?" Beltino glanced at her.
"Not at all! Come on, Fox." She led him up a ramp, ducking a robot arm, talking as she went. "We're just doing the insides now. The exterior is completely finished, computers are finished, engines done, et cetera. Now it's just making the Hope livable."
"How much longer left?" He asked, running a hand down a metal wall.
"Two days perhaps." She smiled. "We'll have twenty of these within three months, more then within the deadline, but it's not a bad thing."
"Not at all." He returned the smile, letting his gaze wander both the ship and her as they walked, regretting that he hadn't gotten up the guts to ask her on a date. Sure, they were both busy, but… "You got a break coming up by any chance?"
She blinked at him in surprise. "Yeah, for lunch, why?"
"Care to go for a ride? I know some good restaurants."
After staring at him a moment, she laughed. "How long have you been waiting to ask that?"
"Since I met you." He felt his ears grow hot, which generally meant he was blushing.
"I'd love to go for a ride." She smiled and ruffled his fur. "My lunch break is in half an hour."
Fox nearly dissolved, leaning into her hand, tail whipping into a blur. "Works for me. Thank you."
"Not a problem at all."

"I can't imagine having to leave here in less then a year." Fox admitted, staring out the window. The restaurant was downtown, looking over some of the busiest streets, showing a slice of life with each blink.
"Neither can I." Fara said, stabbing her last egg roll hungrily. "It seems surreal, like we're dreaming and we'll wake up soon if we make the effort."
"Do you know what the worst part is?"
"What's the good part?" She pointed out.
He smiled weakly. "Point, but some parts are worse then others. My parents are buried outside of this city. They'll be wiped away with the surface is."
She was silent for a moment, chewing, then said in a flat voice, "The worst part for me is that I have a cousin doing life in a federal prison. Repeated arson. He's being left behind."
"Jesus." He whispered, bowing his head. "I'm so sorry."
"How is it your fault, Fox?" She asked with a dry smile. "A lot of people are going through the same thing. Everyone knows now that some types of prisoners are just going to be left behind, and in some ways I agree. Serial killers, rapists, pedophiles…" She shivered. "But… he's still my cousin."
"I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault."
He was silent for a very long time, staring blankly out the window. "Yes. It is."
"What?" She blinked at him.
"I was the one who suggested to Pepper that we abandon lifers to their fates. He had already decided to clear out the green miles, but I decided to leave the lifers and others who deserved it. I'm sorry."
There was another very long moment of silence as she stared at him. He didn't meet her eyes, staring out the window, looking pained. She had grown up with her cousin and loved him a lot, but he was a pyro and had destroyed millions of dollars in buildings and possessions with his last fire because he was careless. She didn't want him to die, but knew it was for the best. He couldn't change. He'd set fires in the new colonies, he'd set them on the ships if he was able to, and thus he was a danger to all of humanity.
"I understand why you did it, Fox. You were just trying to protect your people." She finally said softly.
"Yes, but… I still feel like crap. I'm practically killing your cousin with my own hands." He looked at his hands and hugged himself, fighting the urge to rock.
"No. My cousin can't change, Fox, he'd end up accidentally blowing up one of the mother ships if he wasn't in cool sleep, or he'd burn a colony to the ground. We can't afford losses by fire or any other way. I understand."
He looked at her, ears down. "Do you hate me?"
She reached across the table and caught one of his hands. "No. No, not at all."

Falco pulled his motorcycle off into a parking slot and put the kickstand down, pulling the key out and walking down the street, checking a PDA. Almost everyone in downtown Corneria City had checked in, he was just checking a few people who had shown resistance to the evacuation. 95% of Corneria City was registered for a mother ship, it was that last 5% that was the problem. As always.
He sighed, letting himself into an apartment building absently and taking the elevator up. Worse that he had to talk to someone in his own building! He had held an apartment here for over a year now, and he knew the woman resisting. Old Marie Kendle, an elderly lioness who the whole building treated like a grandmother. He had too, he hadn't had a grandma while growing up, and he had gotten in the habit of giving Marie roses on mother's day. Why she was fighting signing up for the evacuation, he wasn't sure, but he was determined to find out.
He stepped out of the elevator and walked down the hallway, pressing the buzzer. A few minutes later Marie answered, smiling up at Falco, crinkles forming at the corners of her kind eyes. "Ah, young Mr. Lombardi." She cuffed him on the shoulder affectionately. "What brings you here?"
"Business. Can I come in, Missus Kendle?"
"Of course, love." She let him in and closed the door, going into the kitchen and bringing him a mug of coffee, dusted with cocoa and cinnamon. He closed his hands around the mug, smiling, unable to believe she still remembered how he took his coffee. "Now, what business?"
"I'm in charge of the evacuation of Corneria City proper, ma'am." He saw her manner change, and hurriedly finished. "I was told you refused to sign up, and I'm concerned. I want to know why."
"That isn't easy to explain, love." She sat down, hands cupping her own coffee mug, head bowed.
"Please tell me."
"Look around my apartment. Tell me what you see."
He blinked and took a slow look around, taking in the thick, creamy carpet, the overstuffed wood furniture, the polished upright piano, the pictures, the lovingly dusted collectibles. "I see… I see a home."
"Yes." She met his eyes. "Home. I was born on Corneria, love. I'm going to die here."
"Missus Kendle, you could still live another decade or more!" Falco blurted. "If you came along on the evacuation…"
"What use am I? I'm just an old, retired woman. I can't have children, I don't work. I'd be a burden." She said sharply. "And I don't want to die on a planet I barely know, or in space. I'm going to die here. I'm going to die in the city I love." She crossed her arms. "My husband died here, love. I will die here as well."
He was silent for a long time, throat tight with emotion, knowing he loved this old woman like she was his own grandmother and wracked with pain because of it. She wanted to be left behind, desired it passionately. "You… you know what's going to happen, right?"
"Yes, I do. An earthquake which will shatter the foundations of the planet." She smiled softly. "I've heard it all, and I'm not afraid." She reached across the coffee table, taking the mug from his hands and clasping one of his feathered hands between her old, arthritic ones. "I'm not afraid to die, Mr. Lombardi. I've been quietly awaiting it since I lost my beloved husband, even with all of my adopted children and grandchildren." She lifted a hand, wiping away a tear that escaped from one of his eyes. "Don't, love. It's not worth it. I'm just an old woman." She squeezed his hand. "You should go now."
He nodded and left, giving her a hug as a bid goodbye, and staggered out of the building, choking on sobs he wouldn't let out.

"Squad Leader Monroe?"
Katt turned, leaning back against the railing and looking at the soldier. The boat was flying over the waters of Zoness at the highest clip possible while doing sonar searches, looking for its quarry with the uncanny accuracy of an AI. "Yes?"
"We're ready to try again."
She nodded. The Agricultural Project had been restricted to one revamped cruiser, but the zoological had required two, and the second had a special cool sleep tank for the dragons.
Her dragons.
The ship slowed as she went to the front of the ship, leaning onto the bar and smiling. The AI had been dead on, and a pack of sea dragons crested out of the water as two other ships came in from other directions, helping to net and get genetic material from all of the specimens, and choosing a few for cool sleep. A young one was hauled up onto the deck of the boat she was on, tranquilized, only ten feet long. She knelt beside it, stroking its ear fins and smiling. Beautiful creatures, just beautiful, and almost all were going to die. Their genetics would live on, but the creatures themselves were going to die.
"We keep this one." She told a nearby soldier, still rubbing the ear fins of the sea dragon. It mumbled sleepily, looking at her with lazy eyes. She knew that sea dragons were largely vegetarian, only eating meat during breeding season, so she wasn't in danger. Besides, this was just a yearling and barely that.
"Yes, ma'am."
"At least I'm saving what I can." She murmured to herself, giving the sea dragon one last pat and standing as it was issued another tranquilizer and loaded for cool sleep. "But I don't think it's really enough."

"We've got Macbeth evacuated to Katina and Corneria City." Peppy said, moving the 3D map around. "As well as the mining colonies on Titania."
"There's a billion bucks of mining machines down the drain." ROB remarked sourly. "The government just financed that operation."
"Don't feel too bad, it's all being recycled for the evacuation. We've got everyone notified, so no one will get left behind. Things are going almost perfect."
"Almost." Bill said very softly. "The earthquakes on Katina are getting worse."
"We know. The deadline has already been pushed up by a month. Almost sent the zoological division into frenzy." He sighed. "Some good news though. The Hope is launching today at noon."
"That is good news." Falco grinned. "Our first colonization mother ship, getting off the ground."
"All many metal tons of her, yes." Slippy agreed, rubbing a temple absently, feeling tired but happy. All of the hard work was finally paying off. "It's a good thing too, gets her out of harm's way. You'll all be there for the launch I take it?"
"I know I wouldn't miss it for the world." Wolf remarked with a smile.
"Poor grammar for someone who once wanted to take the world over." Katt remarked.
Wolf glared for a moment, and then let it break into a weak smile. These people were certainly slowly making him a nicer person, he supposed. He could barely find it in his heart to keep carrying his bitter rivalry with Fox. Of course, the thing that came to mind now when he thought of Fox were strong arms around him and soothing rocking, so that helped more then a bit.
"Who's piloting the thing, anyway?" Fox asked curiously. "I know a crew of ten has to handle the bridge, but who's the captain?"
"Fellow by the name of Phillip Cayman." Slippy said.
That brought a good laugh. "The guy who was in charge of Venom's defense line?" Falco asked.
"He's a damn good organizer actually, and he's great at fighting large forces. Hence how we wiped the floor with the poor guy." Slip spread his hands with a smile. "He's puffed up like a peacock with this new post, let me tell you. He's promised us so many times that he won't screw up that I think he's sold us his soul by now."
"Yeah, but what's it worth, a nickel?"
"Be nice, Fal. The guy seems to have a heart of gold. He asked if he could bring his pet cat, for Christ's sake."
"And that makes him an award winner?"
"Oh, enough Falco. The guy works with Andross, and we've got our former arch-nemesis living on board. Not like we can talk." Fox said, fingers laced behind his head and leaning back in his chair.
"You're way too relaxed." Falco decided, eying him, and grinned. "Oooh. Exercise a fantasy, did we?"
"I took Fara out to lunch, and if you say one word, I'll shoot you."
"He isn't kidding." Peppy remarked. "So lay off, already."
"All right. Sheesh. People can't even take a joke nowadays…"

Fara smiled, head tilted back and hair flapping around her face as the Hope lifted slowly off the ground, rockets firing in a deafening roar as the mother ship's nose tilted upward. With a blast of fire, the huge spacecraft left the earth behind, pressing for space, wings opening like an angel's as it soared upward.
"Beautiful." She finally said with a smile.
"God, yes." Fox agreed, staring after the Hope with a smile. "And sadly appropriate too. A beautiful creation to save our system."
General Pepper, who was standing at the podium, suddenly whooped and tossed his hat in the air, expressing the first true joy anyone had seen from him since the news had been broke. "First milestone down! A HA HA HA!" With that, he pulled a bottle of champagne out of the podium and gave it a good shake. "Folks, I've been looking for an excuse to get drunk for the last two and a half months. In other words, let's turn this into a proper celebration." He popped the cork and sprayed the crowd, which sputtered and dove out of the way, laughing. The scientists and news crews took that as a signal and also broke into raucous cheering, hats and white jackets thrown in the air in celebration, returning inside and pulling bottles of wine out of desk drawers and supply closets.
"Did EVERYONE bring a bottle to celebrate the day?" Wolf asked, shaking off. He had made the mistake of standing right in front of the podium, and he was soaked with champagne.
"Yes." Fara grinned. "We've been working twelve to sixteen hour shifts, seven days a week, to get Hope in the air. God knows we need the break."
"In which case, give." Wolf took the bottle away from General Pepper and proceeded to chug what was left, then handed the empty bottle back, hiccupping. "Thank you."
One of the scientists, burrowing into a cubicle stacked with so many printouts it looked like a closet full of paper, cried out triumphantly when he found what he was looking for, holding up a large boom box. Another researcher came over and plugged it in, and soon music was thumping as the rest of Arspace arrived, and suddenly it really was a happy, chaotic party, making up for lost merriment.
Fox smiled, finding a seat and watching, accepting a glass of wine but not really drinking it. It was the first real milestone, the first step toward saving his people, and he knew it was a reason to celebrate, but he also knew they were nowhere near done.
"Being a wallflower?" Fara asked, sitting down next to him, spinning the seat around so she faced the same way, but leaned forward so her arms were propped on the back of the chair.
"Yeah, I suppose. I don't think I can really celebrate until it's over."
"Understandable. Want me to keep you company?"
"I'd love that."
The night wore on, and Fox stayed where he was, content with laughing at the drunken computer geeks. Eventually, though, he noticed something. Wolf wasn't in the room anymore, and that fact started to worry him after he noticed it. Wolf was drunk, having consumed over a bottle of wine by himself in under an hour, and Fox was a bit worried that he had tried to drive home. But Fara was leaning on his shoulder, and he very, very desperately wanted to sit and cuddle.
'Great, what a wonderful coin toss, my conscience versus my hormones.' Fox sighed, wrapping his arm around Fara's waist and pulling her close.
"What's wrong?" She glanced up at him, arm wrapping around his ribs. He shivered happily, then huffed at himself for being so whipped.
"Wolf's absentee."
She blinked and looked around. "Damn. You're right…"
"I've got to go look for him." He brushed her off and stood. "Stay here. I'll be back in a few minutes." He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her on the forehead, then left the room before she could say anything.
The rest of Arspace was empty, the other wings closed and locked. Eventually he left the building and went out into the parking lot, and found Wolf sprawled in the huge cargo bay of his borrowed suburban, the back doors open and the radio going, staring at the ceiling blankly.
"You ok?" Fox finally asked, clambering into the suburban and holding a hand in front of Wolf's nose, making sure that his old enemy was breathing.
"Hey…" Wolf smiled dazedly. "What brings you here?"
"Looking for you. What are you doing?"
"Waiting for the roof to stop spinning so I can drive home."
"… Somehow, that's sensible, but you're still quite mad, I assure you." Fox sighed, rubbing his eyes. "I'll drive you home in a little bit."
"Home? Your home?" Wolf turned his head to look at Fox, eyes not quite focusing.
"No, the Great Fox."
"That's… not m'home." He sat up with effort. "It's jussa ship. You make it home."
Fox blinked at him, bewildered. "What am I supposed to say to that?"
"Nothing." Wolf pulled him down so he sat and nestled into his chest, tail twitching, chest heaving in a sigh. "Jus' shuddup and hug me."
Fox blinked in bewilderment, staring down at the half-cybernetic man that currently had his face buried in his shoulder. "You're blitzed, Wolf."
"Mmhm."
"This does not change the fact that I'm straight."
"Jus' be nice an' cuddle."
He sighed and rearranged, leaning back against the back of the middle-row seats of the suburban and crossing his legs under himself Indian-style. Wolf curled up in his lap so he wrapped around one of Fox's knees, shoulder tucked into Fox's lap and head sitting on Fox's thigh, eyes half-closed.
"You need a girlfriend. Or something." Fox finally said.
"Mm."
"I mean it, if you're so lonely you're hitting on me…" Fox trailed off, and rubbed his eyes. "You're asleep, aren't you?"
He didn't get an answer.
"Well, that's just peachy." He sighed, looking down at his old enemy. "Glad you're comfortable. Now what the hell am I supposed to do, huh?"
About half an hour later, Fara arrived, having followed the sound of the music from the suburban, half-empty wineglass still in hand. "Fox?"
"Hi. I'm trapped."
She studied Wolf's position and burst out laughing. "He passed out?"
"He's deeply asleep." Fox agreed as Fara climbed in next to him and gave him the rest of the wine. "Thanks. Think he'd care if I dropped him off at the Great Fox and borrowed the suburban?"
"I doubt it. Going home?"
"I think I deserve to get drunk just like everyone else, but I don't like being inebriated in public." He shrugged. "I'm going to go binge on snack food and fall asleep in front of my fireplace."
"Want some help with the snack food?" She asked after a pause, lifting an eyebrow.
He grinned. "I'd love it. Now let's see if we can move this guy without disturbing his time in dreamland…"

"Falco! What are you doing here?" Katt looked up in surprise, sitting on the edge of the holding tank, legs dangling in the water. The young sea dragon was playing with a beach ball, doing loops through its own coils without tying itself in knots. "It's got to be three in the morning Corneria time."
"Yeah I know." He sat down next to her, watching the dragon, eyes dull. "I couldn't sleep last night. I didn't even bother going to Hope's launch."
"Why not?"
He hesitated, then slowly related what had happened to him, explaining that his adopted grandmother wanted to be left, saying the little details that pained him the most even if it was silly to him. She listened quietly, tossing the dragon's beach ball for him when it brought the ball to her, holding Falco's hand when she wasn't doing that. He clutched her hand and spilled the pain out, choking the tears back painfully.
"Let it out, hon." Katt said gently when he was done, caressing his cheek. "You're going to hurt yourself."
"Men don't cry, Katt."
"You have reason to. Let it out." She pulled him to her chest, running her fingers through his feathers as he whimpered, finally giving in and sobbing helplessly. The crying jag lasted almost fifteen minutes, and she let him cry until he was done, soothing him as she could. "Feel better, baby?"
"A little." He finally mumbled.
The dragon, deciding it had been ignored enough, reared out of the water and bounced the ball off Falco's head. He jumped and swatted it away automatically, looking at the dragon.
"Meet Boomer." Katt smiled. "He's one of the dragons coming with us when we evacuate."
"Cute pet."
"He can be, but he's a true attention hog. He misses his mom." She patted the side of the holding tank, and Boomer swam over, rearing up so he could get his ear fins scratched.
"… That's female intuition on a disturbing scale, Katt."
"Perhaps. You're exhausted, do you want to sleep in my guest room tonight?"
"Aw, I can't sleep in your room?"
"No. You snore." She smiled at him when he looked indignant. "It's the truth, and I'm not sleepy anyway." She stood, throwing the ball one last time. "Come on, let's get you to a bed before you fall down."

Fara slowly opened her eyes, and swallowed a moan, closing them when she saw the room wobble and spin. Her head was filled with a dull throb, and her throat was as dry as parchment. How many bottles of wine? Three? On top of how much popcorn? Her stomach rolled just thinking about it. She kept her eyes closed and focusing on breathing, keeping her stomach where it was. Her memory of the night before wasn't all that clear, except that she had done quite a bit of social drinking while talking with Fox.
Fox? She forced her eyes open again, looking at the clean white walls and military-time alarm clock. Not her bedroom, she had a digital clock and cream walls. She let her thoughts meander about that, until they fell into a jumble as an arm wrapped around her bare ribs, a smiling muzzle tucking into her neck.
"Fox?" She finally made herself ask, listening to her slightly distorted voice.
"You're awake." His voice was also muzzy; she wasn't the only one suffering a hangover. "Sorry, did I wake you up?"
"No."
"Mm. How do you feel?" As he said this he cuddled farther in, wrapping around her completely, nuzzling her neck again, completely relaxed. He was warm, emanating a gentle wave of body heat.
"I don't really remember last night."
He tensed a little. "You're not going to read me the riot act, are you?" He asked very weakly, setting his chin on top of her head.
She started to ask what he meant, then had the very startling realization that they were both bare, snuggled together fur-to-fur. She rolled to look at him, and he propped his head on a pillow and looked at her, trying to read her expression, tail curled around his hip. "We…?"
"I'm afraid so." He brushed a hand down her cheek, smiling gently. "After talking for about six hours."
"Jesus." She tried to roll away, but he grabbed her.
"No you don't." He looked her in the eyes. "If you try to stand right now you'll get sick, trust me love. Wait an hour or two before you do sudden moves. I'll get you some water and aspirin, it'll help."
"You…" She blinked, suddenly confused.
"… Am not as affected by hangovers anymore. As I told you last night I spent an entire week drunk after my dad died." Fox's stern expression melted into tenderness as he cuddled her into his chest. "I'm sorry about how last night happened… had I known, I wouldn't have drunk as much, I'm a klutzy drunk. But I don't regret it."
"What do you mean?" She pulled away again. "We've known each other what, not even three months? And here we are…"
"I'm falling in love with you, Fara." He replied in a very quiet voice. "So you have to realize the time period we've known each other doesn't necessarily matter to me." Letting her process this on her own time, he kissed her forehead, drawing her close slowly so she had time to protest. She didn't, still shell-shocked by the sudden blast of information. "Please. Don't hate me." He finally whispered, nuzzling her ear gently. "I'm not the love-them-and-leave-them type. I'm here for as long as you want me, until I die."
She returned the hold after a moment, tucking her face into his chest and letting her mind wander again. He took that as a cue and got comfortable, wrapping around her again, grooming her ear absently. She had to smile at that bit of animal instinct peeking through. "Guess that means we're officially dating then?"
He grinned, tightening his hold. "Yes. Yes it does."

"Nine at night and he finally shows his face." Falco said, taking a drink of soda absently, the straw making a slurping noise. "Not that I can complain, I got here at two in the afternoon. Where the hell have you been?"
"Second the notion." Wolf said, raising his hand, sagged in a bridge chair with an ice pack over his eyes. "Ooog. Just how much did I drink, Fox?"
"More then you can handle. And I've been at my apartment." Fox sat down at put his feet up, bringing up his messages one-handed. "Four other mother ships are at above 75%. We're ahead of schedule. Wonderful." He smiled to himself.
Falco looked at Wolf, who returned the look with his living eye after lifting a corner of the ice pack, then looked back to Fox. "You're chipper for someone who should be hung over."
"So?"
"Uh-huh. Shall I play Tone Loc's 'Wild Thing'?"
"You do, and you die a slow, painful death." Wolf said in a growling voice. "My head is already splitting."
"And it's unnecessary anyway. Fara and I sat in front of the fire and had way too much wine and popcorn." Fox shrugged.
"After carrying me to my bedroom here?" Wolf directed his exposed eye to Fox.
"Be grateful I didn't just make you walk. You are goddamn heavy."
"No body fat and lots of cybernetics will do that to you."
"Since you're ignoring my attempts to subtly pry… tell." Falco crossed his arms. "I don't think wine and popcorn was the extent of it."
Fox smiled at him. "Why the hell should I tell you?"
"That's all I needed to know. Congratulations for taking my advice."
"Screw you."
"Not that way, sorry."
Wolf grumbled and let the ice pack fall back over both his eyes, deciding that saying 'I am' would be a poor choice of humor.

"Who could have done this?" Slippy asked numbly, staring at what was left of the lobby of Arspace. A young man had been waiting with the tour when he had suddenly burst into tears and dropped what had appeared to be a large, live grenade. It had turned out to be a small home-rigged incendiary bomb, large enough to blow a huge whole in the building, instantly killing eight and hospitalizing twelve others.
"Good question, but the better one is 'why.'" Said General Pepper. "Arspace is crucial in saving the system. Why hurt the corporation in charge of saving the lives of everyone?"
"The dangerous ones are always the ones who don't believe in the cause." Fara said, watching another covered stretcher being carried out and looking away. The bomber was dead, having shot himself before the incendiary had blown, and nothing identifiable was left. "Would someone be trying to prevent the evacuation, General?"
"I can't imagine why." Pepper frowned.
"Andross was three rooms away from the lobby when this happened." Fox remarked, stepping over a stack of fallen bricks and walking over. "Perhaps this was directed toward him?"
"Would it really be worth it? The bomber couldn't have known that." Pepper replied.
"True enough, but the point stands don't you think? It might just be a silent protest."
"Some silence."
"It's worth looking in to." Fara said. "Any option is. This is horrible." She looked at Pepper. "Can we increase security around the Hope, Discovery, and Nautilus? They're too big to dodge suicide planes or anything of the sort."
"Of course, we'll do it right away, and I'll start military security here." Pepper replied, watching as another body was carted out, a disgusted look on his face. "My god, what is humanity falling to..." He turned and walked quickly away, hands in pockets and head down.
"I'm going back to the lab." Slippy glanced at Fara. "You going to keep tabs here?"
She nodded and watched him walk away, then looked at Fox as he walked over to her. She hadn't seen him since he had dropped her off at her apartment two days ago, and had spent a very long time staring at the ceiling of her bedroom, wondering just what in hell she was getting herself in to. There had been a long list of people wanting to date her, and her mother spent a long time nagging her into going out with a few of them, trying to set her up on blind dates, especially nowadays with the 'world-ending business.' Her mother, she mused, was going to pitch a fit. "Hi."
"Helluva morning." He replied, giving her a half-squeeze and looking at what was left of the lobby. "Any word on who he was?"
"He left a rented car outside, they're tracking that, but any real ID is up to luck." She replied, returning the hug, setting her chin on his shoulder. "We're lucky we got the second two mother ships off the ground this morning."
"Taking the bad with the good, I suppose, no matter how horrible it is." He sighed. "Bill Grey gave me a call. Katina is going to have to evacuate to here."
"Oh god, you're kidding." She stepped away, staring at him.
"No. Two more cities were leveled last night. Another fifteen thousand are presumed dead." His shoulders slumped, tail tucking between his legs. "There's going to be a lot of empty cool-sleep beds on the mother ships for all the wrong reasons. Jesus, these machines are supposed to have a day of activation! Why are the ones on Katina going off like this?"
"I'm sure you'll be working funny too after a few million years." She smiled wearily.
He returned it, then froze. "If that's the case, we've got to evacuate Katina today. If the bombs there are warming up faster…"
She blinked at him, then suddenly understood. "I'll step up all deadlines by at least a month. Call all of the projects and tell them to do the same. We might have to leave earlier then expected."
"Will do, boss lady." He saluted, kissed her on the forehead, and practically ran to his car.

"Where are we going to put 3.2 BILLION PEOPLE?!" Wolf wanted to know, watching as thousands, maybe millions, of ships launched from Katina, screaming away from their home planet.
"You're asking me if I know." Fox replied, pulling the glasses down and fiddling with the VR gloves, then poking the air. Instantly he was surrounded by millions of colored flying blips. "I just agreed to be the god damn air traffic controller."
"And me, being the idiot I am, agreed to help." Said Falco, also resolving into VR. "Ok, we had better split these people up between Corneria and Zoness, there is no way in hell Corneria can handle all of it. Just the housing demand will send people into madness…"
"Right, but Zoness is like 90% water, they can only handle so many." Fox replied. "We can divert a million people to Zoness, the other 2.2 are going to have to go to Corneria."
"Let's rock."
Wolf wanted to laugh. It was funny, watching these two pilots waving at and grabbing air. But the screens around him displayed what they were doing. Thousands of commands were being given, ships were being spit up into groups, and the swarm of evacuation ships started moving, clouds of flying metal warping to their given destinations. It would take a full twenty-four hours just to land all of the crafts, longer to find all of the people temporary housing. The other projects on Katina—agricultural and zoological—would continue, but that held a staff of maybe a thousand scientists and volunteers. Everyone else had to go.
Two hours later, Fox pulled the goggles off. "Done." He looked out the window at Katina. "Empty, abandoned. Let's head for home, ROB."
"You ok, Fox?" Falco asked, also pulling the goggles off.
"Not at all, Falco, not at all…"

General Pepper watched numbly as the fifteenth mother ship fell into formation with the rest, beautiful wings adjusting, awaiting the planetary refugees. Now, only two months out from the day of evacuation, the plan was almost complete, but he didn't feel any better. With each passing day, his heart grew heavier, step grew wearier. He had spent his entire life fighting for his home, and now he was being forced to run from the worst evil he had ever encountered.
Not far away, the scientific formation waited, the agricultural and zoological ships, as well as supply freighters. Military cruisers did slow patrols around both formations, keeping an eye out for the increasing number of suicidal craft that would come from nowhere to impact the evacuation convoy. The Hope had taken almost a million dollars in damage in its first month of orbit before security had finally become tight enough to hold the kamikazes off.
"75% there, General." Fox said, standing beside him and casting a sideways glance. He seemed much older now, worn. The quakes had continued to increase, now Corneria was taking damage too, and Katina was on the verge of the crust breaking apart. Pepper was glad that they had decided to evacuate Katina early. "Soon, this will be over."
"No, soon it will begin." Pepper replied absently. "Our fight for survival has only just started, Fox. It won't end until we find a new home."
"True."
"As soon as our last five mother ships are ready, we can evacuate and leave." Bill remarked, walking over. "We're ahead of schedule."
"Amazing, considering." Fox sighed. "Are we done here, General?"
"Yes, you can go."
Peppy looked up when Fox walked back onto the bridge of the Great Fox, tossing his uniform jacket on a chair. "What's up?"
"I don't think the General is going to make it."
"Say what?" Falco turned, staring.
"He's changing." Fox flopped into a chair, looking at the ceiling. "He's loosing all of the life in his eyes, day by day. He'll evacuate with us, but I don't think he'll survive another year."
"Are you saying he'll commit suicide?"
"I'm saying he'll sacrifice himself willingly if the chance arises." He shrugged, closing his eyes. His team had been busy since the launch of Hope, and it seemed to get steadily worse. Terrorists were steeply on the rise, and keeping them away from Arspace and the other corporations was a full-time job. At the same time, though, the work kept Fox in the Corneria City area, and that was a pleasure. He tried to learn and remember every detail he could, and spent his free time with Fara, getting to know her and loving her more with each meeting. She seemed to return his feelings, during the last few meetings she had nearly pounced on him when she had seen him, holding him tight like he was her lifeline. He was more then willing to return the hold, enjoying the scent, the feel of her.
"Fox, go to bed." Peppy said quietly. "It's obvious you need some rest."
"We're all short on sleep. I imagine you guys aren't going to take a nap."
"Huh, I wish." Falco snorted. "I have to help Katt sort out some of Zoness' evacuation plans."
"And I have to go back to the Agriculture cruisers. I've got a meeting." Peppy shrugged. "I already took a nap, anyway. Besides, you're allowed Fox; you're carrying double the load of the rest of us."
"I'll think about it."
Falco rolled his eyes, shrugging into his jacket as he left the bridge, picking up his duffel bag from his room and striding to the launching bay. Katt was going to let him crash in her guest room while he helped her out, though he was hoping to get away with sharing her bedroom. Snoring didn't matter if you weren't really sleeping, right?
Peppy sighed, watching out of the corner of his eye as Fox dozed off in his chair, fingers laced behind his head, slouched, tail end twitching. He was the source of advice for this little band, and yet he was ignored at least half the time. Go figure. After a while he stood and left the bridge, going to the Great Fox's den, where Wolf was hiding with a large book and a large cup of hot chocolate. "I've got to go. Keep an eye on Fox, all right? He fell asleep on the bridge again."
"Sure, no problem." After waiting a few minutes once Peppy had left, Wolf closed the book and stood, quietly walking up to the bridge and leaning in through the doorway. Sure enough, Fox was flat out in his chair, actively dreaming by his twitching tail. "That can't be very comfortable." He remarked, walking over to Fox. "ROB, unlock Fox's room, will you?"
"Sure, why?"
"He carried me to bed when I passed out." Wolf slowly slid his arms under Fox's knees and shoulders, biting his lip when Fox stirred, but didn't wake up. "I figure I can at least return the favor." He lifted slowly, cradling Fox to his chest.
"Nice of you." ROB looked approvingly at Wolf. "You're actually a very good addition to the team, you know that?"
He smiled weakly, then carried Fox down the hall. ROB opened the door when he got there, and he sidestepped in, stepping over a stack of unattended laundry and setting Fox on the bed, unlacing and pulling off Fox's combat boots, then pulling the blankets up over him. Fox was oblivious the entire time, eventually mumbling and rolling over with a sigh.
"'A very good addition to the team.'" Wolf mumbled, looking down at Fox. "I've been added to this loony bin? When did that happen? … and why am I arguing it?" After a long pause he leaned over the bed and nuzzled Fox under the ear, inhaling in the sleeping man's scent. It was some form of comfort, even if he wasn't close to anyone anymore. "Sleep tight. Commander." He murmured, and left the room, prowling back to the den.

Bill sighed, sitting in the hovercraft and watching the scientists as they gathered around the seismograph readings, watching the arms zip over the scrolling paper. He had a bedroom on the Great Fox once the evacuation happened, but until then he was staying at his home, even as the ground rocked almost daily. Entire old-wood forests had been leveled. Four new volcanoes had formed. Almost every city was destroyed.
"It's definitely growing more unstable, Commander Grey." One of the scientists said. "All of the earthquakes that are happening now are over seven pointers on the Richter Scale."
"So I gathered. Where to next?"
"The remains of a nearby town, sir." The scientist replied carefully.
"Let's go."
The hovercraft moved out, skimming along six inches above the ground, eventually arriving at the outskirts of what used to be a large city. Bill couldn't tell which one, and he was glad that no one had told him. He didn't want to think about it anymore.
He stepped out of the craft as the scientists checked in with another seismograph, walking down the rubble-strewn street, head down and hands shoved in pockets. So many people dead, god knows how many bodies were rotting in the collapsed buildings. The sweet smell of rotten meat was thick in the air, and he felt himself suddenly gag, staggering off to one side of what passed for the road, hands propped on his knees as he coughed, eyes squeezed closed.
"Are you all right, Commander?" One of the scientists called.
He wove a hand, spitting acid out of his mouth and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. The smell still made his stomach roll, but he had it under control now at least. How many dead and dying? How many people that could never have a funeral, could not be saved no matter how much he cried at night, no matter how much pain he howled at the stars? How many lives until those diabolical devices were satisfied?
"Rowr?"
Bill jumped and spun, looking toward the source of the noise, and saw a tiny tabby kitten crouched beside some rubble, wearing a battered pink collar, dragging part of a leash. He knelt, patting his leg, and the kitten crawled over, one hind paw tucked up to its stomach. Bill picked it up and detached what was left of the leash, carrying the kitten back with him to the hovercraft. One less life to be abandoned to a fate that he was sure was worse then death.

"Well, that settles it. Altogether, there are about a thousand people turning down evacuation." Falco said, throwing down his pencil. "Mostly people with diseases that can't be cured—cancer, Alzheimer's, AIDS. Some older folks as well, determined to die where they were born. Thing is, we can't force them to evacuate, so they're forcing us to leave them."
"Combined with the lifers in all of the jails in Lylat, that's about twenty-three hundred people that we're leaving behind." Peppy said, looking at a clipboard.
"Shoot me." Fox moaned, rubbing his eyes. "This is… this is just…"
Wolf looked across the table, watching the many emotions flicker across his commander's face, and folded his hands to prevent himself from reaching across the table, from holding Fox's hand, from trying to comfort him. "We know." He finally said quietly. "We all feel it."
"I understand it." Slippy said, opening a soda absently. "By staying here, they're not a burden to the colonies."
"It's still horrible." Fox replied, and no one argued.
"Sorry we're late." Bill said, coming in at the same time as Katt, still carrying the kitten.
"New recruit?" Wolf lifted an eyebrow.
"Adopted pet. Her name's Sugar."
"All right then."
"The General knocked up the deadline by another week." Katt said, sitting down at the table as Bill did. "The scientists have said that Katina is on the verge of complete breakdown, and Zoness is starting to feel it too."
"Corneria isn't any better. The ring of fire is so active some cities have been evacuated." Slippy replied. "When does that put our d-day, though?"
"Four weeks, more or less." Wolf replied. "Right around the corner."
The entire room was silent for a long time after that, reality pressing in and grinding out any good mood that anyone had. Depression was so chronic around the system that that was practically all the pharmaceutical companies were turning out, besides the supplies they were readying for the evacuation. Also spiking upward were prescriptions for pregnancy supplements—apparently, some people continued to relieve stress in the fairly normal way.
"Meeting adjourned, I guess." Peppy finally said, standing. The others stood as well, falling into normal if awkward conversation, trying to find something else to talk about.
Fox slipped out of the room and headed for the docking bay, were his car was currently parked, head down. Twenty-three hundred people, being left to die, thirteen-hundred of which were his fault, his fault alone. That weighed more heavily on his heart more then the war, more then anything he had ever done.
Wolf caught his shoulder and pulled him to one side of the hallway. "Fox, are you all right?" He heard himself ask, not sure why he had even followed Fox, knowing he needed time to think.
"How can I be, Wolf?" Fox asked, looking at his old enemy with tired eyes. "Over half of these people are going to die because of me."
"It'd be a waste to put them in cool sleep, Fox."
"I know, but… It still isn't right." He sighed. "I'm going to go find Fara. She has today off."
"Be careful." Wolf watched him leave, crossing his arms, tail curling between his legs. One month left. He just hoped that his new friends would survive it.

Fox leaned back, hands in his jacket pockets, staring up at the manor and fighting the urge to whistle. He had called Fara's cell phone, and she had given him directions to her parent's house. Fox had known that she had come from money, but he hadn't known she had come from this much money.
The door opened, and a teenage boy peered at him, pushing glasses up his muzzle. "Yeah?"
"Is Fara still here?"
"Yeah, come on in. Hey, sis! Some guy is here looking for you!" The boy shouted, letting him in and closing the door.
A few seconds later Fara arrived and crushed him in a hug, burying her face in his shoulder. He returned the hug with a smile, snickering when her brother made a face and left. "Why are you so happy to see me, hmm?"
"In about five seconds you'll see why?" She replied very quietly.
"Huh?"
"Well now. While you're in my house, I'd appreciate it if your hand wasn't planted so firmly on my daughter's rear."
Fox nearly jumped out of his skin, hands lifting up. "Um, er, ok." He blinked at the older, dignified woman standing on the stairs, looking at him over the rims of her reading glasses and holding a clipboard. He had a sudden remembrance of all the teachers that had scared him in elementary school. "Sorry. Bad habit."
"At least you admit it. So you're my daughter's new beau, hmm?" Fara's mother strolled down the stairs and offered her free hand. "I'm Edna Phoenix."
"Fox McCloud." He replied, taking her hand uneasily. "Did I interrupt some business…?" He looked at the clipboard.
"Evaluation form."
Fox looked at Fara, who was rubbing her eyes and shaking her head. "Mom, please…" Fara pleaded. "He's not real estate, for god's sake, he's my boyfriend."
"All the better."
"I'm the one being evaluated?" Fox blinked.
"Yes indeed. So, do you do anything else besides save the system at random times?" She lifted an eyebrow.
"I'm an Air Force Mercenary Commander, that's my job…" He trailed off.
"No real job, though. Minus fifty points." She scribbled something and started back up the stairs. "Come along, Fara dear. You too, Mr. McCloud."
Fara looked at Fox helplessly. "You ok?"
"Shoot me."
"Me first."
They followed, finding each other's hands as they walked up the stairs side by side, following Edna into a den and sitting down on a loveseat side by side. Fara would have normally cuddled into him, but knew that the situation was slightly different now.
"So what do you plan on doing with your life, Mr. McCloud?" Edna asked, sitting down across from him and continuing to appraise him. Well, his appearance was more then nice enough, she decided, though his ears flared out a bit much. And it was obvious he worked out in his spare time, she could see the imprint of his muscles through his clothing.
"I'm in the military, ma'am." He replied carefully. "I'm not sure how you don't think that's a real job. Even if there isn't a war on, I'm quite often on duty."
"It's quite low-paying though. How do you expect to support my daughter?"
That caught him off-guard. "I have some money put away, but I'm not sure if it matters currently. Right now the evacuation is in order, so buying a house or investing is pointless. Money is practically pointless."
"So you don't own a house."
"I have a nice apartment." He shrugged. "It's all I need. I live alone."
Edna tapped the pencil against the clipboard. "Why exactly ARE you dating my daughter, Mr. McCloud?"
"Because I love her."
Silence filled the room, and Fox crossed his arms, jaw set. Fara blinked at him in surprise.
"And I suppose you plan on proposing?" Edna finally choked out, retrieving her pencil from where it had dropped.
"Perhaps." He said softly. "Is there anything else you need to know?"
"No, I… I think I'll leave you two alone…" She stood and left the room, closing the door behind her, still looking stunned.
"I don't know whether to kiss you or hit you." Fara said with a small smile. "Thanks, seeing her sputter like that was worth the headache."
"Not a problem." He took off his boots and swung his legs up on to the couch, pulling Fara close so she leaned into his chest, curled up in his lap. "So is that why you were so stressed when I called?"
"Partly." She swallowed, biting her lip. "I think we have a problem."
"Oh?"
"I went to the doctor yesterday… Fox, I'm pregnant. Five weeks."
Fox blinked a few times, mind completely blank. "You're… pregnant?"
"Yes." She looked at him helplessly.
"I thought you were on birth control."
"I am… well, I was. Apparently, it's not completely foolproof. What are we going to do? My parents are going to freak. There's no way in hell they'd let me get an abortion…"
"Fara… Fara, relax." He ordered, pulling her closer and nuzzling her neck. "Relax. Do you want to get an abortion?"
"… No. No I don't. This kid is made from us, Fox. I want to keep it."
"Good. Because so do I. Let's not worry about what your parents think, all right?" He brushed a finger down her cheek. "Let's just worry about us for now. You can stay on the Great Fox during the voyage, that way you have immediate access to a medbay and I'll always be close by. We'll get through this."
"… Should we get married?"
"I say we do so in our new home's first church, not here. That way we don't have to have it be a sad memory."
She smiled and cuddled into him, clutching him. He returned the hold with a sigh, closing his eyes and letting his mind wander. Without even meaning to, they had started a family, and he was somehow glad for it. In the wake of all the horrible things happening—the inevitable destruction of his home, the increased suicides, the helpless feeling of uselessness he felt—a warmth now filled him, wrapped his heart. He was happy, completely and thoroughly.
Now he was sure that he would make it through the upcoming events, but not for himself or his people, but for the woman who loved him and his future child. Life would carry on because it had to, but now he knew that he would enjoy it.

"Are we ready?"
General Pepper stood at the observation window on the bridge of the convoy's leading vessel, the Twilight Genesis. A huge, brand-new cruiser, the Genesis was built to defend the mother ships. Also escorting the convoy were a half-dozen midsized cruisers, as well as the Great Fox itself, which sat beside the Genesis, dwarfed by the surrounding ships. Fox's cruiser was completely staffed now, having taken on several of his friends so they wouldn't have to be in cool sleep. They would be serving as advance scouts, an exploration vehicle, and of course a way of defense. Even in something like this, StarFox proved itself to be an invaluable asset, and General Pepper wasn't surprised.
"We're ready." He looked at Andross with tired eyes, then back at his home world, which filled the view port. "Empty?"
"We got the last of the evacuation shuttles loaded an hour ago. Everyone's in cool-sleep bunks, talking to family members over the radio system and waiting for the field to be instated." Andross replied.
"How soon will it happen?"
"According to the researchers on one of the science vessels, less then five minutes until detonation."
"Put me through to all of the cool-sleep bunks, and a view of the planet."
Fox, who was linked into the network of the convoy, watched the view come up one of his screens and blinked. He was sitting in his chair, staring out at the planet, a dull ache filling his chest. All of the deadlines had been met. Lylat was going to be completely evacuated, flawlessly. All the ties were being cut from their home system.
If he ever met the race that had done this, he was going to make sure to inflict as much pain on them as they had done to him and his people.
"Today is one of the most terrible days in eternity."
General Pepper's voice rolled through the entire convoy, gentle, commanding, wise, and pained.
"How can one measure culture? How much of a money value can you put on a home? And how do you collect these things and leave, knowing that you have left nothing and no one behind? These are questions that we have been forced to answer in the past year, and you all rose to meet the challenge. We have done the impossible, my friends. Every person, every creature, every plant is tabulated, every book stored. Our life and culture can continue without our home.
But what is the cost of this? More then it sounds. We are loosing our heart and soul today, and we all feel it. I am sorry that we could not stop this. May our success continue at our new home…" Seeing one of the scientists on the bridge wave at him, Pepper closed his eyes, choking back pain. "And I know that it will. The bombs are about to go off. You may watch, or you may turn off the screens.
I am sorry, my friends, my family, my people. I am more sorry then you can possibly know. But we will survive."
Fox stood and walked over to the window, Fara walking over to him. He wrapped an arm around her and drew her close as everyone else joined him. He looked around at them—Peppy, Slippy, Falco, Katt, Bill, and Wolf—then turned back to the window and lifted his hand to his brow in a silent salute.
There was a sudden flash, and even from space the sudden changes were visible. Brilliant dots lit up across the surface of Corneria as volcanoes suddenly formed, and the once white clouds darkened with ash, flashed with lightning. Fara buried her face in Fox's collarbone as they watched the tectonic plates shatter, their culture incinerated, their home annihilated.
"It's over, isn't it?" Wolf asked, setting his metal hand on the glass, watching the planet crumble, expression unreadable. All of that beauty, destroyed. He just wished that he knew why.
"Quite on the contrary." Fox replied in a very soft voice. "It's just begun."