Star Fox: Beginnings
Chapter 1
A Glimpse in the Void
"Sir, I'm not picking up anything on the scanners. I don't know what it was you thought you saw."
"Keep scanning those sectors, Ensign Murdock. I know what I saw, and it is your job to follow off of my judgements. I wouldn't be Captain if I didn't have a keen mind and a sharp eye."
"Yes sir. Continuing sweep." Ensign Murdock sighed.
"Commander Sherman, you have the bridge. I need to attend to some personal business." The captain said.
"Yes sir." Commander Sherman nodded.
The Captain moved towards his quarters near the right side of the bridge.
"Captain." Sherman called.
"Yes Commander?" The Captain turned to face his first mate.
"With all due respect sir, do you really think you saw something? I mean, we've been constantly seeing lights for months now, and I believe that I can speak for the rest of the crew when I say that we are a little skeptical that there is anything like Earth or that there is even any other life out here. It just seems completely unfruitful sir."
The Captain raised his eyebrows in a disapproving way at his first mate but sighed in understanding at what he had just told him. It was true that they had not seen any hard evidence of any kind of life that would exist beyond their solar system and that they had travelled for several months, which would make any man want to go insane. The captain calmly turned to his crew.
"I understand that many of you believe that we were sent out here to no avail; that this expedition is a suicide mission and that we are doomed to spend the rest of our days shacked up in a space ship. I get it. I don't like what is transpiring here either. But I have clear coordinates that there is something out there where we can start over again. Where we can rebuild the world that we lost to tyranny and political corruption. But I cannot do this alone. I need each one of you to trust me, because the only other option for you right now is to hop into an escape pod and jettison yourselves for another 5 months back to the nuclear wasteland that was Earth. Now, I know what I saw, and I believe that we are truly close to the end of this long and grueling journey. So, you have a choice to make so you best decide now."
The captain turned back towards the door and entered his quarters. There was much murmuring going on in the bridge after the speech that the Captain had made. Many people looked towards Commander Sherman to see what choice he would make. Sherman decided that since they had come this far, that they see it through to the end and to trust the Captain. The entire crew was split between those who would just follow the Captain to the end and those who thought that if a mutiny was to happen, now would be the perfect time to do so. Unfortunately for the possible mutineers, Commander Sherman strictly warned them about what the Captain did to the last crew that decided to mutiny against him during a simulation. This crushed any possibility of an uprising in the ranks, and the crew members continued on-course towards the pre-set coordinates.
As the Captain sat back in his chair, staring at the huge overlapping of light and darkness, he remembered of the last few moments of his time living on Earth. Even after 5 months, the memories of the tragedies that happened there still rang in his head as if they were completely written into his brain with a Sharpie. Standing up, he walked over to the wardrobe and opened it up. Inside was a black uniform decorated with red stripes and golden buttons. Hanging on the rack was a black military cap with a winged medal above the bill. On the left chest region of the uniform read a tag. "T. Brusker" was what the name tag read. Captain Brusker then moved the uniform a little to the left to get a clear view of the left sleeve. On it was a patch that had the letters "USMC" stitched above an eagle on an anchor on top of the planet Earth. He gave a great sigh and then closed the doors, returning to his desk. Then, the old photo of him and his commanding officer caught his eye. He picked it up to get a closer look at the photo. His face went from thoughtful to sorrowful in an instant as the memories flashed in his head strongly.
The year was 2107, and currently, Captain Thomas Brusker was not a captain but a lieutenant standing in his commanding officer's office. The office was filled with medals that were framed and hanging on the walls. There were also photographs of Tom's troop, the 47th Marine Division, strung all along the walls. Facing Tom was a man in his late 60s sitting at a desk that was littered with papers. The man looked at Tom with a kind yet stern look that made him look like Tom's grandfather who was about to explain the concept of how people were made. The man gave a heaving sigh and looked up at his best soldier.
"You wanted to see me, Colonel Bradley?" the lieutenant said to his most trusted commanding officer.
"Yes Thomas. And please, call me Boris. We have known each other long enough to address ourselves as individuals and friends, not as soldiers." The Colonel said politely.
"Yes sir. I-I mean, yes Boris." The lieutenant started to wring his hands nervously as to keep his composure.
"Relax Thomas. I just want to discuss something with you." Boris said. "Please, sit down."
Thomas sat down in the chair, facing one of his most trusted friends.
"Listen Thomas, I am not supposed to tell anyone about this, but I am afraid that the United States and the Russian government have just about put the knife to each other's throats. I feel that it is only a matter of time before someone's hand slips and slits the other's throat."
The look on Boris's face was grim and full of sorrow.
"Do you mean that the world is on the brink of nuclear Armageddon?"
Thomas didn't need a verbal answer from Boris to understand that the world that he knew was ending and ending fast.
"But, how do you know that someone would actually do it? I mean, I thought that we had diffused that situation after The Missile Crisis in 1962. How could anyone possibly think of ending everything that everyone has worked for?"
So many questions were running through Thomas's head and not many of them ended with answers.
"I know that this is a lot to take in Thomas, but you must know that there is nothing that we can do about it. We knew that this was going to happen one day, and I fear that it could happen within the next 3 months."
Thomas's face spoke everything that he was feeling: fear, anger, anguish, confusion. Boris snapped his fingers, startling Tom from his sea of thoughts.
"Listen. I have at least been planning of a way that you could get out before the bombs start falling."
Thomas looked at Boris with a puzzling look.
"What do you mean?" Tom asked.
"I have been putting together a special exploration team that would go out into space and start a new life there. I have recently come into radio contact with some form of radio signal last week. It told me that there was another world out there called Corneria."
"Corneria? That isn't a world that we have discovered yet." Tom said disbelievingly.
"That is because it's not of this system. From what the man told me, there apparently is a solar system outside the known reaches of space called Lylat. It is said to be populated with many inhabitants of many different planets. I think that this might be your chance to start over from the beginning. Before nuclear war ever existed. Maybe you can prevent mistakes from happening over there that we made here."
Tom stood up from the chair and looked at his commanding officer with a look of disbelief.
"With all due respect sir, are you out of your mind?! I mean, what evidence do you have that such a system even exists?"
Boris sighed and took out a photograph from one of his drawers. "Here. See for yourself."
He handed the photograph to Thomas. When Tom glanced down at the photograph, he couldn't believe his eyes.
"How did you get this?" Tom asked flabbergasted.
"During one of my transmissions, I asked if I could get some special coordinates so that I could see the system that he described. Once he gave me the coordinates, I pinpointed the exact location based on the data that he had given me and took a photo of it through the telescope of the ISS space telescope."
"I am at a loss for words. Is there really something out there where we can start over?" Thomas was now filled with interest and wanted to know if this truly was real.
"There is. And that is where you come in Thomas. I want you to go out and start a new life in the Lylat system. But, before you can go, I can't have a lieutenant leading one of my ships into the great unknown."
"Sir?"
"I'm saying that I am promoting you to Captain. I have everything prepped and readied for the excursion, all I need is for you to help make my final wish come true."
"What do you mean sir? You aren't coming?"
"Ah, my boy. Look at me. I am old and lived a good life. You, on the other hand, have so much to live for, and I don't want an apocalypse to ruin all the things you should look forward to."
Thomas looked at his old friend and commanding officer and saw what he meant. Tom's eyes started to well up with tears, but he quickly wiped them away with his sleeve as to not seem weak.
"Ok Boris. I'll do it!" Thomas said finally.
"Good. Now go pack your things and prepare to board at 1000 hrs tomorrow. That's an order!"
"Yes sir!"
As Thomas looked at the picture of him and Boris on his desk in his quarters, those same tears started to well up in his eyes again as the memory faded. Noticing them, he wiped them away quickly and started pacing the floor.
I just don't understand. Is this really what you were talking about old friend? Is this really the life that you were saying that I should look forward to?
Suddenly, a ruckus of shouting erupted almost instantaneously from the bridge. A siren had started to ring among the chaos. As Thomas turned towards the doors from his quarters to the bridge, he wondered what was going on and was determined to find out what was making his crew so riled up.