Hey guys, this is Groundis! This is my first time posting, but I've been reading stuff here for a long time. I'm a long time Star Fox fan, and I've had this idea for a story in my head for a few months now. So far, I have pretty much every detail of the first 8 chapters planned out, and I know pretty much how the whole story arc is gonna go. I hope you enjoy it! I know I've had a lot of fun writing this and planning it out. ^_^

Just a few notes about the story. First, this isn't adhering strictly to the canon universe or anything, and I'm making changes where I want to and where I think it'll help the story. That being said, I'm also not venturing very far off the beaten path, think of this as more of a re-hashing of the Star Fox story than anything. Anyway, let me know what you think! I'll have chapter two out soon probably. And yeah, this is gonna be a pretty hefty story. I'm looking forward to the challenge. :D Also, this chapter's not terribly upbeat, but don't worry, this isn't a super-dark evil story or anything. The mood will lighten considerably as time passes, I promise! Oh yeah, and whenever I plan out an action-y scene like this, I usually have a song that I base it around. If you're curious, the song for this one is This Life by OLWIK. You don't have to listen or anything, just if you want to hear what I was listening to while I was planning this one out.

Anyway, that's that! Let me know what you guys think and if you want moar. I mean, you're getting more either way, I love this story I have planned out way too much to let it just sit there. But you know. Encouragement and criticism is always nice. :P But without further ado, I present:

BRACE FOR IMPACT

Chapter 1 | Escape

Twigs snapped underfoot as Fox's boots pounded against the ground. Breathing heavily, he almost tripped on a stray vine of ivy, but managed to keep his footing as he ran. Light filtered lazily through the canopy above him, briefly illuminating a few leaves as they drifted slowly to the floor below. He shook his head, knowing he couldn't afford to share their lackadaisical attitude. He glanced down at a timer he had set earlier on his communicator as he ran towards the Great Fox's landing zone. Thirteen minutes, twenty-one seconds left. He muttered a curse under his breath, putting his head down and picking up the pace.

If he'd been able to stop and look around for a moment, he would have been struck by just how serene the landscape around him was. Huge, dark trees towered into the sky, hugged tight by winding strands of moss. The soil was loamy and soft, broken by patches of underbrush and wildflowers. Huge boulders jutted from the earth, their sharp edges casting equally sharp shadows on the dirt. The breeze carried a faint scent of lavender and pine, and an impenetrable layer of birdsong echoed through the forest. It was breathtaking. It was also doomed. This was Cerinia; a bastion of nature that had only thirteen short minutes left in existence. And Fox was stuck on its surface.

He growled, whispering a few more choice curses. "Dammit. This sort of stuff happens way too often to me." He tried to remember how he'd ended up here. He'd been about to collect the data sphere he needed, when suddenly everything had gone to hell. Peppy's frantic face had appeared on his communicator, warning him the entire planet was rigged to blow in the next twenty minutes. His only hope was to make it back to landing zone, board, and pray the Great Fox could make it out in time. It'd be a close call, but the ship should be able to get out of the atmosphere in the nick of time...

"But only if I'm quick about it."

He doubled down again, quickening his pace so he was now veritably tearing through the forest. His blaster clacked against his belt with each step, but he didn't hear it. Sweat dripped from his brow due to the tropical climate, but he didn't feel it. He was solely focused on remembering the route off this rock. He didn't even want to be here in the first place. It was a small planet that was well out of the way of anywhere important. Cornerian command had contacted him a few months ago, assigning him to get to Cerinia and retrieve a special data sphere. He glanced down at it now, clutched tightly in his paw. He had no idea what was on it, but for as much trouble as this was, it better have been good. "If this doesn't hold the secret to paying off the loan for the Great Fox, I quit," he panted. Corneria had never asked him to go so far outside the Lylat system for a mission before this. The trip alone had taken weeks. When he had originally seen the coordinates of the planet, he had to check it twice to make sure he wasn't misreading.

He immediately pinged Peppy after getting the message, a little surprise still registered on his face. After a few moments, the toothy grin of the older hare popped up on his communicator. Seeing Peppy trying not to laugh, Fox knew immediately the message wasn't an error. Fox laughed himself, holding his head in his hands and leaning back a little in his chair.

"You sure you don't want to shave a few zeroes off those coordinates you sent us, Peppy?" Fox asked, still grinning a little. Peppy let out a little chuckle at that, managing to stifle a larger laugh.

"Not this time Fox. Better stock up, you've got quite the road trip ahead of you."

"So it seems," the vulpine replied, looking up at the message again, shaking his head. "What's so important out on Cerinia?"

Peppy shrugged. "They won't tell me. All I know is there's some data out there they need you to pick up, and it must be important if they're sending Star Fox all that way."

Grumbly, nervous, and lost in thought, Fox began to seriously consider the merits of leaving Star Fox to be a stock broker. He looked around, trying to get his bearings. His eyes flashed with relief as he started to recognize where he was. "A couple more minutes of this," he thought, "and I should be in the clear." He smiled a little out of relief, shoulders relaxing just a bit. He ducked under a low branch, then vaulted a thick tree root. There would be plenty of time to make it out at this rate. He looked down at his communicator again. Ten minutes, forty-two seconds; more than enough time to clear the atmosphere.

As he was looking down at his wrist, however, his eyes picked up on a subtle change in the color of the dirt below. The ground was a bit softer here too, and it seemed to slope downwards more than usual. His eyes widened as he realized what was about to happen, but he was powerless to stop it. He got a sick feeling in his stomach as the brush beneath his feet gave way, and he stumbled into a sinkhole he hadn't noticed in his rush. A thin vine snapped as he desperately tried to grab hold of anything, but his speed had gone from a blessing to a curse. He let out a less-than-intimidating yip as he went into free fall.

He felt his leg slam against the hard stone wall of the sinkhole, and his torso soon followed suit. Instinct kicked in, and he raised his hands above his head, protecting it from the battering that was soon to come. He maneuvered his legs beneath him so he could try to roll out of the landing at the bottom. In doing so though, he bashed his knee against an outcropping of rock. He grunted lightly at this, definitely feeling the impact, but his durable flight suit taking the brunt of the hit. Still, that'd hurt tomorrow. The walls took one last shot at him, and a root caught him lightly in the hip. Fox barely noticed though. He needed to prepare for a much larger hit, not from the walls, but from the floor. He'd practiced this hundreds of times, from much higher drops than this. In the split second before he touched down, he bent his knees slightly and hunched his back over, curling up a little. Muscle memory kicked in, and when he felt his feet make contact, instead of panicking and locking up, he let his knees collapse for a second longer, storing the energy of the impact. He then immediately pushed his legs out with as much force as he could muster, transforming himself from a plummeting stone to a hurtling cannonball. He ducked and rolled, letting his back grind through the dirt as he slid to a halt. He laid still for a moment after that, allowing his breath come back to him while simultaneously confirming to himself that he was not dead. He noticed himself breathing steadily, providing an answer on both counts.

Figuring he'd earned a small break, he laid there for a few extra moments, only lifting his head to examine the rest of his body. He didn't immediately see any broken limbs or lacerations. He nodded satisfactorily, still breathing deep. He let his head re-join the rest of his body in its relaxation, and it hit the dirt with a thud. Staring at the ceiling, he observed the area around him was virtually pitch black. The only sources of light were the beams of light trickling in from the sinkhole he'd just slid down, and the faint glow from the screen of his communicator. He pulled his arms away from their vacation ahead of schedule, and clicked on his communicator's flashlight. His surroundings were illuminated by its blaze, and he looked around as he continued to enjoy laying on the ground.

"Huh," he remarked, a little dazed from the fall still.

He found himself in a cavernous expanse. The walls were lined with hard grey stone, providing a border to several clusters of deep blue quartz. Stalactites clung to the ceiling, and if he managed to get on his feet eventually, he could probably reach up and touch some of the longer ones. In the middle of the space was a shallow pool of murky water, rich with minerals leeched from the surrounding stone. Nature had somehow even managed to invade down here, and a thin moss grew near the water bed. On the far wall, he could see the cave continued into darkness. He decided to do one more thing before coming back from his break. Clicking over to see the timer, he groaned, head hitting the dirt once more. He had ten minutes and twenty seconds to find a way out of here and back to the Great Fox.

"I'd say that's enough of a break for now," he sighed, rising to his feet.

It was quickly apparent that he wasn't getting out the way he came in. The hole in the ceiling above was too far up, and even if he had been able to reach it, the stone was too smooth to get a proper hold on. Left with only one other option, he jogged to the dark opening on the other side of the cave, careful not to slip on the slick stone. He shined the flashlight into the passage. It was more cave, this time long and narrow, the quartz more apparent as it glinted blue in the light. As he walked through, his hand reached out and snagged a loose shard, and he pocketed it. He liked the thought that if he made it off this planet alive, at least a little of it could come with him.

The path was narrow here, sometimes only barely wide enough for him to slide through sideways. Everything was damp, and the distant echo of water droplets hitting the floor filled the space. The veins of quartz seemed to grow more abundant the further he went along this path. He unholstered his blaster and carried it lightly in his right hand just to be safe, but he wasn't too worried about running into any hostiles down here. Every once in a while, the path would open up into a large expanse like he had fallen into originally. Luckily, every time he found himself in one of those areas, there was always another continuation of the cave on the far side.

He continued on for another minute, squeezing through a few tight gaps and climbing up a few ledges. Walking further and further though, a strange feeling began growing in the back of his mind. At first, it was just a small prick of curiosity. He shook his head, trying to focus, but the premonition persisted. Eventually, it evolved into an overwhelming sense that something very important was nearby. It felt like somebody was whispering into his ear, making sure he knew something vital was about to happen. Normally, he would have just ignored the feeling and kept looking for a way out, but... for whatever reason, Fox felt compelled to figure out what was happening. The feeling pushed him on through the winding cave, turning him left, then right at forks in the road, up a ledge and directly through another small pond, until...

He found himself face to face with an ornate stone door that was carved right into the wall itself. The edging around the heavy entrance was inscribed with the twisting form of some flying creature, and through it, a long hallway led to a final room at end. Fox shivered. He could tell that whatever was causing this feeling in his head was in there. He took a step forward, the flying figure on the door passing overhead. The hallway was lit by torches set in heavy iron sconces. Their flames lapped at the walls, and cast a playful light on the lofty ceiling. The passage was adorned with heavy red drapes. His boots clicked softly against the tiles on the floor, each one a radiant blue color. They were carved from the same blue quartz from earlier, he noticed.

After what seemed like an eternity, he finally reached the grand wooden door at the end. Somewhere in his brain, his subconscious was screaming at him to kick it in gear, find an exit, and get off this planet before he was vaporized. That voice was completely drowned out by the overwhelming presence he felt in his mind, emanating from the other side of the door. He reached out and put both hands on its soft wood, feeling a slight tingle in his fingers as he did. He pushed heavily, slowly forcing the doors to groan open.

Fox let out an audible gasp.

The room on the other side was actually rather small and plain compared to the hallway before it. A few more red tapestries hung from the walls, and a similar rug stretched across the contrasting sea of tile. Candles were set in inlays along the walls, slowly smoking and putting off a flickering light into the room. Fox didn't notice any of this. He was totally enraptured by one thing set in the dead center of the room, the thing that was calling out to his mind.

A huge blue crystal stood tall in the center off the room, letting off a radiant light. Inside was the floating form of a fox with brilliant blue fur. She was dressed simply, with sparkling gold jewelry hanging lightly around her head and neck. A few small tattoos marked her body; two bands wrapped around her upper arms and a sun-like symbol on each of her legs. Fox stood absolutely still, stunned by how beautiful she was. She looked peaceful suspended in the crystal, and as he drew closer to her still, the intensity of the feeling in his mind only increased. She was the source. At the risk of sounding crazy... it was almost like she was calling out to him. He had to get her out of that prison, somehow.

He happened to notice a small golden rod lying next to blue fox's container. He bent down to pick it up, wincing as he felt bruises forming around where he'd fallen earlier. As soon as he touched it, he felt sparks race along his arm. It immediately reacted to his grasp, expanding out into what appeared to be a staff of some kind. It was set with a dark purple gem at the end, which started glowing under his gaze. He knew he was halfway there now, with this staff in his hands. Then, much like earlier, another idea was planted into his head from seemingly out of nowhere. He looked the staff over, wondering exactly what secrets it held, but being totally convinced of the plan that he'd just been offered. He gulped, nervously readying the staff. Eyes closed, he let out a deep breath. Then, he swung the end of the staff towards the large crystal with as much power as he could muster.

The purple gem at the end of the staff hurtled towards the blue vixen's container. Fox flinched slightly, expecting, at best, the staff to just bounce off embarrassingly, or at worst, to snap with a deafening sound and spray him with shards of purple quartz. To his surprise and relief, neither of these things happened. Instead, as soon as the staff made contact with the crystal, its momentum was totally canceled. Fox expected to hear the dull crack of metal against stone, but instead, a single note rang out, pure. He sighed, relieved he'd done the right thing. Now, he just had to wait.

The note carried for a few more seconds. Before it dwindled into non-existence, however, the crystal container suddenly let out a large crack. A number of bright fissures were exposed on its surface. Fox could feel a substantial heat being put off by the container now. The glow of the cracks slowly faded, and as they did, the container began to crumble around the blue fox. The heat dissipated, and with it, the rest of the vixen's prison.

Her eyes still closed, she collapsed to her knees where the crystal once stood. She breathed lightly, her chest rising and falling rhythmically every few seconds. Fox was relieved to see she looked mostly unharmed, but being trapped like that... Every cell in Fox's body screamed that he should run over to make she she was alright, but he was frozen, only able to wait in shocked silence. Soon enough, she lifted her head up, and her eyes fluttered open slowly. They were a deep turquoise, and when they locked with his, he couldn't help but let out another small gasp. He was immediately lost in her gaze. Eyes so deep and clear, full of both strength and softness, determination and happiness. He could have looked into them for an eternity and never grown bored. Fox blushed when he realized he was staring, and he looked down slightly.

She, on the other hand, almost seemed... relieved to see him? Honestly, Fox was willing to chalk that up to wishful thinking on his part. He shook his head a little. Now was very definitely not the time to be thinking about this. As she gained focus and took in her surroundings, her face quickly grew more serious, worry flitting in her eyes as she looked around the room. Eventually, she noticed the still-glowing staff in his hands, and that seemed to make everything click for her. Now it was her turn to gasp, her eyes widening. Fox could tell she was thinking for a long moment, the worry growing more apparent on her face with each passing second. She had clearly remembered something terrible. Considering that just moments ago she had been confined and unconscious, he could only guess what that memory might be. As it turned out though, he could do a little better than guess.

Suddenly, her face cleared of emotion, the worry and dread evaporating in an instant. She shut her eyes and clasped her hands together in front of her face, fingers intertwined. Her brow scrunched up, her mouth in a small grimace. A bead of sweat drifted down her cheek as she clutched her hands together tighter. She was incredibly focused on something. Still holding the staff, Fox reached out with his other hand to try and make sure she was alright. He didn't get very far.

Before, her eyes had opened gently and she had looked at him with a soft gaze. Not this time. Before Fox's hand could even reach out, her eyes flew open and began to glow a bright shade of ocean blue, a look of determination set on her face. Her jewelry and tattoos started to luminescence that same shade of cerulean. She held his gaze intently, her expression no longer meek and tired. Fox was rooted where he stood, tied to the ground by this stranger. For some reason though, he knew he wasn't in danger. He felt the presence, her presence, in the back of his head again, this time way more powerful and urgent. Somehow, she was tapping directly into his mind, constructing a mental bridge between her and himself.

Her eyes glowed brighter still. Almost as soon as it had started it ended; the link between them was firmly built. They both inhaled sharply at the feeling of the other inside their head, their consciousnesses pressed together. The area around them drained of color. The walls of the cave fading to a sterile white, the red tapestries growing coal black, leaving the pair as the only important, colorful thing in a whitewashed world.

Then, as if this all wasn't odd enough, Fox felt a sensation stranger than any of the others so far. He could feel the vixen tugging at his memory, slipping images from his past out into the open. He didn't resist her, and let her explore where she wanted. The sensation was actually fairly pleasant, like someone dusting the forgotten corners of his head. She drew out a recent memory, of the Star Fox team all arriving on Cerinia for their mission. Fox was boarding the Arwing, checking in with Falco and Slippy as they boarded the Sky Claw and Bullfrog respectively. Falco had just said something typically sarcastic to the pair of them, but Fox had been prepared. He smirked a little and spoke a short sentence directed at the avian. Slippy immediately had to stifle an outburst of laughing, and the bird clammed up, glowing bright red, unprepared for the vulpine's verbal riposte.

When the memory faded away, he could feel her planting something into his consciousness, rather than drawing it out from his mind. With as much clarity as he had seen his own memory, he now witnessed a scene of a small tribal village. Fox quickly realized this must be one of her memories she was playing for him. There were several foxes walking through the collection of houses, each with blue fur like hers. One or two of them had tattoos like hers as well, but most were unmarked. In the distance, Fox heard someone call out to her. The scene rotated as she turned around to see who wanted her attention. Two new foxes came into view. One was a well built, muscular man. He seemed jovial and had a wide smile plastered to his face. The other was a smaller woman, but despite her lithe frame, she looked just as strong as the man beside her. Her smile was warm, and she seemed thoughtful and kind. They both had markings that were nearly identical to the vixen's. Before the memory could disappear, Fox noticed the two were holding hands. Taking a shot in the dark, he guessed those were the blue fox's parents.

As the scene slipped from view, he could again feel her tugging at the corners of his mind. The memories were beginning to play faster now. He was moving cautiously through the underbrush of the Cerinian forest. He flicked his communicator's map on to make sure he was still going in the right direction. As the memory already began fading, an abandoned research facility came into view, well hidden in the overgrowth of the verdant planet. As soon as his image had left them, a new one of hers began. Now, she was hiking alone up a steep mountain. The wind blew through her fur and carried the scent of lavender into her nose. She stopped to sit on a rock, unhooking a metal canteen from her belt. Taking a sip from it, she looked up the path. As the image began to fade, Fox could barely make out an entrance of some sort set into the mountain.

She increased the pace further. Now he was inside the research facility, stepping gingerly over toppled bookcases and smashed glass vials. He held his blaster in one hand, and a flashlight in the other. There was a small scurrying noise to his left, and instinct kicked in as he immediately swung his blaster around to face the threat. Trigger discipline was all the stopped him from giving a few lose papers caught in the breeze some new piercings. He exhaled, calming his nerves. Then, he saw it out of the corner of his eye; a small black sphere jacked into a large computer mainframe. The scene blurred, but one of the vixen's memories soon picked up the slack. They were now in what looked like some kind of meditation room. The wooden floors groaned as she stepped across them, and the only lighting came from an army of candles lined up on the perimeter of the room. She walked over to a simple red pillow sitting on the ground in front of a large purple crystal shard. Fox couldn't help but notice the striking similarity between the crystal in this memory and the one she had been trapped in just moments ago. The scene began to leave them as she took a seat on the pillow and closed her eyes, focusing inwards.

It was strange how used to this Fox was already. He felt her pulling at another event, and he didn't resist. Now, the sphere from before was sitting right in front of him. He looked around the room once quickly before holstering his pistol. His hands worked the sphere free of its confinement, and it easily came unplugged from the mainframe. The communicator on his wrist blazed to life as he jacked the sphere into it. After confirming that it was indeed the sphere Corneria had sent him to retrieve, he made a quick backup of it before pocketing it and turning around. He took a few steps towards the exit, but didn't get very far before a call came in from Peppy. The picture blurred as he answered it. He only caught a second of the hare's frantic voice before it switched to one of her memories. He could feel ice at the bottom of his stomach. Before he could even see anything, this memory already filled him with an overwhelming sense of dread. She was still meditating, but she was seeing terrible visions; her village being destroyed, the entire canopy of the forest turned into an inferno. Eventually, the entire planet was reduced to nothing more than a smoldering ember. She gasped as her reverie was broken, reeling from what she had seen. Her entire planet, annihilated. She leapt to her feet, racing out the door of the meditation room, accidentally extinguishing a few of the candles along the way with her speed. She sprinted down the mountain she had just scaled, and the feeling of horror only grew during her descent. She had to warn everyone about what she had seen. The memory subsided just as her village came into view over a gentle hill.

They were moving through these memories at a breakneck pace now, but neither of them could slow down. They both needed the answers the other held. This time, she pulled a memory from only a few minutes prior. He was sprinting through the forest, leaving footprints in the soil. Peppy had just warned him about the impending destruction of he planet, and he was racing to get to the evacuation zone where the Great Fox would pick him up. At this, he could feel her shock. Her visions had been correct. The image continued as he vaulted a tree root, but only a few yards ahead was a sinkhole. He blushed, ears glowing bright red as he saw himself stumble and fall into it, producing a rather undignified yelp in the process. The memory went dark as he slammed up against the wall and rolled to a stop in the dirt below. A feeling of dread crept back into him as Fox saw the vixen being backed into a corner at her home. She was crying, pleading with the other villagers, but they all looked furiously at her. They lashed out at her as more and more people gathered around, snarls on their faces. She looked out at the crowd that had gathered around her, trying to pick out a single friendly face, but there were none to be found. In the back, she saw her parents. Fox could feel her momentary hope sparked by their faces, but it was soon dashed. They looked... disappointed. They turned around, and walked away from the crowd, leaving her alone. The vixen's face contorted in horror as they abandoned her, the tears coming stronger now. Even now, Fox could feel her sadness at watching this memory. Fox tried to express his sympathy over the link, and he felt a weak but earnest gratification from her. He could tell it did little to ease the pain though. The memory began to fade out as she collapsed to the ground, being restrained by the mob.

They had come too far to stop at a painful memory now. As they continually approached the present, the memories kept coming one after another. Now he saw himself from only a few minutes ago. He was wandering the tunnels of the cave. He looked like he was in a trance as he wandered closer and closer to the blue fox's resting place. Their memories started to overlap and converge. Before this recollection could even disappear, he could feel the her memory starting. As he wandered in his trance, in her memory, she cried out for help. Suddenly, she felt a warm presence on the outskirts of her consciousness. Fox realized that this warm presence was actually himself. She reached out to it, and begged it to come closer. In his memory, Fox obliged, seeking out the source of his curiosity.

It was getting harder to tell apart what was a memory and what was actually happening. Now, they saw themselves only seconds before, Fox in mid-swing towards the crystal, and the blue fox feeling overwhelming relief that someone had come to her rescue, to free her from her exile. The staff connected with her prison.

Fox heard a resounding snap. He jumped a little when not only the crystal cracked, but the entire world around him seemed to shatter. The vixen's eyes began to lose their glow, returning to their normal deep turquoise. Color slowly saturated the environment again, dispelling the black and white version they had been in before. He felt the mental bridge between them crumble, and before too long, there was a vacuum in his mind where she had been.

Broken from their stasis, all they could do was stare at each other for a few beats. Neither stirred as they processed what they just witnessed. Then, with a horrible cry, the blue fox sank to her knees, her head in her hands. Sobs wracked her body as the truth she had found in Fox's mind sank in. Her planet was doomed. The thought was too much. She looked hopeless.

Fox finally found movement in his limbs. He immediately rushed to the vixen's side. This was a pain he was all too familiar with. He wrapped one arm around her, the other pulling her head closer into his embrace. Losing everything - he understood her. She didn't resist him, burying her head into his chest, wrapping her arms around him. Tears fell from her face and stained his jacket. Fox didn't know why she was here, why her friends had turned on her, heck, he didn't even know her name. But he did know she wanted, more than anything, to protect the people that she loved. And he was acutely aware of the pain she felt when she couldn't do that. He pulled her closer.

Fox opened his mouth, speaking the first words between them. "I - I don't know why you're here, or why everyone turned their backs on you..." his mouth felt dry as he searched for the words. "But I know that you tried your best to defend them." He shook his head, still struggling for the right thing to say. "If they decide to spit on your help, then..." He swallowed hard, "then you can't tell yourself it's your fault. You can't." He pulled her back a little, looking into those bottomless eyes. He said exactly what she didn't want to hear. "You can't protect them anymore." She tensed at this, looking down and gritting her teeth. "But you can't let that stop you from protecting yourself. I can... I can get us off the planet before it..." He gulped, not wanting to say the next word. His voice gained a hint of desperation. "Please, come with me. You don't deserve this, not when all you wanted was to save them. Please." He begged, tilting her head up to look at him.

Slowly, her tears stopped, and her face hardened. He knew how hard his words were to accept. If he were in her place, he might not even believe it. "Please..." he begged in his mind. She took a deep breath, resigning herself. He was right, as impossible as that was to accept. She looked back at him, her gaze steeled. She nodded.

"Ok. Let's go," she whispered, pushing back her pain. Her voice was melodious, and Fox suddenly blushed as he realized he was still hugging her. He pulled back quickly, and the two stood up. She picked up her staff and gave it a few spins before fitting it in a holder on her back. Fox clicked on his communicator, and was surprised to see that only a few minutes had passed in the real world since he last checked, despite them having watched their memories for significantly longer than that. He was going to have a hell of a time explaining all this to Falco and Slip later on. Eight minutes, thirty-one seconds. They looked over at each other and nodded, both ready to go. They sprinted out of the small room, racing down the hallway. Fox had no idea how to get out of this cave system, but luckily, she seemed to know where she was going.

She grabbed his arm and lead him to the right, down a series of narrow passages that all looked the same to him. He was painfully aware of the seconds passing on the timer. Eventually, thankfully, they broke out into a large opening. The floor here slanted upwards, and Fox could see daylight pouring in from above. Scaling the slick floors would have been tricky at best, but luckily some stairs were already carved into the incline. They bounded up them, taking the steps three at a time.

The pair squinted as they emerged into the daylight. Fox sneezed, eyes irritated by the harsh sun. The blue fox had done her job; now, it was up to Fox to get them to the landing zone in time. He glanced down at his wrist. A little over six minutes. Eyes adjusted to the light, Fox quickly recognized that he was very near where he had originally fallen down the sinkhole. He was about to take off and lead the way, when he realized something was standing in his path.

Looking up, a trio of stone golems towered over the two, shifting their weight slightly and causing the ground to tremor. They each held an oversized version of the staff the vixen carried. Fox believed they didn't look terribly friendly.

Almost as if they were responding to this thought, each of the golems pointed their staff directly at him. The purple gems set in each began to glow. Fox quickly unholstered his pistol and crouched, ready to dodge their shots and respond in kind. He was surprised as the vixen's staff touched his hand, however, and she gently forced him to lower his weapon. He looked up at her with curiosity, but she was looking forward at the golems. She stepped towards them, and authoritatively slammed the end of her staff into the ground, making it stand tall next to her. She angrily called out a few words in a language Fox couldn't understand. At first, Fox thought the golems might not be able to understand it either, as their weapons continued to glow. He began to sweat a little, nervous.

After a long, tense moment however, the golems lowered their weapons and stood at attention. Slowly, Fox noticed debris falling off of the golem to the far right. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. The golems had begun to crumble, huge boulders toppling to the ground. Soon, nothing remained but a pile of huge stones and three golden rods. Fox was dumbfounded, mouth hanging open a little. He tried to understand what he had just witnessed, the oddity of everything beginning to sink in. The blue fox didn't give him time to think, however. She quickly grabbed him by the arm, snapping him back to the issue at hand. He shook his head to refocus himself.

"The ship's landing over here. We need to run for it!" he said, shouting the last part over his shoulder towards her. They took off, sprinting for the clearing ahead. The terrain outside the cave was fairly tame, but as they neared their destination, it became harder to traverse. They came face to face with a short stone shelf. It was too tall to climb alone, but... Fox quickly got down on one knee, interlocking his fingers and making a firm surface. She understood immediately, and stepped into his hands. He quickly vaulted her up the stone outcropping, pushing his hands up and giving her the extra elevation she needed to clear the obstacle. Once she was up, she fell to her stomach and quickly offered her hand back down to Fox. He grabbed it, and pushed off the ground as she helped pull him up the sheer face. Nimbly, he hooked a leg around and scampered up. Only a few seconds after they had begun the maneuver, they were on their feet again, that much closer to the landing site. Fox was impressed, as if he needed more evidence that there more to this fox than met the eye. The trees were thinning out now, and the strong breeze made them drift and sway. They cast ever shifting shadows on the floor beneath. Fox could have sworn he briefly saw the flitting shadow of another person high in the canopy cover, but when he looked up, all he could see were verdant leaves. He shook his head, feeling entitled to his paranoia after today's insanity but dismissing it nonetheless.

Soon, a break in the trees appeared. Through there was the landing site. Fox flicked on his communicator and pinged the Great Fox. Slip responded almost immediately, both panic and relief clear in his expression. "Fox! Thank god you're ok. I saw your marker disappear off the map, and I didn't know what to do, I was so worried, I-" the frog rambled, but was interrupted by Falco appearing on the screen. He was in the Sky Claw, and his face showed that he was focused on not getting shot down.

"Save the waterworks Slip, we don't have long to get this done," Falco remarked, eyes locked forwards as he piloted. "You found your way over to the site yet, Fox?"

"We're almost there, just another minute," Fox replied, seeing the break in the forest grow closer.

Falco raised an eyebrow at this, peering towards his camera for a split second with a curious look before staring forward again. "We? Foxy, we talked about this, the voices in your head ain't real."

He glanced over at the vixen as she ran next to him. "In this case, they are. Prepare the airlock for two people."

The look on the avian's face only grew more confused, but any sarcastic response he was planning was put on hold by a rogue burst of fire that lit up his camera. He rolled and let loose his own shots. "Crap! There's a lot of 'em out here." He looked towards the camera again. "Whatever Orange, we'll sort this out later. I'm keeping Andross' ships off he Great Fox while it lands. Don't take too long boarding, I don't want to take out his entire fleet in one day. Falco out." His face disappeared from the screen, leaving Slippy behind. The frog was scrambling at the controls, pulling the Great Fox in for its landing.

"Not to side with Falco here or anything," the frog started, still reaching all around the cabin, "but the sooner we can take off, the better I'll feel. We already shaved off most of our extra time when you disappeared from the radar, so we're cutting it very, very close."

Fox nodded, acknowledging Slippy's concerns. "Just one more minute and we'll be onboard Slip. I'll see you in a few. Fox out." Fox tapped his communicator once and the frog's face disappeared, replaced with the much more disconcerting countdown timer. A hair under three minutes. Fox gulped as the two of them broke into the clearing, leaving the woods behind. Now free from the canopy of the trees, both of them looked up to the sky. It was peaceful for a moment, but that changed very quickly. Stray lasers broke the cloud line, lighting them up a bright red. After a moment, the Sky Claw dove into view, leveling out close to the ground. Two fighters were hot on its tail, and Fox immediately identified them as Venom ships. Falco engaged his airbrakes, slowing down mid flight. He tilted his nose up, looking like he was going to pull into a loop, but Fox knew better. He was trying to fake the other two fighters out, and they bought it. Anticipating the Sky Claw looping, the other two also pulled into a loop in an effort to stay behind him. Seeing they'd taken the bait, Falco quickly pulled out of his fake and opened the throttle, zooming around quickly to put a few rounds in both of their hulls. The ships fell to ground a few miles off in the forest. They exploded on impact, sending out an impressive shockwave. Falco shot off again after that, presumably going to swat down a few more hostiles nearby.

It was then that the Great Fox came into view. The vixen let out a small gasp when she saw it. It broke apart all of the clouds, its massive form slowly sinking towards the earth. Soon the entire ship was visible, the proud words "Star Fox" painted beneath their emblem. The grass beneath it flattened out under the powerful down drafts it was producing. The trees around the landing site began to sway, and the pair had to cover their eyes as it kicked up dirt and debris. Slowly, the ship came to a rest on the ground before them, a small ramp extending towards the back of the hull. This time, it was Fox to pull her out of her incomprehension. Coming back to her senses, the two made a beeline for the entrance.

They were halfway there when the blue fox's ear twitched. She heard an incredibly faint sound far off to their right. It was a sound she'd encountered a million times in her life.

Click.

Everything happened very, very quickly once she heard that noise. Pure instinct kicked in as she hit the dirt, tackling Fox to the ground with her in the process. Fox's eyes widened in shock as he felt the vixen grab him, but she moved to quickly for him to react. He stumbled to the ground, splayed out flat, chest hitting the ground hard. Before he could even open his mouth to cry out in surprise, a thundering crack was let loose far off to their left. Something very loud and very fast tore through the air directly above them in the next millisecond, producing a deafening whistle as it passed directly through where they had been standing. Fox was suddenly rather grateful he had been tackled. The projectile let off one final snap as it buried itself deep in the trunk of an ancient tree, fissures appearing around where it had struck.

Fox's head whipped around to try and pinpoint the origin of the projectile, and he was rewarded immediately. A huge plume of smoke was drifting upwards, pouring out of the barrel of an old sniper rifle. The person holding it was dressed in all black, and was frantically reloading to try and get another shot off. Fox wouldn't give them the chance. He unhooked the blaster from his belt, rolling to his knees. His hands were steady as he took aim...

Bang!

His pistol let off a powerful shot, and he was satisfied to see that it connected with his target. The sniper fell from their perch, hitting the ground with a satisfying thud. Fox stood up and dusted himself off, looking down at the vixen who was beginning to rise too.

"Thanks," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I don't know how you heard that, but you just... saved..." he trailed off, eyes widening once more. The tree that was struck by the bullet had begun to crack at its base. Slowly, it was tilting further and further, the snaps coming faster until the entire tree lurched as is was cleaved in two under its own unstable weight. It was coming down directly on top of them. This time, it was Fox's turn to tackle her out of the way of danger. In the moment before the tree crashed down, he dove towards her, knocking both of them out of harm's way. Wood splinters flew everywhere as the tree collided hard with the ground. Wind whipped at their fur as the trunk came to a rest next to them. After a moment, she looked up at him, thankful. He blushed, getting up and off of her.

"Thanks," she said, smiling just a little. "Although, I suppose I can guess how you heard that one coming." He chuckled as she turned his line around on him, and her expression lightened by the smallest margin. She quickly grew somber again though as she looked at the tree. Fox followed her gaze and saw what was wrong. During the altercation, somehow her staff had come unhooked from her back. Now, it was in a dozen pieces beneath the tree, smashed to bits by its enormous weight.

She looked down, a pained expression on her face as the magnitude of what was about to happen occurred to her. Seeing her staff destroyed was the trigger that made the reality of her situation sink in. Fox looked away as well, ears pinned back as he understood what was going through her mind. After a moment, she took a breath and looked around, trying to memorize the home she'd never see again. Then, she turned around, eyes closed, and began walking up the ramp of the airlock. Fox took one last look around too, and soon he joined her. Once they were safely inside, he clicked the ramp up. The floor lurched as Slippy immediately brought the ship back to life and raced out of the atmosphere. All they could do was watch out the window as they witnessed Cerinia's final moments.

As they rose higher and higher above the ground, the destruction became clearer. Global firestorms ravaged the atmosphere, slowly spreading south. Towards her home. Eventually, they engulfed the area they had been standing in only a minute prior. Fox heard her fists clench. Looking over, her face was filled with anger and disappointment, sadness and despair. She shut her eyes tight, brow furrowed as a tear squeezed out. Fox knew what was coming next, and he braced himself, pulling his shoulders in slightly.

She lashed out, slamming her fist against the window. It trembled slightly, but it was designed to take hits from high-velocity space debris. She cried out, tears flowing freely now as she slammed her form against the airlock door. A quiet voice in her mind told her there was nothing else she could've done, but that voice was drowned out by the cacophony of pain she was experiencing.

"Why?!" She yelled through clenched teeth. "Dammit!" She collapsed, her body convulsing with sobs and rage. Fox knelt down beside her, ears still back. She pounded the floor, looking for justice in the cold metal but finding none. After a minute, her fits slowed, her body sinking in despair. She looked... defeated. Empty. Tears stained her face, but her expression was blank. Fox knew that look. He'd seen it in the mirror every day seven years ago. He knew nothing he could say could make it right. He pulled her head into his lap and embraced her. She didn't react. No one deserved to feel this kind of pain. He hadn't before, and she didn't now.

He silently cursed the universe that allowed this to happen not only to him, but to others as well.

He could feel her form loosen in his arms, void encompassing her. She drifted towards unconsciousness as the adrenaline faded and her mind began to reject the world it had been thrust into. He wouldn't deny her the reprieve. Before she could escape though, she murmured one thing. She looked at him, her eyes glassy, but still beautiful.

"Thank you."

She meant it. It was a genuine feeling of gratitude she was able to produce, despite everything. Fox felt like he didn't deserve it. He managed a small, sad smile in response though. She laid her head down on him again, the alertness leaving her body as her consciousness fled. Her breathing grew soft and regular as she fell asleep. The two sat there like that for a while, Fox watching the embers grow cold on Cerinia.