Author's Notes: This one took a little longer to get out, mostly because there's a lot that is supposed to happen and even then I'm not sure I was able to capture it very well. This is what I get for not making myself edit my own stuff. -MP

-Syndicate-

Doctor Lyle Yates's long, scaled tail curled around his feet as he adjusted his glasses and made a slight adjustment to the large microscope in the table. The surface of the table was littered with what, at first glance, appeared to be mundane pieces of red-brown rock. Upon much closer examination, however, the team of scientists had discovered that these particular rocks contained runes suggesting that the world once held intelligent life long before the Lylat Wars. Why the race had died out remained a mystery, and Lyle was determined to find some kind of answers.

Up until this point the runes, fossils, and bone fragments suggested that the previous inhabitants of Titania were of the reptilian race, similar to Lyle.

There were potential ancestors Lyle was dedicating his time to, and he had made it his personal mission to do them justice.

"Anything new today, Doctor?" a light and airy voice asked from behind Lyle.

He glanced quickly over his shoulder and at the female, tawny-colored rabbit standing in the doorway. Shaking his head, Lyle turned back to the table and the scattered remains of ruins strewn across the table. "Not yet. The team at the ruins said they're going to bring us a new shipment of samples in the next couple of days. Maybe we'll find something in there."

"You could probably get a lot more information if you went to the runes yourself," suggested the newcomer. "There's much more to look at."

Lyle shook his head and licked his lips as he leaned closer to the microscope. "The devil is in the details, Kenra. Coming from Fichina, I thought you would know that."

Kenra Elrind, the most recent scientist to be added to Doctor Yates's team, had been something of a slapstick decision. She had been referred to by Lyle by the director of the climate control research center on Fichina and if you asked Lyle, he would tell you that he hired her purely on the grounds that her expertise was too hard to turn down. She had spent the past four years on Fichina, and over the past three years while teams of scientists studied snowstorms and weather patterns (not to mention any Aparoid remains still on the planet), Kenra and a much smaller team of scientists focused on what was beneath the ice. Before applying to join Lyle's expedition to Titania, her team had just started finding fossils of potential life that once lived on the ice world.

"I'm good at finding," Kenra had told Lyle during their interview. "Once I find what I find what I'm looking for, I like to step back and let other researchers do what they do best. I'm not one for study. I find new things and move on."

Lyle had to agree with what she had to say. On an expedition when there were endless possibilities to find evidence of past lives as well as their civilizations, an expert finder was exactly what they needed.

After pulling on a pair of latex gloves, Kenra picked up a stone slightly larger than her hand and examined what appeared to be the shape of a skull fossilized in it. After brushing the palm of her hand over the flat surface of the rock, she asked, "Back on Fichina, there were rumors that Corneria was looking to claim Titania as part of their territory. Have you heard?"

"I have."

"What do you think of it?"

Lyle sniffed, his tail twitching in amusement. "I think it's about time someone laid claim to it. Warp drives—not the mention civilization itself—has been around for thousands of years. If we can do the same thing you did on Fichina, we could probably make it more appealing."

It was already common knowledge that Titania was the dark horse of Lylat. As unappealing as Fichina with its blistering summers and freezing winters, it wasn't exactly the kind of location someone would want to build a vacation home. However, with the ever-growing population of Corneria, many people believed it was the right time to look for more space to expand their influence. Titania, although barren, held the most promise. Many people reasoned that if Macbeth held control over Fichina, then it would only be fair for Corneria to have Titania.

Kenra continued, "I've heard that a lot of people on Macbeth are upset about it. They think that they should use the climate control technology they developed on Titania themselves rather than letting Corneria steal it from them."

"I know Corneria doesn't have the system's best track record," said Lyle, taking the fossil away from Kenra and carefully setting them back down on the table. "But I don't think they would ever do something like that."

"There are even rumors going around that this assignment is just a cover up for the government to make sure that this place is even worth their time," said Kenra, leaning up against the table right next to Lyle. "Why do you think they'd do something like that?"

"Please don't lean against the table, Kenra. This is a very delicate process." Lyle reached out, without looking, and grabbed her shoulder to gently push her away.

Kenra huffed impatiently. "Well. What do you think of that?"

"I don't think the Cornerian government would ever feel the need to cover it up with something like this," said Lyle genuinely. "Why would they feel the need to keep it a secret? There's no harm in scouring a planet's surface to determine its inhabitability."

"You're the Cornerian here," Kenra pressed. "Why?"

Lyle held a finger up to her when the televox in one of the pockets of his lab coat started vibrating. After taking off his gloves, he pulled the small device out of his pocket and read the caller identification. "One moment, Kenra." He pressed the accept button on the glowing holoscreen. "Yvonne?"

"Hello, Doctor Yates. I'm sorry to disturb your work, but you did tell me it was okay for me to call if it was urgent…"

Lyle sniffed. "I remember. That must mean this is urgent."

"Well, sort of, Sir."

"What is it?"

"Well, the Star Fox team just arrived a few minutes ago, Sir."

Lyle coughed. "Star Fox?"

Having turned his back on her just a few moments ago, Lyle never saw Kenra's eyes widen in shock at the mention of the mercenary team.

"Yes," said Yvonne, somewhat hesitantly. "Remember you requested that someone come out to help deal with the protestors?"

Lyle nodded quickly. "Yes, yes I remember." He cleared his throat. "I just wasn't expecting such a quick response."

"Yes, well, they are on standby at the moment. Whenever you get a chance, let me know and I can get you in touch with them."

"Yes, I will do that," said Lyle as he started turning back around. "Thank you Yv—"

Before Lyle could finish the statement, the air hissed out of his lungs as Kenra's fist jabbed into his throat. The televox fell from his hand, clattering against the floor and bouncing away as her other hand with the side of his head and smashed it into the table.

Dazed and more in shock than in pain, Lyle crashed to the floor and reached towards the televox. Kenra never gave him the chance to reach it, kicking his hand so hard Lyle thought he heard something crack before she smashed the televox underneath her foot and walked away.

Taking advantage of the clear path between himself and the alarm button near the door, Lyle started scrambling to his feet, only to fall back down to his face as Kenra grasped his tail and yanked him back. A loud cry erupted from Lyle as something at the base of his tail popped. As she dragged him across the hard, concrete floor towards her, she pressed one of her feet down against his throat.

"Shut up," she hissed.

Lyle's mouth gaped open, his limbs and tail flailing wildly as he tried and failed to take in a breath. Keeping her foot on his neck, Kenra reached over to the table and picked up the same fossil she had been examining as she conversed with him. Lyle's eyes widened as panic set in, the tips of his fingers going numb as adrenaline bolted through his body.

"You know," said Kenra, tossing the fossil up and down in her hand. "I wasn't lying when I told you I liked finding things. I do. It brings on its own kind of thrill."

Lyle's eyes started rolling back into his head, the numbness brought on by adrenaline slowly being replaced by an icy, gripping cold.

Kenra continued. "However, when you find out that the Cornerian government is looking at a planet and planning to use it as a grounds to build nuclear weapons? That's just too good of an opportunity to turn up. Did you know anything about that? Or did you honestly think that the government would fund an expedition here just because the runes are just so… fascinating."

Lyle gagged violently. The flailing in his limbs and tail had been replaced by an occasional twitch. Kenra turned the rock over in her hands until the flat side faced Lyle. He looked up at the skull fossilized into the rock, his eyes widening in panic. She sighed, then grinned down at him. Lyle didn't even notice. He was too busy focusing his attention on the rock.

"It's been a pleasure doing business with you."

Fox inhaled deeply as the scouter over his right eye uploaded a blueprint of the temporary labs on Titania as well as a digital readout of the Arwing as the plasma engines howled to life. He flexed his fingers over the control stick, glancing down as his fingers contoured around the fading leather of the blunt end of the control stick before looking up and to his right. To his left, Slippy tapped away at the holoscreen of his Arwing, immediately to his right, Falco rolled his neck a few times, and to the right of Falco, Krystal stared out of the open door of the launch tunnel of the Great Fox, her shoulders squared and chin lifted.

"Remember what the PM said," said Fox. "Use of force is authorized, but only needs to be used as a last resort."

"Yeah, yeah," said Falco abrasively.

Krystal added, "If what Yvonne said about an explosion is true, we should expect to use it sooner than later."

"Engines nominal," said ROB over the intercom. "All systems go. Launch commence."

Fox barely had time to notice the way the Arwing shook as the catapult behind him whirred and then with a hard lurch, the launch tunnel disappeared in a blur and Fox was thrown into the darkness of space. Fox's nails dug into the leather of the control stick, the turning sensation of the Arwing performing a barrel roll barely registering, spreading its wings in a fabulous display of light and sparks. The endless black starfield of space stretched out beyond the canopy, Fox only focusing on it for a moment before turning his attention back to the red planet. Thin white clouds dashed across its surface, an almost enigmatic air pulsing off of it as if challenging Fox.

"Form up," said Fox into his microphone. "Let's head straight down to the surface. Get ready for re-entry."

"On your four o'clock, Foxie," said Falco, following by confirmations from Krystal and Slippy.

Almost as soon as the words had subsided and before the air could even be considered dead, the air around the nose of the fighter started to glow a pale reddish color. He punched a command into the console on the fighter, making sure the Arwing remained in a tight arrowhead shape before securing both of his hands around the control stick. "Readjust your G-diffuser output for entry and atmospheric flight."

A message flashed across the computer console of the Arwing: "ATMOSPHERIC RE-ENTRY IMMINENT." Fox responded by calling up the temperature readout, watching the numbers steadily rise as the red glow around the nose of the Arwing grew ever brighter. Keeping his eye on the temperature, he quickly tapped the gravity breaks, slowing his descent enough to maintain his momentum, but enough to stop the ever growing temperature outside of the Arwing.

"Keep a tight formation," said Fox calmly, tapping the brakes again. "We're taking a steep dive to get down there faster."

A chorus of more affirmations echoed in his ears through his headset and Fox tightened his grip on the control stick, maintaining a steady position. The air rushing past the cockpit rumbled at an almost deafening decibel. Outside, the red fire had slowly changed from red to orange. Fox clenched his jaw and locked his arms, tuning out the jumping and shivering of the Arwing and the control stick. Fox glanced at the computer console as it locked onto the planet's surface and displayed the altimeter, which read just over three hundred kilometers to the surface.

Fox knew that would go quickly. Again, he tapped the gravity brakes. On his headset, the screen read "WARNING: ATMOSPHERIC RE-ENTRY IMMINENT. HEAT SHIELDS: 90%".

"How's everyone holding up?" asked Fox?

Falco reported first, "Hovering just around ninety percent."

"Same, Fox," said Slippy.

"Right at ninety, Fox," added Krystal.

Fox nodded. "Prepare to engage full brake and decrease speed to point five mach. Then pull out of the dive and form up on me."

Fox took a deep breath and engaged the gravity brakes at full power, pulling up hard on the control stick, pulling the Arwing into a much milder descent angle. Fox blinked hard as the re-entry fires vanished completely and the volume of the air screeching by the cockpit declined to a much more manageable pitch. To his left, Falco's Arwing swooped past and performed a quick barrel roll in another fantastic display of light. On the computer, the altimeter read that he was about 25 kilometers from the surface.

"Level off at two point five klicks and increase speed to mach point two," Fox looked down at the altimeter as it read just over three kilometers over the surface.

"Accelerate to mach one point two on my mark," said Fox, putting a hand on the throttle. "Mark."

Fox hit the throttle and the Arwing reacted instantly, blasting through the sound barrier with a bluish-white burst of the engine fires, a vapor cone forming around the nose of each fighter for a split second as the left the thunderous crack of a sonic boom in their wake. Fox looked at the small green dot on his radar that indicated the location of the labs. "Proceeding to target. ETA, five minutes."

Fox took the time to breathe easily inside of the cockpit, ignoring the occasional small talk from the rest of the team. He kept his green eyes focused in front of him, looking over the barren landscape of the red planet. Aside from the occasional rock formation or large rattlesnake skeleton, it seemed impossible to gain a real orientation of where he was or even what direction he was going in. The only thing that kept Fox confident that he was heading the right way was the green dot on his radar. Titania was often the setting for the classic horror stories of Lylat. The ringed planet held an ominous, enrapturing quality about it that no one could really describe. Not even the best authors of the system. The best description Fox had heard was one of a foreboding, eerie, inescapable fate. As eager as he was to face whatever was down there, Fox failed suppress the cold feeling of dread that crept into his chest.

Four minutes later, Falco spoke up. "I think I see it. 'Bout a klick ahead."

Fox looked ahead again, catching sight of a boxy, metal structure. In the middle of the desert, it looked like it had no place there. "Got it. Cut your speed and configure the G-diffusers for a vertical landing. We're going to be coming in fast."

Fox slowly throttled down while continuing to pulse on the gravity brakes, punching a command into the computer that prepared the Arwing for landing. As they neared the labs, the Arwing finally reached a complete halt, hovering just meters over the ground as it slowly lowered down. The landing gear deployed from the front of the fighter, touching down in the sand gently.

As the canopy lifted, Fox took a deep breath of Titania's warm, dry air, grabbing his Xilentt S-3 carbine and hefting it over his shoulder as he swung himself out of the cockpit and onto the surface of the planet.

"Falco, you and Slippy stay here," said Fox. "Krystal and I will head in to see what's going on."

Falco's beak dropped indignantly. "What—!?"

"We don't need all four of this," Fox interjected. "You can get trigger happy and Slippy…" he trailed off, making eye contact with the stout frog. "You didn't need to come anyway. I know this place brings back bad memories. You don't have to come."

Slippy grinned wanly. "Thanks, Fox."

Fox nodded as Falco jumped up onto the wing of his Arwing and leaned back against one of the G-diffuser engines. "Fine."

"Don't get too comfortable," Fox warned. "If we need backup, we'll be calling you."

Falco shrugged and leaned his head back, closing his eyes.

Fox beckoned to Krystal, who jogged to join him as he started making his way to the lab. "Can you tell what's going on?"

"There's a lot of distress," said Krystal. "That's to be expected. There's a lot going on in there; the walls do a good job of covering it up."

Fox nodded, pressing a hand down experimentally on the door of the building, surprised to find that it swung open with ease. "Not a lot of security protocol," he noted.

"Either they weren't expecting company or someone else unlocked it before we got here," suggested Krystal.

The entryway of the lab was just a long, dark hallway, Fox and Krystal barely able to see a few meters in front of them. Fox moved to the side of the hall, feeling along the side for a light switch. "I can't find anything, you?"

At the other end of the corridor, Krystal shook her head.

Sighing, Fox activated the flashlight at the end of the barrel of his carbine and lifted it to his shoulder, shining the light down the hall, Krystal doing the same beside him. The hall stretched forward for about another ten meters before forming into a T-junction. Still, there was no one in sight.

At the end of the hallway, Fox flashed his light down the hallway to the left while Krystal moved to the right. He scanned down the hallway, which extended down further than the light could reach. "Clear," he said.

"Clear," Krystal echoed.

"Where is everyone?" Fox wondered aloud.

Before Krystal could answer, a high pitched scream echoed down one of the halls and into both of their ears, so shrill that it sent shivers down Fox's spine.

Fox turned to meet Krystal's gaze. "Where was that coming from?"

Wordlessly, she pointed down the left hallway. Nodding at each other, they both took off at a full sprint towards the source of the noise. The first scream was followed by another, then another, and then another until Fox turned a corner a little too sharply and collided full speed with another body. He managed to regain his balance, though the other hadn't fared so well. She lay on the ground at his feet, covering her head with her arms as she shivered violently and whimpered in fear.

Fox eyed the white lab coat the hare wore and extended a hand to her. "Who are you?"

She reached up, taking Fox's hand and allowing herself to be hoisted up. The tawny-colored rabbit brushed her arms off. "Thank God," she panted. "Thought you were someone else."

"Where is everyone?" asked Krystal.

When the hare kept gasping frantically for breath, Krystal reached out and placed a consoling hand on the other woman's shoulder. "It's okay. You're safe now. We're going to get you out of here. We just need to know if there are others."

The hare nodded, her teeth chattering together. "I—uh…" she leaned her forehead into one of her hands, squeezing her eyes shut. "I don't know… I think they're all dead." Her voice strained at the end, as if trying to suppress a sob. "Dr. Yates… I found him in his lab. He looked—It looked like someone had beaten him to death with one of the fossils he was studying. Oh, God… I've just been hiding, waiting for a chance to get out."

As Krystal's grip on the hare's shoulder tightened, Fox asked, "What's your name?"

"K-Kara," she stammered. "Kara Elide."

"Kara," Fox repeated. "Do you know how to find the exit from here?"

She nodded. "Everyone's dead… it's pointless."

Fox nodded. "I understand the concern you have. We just want to do a quick sweep through to make sure. We have someone waiting outside who will meet you there and take care of you. Can you do that?"

Shakely, Kara nodded. "I… I think I heard something in one of the rooms in this hall. The third one from here on the right. I need to check."

Krystal turned her back on Kara and faced Fox, her mouth pursed into a thin line. "Fox, I don't think this is—"

"We'll check it out for you," said Fox with a quick nod at Kara. "You just focus on getting out of here."

"Please," the hare pleaded. "I haven't heard from my lab partner. I just need to see if she's okay."

"Fox…" said Krystal, her palms tightening around the grip of her carbine.

Sighing, Fox nodded. "Okay, let's go check and then we can get out of here."

Kara's face flooded with relief, her facial features loosening considerably. "Thank you!" She turned around and jogged back down the hallway, stopping at the door she had mentioned to them previously.

"I'm not sure about this," said Krystal lowly as she and Fox followed after Kara a little more slowly. "I'm not sensing any other signs of life here. I think she was right when she said they were all dead."

"Just humor her for a little bit," Fox responded. "If everyone is dead then she's probably going to need that closure."

Reluctantly, Krystal nodded.

"Lynn?" Kara called as she opened the door to the room, poking her head inside. "Lynn are you in here?" She poked her head back out and gestured for Fox and Krystal to join her. "I need to borrow one of your lights. All of the electricity here has been out since the attack."

"Of course," Fox lifted his carbine to his shoulder and pointed it into the room. Before he had the chance to catch a glimpse of what was inside, Kara reached out, forcibly grabbing at the carbine at its barrel and pushed it back into Fox's snout. Reacting just as quickly, he drew his EE-30 ArmCorps blaster from its holster as Kara, her hold still on the barrel of his carbine, pulled on it hard enough to send Fox stumbling into the room. He whirled back around, lunging back towards the door just as Krystal was shoved in and the door promptly slammed behind her.

Fox reached for the handle, trying to twist it to find that it had been locked in place, refusing the budge when he threw all of his weight against it.

Fox slammed his fists down against the heavy metal door. "SHIT!"

Krystal's voice sounded behind him, wavering slightly as she spoke his name. "Fox…"

The vulpine activated the flashlight underneath the barrel of his carbine, illuminating the heavy metal door for a moment before turning around and shining it forward, his light joining Krystal's.

"Fucking hell…" whispered Fox.

The room was piled high with oil drums.

Fox lowered his weapon, allowing it to hang from the strap around his neck as he used Krystal's light to see and stepped up to one barrel in particular with a small, gnarled, fist sized device strapped to it. As Fox reached out to touch it, the miniature holoprojector on it turned on, projecting the numbers '3:00' right in front of his face in bright red numbers.

Fox staggered back a step, startled at the sudden bright light shining in his eyes, exclaiming, "What the fuck?!"

A moment after the numbers had appeared, they started counting down.

'2:59'

'2:58'…

Three brief flashes of light lit up the room before it went dark again and Fox heard Krystal throw her entire body weight against the door. "Fox. We're going to need all the firepower we can get. The door is blast proof."

Fox groaned as he turned. "Of course it is." Switching out his carbine for his blaster, Fox gestured for Krystal to get out of the way. "Falco," he spoke into his headset.

"Yo."

"A hostile is running out of the labs. Tawny colored rabbit. You're going to have to intercept her. Krystal and I are locked in a room here, there's a timer for a bomb set to go off in three minutes. You're going to have to intercept her and get out of the blast radius."

A quiet thump indicated that Falco had either jumped off the wing of his Arwing or his body had impacted another. When he spoke, he sounded out of breath. "What about you?"

"Krystal and I are going to find a way out of here. We'll meet you back at the Great Fox."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!" insisted Fox.

"Roger." Fox heard Falco grunt with the impact of something before the transmission was cut. Fox glanced back at the timer, which now read '2:32'.

Fox pulled the trigger in on the blaster and held it, holding the barrel less than a centimeter away from the handle on the door. He watched, waiting as the barrel of the blaster glowed blue, then green, then slowly faded to a bright red color. "Close your eyes," he advised, then pulled the trigger.

The room filled with white light for a moment, and even though Fox had closed his eyes, it burned into his retinas, causing temporary blindness when he opened his eyes again. Fox pushed his shoulder against the door again, cursing when it still refused to budge.

Hands tightening around the pistol grip and pulling his finger against the trigger, Fox tried again, then threw his weight against the door again. Once again, it didn't move. Fox tried again, then again, then again. Slamming his shoulder into the door enough times that he could already feel a bruise starting to form.

'1:45'…

'1:44'…

"Mother… FUCKER," Fox grunted in time as he threw his shoulder into the door for the umpteenth time. He stepped back, clutching his shoulder in one hand. Taking a running start, he lunged into the door, his shoulder slamming into it at full speed.

Fox could have sworn he heard something crack.

The vulpine crumped to the floor, shouting through clenched teeth as his arm seized in pain, pulling it hard into his side as pain seared through all the way down to the tips of his fingers. When Krystal lay a hand down on his shoulder, he cried out and turned away. Through half closed eyes, he could see the clock read '1:21'.

"Shit…" he breathed. "Shit… shit… shit…"

As Fox got to his knees, still holding his arm against his side with his good hand, he heard a creak as the door slowly opened away from them. Krystal instantly lifted her carbine to her shoulder, the light festooned to it immediately shining down on a stout, green frog, holding his hands up in the air in surrender.

"Whoa!" Slippy cried out. "It's me!"

"Slippy…" said Fox weakly, staggering to his feet.

"You can thank me later. Right now we have to get out of here."

Nodding, Fox stepped past Slippy and took off running down the hall, Krystal keeping pace with him while Slippy trailed behind. Grunting, he slipped the strap for the carbine off of his neck and let it fall to the ground behind him with a clatter. He sighed, relieved at the decreased weight coming down on his injured shoulder.

As they turned the corner into the entry hallway, Fox could see two silhouettes outside, both moving quickly. Fox squinted, they appeared to be sparring.

"Go," said Fox to Krystal. "Falco looks like he needs help. You too, Slippy."

"But—"

"GO!" snapped Fox. "I'll make it out.

Nodding, both Krystal and Slippy sprinted out ahead of him. While Krystal went to assist Falco, Slippy waited at the entrance for Fox as he followed, his steps faltering more than once. As soon as his foot hit the sand, Fox brought up a hand to shield his eyes from the bright Titanian sun.

Then an unbearable heat flashed across Fox's back and he fell forward, unconscious before he even hit the ground.