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Star Fox: The ReArmed Conflict

Chapter 7: Macbeth-Break and Enter


-|- Two Days Later -|- Great Fox II -|- Briefing Room -|-


While the old Great Fox had lacked a briefing room, unless one counted the kitchen area. Fox had decided to include a proper briefing room into the designs of the Great Fox II. Aside this from the fact that this was the first time it was being used by the team the room was in remarkable good condition. The room was just shy of being large and most of the space was dominated by the oval table that people were to sit at. Even though the the usual team only consisted of four this table could easily sit fifteen comfortably. The two walls were plane but the far wall from the door was made up mainly by a large display for whatever information needed to be shown.

Fox and Krystal walked into the briefing room to find the other two members of their team already sitting at the table. Fay was standing off to the side staring intently at the wall. Krystal noticing her intense stare decided to spend a brief moment focusing on the spaniels mind. She was disappointed however to run into the same block that was always there. Krystal couldn't help but wonder who taught her how to organize her thoughts into that whirling barrier of chaotic sound and thought. She noticed that the three engineers that stayed behind on the Great Fox were also present, sitting across from the pilots on the other side of the table, Slippy and Falco were sitting next to each other and watching Fox.

Krystal focused her mind back on their mission and took a seat next to Slippy while Fox went to the front of the room and plugged a data-pad into the display. He dimmed the lights slightly to make the screen easier to read and Fay snapped out of her revive and walked over taking a seat at the far end of the table near the door. Fox raised an eyebrow at her choice of seating before calling up some information on the data pad.

Falco who was as usual forcing the chair as far back as possible so that he could put his feet on the table, decided to interrupt Fox before he could start. "Hey Fox, why are we in here today, we usually just do this on the bridge."

Fox sighed "Because, there is more then just the four of us right now, and considering that we may be investigating a hostile planet, I want everybody to know whats going on." Fox paused, a smile crossing his face. Falco eyed him suspiciously. "What?"

Fox let a full grin cross his muzzle. "Well, I was just thinking it was about time that you learned how to read so that I wouldn't have to do it for you."

Falco narrowed his eyes while Slippy and Krystal laughed. Falco scoffed and turned his head to the side "Yea, we'll see who's laughing down on Macbeth."

Fay regarded them for a moment before speaking up "Can we start this already? I'm anxious to find Miyu."

Fox nodded "Alright, well, before we left Katina, Bill did us a favor by gather all of the scouting reports that he had access to concerning Macbeth." Fox held up the data-pad that Bill had given him "I spent most of the past two days going through the notes, and what I've read has me worried. Which is one reason I wanted everybody on the ship to hear this."

Danielle raised a hand "What exactly are we here for? I get that this could be dangerous, but it's not like we're going planet side with you. Right?"

Fox shook his head "No of course not, I haven't flown or fought with any of you before, I have no idea what combat skills you have. Aside from the basic training that all of the Army undertakes."

Danielle sighed slightly "Good."

Fox continued "No, I'm entrusting the Great Fox II to your care, to make sure its ready to get us out of there if needs be, and just in case it comes under attack."

Danielle straightened in her chair "What!" She looked to her teammates "You

.can't do that! We have no combat experience on a Dreadnaught!"

Fox focused on her "Sorry, but you can and you will, you chose to stay behind on the Great Fox, that means that you have to help us from time to time. I need everybody on the ground or in the air, and since we didn't have time to swing past Corneria and grab Peppy, you guys are to help ROB if anything comes up." Fox paused "Clear?"

Danielle nodded slightly cowed "Yes sir."

Fox nodded "Good, and thank you for helping us out on this."

Slippy spoke up "Hey Fox, why do you need all of us out, it can't be that bad."

Fox didn't say anything, instead he reached down and opened a file on the data-pad, a wave bar appeared on the screen and static started playing. A few seconds later a voice sounded out of the speakers

"...Report..." a pause and more static "Scout Flight 4, you are ordered to return to base and report." Suddenly the static flared in loudness and intesntiy and a panicked voice blared out, while sometimes being lost amidst waves of static "-erywhere! Ho-et here?-opy, repea-do you cop-assive-my force-attac-coordi-4.58-en-repeat se-up-Niner! Your six-Niner!-own-casualty-Niner is gon-Captain! Behind yo-Shit! Arrgghh-" The static cut own and the voice from before returned, subdued. "Send a report to command that Scout Flight 4 has gone missing, most likely KIA. We're rounding up forces to send after them."

Fox closed the wave meters window and glanced out at his friends and extended crew. Krystal spoke up first, lowering her paw from her muzzle "What, what attacked them?"

Fox shrugged his shoulders "At best guess, the same guys that attacked us on Fortuna."

Falco stared at the screen behind Fox "It's not mentioned in the report?"

Fox tapped on the data-pad again, bringing another window to the front, he gestured to it as he spoke. "Best thing that Bill got was that the Macbeth base only sent out one more flight after them, a full combat flight of sixteen fighters. They flew towards the last point that the scout team was known to be at. About ten minutes in, their combat ID's vanished from radar and they couldn't raise any of the pilots. After ten hours the flight was considered KIA as well and they sent another report to Army HQ." Fox paused and glanced around the room "That was almost two weeks ago."

Krystal blinked and spoke up "What is the Army doing now?"

Fox brought up a local net report "Officially, Macbeth is experiencing random power outages and surges of criminal activity and the Army is warning loyal citizens of the planet to stay inside and lock their doors." Fox tapped on the screen again and closed the local report, bringing up an official looking military order.

The words "Top Secret" were printed across in big red letters with slashing bars surrounding them. There were not many words on the report so it was easy for everybody to read.

-Top Secret-

Evidence has come to light that leads Intelligence to believe that Macbeth is going to be the next target of these Remnant Terrorists. We lost a scout force in the abandoned mining area, the attack force that was sent out is also recorded as KIA. All inbound civilian traffic is to be re routed to Aquas. Military is only allowed with clearance from command. No flights are allowed to enter the atmosphere on Macbeth over the mining area unless directly ordered to, and a cordon has been set up on the ground to prevent entry that way.

After everybody read the report Fox closed it and turned to Falco who spoke up "So, if Macbeth is cordoned off, how are we supposed to make it planet side?"

Fox turned to look at Fay "That's where you come in."

Fay looked confused, "How can I help?"

Fox just called up a picture of Macbeth with the routes of the military blockade plotted out. "You worked undercover. So you should know how the Remnant is getting supplies. Because there are no supplies to be had in the mining area and they cant get them from the planet. So they must be getting them shipped in somehow."

Fay studied the map while Krystal looked thoughtful. "Surely there are supplies stores in that mining area. Why don't they just use those."

Fox shook his head "They can't"

Krystal turned to look at Fox "Why?"

Falco laughed "Because, they'll die," before Krystal could ask Falco continued jerking a thumb at Fox. "Foxie here took out one of Andross's old officers by rerouting his supply train into a depot full explosives. Turns out, Andross had stocked the place full of experimental chemicals, made the crater and the surrounding five hundred miles uninhabitable."

Fox shook his head "In my defense nobody knew about those chemicals until after the war was over and people started dieing."

Falco chuckled again "Doesn't stop the people of Macbeth from hating our guts. Most of them would turn us over to any of Andross's old army."

Krystal sat back in her chair "Oh my, so they need to be getting supplies in then." Krystal turned to Fay, as did everybody else. Fay was focused on the map that Fox had left up and she got out of her seat to walk around the table. Eventually she placed her finger on a point of the map "Here."

Fox enlarged the section of the map and Falco snorted "Are you crazy sister? That's right where two of the largest patrols meet." Falco looked at Fox "She's crazy right, tell me shes crazy."

Fay glared at Falco "No, the best place to get by your enemy is behind them, so you wait until these two flights or ships or whatever cross paths. Then you hijack an army transponder and just fly straight through, they'll think is just a straggler ship and dismiss it."

Falco raised his arms in the air "Shes trying to kill us all." He said as he turned to Fox to see him staring at the map and rubbing his muzzle thoughtfully. Falco paled "Oh no, you're not."

Fox glanced over his shoulder at Slippy "Hey we still have the codes from the Aparoid war that identifies us as Army right?"

Slippy nodded "Yea, The Great Fox wouldn't work of course, but the Arwings should be able to slip through."

Falco's beak dropped and he stood up. "Okay, am I the only sane on here? According to those reports, you guys want to sneak past two heavily armed cruisers. Cruisers. They have cannons bigger then our Arwings."

Fox glanced at Falco "Come on, when have you ever chickened out from a challenge?"

Falco glared at him "That's not a challenge, that's suicide, when did I become the voice of reason?"

Krystal laughed and leaned back in her chair "You know hes got a point Falco, I suppose if you really don't want to, you can just stay behind and fly guard around the Great Fox."

Falco blinked then he snorted again "As if, nice try Krystal," he turned his gaze to Fox "I need to go along to keep you guys safe on the ground and help keep you guys in one piece while those cruisers try to blow us apart."

Fox grinned at Krystal then turned his smile to Falco "I knew you would see reason Falco."

Falco turned his head "Yea whatever, I'll be careful and still beat you down to the surface."

Fox shook his head "Now that we have that out of the way, the ground team will consist of Falco, Fay and myself."

Krystal glanced up at Fox "I'm not coming?"

Fox shook his head "Not really, all the pilots are coming down, its just that I want to have you and Slippy in the air, giving us cover."

Falco grinned at Slippy as he sat down again, "Not to mention she'll be there to pull Slip's butt out of the fire when he gets in trouble."

Slippy didn't even turn "Can it Falco."

Krystal nodded "Fair enough, what are you guys going to be doing while me and Slippy are flying cover."

Fox turned to Fay. "Well, that depends on you, I can't plan for anything with out knowing where were going."

Fay nodded "Well, there is another reason that I chose this are to sneak by." Fay moved up to the map and looked at Fox "Ground view of Macbeth please, right above the entry area."

Fox nodded and adjusted the map to the appropriate area. Fox immediately noticed that the crater from the Forever Train explosion was visible on the map. He glanced at Fay "You want us to come down right into the infected area, nothing on the Arwing would work right. Plus we can't even stay exposed for too long."

Fay nodded "Exactly, that's why the Remnants built a base right underneath the crater," she raised her arm and pointed at a hill that was about a mile out from the edge of the crater "and put an entrance right inside this hill. A hidden hanger bay."

Fox walked up and stood beside her "Okay, lets say there is a base there and that we can get in through a hanger. I doubt they leave the door open."

Fay grinned "Of course not, but I know for a fact how this base operates. They wait until somebody passes the hanger and then exit the hanger behind them. The effects of the chemicals rendering them invisible until its too late. That's how they always win their fights, coming up behind their targets with out them realize it and blasting them to pieces before they even know what hit them."

Falco leaned back in his chair again "So what, do we knock with a Nova Bomb or something?"

Fay shook her head "Not quite, we'll do a fly by and wait from them to send out their ships, should be one for each of us. We dog fight with them for a bit, luring them over towards the base. When we thin their numbers out, the base will launch more fighters as support and then the three of us can dart in and land." Fay glanced at them "Only thing is, I'm not so sure about getting out."

Falco snorted again "I knew something was up."

Fox glanced at his friend before facing Fay "What do you mean?"

Fay turned her gaze back to the map "Well, once they realize we're in the base, they'll put it under a full lock down. Which mean we'll have to disable the energy field generators before we could leave."

Slippy looked puzzled "What do you mean, an energy field wouldn't stop you from getting out. You would just have to hit the doors with a few Nova Bombs while you were on the far side."

Fay shook her head "Wouldn't work, there is another reason we need to fly in. When the doors are closed the energy fields are super charged through a series of three generator sets. A cruiser blast wouldn't be able to phase them out."

Falco whistled "That's a lot of energy to phase off for just one hanger."

Fay nodded "Excessive, but this base is quite large and complex, and since most of it is carved out of the natural tunnels that line this area. They protected them with enhanced fields."

Fox held up a paw "Wait how big is this base? I mean anything bigger then a mile would require a large generator set up to shield it."

Fay pointed at the middle of the crater "From one end there, to about a mile past our entry point."

Slippy looked doubtful "That's pretty big, there is no way the whole base is protected. You would need almost half a mile of generators alone, then their power out put would be huge, there is no way you could hide them."

Fay glanced at Slippy "I know, and that's why they chose this spot, the irradiated earth shields their power leak, nobody has a sensor powerful enough to filter out the interference." She turned her gaze back to the map "And its almost a full mile of generators, they cover the stretch from this hanger to the main base at the edge of the crater."

There was silence in the room as everybody took that in. Fay caught on to it and turned to face them "What?"

Fox glanced back at his team "Well, that's a pretty serious under taking, just how big are these Remnants?"

Fay shrugged "I don't know, each sector is kept separate, I wouldn't know anybody from another planet if I met them in the streets." Fay glanced back at the Macbeth map "But, from the size of this base, there could easily be millions, and nobody really knows about them."

Falco cocked his head "What about the Terrorist attacks?"

Fay waved a hand "Distractions, they know that since they failed to kill you before that the team would report to the government. So the Remnants are giving them somebody to fight, it just not who they think they are. If we can't stop them, when the Remnants show their true force, the Cornerian Army will be swatted aside like a fly."

Silence ensued again and Fay turned back to them.

"Why us Fay?"

Fay turned to face Fox at her side "What do you mean?"

Fox was staring at the table and that data-pad. "This threat is huge, why bring it to a mercenary troop, why not go report back to Corneria and warn them?"

Fay was silent for a moment "If Corneria tried to make a move with its united army, the reach that the Remnants have would render them fractured and scattered, too many high ranking people have been corrupted, too many chains have been formed and their links are weak. I've seen you guys face an entire armada with just four ships, and just plow through their lines like they are not even there. The separate pilots here have a combined kill count that most planets can't match." Fay turned back to the room "In short, you guys are the only people I think can handle this. You've faced Andross more times then you should have had to, you took down the Aparoids and you survived missions no team has a right surviving." Fay turned back to Fox "If you guys can't do anything, the Lylat system is doomed."

Fox raised his head "If what Fay says is true, the stakes are just as high as ever before. IF we do this, we'll make ourselves a target of this spanning corruption."

Falco closed his eyes and shrugged "Wouldn't be the first time we've had an army target us. I'm cool."

Slippy nodded "With ya Fox."

Krystal smiled "Where you go I go."

The engineers looked at each other "Hey we can leave at any time right?" Danielle asked

Fox looked up at her "Of course, I just ask that you wait until after Macbeth, then I will see you off at any planet or station you want."

Krystal spoke up "Fox, what exactly are we doing on Macbeth again?"

Fox looked at Fay, who paused before she spoke, "What were doing...is rescuing Fara Phoenix and Miyu."

Fox turned to regarded her "I thought we were meeting up with Miyu."

Fay reached underneath her vest and pulled out her own data-pad, on its screen was the note she got from Miyu. "So did I, until I finished decoding the rest of her message."

Falco stared at the screen for a moment "Hey sister, that may make sense to you, but to us its all alien. Care to explain?"

Fay nodded "I got this note shortly before the Remnants attacked you on Fortuna. Since I had to go and attack you guys, I only read the first part, which said she needed help getting out. The note goes on to say that she believes Fara is about to be killed and that her own cover is being destroyed. She ends her note with saying that if she doesn't meet us in the landing bay, shes captured and that we should just get out while we can."

Fox glanced out of Falco and Slippy who exchanged a look, it appeared the stakes had just been raised again.

Fox nodded as he glanced back at Fay "Alright, so assuming that Miyu meets us in the hanger we'll need a way to get out. I have a feeling it can't be a simple as hitting an off switch on the control panel?" The last part of his sentence Fox directed at the spaniel.

Fay shook her head "I wish it was, but the shield is controlled from a secured command bunker located past the generator farm. Plus its only open as long as somebody is there to keep it open."

Falco stood up and gazed at the Macbeth map "So what do we do then?"

Fay grinned "You'll love this part, you see there is a bit of a flaw in the system that I found." Fay moved over to the data-pad and gestured at it" May I?" she asked Fox.

Fox nodded and stepped to the side as Fay punched in some commands on the data-pad. A short while later a series of lines appeared outlining the outside scope of the base. While the bulk of the base was located to the east of the landing bay they were going to enter at. A large potion stretched out to the west, assuming the arms of an octopus as the tunnels meandered out to five circular hubs. Falco felt his eyes widen just a bit "That's a pretty damn big base after all."

Fay nodded and put in a few more commands "It is, but the parts you'll be interested in are these three areas here, here, and here." At each one of her words a circle appeared around one of the west sides out reaching arms until she had a circle surrounding three of the hubs with a space between each one.

Falco glanced over his shoulder at her. "Whys that?"

Fay kept her eyes on the Macbeth map. "Because those three hubs are the back up generators. Designed to go active when ever one of the main generators goes down for repairs or because of another issue."

Falco grinned "Tell me I get to blow those up."

Fay nodded in response and Falco pumped his fist in the air "Yes! How big are we talking?"

Fay thought about it for the moment "Well, the least would require just the generators themselves being destroyed but taking out the whole hub wouldn't be bad either."

Falco pumped his fist again "Perfect, I got a supply of some black market explosives, extremely high tech and I've been waiting for a mission to test them out on."

Fox held up his paw "Wait, you have illegal and possibly untested explosives on board the ship?"

Falco grinned at his friend "I never said that, now did I?"

Fox sighed and shook his head "I'm best friends with a madman."

Fay laughed softly "Well I can assume that's taken care of."

Fox nodded "Yep, so we make a stop by these hubs while on our way to-"

Fay cut him off "Can't do that, those hubs have high security, well need to attract as much attention to us so Falco can move around unseen. If they see him planting the explosives the escape plan won't work."

Krystal was studying the map herself "Why not?" she asked.

Fay glanced at her "Well, the reason I was going to have Falco destroy those hubs was because of the flaw in the system. If those generators are destroyed while the main system is using them, a power override command is issued automatically to balance things out. It siphons power from the bay door shields, counting on the blast doors to keep things out or in."

Fox nodded "Okay, so you and I move though the base creating as much havoc as we can to distract the security force while we move towards...where exactly?"

Fay went back to the data-pad and put in more commands. "We'll carve our way through these side hallways." As she spoke a line appeared from the disguised hanger and moved through the inside lines of the base. "I suspect that they'll be holding Miyu here." A large circular room with several rooms connected to it was highlighted. "This is the main interrogation room, once we get there I'll try and get into the computers and locate Miyu, after we spring her, she'll lead us to Fara."

Miyu glanced over at Fox as she paused. When she continued speaking she turned to face the screen. "After we have Fara, we'll double back through some of the side hallways before we stop off at air control and open some of the vents."

Fox nodded "To bypass any security doors they'll have dropped, right?"

Fay nodded slowly in return "Sorta, you see the doors drop in the vents too, in the form of another set of enhanced shields."

Fox glanced at Fay "so how do we get past them."

Fay turned to face Falco "That's where he comes in, I can hack the terminal in the air control room to gain access to the power balance. If everything goes right, Falco should have the charges planted and I can swap the power. We'll have a five second window to blow the hubs and cause the override. When it kicks in, all enhanced shields get phased to normal shields."

Fox nodded again "Including the ones in the vents, which allows us through."

Fay glanced back at the data pad "After that we drop off at the power center here and have a straight shot to the hanger." Fay paused "I need to mention this now, the override only last for however long it takes for the power to equalize."

Falco glanced at Fay "Which is...?"

Fay chewed on her lips "Twenty minutes, give or take."

Fox and Falco glanced at the map. "Lot of ground to cover." Falco began "I'll need to be at least halfway back to the hanger before I can blow the charges to stand any chance of reaching it in time." Fox nodded his agreement "Try to move fast then buddy."

Fay glanced between them "You're still in then?"

Falco snorted "Of course."

Fay sighed "Good, I was afraid you would back out after I outlined my plan."

Fox shook his head "Not with the lives of Miyu and Fara on the line." Fox turned back to the map "However, one thing does worry me, the point where we go off the plan and start following Miyu. We'll be completely reliant on her and if shes wrong about where Fara is we may need to pull out anyway."

Fay nodded "I can only hope that Fara is near by." Fay paused again "Oh and one last thing you should know. The Remnants have their hands in a lot of the newest prototype being developed, so there is a high chance we'll come across tech that you'll have never seen before."

Falco turned to face her "Like..."

Fay shrugged, "I only know of a few, and I won't tell you about them unless we come across it. No sense in worrying you about it."

Falco opened his mouth to protest by Fox raised a paw. "Fair enough Fay." he turned to face her "So what exactly will we need to bring with us on this mission?"

Fay put a finger to her lips "Well, lets see, Falco has explosives covered, so we'll just need heavy blasters, some grenades, oh and body armor wouldn't hurt."

Fox nodded "We've got the weapons covered in the armory, but the Great Fox only has standard Recon armor in its lockers. We go out and get anything else we might need for the mission if it calls for it before hand."

Fay nodded "Alright, some is better then none. Other then some spare communicators and gear to give to Fara and Miyu. We should be good aside from what ever you two want to bring."

Falco stood up and stretched "Commando Raid in a sense, just like that mission back in the academy eh Fox?"

Fox looked over at him and gave a sharp nod "Yep, but I think this one might be just a little bit harder." Fox paused for a moment before he turned back to face the room. "Alright, we'll rig our new ships with the transponder codes to slip by the patrol. Dive down to the surface and lure out the Remnants attack squad. Falco, Fay, and I, will sneak into the base and get Miyu and Fara while Slippy and Krystal strafe the top side and keep any other pilots distracted. Then they'll cover us as we blast out of the hanger and book it to the Great Fox where Danielle and her team will have everything ready for us to blast out of here."

Everybody around the room nodded as Fox finished talking, although the engineers still hesitated for a moment before nodding with the rest.

Fox pressed a button on his gauntlet "ROB how far are we out from Macbeth?"

ROB's voice echoed out through the room "The Great Fox II will reach Macbeth in twenty-three hours and forty-five minutes."

Fox nodded "Alright you have twenty hours to do whatever you want. Then I want everybody preparing for the mission. I suggest you all get some sleep."

With that he walked out of the room and left the rest of the team to their plans. Krystal waited a moment to get up and follow him, Falco following soon after, slowly the room emptied until it was just Fay staring at the Macbeth that rotated on the screen. "Hold on girls, I'm coming for you, and bringing one hell of a team."

-|- Nineteen Hours Later -|- Fox and Krystal's Quarters -|-

Fox woke up early, he usually did. Something about being in charge of others always had him getting up before them to get a head start on preparing. As he blinked and looked around the room he realized that Krystal wasn't asleep next to him. Slightly surprised he rolled off of their bed and after getting dressed checked their room to make sure she wasn't any where in it.

Wondering where she was Fox moved through out the ship, stopping by the kitchen area to grab an apple before moving his search to the bridge. Finding only ROB guiding them towards Macbeth in the distance Fox decided to check their main hanger. As the elevator opened on the hanger Fox was surprised to hear the sound of a socket wrench. Moving towards the sound he was again slightly surprised to find Krystal cross legged on the engine apartment of her Arwing.

She was dressed in jeans and t-shirt, both of which were slightly stained, and seemed to be consulting a data-pad that was sitting next to her on the housing. Fox walked up to the side of her ship and glanced up as she worked. She didn't even turn to face him as she moved to grab at something in the housing. "Hey Fox." she said absently as she pulled something out of the housing, a number of wires still attached to it.

Fox watched her compare the device she was holding to the data-pad before she sighed and put the piece back into the housing. Fox raised an eyebrow and opened his mouth, but closed it as Krystal plucked the question from his mind.

"I've been up for about an hour or so, couldn't sleep, decided to come down here and see what I could do. I took a little bit of damage from an over heat during the training fight. Slippy said he would fix it, but I found his design notes and figured why not. I've worked on ships before it couldn't be that complicated."

Fox shook his head as she trailed off, he glanced back up at her with a grin pulling at his mouth "Except?"

Krystal frowned as she reached back into the housing "Slippy's notes are all over the place and doesn't seem to hold to a normal Arwing design."

Fox chuckled as he pulled himself up onto the wing and walked along to the area she was sitting. He glanced down into the open housing as he spoke "Well you know these aren't exactly normal Arwings."

Krystal sighed "I know, I just...I need to be doing something."

Fox glanced at her as she slid off the top of the housing and landed on the wing next to him "Why's that?" he asked as they both dropped down to the hanger floor.

Krystal shook her head before she replied "I don't know, I just woke up with a bad feeling in my gut and couldn't get back to sleep."

Fox glanced at her as he led her over to his ship "Thoughts on the mission?"

Krystal shook her head again "I don't know." she paused and looked thoughtful "Actually, now that I focus on it, the feeling has been around for a while now. It's just getting to me now. It's like there is this evil around us that's been slowly getting stronger. Or something is about to make its move."

Fox looked at her sideways for a moment. They stopped in front of his ship and Fox thought about what she had said. "You don't think there is a spy on the ship do you?"

Krystal looked at him startled "You mean for the Remnants?"

Fox nodded "Who else, its not like we have secrets for the Army. Besides think of it this way, you've had the feeling for a while and now that we're about to make our first directed attack at them. The feeling has gotten stronger, what else could it be but a spy who is going to try and ruin our plan?"

Krystal glanced down at the floor as she ran a paw over her muzzle "It makes sense in a way. But lets say there is a spy, who could it be?"

Fox thought about it for a moment "Well it would have to be somebody new to the ship, that rules out the team of course, but it does leave Danielle and her team, and Fay too I suppose, she could be feeding us all a story about needing our help."

Krystal nodded and Fox walked over to his ship leaping up into the cockpit "But what about the army and her going undercover."

Fox leaned down in the cockpit checking something, his voice drifted out towards her "Well that's the thing, she could have spent so long in cover that she actually got corrupted and is now fully working for them. It's doubtful but still possible."

Krystal glanced around, almost afraid of being overheard "So, if there really is a spy and they are about to make a move, what do we do?"

Fox paused for a moment before he sat up in his cockpit and glanced down at her "The only thing we can safely do for now, we watch, and wait for our chance to stop them."

Krystal cast another glance around the hanger, worry written on her face.

-|- Four hours later -|- Space around Great Fox II -|-

Fox sat in the cockpit of his Arwing, watching as the rest of the team lifted off the hanger deck and launched. He reached down between his legs and double checked to make sure his bag was there with all his gear. He sat up and had to adjust his position briefly to stay comfortable in his recon armor. Although the armor was only composed of a couple energy diffusing plates that covered his chest, arms, and legs. It was still bulkier then his normal attire and he wasn't used to wearing it in his Arwing.

As the last of his team mates joined him outside he opened a comm line "Slippy, are the beacons online?"

Slippy's voice answered quickly "Yep, I even modified them to show us as normal Corneria fighters. Unless somebody points a camera at us, we can pass as military. By the time they realize we're not we should be in the sensor cloud.

Fox nodded and moved his Arwing in position. "Fay, your in control of timing, how long do we have until those patrols pass each other?"

Fays voice responded as the group moved towards the entry point. "We've got about five minutes till the cruisers pass each other on their patrol. Add on another five for the various fighters to mingle before we push through. That's our most dangerous part in my view. We'll show up on radar as Cornerian, but any one of those fighters could make visual on us and decide to just open fire."

Falco's face appeared "So, we'll need to be quick, but not draw attention to ourselves."

Krystal laughed softly "Well then, we'll just have to leave you behind show off."

"Yea, can it sister."

Fox lead the group to the entry point "Okay, I'm with Fay on this one, keep it cool, and as soon as she gives us the clear, hit your boost and book it for the surface."

A serious of okays answered Fox and they spent the next ten minutes waiting in silence. The two cruisers finally passed each other. Their fighter nets merging for a moment while they passed. The group slowly made their way closer into the fighter net, merging with it as well. "Fay, tell us when."

"Not yet."

Another twenty seconds past and Falco spoke up "Fay their going to be splitting apart. We'll be pretty obvious then."

"Not yet."

The fighter net started to break apart into their separate flights and the cruisers were moving on.

Falco groaned "Fay."

"Not yet."

The last of the fighters broke off and Fox began to doubt her, he glanced to either side and almost missed what Fay was looking for.

There.

One of the fighters paused in his movement, he finally placed the sensor blips with ships and was surprised. Curiosity getting him for the one crucial moment, in which his finger hesitated.

"Now!"

Fox pressed the button for his boost while his thumb slid his engine output to full. His Arwing jolted slightly as it went from its slow drift to max speed in just a few moments. For one brief moment space and stars blurred as his vision went foggy. His G-Diffuser caught up easily enough and his sight corrected. He glanced at his own sensor, ahead of him he could see the sensor jamming cloud as a yellow sphere. His team mates were just ahead of him, Fay leading the charge, and there behind them, three fighters, just barely catching on.

Fay had hit it perfectly.

The bulk were too far away to pull a sharp loop and catch up, that left just these drifters, who would be yelled at to ignore them and to wait for reinforcements. By that time, The three of them should be in the base and Krystal and Slippy should be leading the fighters away, if they even followed them down to the surface at all.

They hit atmosphere and Fox switched his G-Diffuser system with out even thinking about, his ind suddenly being pulled ahead to the mission, and its goal. Would she be the same, the fiery fennec who didn't take no for an answer? Would she be okay with Fox moving on with out her? Would she-

Fox shook his head sharply as the sensor blocking cloud took over his Arwing. The various panels flashing in alarm as suddenly all sensors and even most of the general readings were cut out. He worried slightly when his Arwings flashed his shield readout out him, warning that his shields were gone. Fay had told him that it wasn't true, but there was no way to gauge shields while in the cloud.

Cloud was a bit of a misnomer Fox thought to himself as he glanced outside his ship. Sure there was a grimy looking green mist that hugged the top ten feet of Macbeth, but the air around the Arwings was free and clear. If it wasn't for his systems being on the fritz, he could almost say that Macbeth looked peaceful.

"Heads up, the hill is just ahead"

Fays voice snapped Fox out of his thoughts and he focused again on what was coming up. He reached over and hit a button for a new weapon that Slippy had loaded on their Arwings, for this mission. Hoping that Slippy's idea would work, Fox made sure that none of his team mates were behind him before he button again and a hatch on the bottom of his Arwing opened and a small sphere tumbled out only to shoot up into the air a moment later.

Five seconds later the orb stopped moving and a small cylinder slid out, focusing on Fox's Arwing. Moments later a grainy video screen popped up on his communications display. In it he could see his Arwing as he flew along with his team.

Falco's voice sounded "Huh, I'll be damned, its fuzzy, but it works."

Slippy sighed over the radio "I was a little afraid it wouldn't, but glad my hunch paid off."

Fox smiled and did a little wave of his wings at himself before nodding "Good work Slip." He said as they passed the hill, their cameras trailing just out of sight behind them.

Fox waited with the rest of his team as they flew on straight like they were doing a search grid. It wasn't long before he saw movement in his camera. "I've got something." he said as he watched the fighter 'sneak' up on him.

"Same here." Falco responded

"They should be trying to sneak up on all of us at once." Fay responded, watching her own bogey in her camera.

Fox took a tighter grip on his control sticks as he readied himself "Alright, wait for their charge, then loop and blast them."

Fox watched as the energy began building on the nose of his pursuer. He waited with everybody else before calling out "Now!" he cried as he adjusted his thruster output and pulled back on his flight stick. His Arwing pulling up in a sharp curve as the energy that had just been released from the pilot lanced out below him. Fox finished his loop and came down right behind his enemy, who was now trying to dodge out of the way.

Fox didn't give him the chance, mercilessly pounding away at his shields until they sparked and fell, allowing his laser to score the surface of his fighters. After a few seconds one of his bolts burned through into the engine housing and fire spewed from his output, moments later the fighter burst apart at the seams a fire ball replacing it and wiping out the life within in a few painful seconds.

He saw several similar flashes from his team mates before he pulled a sharp u turn and blasting back towards the base. "Falco, Fay, lets go, boost back. Krystal Slippy, get ready to fight."

Moments later Falco and Fay lined up into place behind him. Fay spoke up "We have to time this perfectly, are you sure two can pull this move off?"

Falco snorted "Hah, please, I was about to ask you that."

Fox didn't say anything, instead choosing to focus on the rapidly approaching hill in front of him. His boost died out just short of the hill and as they flew over, they were rewarded with the sight of a set of fighters blasting out from the hidden side of the hill and flying out over them.

Fox boosted forward again, pushing forward on his stick to send the Arwing arcing down on the front of the hill. A quick adjustment and he braked hard, releasing little blasts from his underside jets, causing his Arwing to flip upside down and hang their for a moment before releasing the brake and moving forward into the base, flying in between the rapidly closing doors. He flippy the Arwing right side up and hit his brakes again, bringing the fighter to land on the hanger floor. Besides him, Fay and Falco's Arwings, touched down as well. Their canopy's sliding open just moments before Fox's.

Fox jumped out of his Arwing, his recon plates clacking together as he landed hard on the ground. His normal attire had been replaced with a set of black combat boots and pants and a shirt of the same color. A helmet wrapped around his head with a visor that dropped down as he landed covering his eyes and bringing up a energy display for a diffusing field that his armor generated. Overlaid with that was an ammo count showing how many spare energy crystals he had.

Fox turned his head to watch Fay as she flipped out of her fighter, as she flipped through the air he hand grabbed the stock of the standard issue sniper rifle she had brought from their armory. She yanked it off her back and into the air, as she landed she caught the rifle and quickly pulled it to her shoulder. She aimed for something up in the corner of the hanger and pulled the trigger, the thin red beam lancing out and causing something to explode. She slapped the side of the gun ejecting the now empty gray crystal and grabbed a green one from a pack on her hip and sliding that into the chamber that empty crystal had popped out of. She quickly turned around and shot at another point on the wall. The beam causing another thing to explode. She repeated this process four more times before she paused and slung the rifle back onto her equipment holster.

Fox stared at Fay as she reached down and adjusted her brown combat boots that reached up to join with her black leggins and red shirt. All of this was covered with a similar set of armor as Fox's except hers was a dark red, was a bit thicker and covered most of her upper body and legs. Leaving only her upper arms and lower legs exposed to fire. From one hip hung a pack of energy crystals and hanging from the other was a new weapon Fox had never seen before. It was about the size of his Machine Gun but bulkier then normal, it had a wide barrel and a stock. It also appeared to have a slide of some sort along the side.

Falco walked around Fox's Arwing with his side arm drawn and a large pack slung over his shoulder. He was dressed in the same outfit and armor as Fox. Except his helmet didn't have slits for ears to poke out. "Nice shooting, just one question. What the hell were you shooting at?"

Fay glanced at Falco "Just the cameras that were in this room. I would rather try and keep the fact that we got three of us here a secret."

Fox nodded while Falco snorted "Oh yea, that will work, they'll just ignore the third Arwing then?"

Fay frowned at the bird "Once the leaders of the base sees me, they'll know I'm here to break someone out. They'll just assume that the third ship if for them." Fay looked towards the hanger doors "You know, unless you keep standing here flapping your beak and don't get out of sight before the guards get here."

Falco mimed her speaking with his hand before he ran off to hide in a storage room until Fox and Fay lured the guards away. Fay sighed as the door closed and she reached for the weapon that she had sitting on her leg. She braced the weapon on her shoulder with both arms and gestured towards the door. "Shall we?"

Fox nodded again, saving his questions for now. They moved towards the door and were just passing some crates when the door slid open and poured six troopers into the room. Fox made to move back and duck down behind the crate, but he didn't have to as Fay just kept moving forward, pulling the trigger on her weapon and sending out a flurry of dark blue energy bolts that crashed into the six troopers before they could spread out. The bolts spread out in a tight radius and struck the troopers, causing four of the heavily armed Remnants to fly back and lay still, the other two being knocked back a step.

Fay didn't pause, instead reaching up she grabbed the slide on her weapon and pulled it, a set of four gray energy crystals flying out the side to clatter on the ground next to her. She released the slide and it slid back into position and Fay pulled the trigger again, releasing another blast of energy this time the last two Remnants both dropped to the ground and lay still, a puddle of red liquid below each one of them.

Fay paused and glanced back at Fox "Well, come on."

Fox blinked and shook his head "Whoa whoa, what the hell is that?"

Fay was calmly sliding more blue crystals into the bottom of her weapon. "What's what?"

Fox pointed at her weapon with his own "That, the thing you're holding that just took out six heavily armored troopers in two shots."

Fay glanced down at her weapon then back up at Fox "I told you that the Remnants have access to extremely high tech."

Fox frowned at her "Stop dodging the question what is it."

Fay sighed "You ever heard of a shotgun?"

Fox thought for a moment, Falco was the weapons buff but Fox did pick up the occasional thing. "Sure, it's a really old weapon, shot little lead balls from a cartridge that spread out."

Fay nodded "Close enough, this-" she said as she held up her own weapon "-is the energy version of that. Except instead of just taking one energy crystal and siphoning off a little amount for each round, like your Machine Gun does. This one takes four entire energy crystals for one shot. They spread out and drill through most armor in one hit.

Fox shook his head "Never use that around Falco."

Fay blinked "Why not?"

Fox walked by her still shaking his head "Because he would kill you just to have that gun."

Fay thought about that for a moment before she shook her head and ran after Fox.

Together the two of them proceeded down the hall way, Fay taking the lead following some map in her head as she lead them past junction after junction. Sometimes a left here, a right there, never once did they have to double back. They stopped occasionally to fight off a squad of six or ten Remnants, Fay usually cut them down with a few shots, with Fox managing to take down one or two. All in all Fox was suitably impressed with Fay, this wasn't the sometimes air headed person who flew with his team years ago. This was a hardhearted killer, if the spy gig never worked out, she would make one hell of a mercenary.

Eventually they reached the main generator room, as the door slid open in front of them, Fox felt his eyes go wide, he couldn't help it. This place shouldn't be able to hide.

The pair walked out onto a catwalk and Fox whistled softly as he walked to the edge and put a hand on the railing and leaning over.

Fay spoke up from beside him "Be careful, if you fall, you'll have one hell of a wait before you splat."

Fox nodded staring down at the rows upon rows of generators that stretched down into the earth. He glanced to his left at the length and whistled again. He turned to his right to face Fay. "Is it wrong that I want to spit over the side?"

Fay laughed softly and shook her head "I don't blame you. But no time now, the Catwalk is a bad place to be to get into a firefight. No cover what so ever."

Fox nodded "Right, how long after this until we reach the prison area?"

Fay gestured to a line that ran above them "Its not well known to most, but this wire sends a charged current, people who have the right armor can eject a hook and ride this wire. We can cross is just under a minute."

Fox looked up at the wire "And you didn't mention this before..."

Fay grinned as a hook unfolded from the back of her armor. "I knew you would ask to have the armor. Now grab my hand and jump with me."

Fox shook his head and taking Fay's hand, jumped with her. Much to his surprise the wire caught the hook and they shot off above the catwalk. Fox having to raise his his feet to avoid dragging them along the metal. In no time at all the hook disengaged and folded back into Fay's armor. Dropping them both roughly to the ground.

Fay dusted her knees briefly before turning to Fox "Come on, not much further now."

Fox followed Fay as she lead him through more junctions until they reached a large circular room filled with crates. Fox stopped and looked around "What's all these?"

Fay glanced at the crates "More then likely weapons, must have run out of room in their armory."

Fox glanced at the crates spread everywhere through the room as he followed Fay to a side hallway. This lead to an elevator which Fay hacked open and they rode up into a control room. As the doors opened, two guards raised their guns, Fay dropped one with her gun while Fox dropped the other. Fay turned to a console and reached underneath her leg armor and pulled out a chip. She plugged this into the console and data started scrolling by, Fay punched in some information and waited as the console did what she asked.

A moment later she turned back to Fox "I found Miyu, shes two floors below us." Fay moved back towards the elevator "Come on."

Fox caught her arm as she went towards the elevator "Hold on, is this odd?"

Fay looked at him "What?"

Fox glanced around at the control center, the fur on the back of his neck rising "This is the command center for a prison area, there should be somebody here besides just a few guards. Come on, somethings not right here."

Fay looked around as well "You could be right, but trust me I've seen a prison place like this before, and trust me, they can be empty for hours on end. Now lets go."

Fay called the elevator and Fox's fur rose even higher, the elevator should have been on the same floor...

A few moments later Fox was walking down a hallway with various empty cells while Fay traced a parallel one. He was glancing back and forth his mind still being alert for any clues why all the cells were empty. Which is why he almost missed the occupied one.

At the end of the hall right next to a window the over looked the large circular room they had come in from, and across from a large crate was a female Lynx that Fox almost didn't recognize. She was laying in the corner of the cell, looking almost dead, she was thinner then Fox remembered and had a moon pattern dyed into her exposed arm, she wore light clothing dyed black that hung from her frame. Her eyes were closed and her chest wasn't moving.

Fox reached out and opened the energy field that sealed off the cell, scared to call out to Fay. Not wanting to tell her that they hadn't been fast enough, and it was his fault. He took a step in and reached a paw out. "Miyu?" he said softly.

Miyu's eyes snapped open and her paw flung out to grab Fox's and pull him into a hold, she stood up, keeping her hold on Fox, It was at this point Fox felt a prick on his neck. "Remnant scum, you should have known better then to open that door. Now, you and me, we'll walk out, nice and slow."

Fox grinned at her voice. He coughed gently against her hold "You little faker."

The hold loosened and Fox slipped out backing away from Miyu as she stared in shock at him. "Fo...Fox?" Miyu blinked and looked around before rubbing her eyes. "But. How?" Fox and Miyu walked out of the cell, stopping in the hallway. "Fay got your message and she broke cover to have us help her break you out."

Miyu stared at Fox.

Fox matched the stare "...What?"

Miyu blinked "I didn't send any message, I got captured a month ago."

Fox narrowed his eyes as one hand went for his blaster and the other for his comm link. "Fay its a trap, I repeat."

He didn't have to though as Fay tore around the corner of their hallway at full tilt, running for them. "Lets go, lets go!" she called as she ran. She reached the two of them and they turned to face the hallway only to have a heavily armored ape step around the corner, he was holding a large and unknown weapon and he only took a moment to aim and fire at the trio.

Fay pushed Miyu to the side and she stumbled back into her cell, then she talked Fox behind the crate. A glowing green disc struck the window and stayed there. Three seconds later it exploded, shattering the window.

As the heat washed over Fox, Fay pulled him to his feet. "Come on, jump." she said as she did just that. Fox watched her fall to the ground ten feet below, rolling as she hit and standing up. Fox copied her jump and roll. As he stood up he heard somebody laughing behind him.

He turned to face the blown out window to see the ape, still holding that strange rifle with both hands. "Welcome Fox McCloud, glad to see our ruse worked perfectly. My name is Maestro, and I shall be you executioner tonight."

With that Maestro stepped out of the window and Fox and Fay ran for cover, behind them they heard the heavy thud of Maestro as he landed.

Fox and Fay glanced at each other from across a gap in the crates as Maestro fried another round down at them. It hit the crate Fox was hiding behind and Fox moved away as the crate exploded sending discs everywhere. Fox hid behind another crate and pulled his machine gun. This was not going to be easy.


-|- Sargasso Region -|-


Wolf O'Donnell's office wasn't very large, nor was it extravagant. It was simple, he had a large heavy oak desk that sat in the middle with his personal computer on it. A cushioned chair for him to sit on, and in the corner a couch, that served as his bed at night.

Currently, Wolf was pacing around his desk, waiting for something that he deemed important. His new employer had some large demands that Wolf was glad to deliver on, but now it was almost time for a report and his agent hadn't contacted him yet.

Wolf sat down in his chair, thinking about why he had accepted this contract. There was a great amount of risk to him, but he had never cared about that before. Yet something still rubbed him raw about it. Perhaps it was the fact that there was a change coming, he could feel it, now that he had some details from his employer. Lylat was about to be changed forever, in a way that nobody would see coming.

His computer beeped and Wolf sat forward in his chair, tapping the screen and accepting the vid-call.

"You're late." He snarled.

"Sorry, had trouble getting away."

"Well?" Wolf asked as he leaned back in his chair.

"I'm on the ship and no one suspects anything, at least not from what I can tell."

Wolf nodded "Alright, keep your eyes open, that particular pup is hard to fool." he leaned forward and tapped on his desk. "What about this project that they want you monitoring."

"As far as I can tell from the scanner we were given, the project continues to improve."

Wolf nodded as he leaned back "Whats on the scanner?"

"From what I can tell its just a brain activity scan of some sort. But I send the images when I'm supposed to and I get a 'good' in reply. So I guess somethings going right."

Wolf rubbed his muzzle "So still no clue what it is?"

"No sir, but obviously its one of them, I just don't know whats up with the brain scan."

Wolf nodded "Alright, keep your ears and eyes open, I don't like being kept in this much darkness, anything I can find out about our employer and this plan of his. The more I have to leverage if this goes south."

"Of course Boss."

"What about your cover, still intact?" Wolf asked as he leaned forward again.

"Yep, Danielle doesn't suspect a thing."

Wolf nodded one last time "Good, keep it that way, same time next week."

"Yes Boss."

Wolf tapped the screen ending the call, he settled back into his chair again, his mind running fast. What could they be monitoring with a brain scan? Which one of them were they watching?

One thing Wolf knew for sure, the system was about to be changed.


Well there you have it Reader, now was that a deal or was that a deal, so go ahead and click that review button and leave your thoughts.

Well all wacky sales man crap out of the way...

Ah holy hell readers, I'm sorry that this has taken so freaking long. I do have a very good reason though, I'm a huge RPG nut, and I have been getting into all the big ones. I spent a good amount of time playing FFXII-2 and KoA: Reckoning, and I even played the Darkness 2. But what's really been eating time: Mass Effect. Holy crap, I got early access into the demo and I havn't been able to stop playing, then Multiplayer went live and I started playing that and I just always forgot to find time and write.

I am seriously sorry. Anyway. I hope you enjoyed, and sorry its not all done, but when I reached twenty-one pages, I figured that was enough to post and to keep you all tied over. Plus I felt bad about the whole pretty much not updating thing.

Until next time...

Peace,

-Emile