I am here once again with another addition to my growing story. I hope that so far you have enjoyed the story. I have admittedly messed with my schedule a bit, and those problems will only increase with school. I will do my best to post, but with four AP classes, it will be very difficult to keep up to date. Do not think that I'm just not going to post anymore, but just be aware that the posts will be unscheduled and at a "can write" basis. so, without further ado, chapter 9 of An Infinite Melody.

Leon


Everyone was speechless, seeing the presumed dead James McCloud broadcasting live to us; this wasn't prerecorded, triggered by the simulation, or anything. We just stood, astonished, until Fox spoke up." I- we thought you were dead. I saw you die on the news!," fox began to tear up." How could you do this to us; to me!" at that Fox broke down into tears, and Wolf walked up behind him and gently hugged him.

" I'm very much alive," replied the holographic James," and I'm very sorry that I had to do this." the former and, up until recently late, leader of Star Fox to glare at Wolf, who was holding Fox and kissing him on the cheek, rocking back and forth." What do think you're doing with my son?!"

" I'm comforting him, Galaxy's Greatest Dad," Wolf shouted as he glared back." That's what husbands are supposed to do for their spouses." Wolf continued to rock Fox, finding joy in James' face as he came to the sudden realization of what was going on.

"Now you listen here-"

"No, you listen, oh mighty Hero," his voice laced with sarcasm. "MY Fox here has saved more planets than you can count. He's taken down armadas, fought other mercenaries, and most importantly, he's stolen my heart. So before you go on a self-righteous spree, just save your breathe." Wolf began to growl and James took on a stance of fighting.

" I've done more good for this universe in 40 years than you will in your entire existence. It's despicable to even think of my son liking someone like YOU."

Fox interjected," Despicable?! you lied to your entire family, destroyed the hope of millions, all because you wanted to snoop around behind everyone's back. It's my choice who I love, and I chose Wolf! And yes, father, I'm gay, but stuff like that happens when you finally get to open your eyes to the real world!"

James stammered and reared up for another assault, but Krystal, trying to break up the fight, stepped between Fox and Wolf and the projection." I'm assuming you didn't just call to judge people, so what do you want?" At the outburst, Wolf stood down and James flattened his fur. Fox backed up into Wolf's arms and, though still cross, calmed down as Wolf wrapped him up in a hug.

" I called because I saw that you used the Battle Royale simulation. I created the simulation for a specific purpose: to see how you would adapt to a scenario that constantly changed. However, the model and subsequent scenario was not just a representation of an idea; this simulation represents something more. I've spent these past 14 years looking for what I had only heard vague rumor about at the creation of the simulation. Apparently there's a planet in a semi-distant system; the government there is so secretive that they created a cloaking device that hides the entire planet. the soldiers have developed an Adaptive Dermis-Dependent Exomorphic Replicator, or ADDER; these are similar in function to the simulated drones you encountered in the Battle Royale program." He looks up and seems to maneuver around something before returning to the conversation. "the government, though advanced in terrestrial matters, are only just realizing space exploration. this would be all well and good if they had developed beyond the point of Fascist Conquest; the government is terrible towards it's people, brutally punishing those who oppose it. If these people got access to the rest of the universe, who knows what they might do."

Falco


"If these people got access to the rest of the universe, who knows what they might do."

Everybody in the room seemed to think hard about that, but then Fox spoke up. "What would you have us do? I-" Fox looks to Wolf "... we will not make a decision until we know exactly what we're getting into."

James tried to stifle a little disgust, but proceeded, probably seeing that there was nothing he could do anymore and trying to swallow the truth. "Star Fox needs to infiltrate the bases, download all of their data on extraterrestrial travel, and destroy the research building. The local resistance forces are poorly armed and have little order, as far as I know; they will not be a significant resource. So will you accept, team Star Fox?"

Fox looked to Wolf, who nodded, and then to the rest of us. in turn, we all nodded in agreement. "Alright," Replied Fox," we'll help."

we were all nodding, but then Slippy, always one to speak to tech, asked," How can we hope to defeat them with their ADDER systems?"

I spoke up, saying, "We use a counter system, of course."

Leon nodded beside me, obviously humored by the outburst. On the projection, James nods. "Exactly," he replied. "I stowed the systems in the cube itself, that will activated as soon as I disconnect. there are ten suits, so don't worry about who goes where; just hurry. There's very little time."

Fox said goodbye to his father, and the comm link disconnected. On the cube, a large panel moved out of the way to reveal a group of ten black bodysuits and what appeared to be an extremely thin collar. Fox turned and smiled at us. "We wanted a mission, and now we have one. ROB will use the coordinates transmitted to navigate us there. It will be a two month journey, so everyone should be in the cube at some point." He looked at us all, and I saw a gleam in his eye, which meant that he was glad t finally be leading. "Star Fox, let's roll!"

The lateness of the post is probably inexcusable, but it's been a long and arduous semester, and frankly I have little time for anything these days.