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Checkmate

~The tension within the room was unlike anything Cyrus and Axios had felt before. The air they breathed felt heavy under the pressure they felt. Furthermore, they both knew they were running out of time. King had brought their plan to a halt, and Cyrus and Axios struggled to improvise. "I take it this is the bitch you're looking for?" King asked as he aimed his blaster at Kaitlyn's head.

Even though Axios had no true ties to his current mission, he felt his stress and anxiety climb. As sweat fell unto his brow from behind his mask, he glanced down at his wrist gauntlet to see his clock. "Cyrus, six minutes…" Axios murmured to Cyrus. "What's the plan?!"

"I'm working on it." Cyrus hastily murmured back.

"You two are awfully quiet given your current situation." King called out to them. "So let me incentivize you. Drop your weapons, or I kill her."

"Cyrus, we put down our guns and we're not walking out of this." Axios softly said as he continued to aim at King.

In the heat of a moment, Cyrus struggled to form a plan. Inside, his mind raced and his pulse climbed. He looked at his clock once more and already a minute had passed. Whether it was King's diminishing patience or the seconds felt shorter than before, Cyrus set continued to struggle. "All right." He called out to King.

Cyrus slowly lowered his sniper rifle and lowered himself to a squat. He rested his rifle on the ground and pulled out his blasters to do the same. "Cyrus?" Axios asked as he continued to aim at King.

"I'm thinking, I'm thinking." Cyrus murmured to Axios. "But we need a plan."

"God damn it."

As he set his weapons down, King let loose a sly grin. He then turned his attention to the masked Axios and looked upon the Black Sun crest upon his mask. "That goes for you too." He said to Axios. "Weapons, down. Or I kill the girl."

Axios continued to lock gazes with King, but he did not lower his weapon. "I'm curious." King said to him. "You survived your own faction's destruction. You had pure freedom, a chance to start over. Tell me, what drives an enforcer like yourself to work with the filth that now lowered himself next to you?"

Axios peeked down at Cyrus once more as he rested his short blade on the ground. Since he hadn't come up with a plan, Axios started to think in his stead. "Come to think of it." Axios said to King. "I'm not really sure myself. Could be the fun, maybe even to try something new. But, if he hadn't paid me a very modest sum of credits, I don't think I'd be here."

Axios's response intrigued King, and he raised an eyebrow as his interest in Axios slowly grew. "Money you say?" He said. "It's quite a force to be reckoned with. Drives people to do the unthinkable. I've noticed you've reconstructed your fighters, and I find that quite impressive. With the right resources, you could own Lylat."

"I'd be lying if it said it hasn't already crossed my mind."

"Then perhaps, you and I can assist one another."

Cyrus looked up at Axios but Axios did not look back down. "Axios, what are you doing?" He softly asked.

"Spit it out then." Axios responded to King.

"Whatever he's paying you to dismantle my organization, I'll double it if you shoot him in the head right now." King said.

At this moment, Axios had formed a plan. He looked down at Cyrus and whispered a private message into his mask. As Cyrus received the message, his eyes widened and his heart stopped. Before he realized it, he gazed down the barrel of Axios's blaster. "It's a deal." He said.

Axios pulled the trigger and sent a blaster round directly into Cyrus's eye. As Cyrus's mask fell from his face, blood flew from the entry wound and Cyrus fell backwards onto the ground motionless. The sight of the execution sent Kaitlyn into a shock, and she screamed for Cyrus. At the same time, King smiled at the sight, and all of the gunmen within the room lowered their weapons.

Kaitlyn, using her arms, slowly dragged herself to Cyrus. Her tears quickly fell onto her cheeks, and King let her crawl. Feeling a sense of fulfillment, King holstered his blaster and took a deep breath. He smiled at Axios, and Axios simply stood over Cyrus's corpse.

As Kaitlyn neared Cyrus, Axios stepped to the side while still carrying his blaster in hand. He walked past Kaitlyn who continued to crawl to her younger brother, and he approached King. A gunman aimed his rifle at Axios but King placed his hand on top of the weapon and lowered it. "That, is quite the display." He said to Axios. "I think you'll do nicely with the funds I'm willing to transfer."

As Axios and King conversed, Kaitlyn reached Cyrus's corpse and wrapped her arms around him. Cyrus's head rested with his wounded side down, and his eyes were closed. Kaitlyn called his name, but he would not respond. She buried his face in his chest and let her tears continue to flow from her face. She gripped Cyrus's hand tightly, and continued to sob on his chest.

However, she felt a grip from Cyrus's hands. She became confused, and noticed Cyrus's hand actually closing over hers. As she rested her head on his chest, he could still hear his pulse. His heart beat was strong and steady, and his body still felt warm. To her shock, she heard a whisper. "Mask." Cyrus softly murmured.

Kaitlyn looked into Cyrus mask on the ground and quickly read the message that was sent to him. "Turn your head the moment I pull the trigger." Axios's message said. "Play dead until Star Fox arrives, then unleash hell."

A line quickly snapped within Kaitlyn's mind, and she quickly caught onto the plan. She looked around and noticed both of Cyrus's blasters lying near him, and his wrist clock's timer had thirty seconds left. She briefly looked back at King conversing with Axios and studied the room. When she obtained her targets, she rested her head back on top of Cyrus's chest.

"So tell me." King said to Axios. "As a man motivated by money, what kind of arrangement can we make to secure your services?"

"I was promised double of what I was going to make from this job." Axios responded. "Cyrus was offering the entirety of his bank. That was four hundred, fifty thousand."

"You and him put a number on my station, one that I'm not going to just overlook. That will be coming out of what I promised you. However, I am willing to pay you even more, if you're willing to work for Hive."

Axios looked down at his wrist gauntlet and noticed his timer hit zero. "You know." He said. "It's tempting, but I think I'll pass."

Immediately after his words, alarms sounded off in the main room and an explosion went off on the exterior of the station. King and company looked towards their holotable and noticed the Great Fox, along with a Cornerian fleet. "Star Fox?!" King exclaimed.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Cyrus quickly grabbed one of his blasters and Kaitlyn grabbed the other. The two of them pointed their blasters at the gunmen within the room and quickly shot them down. Axios shot down a pair of gunmen and quickly pointed his blaster at King. Seeing Cyrus rise from the ground shocked King, and he held his hands out to the sides as Kaitlyn, Cyrus, and Axios pointed their blasters at him. "How?!" King asked.

Cyrus stood and walked towards King. As he came closer, King could see Cyrus holding his hand over his eye. Upon removing his hand, he revealed to King that Axios's blaster round grazed his eye and wounded the side of the eye socket. However, the blaster round did not go through his skull, and thus avoided killing him. "You owe me an eye you bastard." Cyrus said to Axios while in pain.

"I'll make it up to you." Axios responded. "We're out of time, Star Fox is here and I'm leaving. What you do with him is on you."

Axios lowered his blaster and turned to leave the room. Kaitlyn and Cyrus continued to point their blasters at King. Seeing that he had been played, he let loose a smug grin. "Clever." He said. "I never thought you'd sacrifice an eye for the sake of your sister."

"I'd give my life for my sister." Cyrus responded. "And now, I'm taking back what's mine."

"Do it quickly then. I haven't got all day."

Cyrus aimed his blaster directly at King's head. His finger felt heavy on the trigger, and he wanted so desperately to end King's life right there. However, the chaos outside continued on, and he could see Star Fox approaching the station from the holotable. Realizing that he needed to escape, He took a deep breath and calmed his nerves. "No." Cyrus said as he lowered his blaster. "You won't get off that easy."

Instead of shooting him in the head, Cyrus shot King in both of his legs. As King fell to the floor with a cry of pain, he reached towards King's side and took away his blaster. He ran back towards Kaitlyn and grabbed his weapons and mask. He lifted her in his arms and prepared to leave the HQ. "You're weak!" King called out as he struggle to crawl.

Cyrus turned his attention back towards King while holding Kaitlyn in his arms. "Here, you have your chance of revenge." King called out. "And you don't have the stomach to pull the trigger."

Cyrus didn't respond to King, and instead turned and left the room. As he left the HQ, King slowly let out a laugh. "Your time will come…" He chuckled. "Your time will come… YOUR TIME WILL COME!"

Cyrus quickly made his way back to his fighter. As he did, he noticed Cornerian fighters within the station battling the remaining of the Hive forces. He quickly loaded Kaitlyn in the back of his fighter, and strapped himself in. The Seeker took off from the ground and quickly made its way towards the station exit.

Upon leaving the station, Cyrus got a clear view of the Cornerian fleet surrounding the sector. He put his fighter into a dive and sped away from the station. However, he noticed a lock on warning appear on his HUD. He looked over his shoulder and could see the Skyclaw on his tail. Realizing that it wasn't Fox, Cyrus quickly banked to the side to evade his pursuer.

Within the Skyclaw, Falco struggled to maintain the lock on. "This guy is tricky!" He called out. "I can't get a good lock on him!"

"Falco, who are you targeting?" Fox called out over the communicator.

"A run away! This guy just flew out of the station in a hurry and is trying to bail! I won't let him!"

Fox quickly sped the Arwing II towards the Skyclaw and formed up on Falco's wing. The moment he recognized the Seeker, Fox flew into Falco's flight path. As Falco was cut off, he broke off his assault on the Seeker and gave Cyrus his window. "Fox?!" Falco called out. "Watch where you're flying!"

Seeing the Skyclaw distracted, Cyrus pointed his fighter towards MacBeth. He quickly pressed a few buttons and activated his hyper drive. Within moments, the Seeker shot out into hyperspace and disappeared from the system. Seeing the fighter escape, Fox let loose a faint smile. "You're welcome." He thought.

Within the hue of hyperspace, Cyrus ripped off a long piece of his sleeve and wrapped it around his head to cover his wounded eye. Afterwards, he turned his head back to face his sister. "Kait…" He said. "You ok?"

Kaitlyn reached for Cyrus's face and quickly delivered a punch across his cheek. "You idiot!" She yelled.

"Hey!" Cyrus said as he massaged his jaw. "What was that for?!"

"What you just pulled off was the single most idiotic thing I've seen you do yet! Look at you! You're a mess! You lost an eye! You're-"

"You're tearing up sis."

Kaitlyn silenced herself when she realized her eyes were watering. Despite her history of being Cyrus's protective older sister, and her tough girl persona; her heart longed to see Cyrus once more. This was the first time she ever felt helpless, and being saved by her brother was something she hadn't known before. On top of that, it was the first time she had seen Cyrus in years. She gave in to her emotions, and she reached forward and wrapped her arms around Cyrus's shoulders to embrace him.

For the time in hyperspace, they held each other in warm embrace. The moment moved them both to tears, and they knew that their long standing nightmare would be over. After some time in hyperspace, the ship exited its jump and arrived in MacBeth orbit.

Cyrus brought his attention back to the front and he gripped his flight controls. As he neared the planet, a call came to him. "You made it out." Axios said as a holographic image of him appeared on the HUD. "I notice you have Kait in the back with you."

"Star Fox took care of the rest." Cyrus responded.

"What happened to King?"

"I put two into his legs and let the Cornerians handle the rest."

"Hmph, bold move. I would have killed him right then and there."

"I wanted to. Honestly can't explain why I didn't."

"Let's pray that decision doesn't come back to bite you. I'm opening the launch tunnel doors. I'll have Sigma take a look at Kait."

"Copy that. See you in a few."

It wouldn't be long until Cyrus brought the Seeker through the atmosphere and into the hidden mountain base. After landing on the docking platform, an elevator carried the fighter down to the main level where Axios was waiting. With his help they lowered Kaitlyn from the cockpit and brought her to the medical bay. They placed her within Axios's stasis chamber, and Sigma examined the damage. "Give us the bad news, Sigma." Axios said.

"Analyzing…" Sigma responded. "Physical trauma within the skull, cracked 4th, 5th, and 6th rib, extreme case of dehydration and malnourishment, muscle density degradation, sprains in the wrists and torn ligaments within the shoulder; in short, she's been kept alive on will power alone."

"She wasn't able to walk." Cyrus said. "Yet she told me she could still feel pain. What happened to the use of her legs?"

"Analyzing… Both knee joints have been broken and untended to. Furthermore, the lower three discs of her lumbar vertebrae have been cracked."

Hearing those words caused Axios to lowers his head and put his hands on his hips. At the same time Cyrus looked up in disbelief and let loose a long sigh. "Geez…" He softly said. "Damn it…"

"However, there is something I have that you would call 'good news'." Sigma added.

"What is it?" Cyrus asked.

"Though the vertebrae discs have been cracked, the spinal cord hasn't been severed, thus resulting in a spinal injury. The fact that she claimed she can still feel her legs is a sign that recovery is possible."

"Meaning she'll walk again?"

"Based on my diagnosis, she will eventually regain her ability to walk. However, a spinal injury is long lasting, and the recovery will take a very long time. At least a year or two depending on her resolve. It is unlikely she'll ever resume her duties as a bounty hunter. I can use the mechanical limbs within the med bay and perform surgery. She'll spend time within a wheel chair, and her recovery afterwards will be very slow."

"Don't forget, Sigma." Axios added. "She's not the only patient." Axios looked to his side and noticed that Cyrus had wrapped a torn sleeve around his head over his wounded eye. "Leave her in stasis, and mop up Cyrus's eye. Take care of her when you're done with him."

Axios turned to leave the med bay and Cyrus stood still. "Axios." Cyrus said.

Axios stopped before he left and he turned. "If you're going to say thank you, don't." He said to Cyrus. "I'm not used to being thanked for anything these days."

"Then I owe you. You've done more for me than anyone else since I've lost my sister."

Axios smiled and took a deep breath. "I'll transfer some of my reserve credits into an account of your choosing." He said.

"What ever happened to convincing me to work with you?" Cyrus asked.

"I shot you in the face. On top of that, I managed the mission poorly. I thought I was ready to lead a group, but I still have a ways to go."

"So you're just sending me off?"

Axios stood silent for a moment. "I helped you rescue your sister." He said. "I'll have Sigma perform surgery to help begin her recovery, and I'm transferring you enough to start over. In exchange, there will come a time where I'll call on you to work with me once more. When that time comes, I expect you to return the favor. That a deal?"

Cyrus took a deep breath and smiled. He looked to his side and gazed upon his sister resting within the stasis tube. As he looked back at Axios, he nodded his head. "Deal."