Star Fox: Universe
Episode: 9
Star Fox and Characters are Copyright to Nintendo as well as the themes related to them.
Force Your Way!
The mood inside Pepper's office was tense; both Falco and Slippy were seated before the hound's desk wearing weary faces. General Pepper presently had his back turned to them, looking outside the windows of his office and into the distance, the twilight sun painting everything a red and orange hue. The damage that had been done to the city was currently contained within small portions of the commercial district, though patchy areas outside of the battles happened when the occasional Pirate ship managed to breach their defenses in space.
"How's Fox," asked Slippy meekly, breaking the silence.
Pepper coughed and turned around to meet their gazes, seeing Falco slumped in the chair with his arms folded and Slippy holding his own hands. "I don't know the exact situation, but from what I've been told he's fine with only minor injuries." This seemed to lift some of the weight off the two. Pepper hesitating before continuing. "As for your friend, Lyle, or Aeyr was it? I cannot say the same."
Falco shook his head by the reply as Slippy shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "And what about Katt?"
"You can ask me yourself," the feline replied, making her entrance, seemingly healthy.
"Katt," Falco started, jumping from his seat to face her. "A-are you okay?" He outstretched his arms to embrace her.
"Hey now, bird boy! It's not like I'm all that hurt," she said, her tone calm as she blushed and returned Falco's affection.
"Well, now that we're all here," said Pepper, regaining everyone's attention, "I'll explain to you why I called this quick meeting." Falco returned to his seat as Katt took a place on his lap. "The Pirates are slowly breaking through our main defenses in space. The Chancellor had already informed me that the majority of our military will be sent up to aid them. We want Star Fox to go up and assist them."
The hound turned to Falco, the avian giving him a quizzical look. "With Fox out for the meantime, we're going to be looking to you Falco."
His eyes grew big and if it wasn't for Katt on his lap he would've jumped up once more. "Me?! Wait, wait, wait, wait. You can't just jump the gun on me like this!"
"The timing is desperate, Falco," Pepper said hotly. "The men need the help up there! And with your skills, we're hoping that morale will boost and turn things to our favor."
Falco kept the angry look on his face, Katt placing a paw on his shoulder. "C'mon, Falco. Even you know what he says is true," she said, seeing that her words gave him some comfort. "You are an amazing pilot after all. And besides. Once Fox gets better he'll come back up and rejoin with us."
Falco hesitated. "Alright, alright," he said, throwing his hands up in the air, defeated. "I'll do it."
"That's good to hear," Pepper exhaled. "Before you go, Katt. Chancellor Redgis has requested you send out a signal to our active bases on the asteroid field. With that bounty hunter's firewall up we haven't been able to send out any distress signals."
"I'll work on it immediately," she replied as they all got up, ready to leave.
"Very well. All of you, good luck. Once Fox has recovered I assure you we will send him to help you immediately. And Falco," he allowed their eyes to meet before finishing. "We're counting on you."
The only noise audible in the dimly lit room was the sound of Krystals fingers striking the keyboard of her laptop, Fox resting silently next to her on a hospital bed. Outside the night sky was lit in a dim display of flashing lights as the struggle with the Pirates continued in space. But that was one of the last things on her mind.
For the past few hours, she had been using her magic to keep Lyle alive. She had ran into the hospital, screaming out orders and demands amidst the bewildered looks of the other doctors as they saw a human for the first time.
On the operating table they had discovered that the slash had ripped onto his lower left abdomen, merely a few centimeters away from severing his spine, and curved outward, heavily damaging his digestive system. It was helpful that the skin tight suit he wore underneath his armor was holding him together. Many of the other doctors and surgeons had quickly given up, but Krystal remained firm in her resolve, not knowing why she tried so hard to keep him alive.
The ordeal had put her healing abilities to the test, as she managed to repair his wounds and seal the cut. However the great loss of blood and possibly the mental strain his last attack required had left Lyle in a deep coma. Even she wasn't sure when he'd wake up once more.
Krystal stretched out her hands, allowing her fingers to rest from her typing and turned to look at Fox resting peacefully. Her heart had missed looking at his green eyes as he'd return from a mission, Marcus playfully running up as his father dropped to his knees to lift him up into the air. She wanted to turn away, feeling her eyes fill with tears but couldn't, keeping her gaze fixed onto his face. His body.
Setting aside her laptop, she moved over him and gently placed her hand on his cheek, unable to block the flow of silent tears from falling as her memories continued to reel through her head.
Fox groaned, disturbed by the water dripping onto his face and slowly opened his eyes, Krystal quickly pulling back and looking away as she wiped away her tears. "Krys," he called out, his voice confused.
"I'm here," she sniffled, trying to mask she had been crying. Once she was confident she had composed herself she turned to look at him, his gaze burning into her heart. "You had quite a hit. A few broken ribs and the electric shock, but I've patched all those up already. You'll be back to normal within a few hours."
Fox didn't remove his eyes off her face. "You've been crying," he concluded, seeing Krystal fluster as he said it. "Krys, I've known you for how many years now? I know when you're feeling down." She turned her head away as he tried to reach for her.
"So you say, Fox. Yet you still don't do anything about it." Her tone jabbed him in the stomach. "How can you read me when you refuse to talk to me? Just like before, you went off and threw me aside so you can play out there in space by yourself again. And then after all I've said, how can you even bring yourself to try and still treat me like your 'someone special'?"
He finally looked away, seeing the black of night on the windows. "I'm sorry."
She sighed. "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up again."
They remained silent for a good minute or two, both feeling awkward. "How is Aeyr," Fox asked, trying to keep conversation. "I couldn't see what happened to him in the smoke before I was knocked out."
The vixen sighed again. "He almost didn't make it. That pirate nearly sliced him in two. I've spent all day repairing his digestive system and reconnecting vessels." Fox closed his eyes, his ears lowered in regret. "He's in a coma now. I don't know when or if he'll wake up even."
There was a longer break in their talk, Fox's expression growing gloomy. "He threw himself in front of me..," he began to ramble. "It's my fault again, isn't it?"
Krystal quickly looked at him, surprised by the comment. "That he got hurt?" Fox didn't reply. "No, Fox. It's not your fault."
He already began stuttering as his eyes watered.
"First Marcus, and now him," he sobbed.
At the mention of Marcus, she too felt the tears once again return to her eyes. Unable to restrain herself, she embraced him tightly, Fox returning the gesture, burying his head in her chest. And even after the tears had subsided, they wouldn't let go for the longest time.
The last thing he remembered was being forcefully taken off his wolfen, the Pirates not caring for the damage they did to Wolf's ship in the process. He grunted as feeling returned to him, his body sore from the beating he had received when they dragged him out. The dim, blue light that had illuminated the room had suddenly went off as he stirred and examined his surroundings. His hands were bound by a strange form of handcuffs, two rings holding him by the wrists with a round input device in the center, the letters in a language he didn't understand.
The room he was in was covered in a dark, smooth metal with a hard floor. There were no beds, only two benches attached to the walls; the prison doors a sort of force field that gave off a dim yellow light in the darkness. The lupine could barely make out three other figures imprisoned alongside with him.
"Leon? Panther?" he called out, his voice hoarse and exhausted. There were a few grumbles from his cell mates but no direct answers. He noticed that the others were crowded on the other side of the cell, away from him.
"And what are your problems?" he scoffed.
"Shhh!!" a voice urged. "Try not to let them draw any attention to us."
Wolf frowned, though his annoyed look couldn't be seen in the dark. "What do you mean attention? Just where are we?"
The voice hesitated and there was a whimper from one of the other prisoners. "Your that criminal, Wolf, right?" There being no reply, he continued. "So even people like you aren't able to get past these…monsters."
"I wouldn't say our situations are similar," Wolf retorted.
The guy merely laughed. "Whatever you say. In the end, all of us are heading toward the same direction. We either get killed by these guys or you become part of one of their bizarre experiments." The man hesitated before adding, "But hey, it all sounds like a blast either way."
Wolf turned his attention to the other side of the force field. He could make out other cells nearby but beyond about two or three he couldn't see anymore. Everyone in the room had a start as they heard what sounded like a door opening in the distance, panicked gasps and cries growing around them as steady footsteps echoed through the room.
"Not more death," a different voice whimpered. "I've seen enough of it today…"
"Just keep quiet, Reynolds," the original voice comforted. Wolf got the impression that this man was a natural leader of sorts. Before he could even ask, the force field was lowered and behind it were three Pirates, the central wearing a red, transparent form of armor.
"O'Donnell…" he muttered. "You are to come with us." His two escorts moved forward to grab the lupine.
"I don't take orders from someone I've never met," Wolf said defiantly, though he got up as the two pirates got closer to him.
"But we have met already," the red pirates replied emotionlessly. "On the bridge if you do recall."
"Hah. You all look the same," Wolf scowled as he was led out of the cell by gunpoint. Before raising up the field once more, the pirate gave one last look at the other three in the cell, barely making out their silhouettes.
As they made their quick exit, Wolf's acquaintance slowly made his way toward the force field, his husky face dimly illuminated from the light. "Good luck, Wolf," he said with a sigh. "You'll probably need it right now."
"Bill!" a sharp whisper gasped behind him, the husky turning around. "I think we've got it!" There was a soft clink as something metal was dropped onto the floor. "Yes! The cuffs are off!"
Bill rushed up next to his partner, his imprisoned hands feeling his. "That's great Walt! Can you get these off of me and Reynolds?" There was a moment of silence as the husky felt the vibrations of his partner's hands fiddling with his handcuffs, and soon he felt them loosen, his hands finally free. "How'd you figure it out?"
"It was easy," Walt said. "There are only six buttons so I just tried a few combinations to see which sounded right." He had made it sound too much like guesswork. "I did this kind of stuff with puzzles as a kid…"
"H-how did you reach the buttons," Reynolds asked curiously, trying to with his own paws before Walt undid his binds.
"I used my nose."
Bill gave a light chuckle. "Alright, now that we're out of those, what now? How goes that ventilation shaft?"
Reynolds gave a sigh. "It's almost loose, though its been hard removing it with my hands bound. I had to stop fiddling with it when that Wolf guy woke up though." He picked up a small laser from the ground, something he usually carried around when on missions. When Wolf had woken up he had dropped it on surprise. "What about Andrews? He was taken a long while ago. You don't think-"
"He probably didn't make it," Bill confessed as he made his way toward the back with his last two men. "We all saw how Rufus was torn apart by that dragon thing…"
The memory was still fresh in each of their minds. As Reynolds continued cutting through the metal grill they all remained silent, the blue light illuminating the room slightly as the three canines watched apprehensively. The husky could feel the knot in his stomaching growing tighter as the beam slowly made a full revolution around the metal. Quickly, Reynolds caught the grill before it hit the floor to make any noise, the three of them breathing heavily.
"It's a pretty small shaft," Reynolds said, taking a small look at the dimly lit interior. "But I think we can fit through."
"Good," replied Bill. "Let's get out of this place and try to find a way out of here!"
Wolf had been expecting to be led once more to the main laboratory where he first saw the first swarm of "insects". However, he was somewhat relieved to see that where he was taken wasn't the same place, though he was still uneasy as to what the pirates had in store for him.
The room was once again, dimly lit. The pirates must've had a thing against light. Around him were several terminals outlining the walls as well as large wires running up and down them. It was a really large room and probably large enough it could've been used as a small hanger bay.
The pirates led him to the far end of the room, which could only be the main controls for whatever was in the room. It had two tall pillars before it with a gap in between, though no apparent input device. The machine gave a gentle hum, Wolf feeling the vibrations in his bones.
"So you've brought him," said a voice as the doors far behind them opened and closed as a figure made its way toward them. As he came closer, Wolf was able to see that he wore a dark, green cloak and stood a good six or seven feet tall. He lowered his hood, revealing his jackal-like face, his fur sleek and black. He was easily no where near Lylatian in appearance; his facial structure was fiercer, his eyes small and red. He had no tail like Wolf, and his ears stood up despite their small size.
"Mahat," the red pirate began. "We apologize for what happened," he lowered his head in a sort of humble bow. "Had we taken heed of what F.E. had told us, we would've made sure this one didn't warn the Star Fox crew."
Mahat shifted his gaze from the red pirate and Wolf before looking up into the machine before them. "Isis. Toth." As he said the words, two, blue holographic images appeared above the pillars, their shapes similar to Mahat, though one was female. In the gap between them emerged a large, ethereal face that was human like in appearance.
"We've been expecting you," they replied, their eerie voices echoing simultaneously in the large room. "Dr. Raynord, we can feel that the fates have shifted. We understand you did not heed our warning."
Wolf noticed the red pirate begin to shudder. "My sincerest apologies," he replied rather coolly.
"Your actions have in fact led to what we had predicted. The gray wolf will use its cunning to warn of our invasion. Someone of importance will be lost but quickly replaced." The two on top of the pillar had their gazes placed upon the pirate.
"It is true that we had lost Alpha," Mahat added, "yet the arrival of Aeyr is of greater value to us now. Which brings up my question. Why was I not notified of his involvement."
The holograms paused, as if thinking. "By Aeyr you are referring to the failed experiment by Hierarch Hathor? The son of Nathanial and Miyako Wulff?"
"Of course."
Another pause. This time, Isis spoke on her own. "Even with our combined minds, we did not foresee his involvement in this system."
"It is possible the human's abilities have grown exponentially since his encounter with Geb and Nyut that he may hide his fate from us," added Toth.
"Is he responsible for their deaths?" Mahat asked, his tone still flat.
"That is incorrect," they both replied together. "Our records show that Samus Aran was the one who murdered them before Geb could fully utilize Aeyr's abilities." Raynord grunted in disgust at the mention of Samus' name.
"The fool also merged his already modified Aeon suit with the Chozo technology he hacked from the female human," said Toth. "Unless Aeyr is neutralized once more, he may become a problem. Holding him in containment is preferred so that hunting him down can be avoided."
"This Aeyr," Raynord interrupted. "I can assume that he is that federation soldier I encountered when abducting the Cornerian Councilor."
"That is correct," Mahat answered. "Do not worry Raynord. Regardless of loosing Alpha, within three months the other two frigates will have completed the replica worm holes and arrive here. By then, Beta and Gamma will replace his position."
"More dragons, huh?"
They all looked at Wolf, almost forgetting that he was still around. "This is the cunning gray wolf." Isis remarked, a bit of awe in her voice.
"I'm flattered," he replied curtly. "It's not often I get praised by a woman."
"His face and body will be useful for us in garnering support from the other mercenaries and criminals in this sector," she said, disregarding his comment.
"Does the wolf willingly comply to accept the responsibility as the new second in command of our forces," asked Toth.
The lupine had his mouth open, completely shocked at the position he was being offered. He couldn't help but slowly laugh. "You want ME to lead your armies? You people must obviously be out of your minds. First you abduct me and my team and then imprison me. Now you want to promote me to some sort of leader?! You can forget it!"
"That was the exact answer we had been expecting," both Isis and Toth said together, resuming their eerie speech. "Mahat, use this as an opporotunity to expand your flexibility."
The next thing that happened was the jackal placed his large hand over Wolf's face, blocking his eyes. "Just what the hell do you think your doing?! Get your grubby paws off of - AAAHH!!" There was a blinding indigo light flashing before his eyes and an explosive pain erupted in his head. Things began growing darker, Wolf loosing hold of his consciousness as his surroundings quickly faded into nothing.
Mahat had completely disappeared. Raynord who stood next to the lupine and took a few steps back. As Wolf opened his eyes, the pirate noticed that his eye color had changed from its natural blue to the red that was typical of The Occult. "Mahat?" he asked meekly.
"Raynord," said Wolf, his voice calm. "Just how are the metroids doing?"
The pirate gulped as he chose his words. "Progress is slow. The metroids are hungry. They are not receiving enough nourishment with our limited supply of Cornerians."
"Are the number of metroids we have adequate for the mission?"
"Y-yes."
"Then everything is set. Have your team begin loading them for transport. I shall use Wolf's appearance to raise support for our cause among the armies that Wallace had chosen." He gave the pirate a strong look. "Inform him of the change of command as well as to ready his men for the next wave against the Cornerian fleet. The frigate will soon be entering the fray."
"Yes sir. I shall take my leave now." Raynord hurried his way out the door, not wishing to be around should they change their minds about not punishing him.
"Mahat," began Toth, "an issue has arisien."
"Three of the prisoners have escaped," said Isis. "Cell block A4E778. Data matches them with the remaining Cornerian officers we had imprisoned."
Mahat grunted. "Where are they now?"
"The E-74 ventilation shaft. Their direction leads them towards the labs as well as the metroid encasement pods," said Toth.
"Very well. I'll take a few pirates with me and handle them myself." He turned and began to leave as the two occult members chimed together with one last warning, their voices being said through the central face.
"When time becomes muddled in a murky lake, only then will Erar, the god of liberty, be revealed."
"Where are we now, Walt," asked Bill as his canine comrade looked through the grill of the nearest air vent. The three of them had been crawling for a good ten minutes, getting no where in particular.
"It looks like some sort of small lab," Walt replied. "There's a computer and a few terminals but nothing else. It's empty."
"You think we can find a map of some sorts with that computer," complained Reynolds, taking the rear of the three of them. There was a moment's hesitation as the others considered the thought.
"Well it is worth a try," Walt shrugged. "Pass me that laser of yours." Reynolds shuffled through his pockets, passing it up to Bill, then to Walt. "Thanks. Hopefully we can get through without getting noticed."
Within a few moments, the three of them had climbed down onto the room below, Reynolds quickly making his way to the computer, giving it confused stares as he randomly pressed buttons. Bill stood by the door, unsure if he could hear anything from the outside, but felt safer trying to keep occupied as Walt fiddled with the other terminals in the room.
"It's no use. I can't understand this language at all!" Reynolds said, defeated. "All entires just look like some sort of log."
Bill looked at him for a moment. "You sure it's a log?"
The canine fidgeted a bit. "Not really. But the formats look similar to how we log information. Why do you ask?"
The husky made his way toward the computer. "If we can somehow get a copy, maybe we can get it translated once we make it back to Corneria. It might be useful."
"That's if we get back," Reynolds said under his breath, Bill giving him a hard look in response.
Behind them, a light erupted from one of the terminals, Walt jumping back in surprise as a holographic blueprint of the whole frigate appeared before them. He quickly had a smile on his face as his comrades moved closer to get a better view.
"Nice, Walt!" praised Bill. "Can you guess where we are?"
Walt touched the hologram, it instantly zooming in onto their current location. "Wow. I'd guess this is where we are."
"Right," replied Bill in a soft chuckle. The map slowly began to rotate, revealing several paths leading to other areas of the frigate. "Our best bet would be to try and find our way back to the hanger bay and steal a ship." At the mention of the hanger bay, the projection flickered and zoomed out, outlining another path for them in red.
"It seems to be voice activated," explained Walt. "I wonder if we can download this data on a disk to take it along with us." Another action occurred, the map disappearing and a data disk ejecting from the terminal. Taking it, the hologram reappeared above the small disk, much smaller than its original size.
"Excellent! Maybe with this we can also copy some of those recent log entries," said Bill, taking the disk from Walt and inserting it into the nearest slot on the computer. He didn't know what exactly he was doing, so he merely said out loud, "Save recent entries." There was a quiet hum as the computer monitor changed into a sort of loading display, slowly filling.
The three refrained from conversation as they watched the screen, Reynolds beginning to fidget uneasily near the door. Each of them were breathing heavily among the silence, sharing apprehensive stares at one another. When the bar had filled up, there was a small beep as the disk ejected itself, Bill quickly grabbing it and asked for the map and directions.
"So what do we do now? Those directions are through the corridors, not the ventilation shaft." Reynolds let out a soft whimper.
Bill sighed, knowing himself that he didn't like the answer. "We're gonna have to take that route." He took hold of his blaster that was resting by his waist. "Just keep quiet and maybe we'll be fine."
"If they're so confident to allow us to keep our blasters even when imprisoned, we really should worry," Walt nervously added. Bill tried to not let the comment deter him.
The doors suddenly opened behind them, their surprised looks met by Wolf's emotionless expression.
"W-Wolf," gasped Reynolds. "Gosh, you gave us a fright! Just how did you get –" before he could finish, the canine's head erupted in a bloody spray, the back of his head revealing an exit hole from a blaster shot.
As the body fell limply onto the floor, both Walt and Bill raised their blasters toward the lupine who still had the emotionless look on his face, his eyes glowing red. "What the fuck you do that for, Wolf!?" demanded Bill as he slowly inched closer to the door. Walt gave a nervous look at his captain, following his lead.
"I see that we have met then," said Wolf, moving the blaster in his hand toward Bill, his only good eye giving him a blank glare. "It's unfortunate that I must keep this conversation short. Anything that can become a hindrance to our plans must be removed immediately."
Bill quickly ducked as he pounced into Wolf, knocking him back to the far end of the hallway he stood in. To his left were three pirates, quickly recomposing themselves as they raised their blasters. Walt rushed out of the previous room, shifting his body as he fired at them. Bill gave the lupine a quick kick as he got up and both he and Walt quickly ran in the other direction.
"What the hell is going on?" the canine gasped.
"I don't know," replied the husky. "Something was wrong with Wolf."
"No shit. He killed Reynolds!"
"That's not what I meant!" Ahead of them was a split in the corridor. "I'll explain later," he said as he took out the disk from his pocket, the map directing them to the right.
When the arrived at the door at the end of the corridor they were met with more of the pirates. The two of them used the door's frame for cover as they began to fire. Their first volley of shots claimed one of the three pirates on the other side, the remaining two trying to rush their way toward the canines. When one of their heads appeared through the doorway both Bill and Walt used the butts of their blasters to knock him out.
The last pirate, realizing that he was alone against the two, made a run for it. Walt gave Bill a look before they both nodded and ran in the same direction, Bill referring to the disk once more for directions. He could see that they were edging closer to one of the larger rooms of the frigate and he silently prayed that it was the hanger bay.
Yet as they passed through the final large doors before them, they couldn't help but stop in their tracks, completely dumbfounded at the scene before them. Many pirates glared at them, apparently surprised from their sudden entrance. The vast room was pretty much littered with them, along with tall tubes, each containing an angry swarm of what looked like jellyfish with huge pincers. The outer walls were lined with what appeared to be some form of small shuttle. Bill assumed that they were escape pods.
The door behind them once again opened, Wolf along with two armed pirates making their entrance. He looked around and realized that the worker pirates were still bothered. "All of you! Get out. Now!" It was the first time his voice had any hint of emotion.
Without delay, most of the pirates had either made their way to the nearest exits, some even hiding in the shadows, curious about the events that were to transpire. Wolf waited a good minute or two in the silence, his two guards staying by his side, their guns aimed at the two canines in front of them.
"Well, now what," whispered Walt, gritting his teeth.
Bill only lightly shook his head. "It really looks like the end of the line for both of us, doesn't it?" He eyed the two pirates, only armed with a blaster while Wolf seemed to have lost his weapon somewhere, possibly hidden. Bill looked at his partner, feeling regret well up inside him. "I'm sorry, Walt."
"Heh, it's not your fault, Bill," he replied, realizing their situation was grim as well. "But if we're gonna go like this…"
"We might as well go down fighting!" They both fired together, knocking out the two pirates first, the shots bouncing away from Wolf by some sort of force field. Upon seeing this they both made a quick run through the room to hide behind the base of one of the glass pillars that held the angry swarms. Walt peered over the side as Bill looked around, seeing that one of the escape pods was open. "Over there," he nudged Walt. "I think if we make a break for it we can hop on and jettison off."
"Sounds like a plan, but I didn't see Wolf. Don't know how he could block our shots." He peered over again, still not seeing anything. "You go on ahead. I'll cover for you."
Bill nodded and quickly ran to the next pillar for cover. He looked back at Walt, who was keeping a watch toward the opposite end of the room and made a run for the next. Before he made it there was an explosion behind him, the force knocking him off his feet. He quickly looked back and saw that Walt too had been blown from his position, the tube they had used for cover shattered and the a swarm slowly hovering over him. Bill called out his name, his comrade giving him a quick terrified look.
One of the creatures quickly latched onto Walt's torso, the canine uttering a surprised cry as the other six quickly followed suit. Bill aimed his blaster and tried to shoot them off but it was of no use. "Bill…," he struggled to say. "Just go…leave me…go!"
Bill hesitated, unable to pull his eyes away as he saw his friend being slowly eaten. He closed his eyes and shuddered as he turned around to make his final run. As he neared the pod opening he suddenly was thrust in by an unseen force and slammed into the wall, the door quickly closing behind him. It was oddly cold inside, and he shuddered in his light clothing. Collecting himself, the husky turned around and looked out the pod door's window to see the face of Wolf.
The lupine pressed a button near the door. "Your not the smartest Cornerian out there, aren't you," his voice echoed through a speaker inside the pod. "Did you not even consider fully scoping out your surroundings before rushing in here?"
Bill felt his heart sink and quickly looked behind him and at the other occupants of the pod. There were eight tubes in the room, four on the left and right walls. Inside each was one of the creatures like those that were feasting on Walt. His expression changed to that of terror, Wolf's laugh echoing through the speakers.
"Don't worry. You wanted to return home so bad so take this as a gift from us to your people. By the time you do make it home, the metroids will thaw, and you'll be there to be their first meal on the planet." He laughed once more before teleporting away.
Bill turned back to the door, unable to open it from the inside. He cried out, though no one could hear him. The only thing that he could see from the other side before the glass fogged up was Walt's body slowly turn into dust.
Next Episode: Security Breach
Falco, Slippy and Katt manage to raise morale up in space and even begin to turn tides in their favor. Yet, as the Pirate frigate joins the fray, panic arises though the fleet as it begins shooting several strange missiles toward the planet.
Notes: Actually surprised that I found time to work on this chapter. A lot of people were introduced in this one, even! I felt that it was time to introduce who the "real" villains in this story were with The Occult finally being somewhat introduced. Also, about Bill. I've heard mixed things about his appearance. Thanks for those who messaged me. I'm actually happier with him being a husky. And as this story has already made its way nearing a tenth chapter, I've come to realize just how long this story may become! I'll be amazed if this gets done sometime during summer break.
This chapter also reveals a lot of the "sub story" that I will be working on later involving Samus and Lyle/Aeyr in regards to the "Fourth Mission". Comments and Constructive criticism would be nice. Been feeling like I need some advice with certain parts in the story X.x
xXxXx Scans of Lylat! xXxXx
Lylat Metroid: First seen in Episode 5 when Wallace unsuccessfully tries to convince Wolf to join his cause. These metroids are actually a mutation from the original SR388 versions. The originals wiped out thanks to Samus, The Occult had to use their knowledge and powers to aid the pirates with this new strain. They contain the same abilities as their cousins in siphoning an invisible life force from their victims but are born with smaller teeth around their mouthes and often use their pincers to stab into their prey rather than hold on. In cold environments they become docile.
Dr. Raynord (Pirate): Head of the Pirate's science team on board the Pirate Frigate and in charge of keeping an eye on the experiments that go on. He wore the guise of an Ambassador before abducting Councilor Lane from Corneria. As long as his experiments breed a favorable success rating, he's willing to take any chances regardless of the health of others involved.
Pirate Trooper: The regular pirates on board the frigate, equipped only with a standard blaster. They are easy to dispatch, sharing the same weaknesses of all biological creatures. Many are busy with on ship duty, such as loading, arming weapons and manning cannons or fighters.
Aeyr: Full name is Lyle Aeyr Wulff, though in his suit he prefers to go by this alias. Not much is known about his personal history other than that he is a bounty hunter from a distant galaxy. He is gifted with telepathic abilities as well as a powerful Aeon/Chozo hybrid battle suit. The suit itself uses only standard functions and modifications, such as a super on board computer, environmental protection level 1, grapple beam, space thrusters, telekinetic fire, charged telekinetic blasts as well as concussive shots equivalent to missiles. He has a connection with The Occult.