A/N: pending the release of Starlink, this might go on a bit of a hiatus, sorry. I will probably want to write a one-shot or something based on the game, but not to worry! After that is over, I'll be right back to this!
Suggested listening: We Used To Wait by Arcade Fire
Something in the corner of your eye
Unseen, unnoticed, unheard
But not invisible
Do not lose to complacency
Wolf felt apprehension twist his stomach into knots as he put his headset on and buckled into the back seat of Fox's Arwing. Fox stepped in and closed the cockpit before running preflight checks.
"G-Diffusers are a go. Communications line… green." Fox adjusted his eyepiece. "Falco, do you copy?"
"Loud and clear, Fox."
Fox nodded. "Good. ROB, can you open the doors?"
"Affirmative. Commencing procedure."
The doors in front of them slid open, revealing empty space that beckoned them into its loving embrace.
"Let's rock and roll, boys!"
Fox took off from the hangar and launched into space, Falco not far behind them. Wolf saw the distant star of Lylat blink at them, and he felt a sense of peace wash over him.
"And to our right, you will see the hellscape known as Venom, with Bolse Station over to its left." Fox angled the Arwing to face the planet.
A dusty landscape sprawled out before Wolf, dwarfing the satellite of Bolse, which looked like a small spacecraft in comparison to the massive planet. Green clouds covered the surface and bathed the planet in a sickly glow of radioactive decay.
Bolse was a lifeless satellite drifting in suspension. Wolf saw a few exterior lights still turned on, but nothing else on the station was active.
"How are we getting in there, Wolf?" Fox glanced back at him.
"There's an automated entry system. If it still works, I can give my access code." Wolf smiled and crossed his arms.
"You still remember that, dude?" Bill's surprised voice came on comms.
"Venomians were pretty strict on memorization." Wolf chuckled. "I could read off the owner's manual for the original Wolfen right now."
Bolse was much closer now. The Arwing became an ant in comparison to the massive space station that now loomed over them. Wolf felt old memories surge to the surface of his mind as he stared at the colossal solar panels that stuck out from the sides of the station.
"Haven't seen this place since the Lylat Wars." Falco whistled after he spoke. "Man, how long has it been?"
"Feels like forever." Fox flew towards the middle of the station. "Surprised this thing didn't get destroyed. Over."
Bill hummed. "Probably too much money to bother."
Wolf chuckled. "That was a huge mistake. There's a lot hidden in that box."
If the Venomians didn't scrap it all, that is.
An alert popped up on Fox's console. A hailing request. Fox looked back at Wolf who nodded, and he accepted the request.
An automated voice rang out on the comm. "Please state authentication code for access."
Wolf cleared his throat. "Gramactire-22193."
A moment of silence. Wolf bit his lip as he eyed the space station in front of them.
C'mon you slow piece of junk, just say something!
"Authentication confirmed. Welcome to Bolse Station, Wolf O'Donnell."
Wolf breathed a sigh of relief as he relaxed in his seat. A huge set of doors in front of them began to open, revealing the darkened interior of the station.
"Guess you really came through Wolf." Falco's words were quiet, but they warmed Wolf's chest nonetheless.
"We're lucky that system was still active, " Wolf pointed out.
"Let's see what we can find, then." Fox edged towards the now open set of doors.
The void was waiting for them like an unnatural maw of a creature they couldn't fathom. Wolf felt a chill run up his spine.
It's just a retrieval mission. There's nothing else to it, Wolf. Just breathe.
They slipped through the void and Fox turned the headlights of the Arwing on. They were greeted with an spacious hangar where old Venomian ships lay scattered around the place. None of the lights were on, but the artificial gravity was still active.
Fox set down towards the rear of the hangar, and Falco landed close by. Fox reached to open the cockpit, but Wolf grabbed his shoulder.
"Wait." Fox turned to look at Wolf with an annoyed glint in his eyes. "Check the oxygen content first."
Fox pressed a hand to his forehead. "Right." He pressed a few buttons on the console and crossed his arms while he waited.
A moment later, the console beeped. "Says we're good to breathe."
Fox opened the cockpit and climbed out of the Arwing. Wolf reached out his arms and Fox picked him up and maneuvered him onto his back. Wolf adjusted to this all too familiar position with a sigh.
"Do we have any flashlights?" Wolf couldn't even see the ground from the top of the Arwing.
"Yeah. Here." Fox pulled a flashlight out of his coat pocket and handed it to Wolf. He turned it on and waved it around the hangar.
They really left in a hurry, huh? Haven't seen some of these models in years…
"Can you point it at the ground?"
"Oh, sorry." Wolf highlighted the metal floor, and Fox climbed down the side of the Arwing with Wolf on his back.
When they hit the ground, another flash of light from nearby caught their attention. Falco was holding a flashlight as well, Bill at his side.
"This is just awesome." Falco grimaced as he scanned the hangar. "How are we gonna find these freakin' ships?"
"We go lookin' for them, " Wolf replied with a frown. Falco just rolled his eyes and looked away.
Man, what an asshole! What's got his feathers ruffled?
Bill came up next to Wolf and Fox. "Any idea where we need to go?"
Wolf hummed and scratched his chin. "They're in another hangar, one for developmental projects. I don't know where that is, but I know where the control room is from here."
"Let's get going." Fox started walking toward the doorway out of the hangar while Bill and Falco followed.
The hallway that led out of the hangar was desolate, eerie, and dark. Not a sound could be heard except the clanking of boots on metal. Wolf felt unease twist his stomach up as he tightened his grip on the flashlight.
There can't be anything here, you idiot! This place has been abandoned for years!
A fork in the hallway stopped them. Wolf blinked and looked at both options for a moment. He pointed at the left path.
"You sure this is the right way?" Falco crossed his arms.
Wolf rolled his eye. "Go the other way if you want. I don't care if you get lost."
Fox snorted as he walked down the path Wolf pointed to. Falco grumbled quietly while he followed behind them.
Wolf guided them along a few more bends and a staircase. Everywhere they walked, he could imagine the bustle of Venomians going about their business, laughing, talking, existing. The distant memory lodged itself in his mind and gave him a gnawing sense of loneliness.
Not all of Venom was horrible. Not everything on Corneria is good.
Or was…
Wolf frowned. What had happened to the great Lylat System?
"Hey, where to now?"
Fox's voice snapped Wolf out of his thoughts. He looked around as his ears flicked back and forth.
"Control room should be right there." He pointed to a metal door to their right. They started walking towards it.
"How are we gonna get the power back on in there?" Bill set a hand on his hip and frowned.
"I should be able to reroute some non-essential functions to get a map up and maybe get the hangar doors functioning. I hope." Wolf sighed and scratched his head.
Way to sound like a dumbass.
"Won't know till we try, dude!" Bill grinned before he opened the control room door. Fox stepped inside.
The first thing that stuck out to Wolf was that all of the lights were on. He turned his flashlight off and looked around the large room full of desks and computer monitors. All turned off, but the lights were blinking.
The second thing that stuck out was the noticeable lack of dust on some of the surfaces in the area.
What the hell?
"Someone's been here." Wolf looked back around the room, but he couldn't spot anything out of the ordinary.
"What? Who?" Falco started to sweep the room. Fox set Wolf in an office chair before he started looking around as well.
"I don't know. This place has been dead in space for years…" Wolf moved his chair to the nearest computer and turned it on.
"Is there anything in this place that would benefit anyone?" Fox asked.
The computer finished booting up and Wolf started rooting through files to find a map. "Uhh, nothing I know of, why?"
Fox walked back over to Wolf's seat. "This place is too clean. There's not a huge mess here; it's been organized."
"Bolse was scrapped after you killed Andross. It was a disaster zone here." Wolf grimaced.
"Would they have left anything important behind during evacuation?" Fox's voice was getting more intense. Annoyance flashed through Wolf as he searched the computer.
"I'll tell you when you give me time to look through this!" Wolf narrowed his eye.
"Alright! Sorry." Fox looked away.
He can get so intense sometimes, it's worrying. At least he shoots for his goals…
Wolf shook his head and continued his search. He finally found a map of the station in the maintenance section of the mainframe. The developmental hangar was a floor above them on the southern side of the base.
Come on Wolf, you knew that.
Wolf sighed and began poring through more records in search of the projects stationed at the hangar.
"Any luck, dude?" Bill sat down next to him and looked at his screen with interest.
"I've got the location of the hangar, but I wanna know what other experiments they had up there."
"What are you expecting to see?"
"Probably a bioweapon or two, knowing Andross. Maybe something else, not sure." Wolf shrugged.
"Oh, hey look!" Bill pointed to a folder labeled 'Classified.' Wolf grinned and tried to click on it, but it sent them to a password input screen.
"Damn it." Wolf slammed a fist on the desk. He sighed before grabbing a flash drive from a drawer.
I'll get this shit decoded later. He plugged the drive in and copied every file he could find to it. Once finished, he unplugged the drive and pocketed it.
Fox walked back over once Wolf was done. "Any more luck?"
Wolf shook his head. "Got the map, but nothing else. I'll decode it at the Great Fox."
"Where's the hangar?"
"One floor up, south side."
"Alright. Let's get going." Fox leaned down to pick Wolf up just as Bill did.
Bill laughed. "You need a break. I can handle it, dude."
Fox opened his mouth to say something but then shook his head. "Alright, fine. Take him."
Uh… okay. Strange.
Bill grinned and lifted Wolf onto his back. They left the strange control room and started walking down the dark corridors once more. Wolf turned his flashlight on and started to keep a lookout for a stairwell.
"So… do you think someone was here recently?" Bill asked as he raised an eyebrow.
Fox hummed in front of them. "It's pretty clear they were, but why?"
"Maybe we'll find out when we get to the hangar, " Wolf said. The thought of other people going the same place they were was unnerving.
Why would someone come so far out here?
They found a staircase around a bend in the hall and ascended it to the next floor. Wolf flashed the light on a set of signs on the wall next to the stairwell and another intersection.
"Southern section is that way." Wolf pointed to the path that led to the left.
"Hm. The power shouldn't have been on when we came here." Falco's voice was quiet as he stroked his beak.
Fox snorted. "What, the control room?"
Falco rolled his eyes. "No, man! I'm talking about the whole base."
Right... Shit.
"He's right," Wolf replied. A chill ran up his spine. "Why would a dead base still have a working hangar door?"
"Could someone still be here?" Bill's ears perked as he looked around the hallway.
"Keep your eyes peeled, boys." Fox pulled his pistol out and loaded it. Sure hope that's enough to keep us alive.
The encounter they expected never came to pass, however. No foe came barrelling down the passage, and no gun came out from around the corner. The trip to the hangar was quiet. The emergency lights just kept flickering in and out as they bathed the world in flashes of red.
Finally, the entrance to the hangar came upon them. It was a simple set of sliding doors that Falco and Fox had to manually force open.
"Damn door has to be the only thing not working, huh?" Falco grunted as the door opened inch by inch.
Kinda glad I can't help. Wolf chuckled as Falco's frustration grew. Falco shot him a glare while he yanked the rest of the door open.
"Let's find these ships." Fox stepped into the hangar with a raised gun with the others behind him.
Wolf's gut filled with worry and twitching tension. He shifted his weight around Bill's shoulders and shone the flashlight ahead of them into the pitch black room.
The hangar awaited them on the other side of the door, but the light could not even reach the other side. The group came out on a catwalk above the ground.
"Is there a light switch around here?" Fox's voice echoed throughout the dark.
"Why don't we check?" Wolf moved the light around the catwalk and stopped on a breaker box not too far away from them.
Falco walked over to the box and opened it. "Shouldn't take too long… there!" He flipped a few switches and the hangar lit up.
Wolf squinted and blinked a few times before he rubbed his eye. His eye widened when he saw the hangar in its entirety.
Below them sprawled a huge space filled with all manner of different projects. Ships, weapons, workspaces, and piles of materials cluttered the hangar and a huge door lay sealed on the other side.
Fox whistled. "Damn."
"Those are the Wolfen-IVs." Wolf pointed to a pair of ships in the far right side of the hangar.
These ships were bigger than the previous Wolfens Wolf piloted, and they were painted a deep black color with blood red accents. The ships looked more angular than the older models, as well; the wings stuck out further and bent at sharp angles.
They look like massive blades. Might be just as sharp, too.
"Those are so sick!" Bill grinned.
"So you did come through after all." Falco nodded, but he still had a frown on his face. Wolf snorted and rolled an eye.
Let's go check them out." Fox started walling down the catwalk, and the others followed them.
They picked their way through the mess of the hangar to get to the Wolfens. Wolf couldn't tell what half of the stuff scattered about the place was, but a part of him felt this deep unease at seeing some of it.
What sort of biological horrors were born here?
Fox whistled. "Wow, these are big." He smiled and crossed his arms. "Menacing too."
Wolf nodded. "They were put in production towards the end of the Lylat Wars. Bigger bomb storage, upgraded plasma cannons, incredibly strong hull material, better G-Diffusers… even a warp drive." He looked up at the ship and grinned. It was at least twelve feet up to the cockpit.
"Is there a ladder around to get you up there, man?" Bill asked as he gawked at the ship. Wolf looked around and spotted one near a worktable.
Fox and Falco grabbed the ladder and set it up by the ship. It was just tall enough to get him up there. Bill started to climb it with Wolf still on his back.
"Is this thing gonna be able to fly?" Bill glanced back at Wolf.
"As long as it has some fuel." I think.
"Great."
Bill climbed to the top of the Wolfen and opened the cockpit. He set Wolf in, who gave him a thumbs up before strapping in and closing the cockpit. Bill climbed back down while Wolf ran through his preflight checks.
The layout was almost exactly the same as his old Wolfen. He flipped a few switches and the display turned on.
How about we change it to the one-eyed setting? He pressed another button and the left half of the display went dark.
"Almost full tank, good. No weapons, no warp drive, no shields." Wolf grimaced. "Let's hope the engine works."
He first turned his headset back on. "I'm about to test the engine. You guys should back up."
"Got it." Fox waved at him from below.
Wolf took a breath and flipped the switch. The engines quite literally roared to life… and they stayed on. Wolf laughed.
Damn, this sounds so perfect.
"We're good! This baby can make it back!"
"That's so loud!" Fox's voice was barely audible. Wolf felt his face heat as he turned the engines back off.
"Sorry about that."
"It's fine. Let's get Bill in the other one."
A few moments passed and Bill entered the cockpit of the other Wolfen. "So… How's this work?"
"Just like an Arwing."
"Oh, cool." A moment later, the engines on Bill's Wolfen came to life.
"This is so sick!" Wolf smiled at hearing the utter joy in Bill's voice.
"You can say that again." Wolf felt his body relax in the close confines of the Wolfen. It felt so right to finally be back in something he could call his own. Closest thing to my team that I've got.
Fox's voice cut in, louder this time. "You two get those ships back to the Great Fox. I want to keep looking around."
Wolf frowned. "Alright, just don't get killed."
A laugh. "I'll try not to."
"Can you open the hangar doors too, dude?" Bill asked.
"Sure."
Fox walked back up to the catwalk and back to the breaker. He flipped another switch and the hangar doors began to creak open.
"See you on the other side." Wolf waved before he began to take off.
He carefully raised up above the other projects on the hangar and eased himself out and back into the expanse of space. He took a breath when he left Bolse and its unnerving atmosphere.
Made it.
Bill wasn't far behind him, and together they started to fly back to the Great Fox.
"How's the ship holding up?" Wolf asked.
"It's really smooth, but a lot of systems are down. You?"
Wolf sighed. "Same here. Lots of repairs needed."
"Then it's great you're so awesome at those, then!"
Wolf felt a small smile come to his face. "I'm not that awesome." Everyone can do what I can. They can do it better.
"There's the Great Fox." Wolf watched as the ship grew larger and larger before them. "Fox, we made it back. What's your status?"
Silence. Static in the air. Apprehension started to consume Wolf.
"Fox? Falco? You there?"
"We've got a full radio signal."
More silence.
"This is bad, man." Bill's voice was quiet.
"Fox?" Still nothing.
Shit. Something bad happened! Of course it did!
Wolf took a breath to calm his rising nerves. Chill out. Nothing's gonna change now.
"We gotta go back."
Wolf shook his head. "Not while these are in rough shape. C'mon, let's dock and switch ships."
Unease gripped Wolf and wore him thin. He ran a hand through his headfur and took a few deep breaths.
I don't know what happened, but if you two don't make it, we're gonna have some problems.
Don't die, you jerk.