A/N: October News: SPY COOPER THIS WHOLE MONTH – sorry, I promised, y'know?
Okay, so, I tried to re-read Reflections of a New Generation… You know, so I could brush up… boy… what a TRAIN WRECK. There were loopholes, inconsistencies, and I couldn't bring myself to enjoy this story AT ALL. Now, I really love this story because I've put so much of my personal life into it; I don't want it to SUCK.
Needless to say, I skimmed through the first 7 chapters… and made some slight repairs to ALL OF THEM…

So yeah, I made repairs to the first quarter of the story and REPOSTED ALL SEVEN chapters with these modifications (which range anywhere from 'slight' to 'huge new section').
I also made some very MINOR repairs to chapter 14. At the very end, I added in a part where Star picks up the staff that belonged to Kursed before he faints. Why? You'll see. I'm about to re-write chapter 8, 9, 10 and 11 – no kidding. I also have a lot of repairs for chapter 12 and a couple of dingers stuck out at me in chapter 13. Good grief. I'll work them out when I return to this story next month. Stuff.

By the way, my Japanese Ice-Blue DS broke. I'm sad.
So, the other day, I replaced it with the new 'October Color' one – red on black. It's hawt. If you don't own a DS Lite, now is the time to buy one. I actually want the Japanese "indigo blue" coloration. It's the same color as the first generation Game Cube… Hell yeah. But whatever, Red on Black is still neat, albeit a little Goth looking. xD
Important Author Note extras down at the bottom. P-Sout!

Chapter -25-
"A Shot in the Dark"

A small black box reverberated in the cold, damp cell with Cornerian military voices. Bliss O'Donnell lifted her head slowly but struggled to keep it held high. Through the metal bars, she made out the vague silhouette of a man with a stocky stature. Her body, weak from injuries and foreign substances, slumped back and came to rest in the corner of her cell. She could hear the Cornerian chatter over the nearby radio.

"This is Zero-Seven-Zero-November-Victory, returning to the birdfarm, copy?"

Another voice sounded in reply, "I can hardly make out a thing you're saying, aviator! Please repeat your message, Zero-Seven-Zero-NV!"

"I am two minutes to bingo for RTB, I say again, I am two minutes to bingo for RTB, copy?"

The second voice returned to the speaker. "Copy that, Brown Shoe; you are two minutes from Bingo! You are cleared for return. Hey, pilot," said the second voice, trailing off.

"Sir?"

"Get that 'Bitching Betty' out of your ear, aviator. Our computer indicates you are no less than ten full minutes to bingo. You may have a sensor glitch; report it to your Charlie Oscar, upon arrival; Kitty Hawk – over and out."

Bliss' left ear flickered, listening to the squawk box with a sigh. An overpowering voice filled the immediate area. "Rather interesting, isn't it young O'Donnell? We can hear Corneria's military better than they can hear one another. Now, tell me how you thought you were safe in our airspace?"

Bliss lowered her head in silence. Blood matted the fur on the left side of her face from a cut above her left eye. Her head swam from pain but some part of her recognized the voice – she couldn't place it to a face or a name, however.

"My dear girl, I would like to thank you for returning what is rightfully mine." His deep, intelligent voice echoed off the walls. He then continued. "I do hope you're comfortable. Most prisoners are given laser bars but I felt that you should deserve special treatment. Do you know where you are?"

Bliss opened her mouth to speak but her jaw responded with intense pain. In a soft, yet unbroken voice, she replied, "CF-City."

The deeper voice returned with a soft chuckle. "Charlie Foxtrot? My dear, you are not military; there is no use in using military slang. But yes, you're quite correct in your assumption. You've failed your mission and, my dear mercenary, you won't receive pay. But the true question should be, 'How did this happen?' Am I right, Miss O'Donnell?"

She gave no reply. After a momentary silence, another familiar voice joined in the conversation. "Do forgive me, Bliss, my dear. This was for your own good and, if it makes you feel any better, I allowed you to live because you did your best for me; I appreciate that. You're a hard and dedicated worker. All right, I should level with you…" The second speaker knelt down just outside the cell, to her right. Her head lulled towards him, coming eye to eye with Dash Bowman. He offered her a casual shrug then added, "You're not some cliché insurance policy, my dear. You're a source of information. No, I'm not talking about the sort of information we get after we torture someone… I'm simply curious about the woman you spoke to on Fichina. Do you remember her? Blue fur, pretty middle-aged face and she burned down an entire city dome?"

Bliss nodded as if drunk. "…She tried to …kill Crimson. She is dead."

Dash smiled. "That's the lady. Do you recall her name?"

"…Can't," said Bliss. Drool, mixed with blood, dribbled down the front of her chin. "Familiar – might have seen a picture in a book." She spoke softly, only opening her mouth an inch at a time from the pain.

"Perhaps a family bible? Ah, I doubt it," replied Bowman with a soft chuckle. "Allow me to change the subject for just a moment; I'd like to reintroduce someone to you." He reached through the bar and cupped her muzzle in his palm, careful not to squeeze. He turned her head to the side until her eyes fell upon a stocky pair of pants. He forced her head to lift, nice and slow, until her eyes met the other man's face. Her pupils dilated and a shallow gasp of air echoed off the walls.

Dash drew a syringe from somewhere beyond her view. He eased the metallic tip into her arm and pushed the plunger down. "This shouldn't take long to clear up the tranquilizer we used on you." He pulled the needle back from her arm and placed a plastic cap on the end then tilted his head at her.

Andross Oikonny folded his hands, standing outside of her cell. He then said, "Your mother and father have no clue, so before you offer me some threat-filled banality, I thought I would tell you. I do so dislike vapid banter, where the hero – or in your case, heroine – blathers about how I won't get away with this. My dear, I already have. No one in your family knows you're here with me. So, let us be realists, my dear half-breed."

She shifted her weight in the cell in an attempt to look up at the stocky speaker. "I don't care which side your grandson is on."

Dash stepped besides his grandfather. "Bliss, that's just it!" he exclaimed. "You don't get it, my pretty little vixen. We already know you only care about money. My grandfather and I aren't necessarily on the same side. We're here to use you as a bargaining chip. We'll trade you to your father for the weapon he has hidden on Sargasso. With it, we can hold Corneria hostage against their will."

Bliss blinked with incomprehension. "Weapon?"

Dash blinked in return. "You didn't know? Oh, my poor girl – you're either so very naïve, or you're simply out of the loop! Your father stumbled across something rather precious. He's hidden it away in the hold then denied its existence. It's a special element necessary to create the nuclear chain reaction that not only caused the bomb on Corneria several days ago… but it's also used to trigger the chain reaction in the only remaining Gravity Bomb. Only a nuclear detonation inside the bomb can create the energy necessary to stimulate another gravity bomb to life. No one in Lylat has uranium. Oh, I suppose it naturally occurs on various planets throughout the system but it's rare. Mister O'Donnell accidentally acquired a shipment that could last forever. We require it for my grandfather to rebuild another bomb like the one he used about six and a half years ago. Your father and mother will buy you back at any amount."

In a weak voice, she told Dash, "You're scum. Our business contract is terminated."

Dash smirked at her reply and said, "Pay attention." He took a pen from his pocket and reached through the bars. He wrote, '238U (n, gamma) into 239U –(beta) into 239Np – (beta) into 239Pu.' He then looked up at her and smiled. He withdrew the pen and stood up, glaring down at her. "We're doing your father a favor, Miss O'Donnell. To his knowledge, he's sitting on a great deal of metal. What he doesn't know is that it's radioactive. You wouldn't want your father to die of cancer, now would you? Of course not!"

She glared at the crude scrapings on the concrete floor. She reached her paws to her eyes and rubbed them for a moment, sobering up from the serum. She looked back down at the markings. "So by bombarding this metal with neutrons, it produces an emission of beta particle rays, which becomes…" She struggled with the next step.

"It's called Neptunium 239; you're bright but you're no scientist, Bliss."

She stole another glance at the ape, looked back to the writing on the floor then said, "And instead of irradiating it with neutrons to make 238 Plutonium, an isotope for building spacecraft, you go back to the… Beta Rays stage and get Plutonium 239, which… does what?"

Bowman looked radiant. "…Makes fissionable Plutonium. Again, my dear; you're brilliant – more so than I gave you credit for… but you're no scientist. Let's skip to the sphere of plutonium. We then build it into a block and surround it with neutron-reflective 'tungsten carbide' until the mass goes supercritical. Are you following? There is an increasing rate of fission until natural feedback mechanisms cause the reactor to settle into equilibrium, which is the state of being critical, at an elevated temperature or otherwise elevated power level… There it is: It settles into a state of being critical… Or destroys itself, because disassembly of the core is an equilibrium state. For this reason, we keep the core subcritical until we are ready to…"

"You're sick!" Bliss turned her face away. "You're using a dangerous, artificially-made radioactive metal to create an explosion that will vaporize living tissue? That's what high levels of radiation does… it vaporizes organic tissue! Is that your grand scheme? You vaporize people at the center of the blast, melt anything left at the edge of the blast and then radiate any survivors with the leftovers; is that it?"

"Absolutely wonderful!" cried Dash. "You're beautiful and intelligent! But no, we don't create an explosion at all. We use a shaped charge around the block of Plutonium, which forces the metal object to increase in density thereby producing a rather prompt critical configuration."

Bliss turned back to him and furrowed her brows. "And that does what?" She reached a paw to her jaw, determining the extent of her injuries. Aside from a few cuts and bruises, she felt fairly whole.

"Grand scale implosion. You put a neutron initiator at the center of the subcritical plutonium globe. The spherical shockwave crushes the round polished mass on all sides, evenly, and creates the biggest boom you could ever imagine. One entire city would vanish to rubble in the blink of an eye. It creates a flash so bright it would vaporize organic tissue. Anything a mile out would leave a permanent shadow on a sidewalk to indicate where an organic object disintegrated during the flash reaction. We'll call this a 'fission' bomb.

"Then if you add stages with isotopes of hydrogen, you get a fusion bomb, which greatly intensifies the thermonuclear boom. Take the bomb we used over Corneria's Capital City and imagine if the blast radius was three times larger… or better yet, maybe five times larger. You see, fusion releases more energy per kilogram – and the energy of this magnitude, released in this method, is almost inconceivable. Just imagine, Bliss, a radioactive fireball that would take out all the suburban sectors just outside of the city… thirty to fifty miles in every direction from ground zero. What an incredible invention, don't you think? One wouldn't even need to utilize it to have power over others… they only need to threaten using it."

Bliss looked up at him again. She couldn't open her jaw enough to gawk but her lips parted and her eyes widened just the same. Dash continued. "Then you have the cobalt bomb for increased fallout. You can change up the formula and make the neutron bomb for enhanced radiation effects; that way you can make your enemy suffer more or you could just vaporize the whole lot of them, wait a few decades and move into the empty city. It all depends on how you wanted to do it."

"Stop," muttered the hybrid vixen. "How can anyone turn a natural element into such a horrible creation? You're truly twisted to have invented this."

"Hardly," replied Bowman. "It was created by Cornerians who were astonished to learn that Plutonium blocks, at room temperature, could boil water in a tub at equally room temperature. A simple block of metal that could command so much energy was bound to turn into a weapon. No, Bliss O'Donnell, they discovered this long before they ever sought to explore the rest of Lylat.

"Once their focus returned to the intrinsic desire to learn and explore, they realized that life was also occurring on neighboring planets. They used their weapon to defend themselves out of paranoia and with startling success against the neighboring worlds. Finally, these ancestors realized they could make crude ways to contain and distribute this energy as a power source. It created dangerous byproducts and one day, someone had the idea to mine the planet of all Uranium. They rid themselves of it. They abolished the mathematical data and forced the theories to die out. Many generations later, it was fully forgotten. Venom's ancestors did not forget, however; the planetary archives explained the theory in startling detail. Venom remembered. They were happy to return the favor dealt to their ancestors. How ironic… using such a weapon on the descendants of the creators…"

"Thousands are dead," Bliss muttered. "I protected you; were you in on this the whole time?"

"I wanted to see its effects on the capital, first hand! Now, this is where I give you a choice… you and your Cornerian lover may join my ranks… or I'll let you watch the destruction of Corneria then kill your mate, followed by you. What is your decision?"

Bliss grew quiet for a moment then sat up tall in her small cell. She cocked a single eyebrow at him and, in a defiant voice, asked, "Did your mother not hug you enough when you were little?"

Andross Oikonny's image flickered then faded from the room, leaving her to wonder if he was a simple hologram. She turned back to Dash and said, "My father said he's a lousy employer, so what're you doing here? Are you doing this because he's a blood relative?"

Bowman snorted in disdain. "Hardly… No one is sure if he's still really alive and Andrew doesn't have what it takes to become the next emperor. I've been using a holographic artificial intelligence program to scare the masses into thinking he's still around to keep Venom from falling into line behind Andrew. If he is still alive, no one knows where he is or how much time he has left. He disappeared after attacking StarFox, six years ago."

"Why tell me your secret, Dash? You played your trump card way too early." Bliss folded her arms across her chest. "Aside from your threats, how is this lucrative to me and, if I may be so bold, how is this lucrative to you?"

"It's lucrative to you," said Dash. "You and your girlfriend get to live and we buy your father's shipment using your help. Then you inherit that shipment and the power that comes with it. I'm extending trust to you – if you reciprocate it, I'll make you the queen of Venom, in a sense. I also heard that you helped the woman who attacked Fichina and I understand your girl, Carey Granton, has a PhD in Theoretical Physics. I also heard she is working on a second one in Quantum Mechanics."

Bliss pointed at the locked gate. "I want out. Now. And yes, Carey is a smart lil' thing. Maybe I can help you, after all. But I have one condition."

Dash smirked at her. He approached the gate on the opposite side. "Only one condition? You're an easy girl to please."

"I have other conditions but this one is the deal breaker; if you don't adhere to it then there is no reason to let me out."

Bowman nodded. "Go on."

She narrowed her gaze in an attempt to put on a tough act regardless of the pain in her jaw. "You cannot drop anymore of those weapons over Corneria airspace. This includes Katina. Use it as a threat; make strikes on dirty planets like Macbeth, but no more direct attacks against home. Do we have an accord?"

"You pirates and your silly verbiage," replied Bowman. He unlocked the gate with a metal key and said, "You said it best, Bliss. If I refuse your condition, I shouldn't let you out. Here I am, letting you out; I expect you to play nice."

"There are rules," she told him. "Our names do not come up in the Venom Press; I'm protective of Carey. You play your little game with my father and I'll look at it as a business deal. But I don't like the idea of telling them I've been captured. They would think less of me for letting myself get caught. If you wanna play a game of subterfuge, fine. We can convince him that this stuff is dangerous to his health by having Carey visit the station; she'll analyze it – verifying it's legit for you and proving it's dangerous to his business. When he disposes of the metal in his hold, you can go and collect it – I actually prefer the latter plan over the former."

Dash grew quiet for a moment, pondered her idea then nodded. "We'll try it your way, first. I'm doing this to earn your trust, my dear girl. Now you know that I'm not working with my grandfather and you're not going to rat me out to your father. I've not backstabbed you, Bliss; I simply had to test your mettle. Contact Miss Granton and have her meet us."

"One more small condition," said the half-breed vixen with a weak smirk. She approached the gate, pushing it open. "Don't call me 'dear' anymore. It's nauseating."

Fara leaned back in the cushioned seat. She gazed at Marcus, across from her, in the tiny round cabin of the drop pod. The small lifeboat resembled a heavily modified escape pod from a typical Phoenix Star-liner mega yacht. She offered him a reassuring smile but said nothing. The ovular vessel grunted and the ambient noise of its hover pads fell silent. A round table separated the two foxes; she opened the mahogany lid and drew out four round objects. A dent in the fourth one caught McCloud's eye and he leaned forward to look which amused Fara to no end.

She handed him the fourth spherical object and said, "I caused that dent the day we met." She paused, gave him a minute to look it over then, in silence, thought, 'They're the four holo-emitter orbs Andrew Oikonny used to attack me on the flight deck.' She watched Marcus' facial expression then smiled at his look of comprehension. "I'm leaving them with you and I want you to stay here. If I get into trouble, you fall back and use the radio controller that Theodore made… and you use the VR goggles… You'll finish the mission using this, that way the team still has its leader."

"Wait, I'm staying here?"

Fara lifted a manicured finger to stop his protest before it could start. "Not the entire time. I'm going to clear out the immediate enemy cover then I want you to help me scout a way to destroy this bio weapon. After that, we wait for the support team; they'll send us the gear we need via instant transmission should we need it."

"I don't like that you're going by yourself. If someone sneaks up behind you, I would be able to sense his or her presence. You need me."

She reached her paw to McCloud's muzzle and smiled. "You'll be fine. You'll sense if I'm in trouble and I'll clear my mind so you can know what's happening. Just, do yourself a favor…"

He tilted his head, which caused her to grin again. Fara dropped her paw into her lap and told him, "I don't know how powerful your abilities are when I don't try to keep up a mental block… If you somehow have the ability to see what I see through my mind or something… don't. I was trained to do what I'm about to do and that's part of the reason I want you to stay back until I call for you."

"Fara, you're one person – Crimson told me what kind of opposition you came up against last time. This is suicide."

She shushed him with a finger against his lips. "Remember what I said on the bridge? They asked me what I did for a living and I said I survive suicide missions. It's only suicide if you do not survive. An inexperienced person would not survive this. I want you to stay armed and when I call for you, I want you to hurry. In the event that I'm killed, you'll use the holographic combat fighter… go in there… and destroy the target. Do not come out of this ship until I send for you; understand me? If I have to rescue you, my chances of survival drop. I operate on percentage rate. This mission is a twenty-seven percent success ratio. I only accept jobs that have a rating of twenty-five or higher. Keep your mind relaxed and focused but don't go trying to see what I see, all right?"

"I can't see through your eyes or anything like that…" Marcus fidgeted with the deactivated holographic orbs then glanced back at her. "If you dwell on the image of your attacks, I'll see those but they're grainy. Also, you have to be close and you can't have your mental defenses up. I once held a pendant belonging to my mother and, briefly, saw things through her eyes from years ago… but that's different than what you're thinking of."

"How can you be so effective against the enemy, then?"

Marcus grinned and placed the metal orbs on the seat cushion to his left; the circular sofa bench lined the interior of the small pod. He shrugged then told her, "I prey on the weak-minded and the weak willed. I sense thought patterns and orders given to the pawns of the other team."

Fara reopened the table and pulled out two rapid pulse blaster rifles and a silver duster. The sparkly fabric created an optical illusion of depth perception to McCloud. He reached forward and touched the blurry looking sparkle-covered fabric in her paws then blinked.

The fennec grinned then told him, "They're dual layer holographic emitters overtop of very small mirrors." She unfolded the trench coat and turned it around. The interior lining had a smooth gray quality to it but, as she turned it about, the exterior layer faded from existence. She watched his expression of curiosity then announced, "I sense that you're impressed."

Marcus replied with an amused smile. "I sense you're pretty good at reading my facial expressions." He scooted around the circular cushioned bench then placed his paws on either side of Fara's muzzle, bringing her gaze to meet his own mismatched hues of blue and green. McCloud paused for a moment then said, "I'm really starting to have complicated feelings for you, so don't go dying again, all right? I know you can separate your emotions from your work ethic but it doesn't mean I have that ability, too."

Fara drew her lower lip between her teeth. "It's true I can detach myself emotionally, but it's not how you think. If I'm in the field and take the life of an enemy, I understand that it's associated with self defense, in a way. I do this so I retain my humane side. I fight with logic and reason but I still love with passion and desire; I am a woman – I judge with compassion and empathy. I watched the video of you kneeling over Jane's bed and listened to the dialogue on the security tapes. I felt for you both and that is why I took her to Eladard."

"Isn't it ironic?" he asked then added, "There are so many coincidences… If you weren't nearly killed and put into stasis we wouldn't have met you. If we didn't meet you, we wouldn't have been on Corneria during the attack – we'd have been on Katina, still dreaming, unsure of what to do with that reward money. If we didn't find Jane or take her back to GreatFox, you wouldn't have taken her to Eladard…"

Fara nodded and finished his statement. "If I was never shot down and put in stasis, I wouldn't have known to take her to Eladard, and if I never took her there, we wouldn't have learned about this Bio Weapon in time to stop it. We may be creatures of Freewill, Marcus, but the Goddess sometimes guides the right people to the right places at the right time, because the right person can make all the difference."

McCloud lowered his eyes and considered her words; he struggled with an emotional inner argument in regards to fate and freewill not too long ago. She worded everything with such elegance that everything suddenly made sense. "I didn't know you were so religious," Marcus said. He released her muzzle from his palms and offered her a soft smile. "I guess that explains the phrase, 'wrong place at the wrong time'. I suppose I never thought of it that way."

Phoenix took his right paw into her left and gave it a gentle squeeze. "We can't always be part of the bigger plan if we don't pay attention… but that's all part of the whole 'Freewill' thing." She leaned forward, brushed her lips gently against his and told him, "I'll leave it to you to figure out if that kiss was fate or freewill." She offered another soft smile then raised her arms, pushing the top off the pod. She peered out into the evening air and listened with her sharp ears. "Good, we still have our stealth element. Listen," she said, glancing back down at him. "Theodore is on the bridge. We cannot utilize ship-to-shore communications because audio signals will alert the enemy, no matter how we try to encrypt it. If they detect chatter, we're busted."

"What's the plan?"

Fara sat back down in the pod and pulled the duster over her left arm. "Data streams cover Eladard so they're virtually impossible to track. We're going to use GreatFox as a satellite. You'll see everything from above and relay the information to me directly, using ground-to-ground encoded audio. They can't zero in on personal communicators if both are transmitting and receiving in such proximity of one another. So you will relay satellite images to me – do not contact GreatFox directly." She pulled the right sleeve over her other arm, fixed the lay of the fabric on her body then opened the coat wide. The fennec took a moment to secure her blaster rifles to the coat's liner. She opened the table one last time and pulled out two rapid-fire handguns. "This is it. Under the table lid, you'll find the VR goggles. They're partitioned so that the left side of the screen shows the satellite feed from GreatFox. The right side will show a visual when fighting with the holo-emitters. Don't use them unless there is an emergency. Your visor has a communicator, too. Everything you say transmits to me. Don't turn your visor on until I'm outside of the pod – the feedback would be awful."

She drew in a deep breath to calm herself then stood up again. She secured the blasters to a set of holsters at her ribcage. The sandy-furred fennec reached into her pocket and withdrew a set of sunshades. "These are the most expensive things I own," she said in a soft voice. The vixen placed them on her muzzle then, with a single finger, guided them up to her eyes. She offered a toothy grin and said, "Believe it or not, I see everything with color enhancement – not your typical shades. All right, I've been chatty enough." She pulled herself up through the opening and clamored to the top. She replaced the lid then slid down the hull's glassy, clear surface. The vixen eased herself down to the edge of the camouflaged metal; she swung her legs out then dropped three feet to the ground.

Fara glanced over her shoulder at the nearly invisible pod then drew both handguns. Two green reticules appeared in the visor-like image of her glasses, allowing her to see where the barrels pointed. She carefully twirled each one, watching as the two green boxes went from the bottom of the visor to the top only to repeat. She crossed each weapon from left to right then back. She replaced them into her holsters then performed a similar vertical and horizontal testing method for her rifles.

After a moment, a text-based message appeared in the goggles. "Sights for four weapons – confirmed and calibrated." The serial number of both handguns and both rifles scrolled before her eyes. She replaced the rifles in her duster then stretched. Fara brought her paws to one another, rubbed them together in anticipation then broke into a sprint.

Krystal McCloud's eyes widened; the sudden realization of her sixth sense startled her. "Fox, there are more Cornerian ships inbound! Get us out of here!" The Proteus' five large torpedoes narrowly missed the Carrier. Two of them exploded off the port bow, which caused the lights to flicker. A pair of proton beams fired from GreatFox. The energy attack struck the last three torpedoes, vaporizing them prior to detonation.

Lucy Hare, at the helm, shouted, "I'm on it. I'll try to out run them!" She took manual control of the ship and brought the engines up to maximum speed. She then added, "Nice shooting, Amanda!"

Fox crossed the bridge to the communication's panel and opened a hailing channel to the attacking ship, as well as all inbound ships in the area. "This is Fox McCloud of the StarFox Mercenary flight squadron. We request you to break your attack so we can talk this over, peacefully! Please comply!" He had little hope for diplomacy but wanted to buy as much time as possible.

The channel opened and Fox's eyes widened. Bill Grey stood on a platform at the center of the flagship's command deck. McCloud froze, gazing up at the main view screen. "Bill!"

"…Fox?" The Cornerian General blinked twice. "You're dead… I was at your… – it was an open casket funeral. What the hell is going on here?"

McCloud backed up to the captain's chair and dropped into it. "Bill, I need your help. I'm trying to get home and everything is complicated right now. Can you call off this attack?"

"Dude! You're with her? Are you in on it together? Did you two fake your murder?" He turned his head, glaring over at the image of Krystal on Fox's right. "You may have let him live, but I've seen the countless atrocities you've caused, woman. Using the spell stones of Sauria to destroy Fichina? That was insane; you knew it would destroy Sauria, too. You've destroyed two planets and murdered hundreds of thousands in the process!" The canine turned back to the left, facing Fox directly. "I will not call off this attack. I don't know how she avoided our gravity bomb before, but this is war and anyone harboring her is an enemy of the state!"

"Bill, we grew up together," Fox exclaimed. "Remember the time we…"

"Stop!" shouted Bill. "That's it, Fox. Our friendship is over – you two are in cahoots? I remember back in the academy, when you first mentioned dreaming about the 'girl in blue'. Her fate ends here. I'll mourn you, Fox McCloud but there's nothing I can do… you're harboring a deadly fugitive."

"Bill," cried Krystal. "Please, he's telling the truth when he says we just want to go home. Things got complicated and I'm not who you think I am! I'm not the woman who attacked Lylat – we only wish to leave in peace! Please!"

"I wish I could believe you," said the General in a stoic voice. "But you used the same tone and pleading eyes with me the evening before you destroyed Fichina. I'll not fall for it again. It's over – your rampage is at an end." He turned to the left and shouted, "Prepare the device!" The channel closed – the view screen faded to black.

Krystal swallowed, sensing the canine's intentions. In a soft, broken voice, she muttered, "Hurry, we need… to hurry." Her lower lip quivered and her eyes widened. "Haste would be best…"

"We've come too far to give up now," growled Fox. "Slippy, polarize the hull plating and raise the shields. Lucy, evasive maneuvers – get us the hell out of here. Let's make a break for the nearest orbital jump-gate."

"I'm locking in a course," replied Lucy. "We're surrounded on all sides, above and below. They're closing in quick and we may have to defend ourselves, Fox."

Slippy sat down next to Amanda at the tactical station. "The Flagship is closing in, Fox. It's really freakin' big, too! Wait, hold up!" He punched several keys to augment the sensor screen then said, "The Cornerian fleet is generating some sort of energy field – each ship is linking to the next to… Oh my goodness."

Amanda leaned over to look at her husband's display then turned back to Fox and Krystal. "They're forming a force field to block our escape!"

"Can we break through it?" exclaimed Fox.

"No, I've never seen technology like this," she replied. "We're cut off from the rest of the sector and separated from Sargasso. We might be able to make a hyperspace jump but it's risky, depending on the energy output of their field. This is strange; it looks like they're using Negative Energy – I thought that stuff was just a theory?"

McCloud turned to Lucy and said, "Jump to hyper; I don't care where, just GO!"

Krystal sprinted to the nearest control panel and shouted, "It's too late!" She pressed several keys, bringing up a visual of the Flagship. Large bay doors opened on the front and an enormous missile erupted from its hull. Krystal covered her muzzle with her left paw. "I sense…"

"W-what is it?" Slippy squeaked in worry.

"I sense… it's the same thing Andross used on us, six years ago. I don't know if we can handle it again."

Their homemade piloting droid entered the bridge and looked around the room. Having heard Krystal's last statement upon entry, he simply said, "According to archival access records, hull integrity cannot handle another gravimetric stress factor equal to, or in excess of, the original detonation used six years ago. If hull stress integrity is compromised with the same factor as before, our success ratio is approximately fifteen percent."

"Do we have time to launch fighters?" asked Fox.

Lucy looked over her shoulder with sad eyes. "Detonation in approximately seventeen seconds, Fox – maybe less; I can't get a proper lock on the chrono-regulator mechanism. There's no time to shoot it down with our fighters." All eyes returned to the view screen.

Fox licked his lips apprehensively then said, "Full speed towards the missile – Lucy, lay in coordinates to jump to hyperspace; Slippy, open fire on the missile."

Everyone turned back to their station but before any of them could carry out their orders, the gravity bomb imploded with incredible power. The tear in space opened up inside the energy sphere, contained within of the dark-energy field, which successfully contained the gravity anomaly hole. It swallowed the GreatFox carrier and all hands onboard.

"Sir! General Grey, Sir! Long-range sensors indicate a gravitational fluctuation identical to the one that we recorded six years ago! It's at the edge of the Sargasso sector!"

Bill Grey looked up from his rationed dinner, sitting on the floor of the bunker. "Are there any ships in that area?" asked the General. He passed his plate to a small child with hungry eyes who sat nearby then walked across the bunker to the Lieutenant.

"The Proteus, General."

"…That's Parker's ship," said Bill to himself. He cleared his throat and said, "Get a visual feed from them – Andross could be attacking someone with that super weapon, again."

He followed the Lieutenant to the bunker entrance. The two large bay doors opened by hydraulic force. Once through them, they resealed with a metallic thud. The two officers raced down the hallway to the elevator. The cheetah arrived there first and hit the call button. Bill arrived at the elevator doors just as they swished open. Both boarded the box and the doors shut behind them. It lifted the General up to the command center, which remained locked down to everyone except a few volunteers.

The elevator arrived at the far end of the command deck. Several men looked sick with sunken eyes and missing patches of fur. They all turned to salute General Grey when the elevator doors reopened. He stepped off the platform and gazed about the room with a frown. "Every one of you men will receive a medal for volunteering your services and manning your post in face of this radiation." He then approached the main view screen and said, "Bring up a visual feed from the Proteus."

Captain Parker's image filled the left portion of the screen; space filled the right with a small gray object at the center. Bill cleared his throat again and said, "Simon, what's going on out there?"

Captain Parker said, "General Grey! We've just identified the target, Sir. You'll never believe it – it's best to show you, General!" The partition on the right augmented to a magnification factor of ten. A likeness of the GreatFox Carrier rendered on the screen. Nearly every man in the room gasped, including Bill Grey. The Captain of the Proteus folded his arms and said, "We're having trouble using scanners to check for any signs of life, General. There's a radiation swell in the Sargasso sector that is causing a sensor ghost… we're moving into position. So far, it appears that their hull and running lights are lit, save for two flood lamps located on the keel; their engines are offline, their shields have collapsed but their hull is polarized. We have reason to hope for the best, General."

Bill offered a nervous, frustrated sigh. "My flagship is in no condition to leave Cornerian orbit, Simon. Don't board that ship without making contact first. Just in case; we have to play it by the book. Law states we cannot board a friendly vessel without their consent – can we tell if their air supply is good or if they're in standard de-toxicity status? Listen, I don't care if you have to fly a man out there in a space suit with a flashlight to make signals in their window… I want you to ascertain if there are any survivors and report back to me immediately."

"Understood, General. As of right now, she's a sitting duck. Her weapons are offline, her main power grid is down – they're running on fusion backup power."

Grey threw his paws up into the air and exclaimed, "You can tell all of that, but you can't see if there are any bio organic signs? What the hell is going on, Simon? I need to know if those pilots are alive!"

"Sir, I understand he's a friend of yours, but we're doing the best we can."

Bill slumped into a nearby chair and sighed. "You're right and I'm sorry. I'm just… I don't know if I can handle any more bad news right now. I want this to be good news and I'm a little on edge. Have you hailed them?"

"Aye, Sir. We've had no replies. I'm not sure they're able to receive it, General Grey. Their communications network interface is transmitting on all channels with heavy static."

He glanced to the left, consorting with one of his officers then turned back towards the camera and said, "General, we can confirm that there are five individual organic bodies on the ship but because of the interference from Sargasso, we're still getting scrambled data glitches showing up in the detailed reports. All five persons are in a state of motionlessness – we can't tell if they're unconscious or dead, Sir."

"Dammit," muttered Bill. He ran his fingers over his forehead, down over his eyes and to the tip of his nose. "Simon, I want you to tractor that ship back towards Katina but release it at the edge of the sector. It's the closest and safest place, right now. Are the escape pods intact?"

"All of them are accounted for," replied the Captain of the Proteus. "I've never tried to tractor a ship as big as my own, General. We'll do our best to transport the GreatFox back towards Katina but it will take some time, Sir. I'll report to you as soon as anything changes."

"You do that," said Bill. "Thanks… and take good care of them, Simon. That's no ordinary friend on that ship… That's Fox McCloud. His little boy is going to want to hear that his parents are alive."

"Sir? I heard he vanished with the rest of the crew."

Bill stood up and smirked. "You heard wrong, Parker. The official report omitted Star McCloud's survival because he was afraid Andross would come after him. You know those News reports about the new StarFox holding the Venom front line? Fox McCloud's son is the one in charge. Don't worry, it's no longer classified information… reports are starting to leak out that he's alive after taking that first mission on Sauria. As far as the GreatFox carrier's return, I don't want anyone talking to the Press until we find out their status and until I can personally talk to the new StarFox team. Nothing goes public without my permission, understand?"

"Now that you mention it, I recall reading he had something to do with stopping that woman who attacked Fichina. I thought those were rumors, Sir?"

Bill offered a firm nod. "They are rumors… but they're also true rumors. I allowed his name to go public one time, just to put a little fear into Venom… I want them to sweat. Again, nothing goes public without my permission, Captain."

Simon Parker saluted. "Aye, Sir! We'll be in contact shortly. Parker – out."

Bill gazed at the logo for the Proteus, which filled the view screen for several seconds. The large monitor darkened, replaced by overhead satellite feed of Corneria's Capital City. He turned back to the Lieutenant, who looked healthier than most of the men in the room. Bill walked to the back of the command center, glanced over his shoulder and addressed those assembled. "Everyone report to medical. Set the computers to autonomous and get yourselves out of this radiation. We'll route the main controls to the bunker. Lieutenant," he turned to the nearby cheetah. "Head downstairs and keep an eye out for Captain Parker's next communiqué from the safety of the Bunker. I'm going to get a crew together and head up to the Flagship, sitting in orbit. I'm going to Katina. You all have your orders. I need brave men to stay alive. Sitting at your post until you die doesn't help me save Corneria. Everyone – head to medical, on the double." The room cleared out. Bill waited until everyone was gone, looking at the left-half of the view screen.

He gazed upon the motionless image of the GreatFox carrier, lost over six years ago. He studied it for a moment then reached his paws to either side of his head and rubbed his temples. The canine licked his lips then whispered, "If anyone could find out what's going on, Star can do it… he's telepathic, after all." Bill walked over to a communication's terminal and opened a channel to the GreatFox II dreadnaught cruiser, in orbit above Eladard. Crimson O'Donnell answered the hail. Grey balled up his fists but kept his composure. "O'Donnell… Where is Star McCloud?"

Crimson frowned. "Marcus is on a mission, General. He asked me not to say anything until the job is finished. …He didn't want to worry you."

"Right, Marcus McCloud…" Bill furrowed his brows in curiosity and incomprehension. "What's going on?"

"Sir," Crimson said with a sigh. The younger pilot ran his fingers up through the fiery locks of headfur above his eyes. "I'm sure they're close to wrapping it up so there's no reason to get excited… but – we found a bio weapon on Eladard. Venom has control of the University and they're building it on campus. Fara and Marcus are live on the scene. Don't send any ships; fleet movements would tip them off and that would be bad… Sir."

Bill closed his paws into fists, reopened them then tightened his fingers into fists again. "I never liked you because of your father but I'm going to do my best to remain neutral. Listen, I need to speak to Marcus. How do I get a hold of him?"

"He cut all communication ties. Falco and Fara feel that it would alert the local Venom forces to their location. They said we can't risk it." O'Donnell glanced over his shoulder at Vivian Hare then turned back to the screen and said, "I appreciate you giving me the benefit of the doubt, General. StarFox will be returning to the front line, as soon as we're finished here, Sir."

"Something has come up," Grey told him. "The GreatFox Carrier has just appeared, adrift but with backup power, at the edge of the Sargasso sector. They're not responding yet and it doesn't appear that they're functioning beyond running lights and life support. I want you guys to finish your mission then pull back to Katina. I'm having their ship towed there as soon as possible. I refuse to board the ship, just in case this is some sort of trap set by Andross. For all we know, it could be a massive bomb. I'm not even allowing it to be put into Katina's orbit… I'm having it towed to the very edge of the sector, where it would be harmless… The thing is, I need McCloud's telepathic powers. I want him to use his abilities to check for hostile intent. Right now, the Proteus could be in danger from proximity to that ship… As soon as McCloud gets back, I want you guys over Katina, double time."

Vivian and Theodore leaned over Crimson's shoulders, listening intently. The rabbit placed a paw on O'Donnell's right shoulder, looking at the General with moist eyes. "You can't even tell if anyone is alive by doing a sensor sweep?"

"Some sort of anomaly in the Sargasso region has caused intense interference. We can see that there are five individual bodies but we can't tell if anyone is alive."

Vivian backed away from the communications terminal; Crimson and Theodore moved away and Falco Lombardi sat down in front of the camera. "Hey, Bill – I'm sure you've read the kiddo's report that I've returned to the system by now... How's it going? So you have confirmation that there are five persons onboard and that the ship's life support is running, but you can't tell if they're dead or not?"

Grey nodded in reply to reading McCloud's report then frowned. "We can't tell if they're alive, Falco… I'm sorry; there is an intense concentration of radiation playing havoc with our sensors. We're not even sure if it's coming from the carrier, so we're treating it accordingly. I'm half convinced that ship could be a Trojan Horse… How is your family?"

Lombardi offered a thin smile. "Everyone made it off of Corneria. They're safe in hiding. Listen… six years ago, when we were first hit with Andross' bomb, we were unconscious for an hour in the cockpit of our Arwings. The gravity shock blew out every fighter's G-Diffuser but I'll tell you right now, if we didn't have them, we wouldn't have survived. The thing is, there isn't a gravity diffusing device for a ship of that size. They could be seriously injured or worse. I'm going to fly out there and meet you guys at Katina. I want to board the ship and check on them."

"I can't allow that," Bill said with a frustrated sigh of defeat. "Our preliminary scans show such intense radioactive readings in the area that it could be dangerous for one… Two, there's a good chance this radiation is coming from the GreatFox carrier. As I said, it could be another huge bomb from Venom, designed to look like the GreatFox. After the recent attack on Corneria, we cannot second-guess. We need Marcus McCloud out here. He's telepathic and, as far as I'm concerned, he's the only one who can check the crew to ensure that it's reasonably safe. If we board that ship and it explodes, it could be devastating."

Lombardi glared at the General for a moment. "Always doing things by the book, Grey."

"I haven't come this far by living dangerously, Falco. Normally, I wouldn't even allow the ship to be brought on this side of the asteroid belt, but I'm biased. I have a friend who could be on that ship, and if he's alive, I want him to receive the best medical attention available, as quickly as possible. However, I will not tow that ship any closer without Marcus there to use his abilities. Have him hurry."

"We'll contact you shortly," said the avian. Falco closed the channel.

A/N: Two things: One, I'm taking a VERY SHORT HIATUS from this story to keep a promise: I'm going to work on SPY COOPER this month because I SWORE I would. So, for my Spy Cooper / Sly Cooper fans, I'm getting on that right away. Now, one more thing…

I have a NEW Reflections of Krystal story idea… 8-11 chapters. It basically details the time leading up to StarFox: Command. It will start with Fox and Krystal romantically engaged and will explain a tense mission between the two, which I mention in chapter SEVEN while Star McCloud is in his parents room. It will be in depth about Fox pushing Krystal away out of worry for her safety… It will detail the shame she feels and confusion she feels, unable to correctly read Fox's thoughts, because they're both very emotional at the time. It will then follow Krystal leaving Fox and joining the Flight Academy on Corneria… then flying with Bill, dating Panther, living with StarWolf with holding a full time job on Corneria… then resigning… the Anglar attack… and, ultimately, fighting her feelings over Fox… leaving Panther and returning to the GreatFox. She'll run back to Panther after a few short months (First possible ending in SF:C)… but when she gets back, it won't feel like it did with Fox… she'll give Panther the closure she feels that he deserves, basically kiss his forehead and tell him not to wait for her anymore.

Then she'll show up in Fox's quarters one day… they'll be married, I'll detail her pregnancy and all the visions she'll have from the oracle… etc.

IF YOU WANT TO READ SUCH A STORY, LET ME KNOW

If I get enough people to ask for it, I'll do it on the side. Rawr!

I will add up all the replies I get via feedback and the replies I get on my FanFiction Forum POLL. I've not yet decided on a name for this story yet but I will figure out all the logistics later. I'll start on it sometime this year if I get enough people telling me they want to read it.

Please let me know!

-Kit

PS: does everyone like the suspense? Lol