Chapter Four
Year 504 PC
"Fox, we've got a problem."
"Great." He pulled himself out from under the arwing and sat up absently, looking at Peppy. "We just finished a huge war. What's the issue now?"
"I don't think the war is over. It looks like a small group of Venomian Elites, including Star Wolf, survived." Once Fox had stood, Peppy passed him the stack of satellite pictures. "They've been hassling cargo freighters, space yachts, et cetera. We might have to go take care of it."
"Well then." Fox started flipping through the pictures, eyes narrowed when he recognized the silhouette of the Wolfen fighters. "So, are we actually hired on by Pepper, or is this going to be Pro Bono?"
"Now that the Economy has recovered, the General is more then willing to pay us." He shrugged. "In fact he's offering more then he gave us at the end of the war!"
"Hey if it gets us out of debt… I say we do it."
"We're behind you all the way. In fact, it looks like Bill, Katt, and Fara might be getting in on this too." Peppy followed him to the bridge.
"On this one, the more the merrier, by all means."
"And the more time spent with Fara, the merrier you'll be, right?" Falco asked, grinning. He was already on the bridge.
"And the more time YOU spend with Katt, the less merry you'll be." Was the cheerful reply, earning him a half-hearted glare. "We're back in business, everyone."
"Have you got the plan straight?"
"Yes Emperor. Just not the reason why." Wolf shook his head, and his team agreed. "Why don't we just kill them all? Especially McCloud. He's better to us dead then alive."
"For reasons which started many years ago. Don't argue with me, O'Donnel. Your team has your assignment. Carry it out. I'll give you a fuller debrief later… oh, and Powalski, you won't be accompanying your team." Andross turned to Leon. "I've got a separate mission for you."
"So, is this where I laugh and say 'We meet again'?" Wolf laughed, diving his plane at the Star Fox team.
"I'd sooner ask you to shut the hell up." Was Fox's reply. "By the way, where's your forth team member?"
"Ah, elsewhere. We won't be needing him."
The Great Fox fired on one of the Venomian cruisers as the two squads of fighters ripped into each other. The Wolfens had been upgraded again, and the seven on three battle seemed oddly even. Then for no reason the Star Fox team could fathom, the Star Wolf team turned and ran, darting in between two of their cruisers.
"It's a trap." Said Peppy. "It's got to be a trap…"
"Trap or no, I say we charge anyway. Even their elites have been cut down easily by our lasers." Said Falco.
"We follow them, but we fall into formation, defense-cover pattern. We clear?" Fox said, falling into a leading position as the other fighters fell into position. "All right, let's go."
The group dove as one between the Venomian cruisers, which barely shot at them, and saw nothing in evidence that Star Wolf even came this way. Fox moved farther forward on point, frowning, and that's when all hell broke loose.
Tractor beams lanced from nowhere, freezing his team behind him. He flipped, trying to open fire, but the cruisers had closed ranks even more. It was nearly impossible to fire on the projectors without firing on his team.
"Well well, we do have you at a disadvantage don't we?" Wolf asked in a somewhat oily voice, his trio falling on the other side of Fox, trapping him in between tractor beams and his enemy.
"Let them go, O'Donnel." Was the hateful reply.
"No, I can't do that, unless…"
"Unless what?"
"Unless you give yourself up in exchange for us releasing them. Not my idea of course, I'd rather kill you now, but I still serve my Emperor."
"Don't do it Fox." Falco shouted, and the others agreed.
"And what do you plan on doing with them if I refuse?"
"Well, Leon has said he's been bored…"
Fox snarled, long and low, then lowered his hands from the controls of his plane. The engines stopped firing and his plane hovered in place, repulsion rockets helping it maintain position.
"Fox… don't…" Fara said weakly.
"Go ahead and have me pulled into a bay, O'Donnel. I won't fight." Fox tapped a code, and his plane's weapons deactivated, ignoring the protests of his team members. "Just please. Let them go."
Tractor beams locked him in place from multiple angles, and at the same time, Fox's entire squad was released.
"You bastard!" Falco gunned his ship's engine and charged Wolf.
"You do. He dies. It's that simple Lombardi. So unless you want to play loose and fast with your best friend's life…"
Falco hit the brakes and slowly backed off.
"Return to your cruiser, all of you. This is officially out of your hands."
Basically every guard on duty had been called down to Bay 4. Wolf could understand why, watching with crossed arms as the Arwing was pulled in and landed by the cruiser's tractor beams. Fox popped the cockpit himself and leapt out, pulling his gun and sliding it across the metal floor to Wolf, then standing fully and putting his hands on the back of his head.
"So. What's the grand occasion? Have I pissed off your Emperor so much I've been sentenced to death by torture?" Fox asked as he was handcuffed.
"I'd tell you if I knew… no, scratch that. I wouldn't." Wolf laughed harshly, and ripped Fox's name and rank badges off his jacket.
"You promised me an explanation, Emperor." Wolf said, watching as his leader collected a stack of printouts.
"I did, didn't I?" Andross sighed. "O'Donnel, do you know what I was before I became a War Lord? I was a famed geneticist, and unfortunately everything I studied was unappreciated. About 19 years ago I made acquaintance with a younger scientist named Paterson, and we started working together. The methods were a bit unethical… children were sometimes used in experiments, though I will say now none died or ended up severely effected by these tests." Or so he had been told. "On a certain theory we just weren't getting the results we wanted, so we went further under the table and quietly injected a few civilian babies with a harmless serum to slightly alter their genetic code. Rather interesting the way this has turned out…" He felt himself grin. "O'Donnel, Fox McCloud is one of those babies."
"What?" Wolf's jaw went slack. "McCloud… was one of your… experiments?"
"Not that he knows that. And that is exactly what I'm going to go tell him right now."
Fox crossed his arms and looked across the table at the guard. The guard looked back. They locked eyes, and Fox refused to back down. The guard started to flinch.
The door banged open, making the guard jump, and Andross himself strolled in, carrying a thick folder. "Well, Mr. McCloud, how are you enjoying your stay?"
"Your hospitality leaves a bit to be desired." Was the cold reply.
"We didn't kill your teammates did we?" Wolf growled, deep in his throat. "So don't complain."
Fox growled back.
"Enough." Andross tossed the folder on the table. The papers scattered across the smooth, worn metal surface. Fox looked at the folder, and his own name jumped out at him, on the label.
"Keeping track of my flight records?" He asked, trying to sound bored.
"Not hardly. If it's anything in there that you've seen before, it's your medical records."
"Med records? The hell do you care if I got the flu when I was three or something?"
"Oh, believe me, it makes all the difference." Andross grinned, sitting down, tapping his fingertips together. "You see, McCloud, you and I have been on more intimate terms then you'd believe, since only hours after your birth."
"Oh, really?"
Andross pulled one of the sheets of paper out of the stack and slid it to Fox. "I've seen your class records as well, so I imagine you know what that is."
Fox glanced at the picture. "Sure. DNA strand."
He pulled out another picture and slid it over. "That is your DNA."
Fox looked at the picture, uncomprehending. Instead of the one twisted ladder, it looked like two ladders twisted together, forming a strange column. "That doesn't seem biologically possible."
"Well. It's true. McCloud, you're one of my early experiments. Don't blame your dead parents, they had no knowledge of it. When you got your first shots at the hospital only hours after your birth, I paid the doctor off to inject you with something else."
"You… altered… my… genetic… code?" Fox said very slowly. "So where are my two extra eyes and telekinetic powers?"
"Oh it wasn't anything to that extreme. Tell me, tell me, can you ever remember something strange happening to you? Another voice in your head perhaps?" Andross watched Fox's face and manner change, and he smiled. "Of course I know about it, McCloud. You're part of my experiment, of course I had you quietly monitored. I knew when you passed out on the gun range two years ago. I even know why."
"So. What are you going to do with me now?" He asked in a somewhat hollow voice, looking at the picture of his DNA.
"Powalski is in the process of picking up the other participant. Until he returns, you're going to have to wait in a cell." Andross stood. "Sorry for the inconvenience."
Fox didn't reply.
"But… but what would Andross…"
"Quiet." Leon snapped, shoving the girl forward, kicking Andross' door in and pushing her through. "Look what I found, boss."
"Thank you, Powalski." Andross smiled, tapping his fingertips together, looking at the quaking teenager. "You don't need to be scared of me, you know."
"Until I know what your plans are for me, yes I bloody well do." She replied.
He laughed, standing. "Well, perhaps I should take you to your friend then."
"Friend?"
"I'm sure you term it differently." He narrowed his eyes, fighting the urge to activate his telekinetic amplifier and go sifting through her mind and memories. He had almost done so with Fox too, but he didn't want the experiment corrupted by his interference. "Leon, remove her cuffs. She can't go anywhere anyway…"
Fox, who had been doing pushups in his cell, wasn't surprised when O'Donnel arrived and drug him to another part of the ship, tossing him in what appeared to be an observation room—a mostly empty white room with a large mirror on one wall. He shot the mirror a scowl and sat down against one of the walls, resting his wrists on his knees and bowing his head.
The door opened again, and when he heard a startled cry, he looked up just in time to see the door close. A girl about his age stood there. She looked to be a crossbreed, coyote and silver fox, creating a silvery canine of delicate build. As he watched, she kicked the door. She hadn't really paid him any attention yet.
He frowned to himself, feeling some part of his mind come to life. He had never seen her before… but he knew her…
"Is your name Ash?" He finally asked in a rather distant voice.
She jumped and turned to look at him, then blinked, her mind also going to work. "You're… you're Fox, aren't you?"
He nodded once. "So. They got you too eh?"
She slowly walked over and sat down cross-legged across from him. "Heh. Yeah. One of Andross' cronies jumped me while I was on the way home… I imagine it wasn't near as pleasant for you."
"You have no idea." He grunted, then blinked as the colors exploded in his head. She blinked back. "Did Andross tell you why you're here?"
"Nope."
"He told me… Apparently we're part of one of his early experiments." He sighed. "Which kind of explains some things… I mean, unless I'm mistaken… you're my other aren't you?"
She smiled. "You remember."
"I can't forget." He shook his head. "Every time I paint, it's there… speaking of which, you're a professional artist aren't you?"
She nodded. "And you're military. I figured that out when I went out and bought a gloc and was getting bullseyes instantly."
He grinned, then held up one of his hands, spreading his fingers. She lifted her hand and pressed hers to his, palm to palm, lining up their fingers. Instantly the colors exploded in their minds again.
"Where does this leave us?"
"I don't know. I honestly don't know. But unless I'm wrong…" He looked at the mirror. "We've been brought back here so Andross can finish the experiment." Seeing her eyes widen with fear, he reached forward and pulled her close to hug her absently. She returned it, shivering. "Don't worry, you're not the only one who's scared. I've heard what this guy has done…"
"But you've fought him before."
He sighed. "I can't fight now."
"Well aren't we in a good mood." Wolf glanced at Leon, who was grinning and cracking his knuckles.
"Just entertaining the fun I could have tormenting our archenemy in there…" Leon nodded upward toward the room they watched from behind a mirror.
"Afraid that you won't be doing any tormenting, Powalski." Andross was watching and taking notes, ever the scientist. "Sorry. This is MY research project, and if you're in it at all, you're an assistant under my constant supervision. I don't need you mucking up what I've waited years to finish."
"Whoa, boss, chill."
Andross ignored him, tucking the pen behind one of his ears absently and leaving the observation room to enter the interrogation room.
The moment the door opened, the two stiffened and looked up. The girl, whose name was Ash Hartford, looked absolutely terrified. Fox looked very calm, but fear still radiated from him.
"So, what are you going to do with us?" Fox asked in an icy voice.
"You know I plan on finishing my experiment."
"Will we at least live through it?"
"I'm not sure if I can guarantee that… or if you'd want to." He shrugged. "All in the name of science, I assure you."
"That really comforts us." Ash muttered, shivering.
"Well, on your feet, you two. I'm not going to put you under restraints. I don't need to."
"You say that and a black belt in Karate sits in front of you?" Fox crossed his arms, eyes narrowed, not standing yet.
Andross also crossed his arms. "How's this, McCloud. If one of you struggles, the other one dies. Much as I'd like not to end my experiment on such a tragic note, I know how much of a lethal weapon you are, even without a gun or blade. Now stand."
Both did, ceasing contact with each other as the glaring explosions of light and color in their heads became too much too handle.
"Good. I see we understand each other. Now follow me."
"We can't do anything?" Slippy almost shrieked.
"No. Andross has us pinned. Now that he's got our leader… all we can do is wait for an opportunity." Peppy sighed, looking at the message on their main screen.
"But what would Andross want with Fox, besides to kill him?" Fara asked. "If he wanted Fox dead, he would have killed Fox right in front of us as a lesson. I know how that guy operates, and how Star Wolf does."
"So if he doesn't want Fox dead… what does he want him for?" Falco fiddled with his dog tags, eyes distant and empty.
No one had an answer.
