AN- Lucius is the only character I own. Also, this chapter is the darkest one so far, so don't read it if that's not your thing.

Chapter 4: The Truth Emerges

It was a beautiful day on planet Scion. The native Salamands on the planet enjoyed the bright sunlight that illuminated the sky, going about their business, playing or just being lazy. There were a few, however, who didn't share the carefree attitude of their people. Several members of the Scionian Defense Force were being briefed by their commander.

"Alright, we've all heard the rumors." He told his men. "Dark Matter incidents have spread throughout this quadrant. The closest planet to us, Gariola, has been mysteriously destroyed, so it's a matter of time before the Matter, if that's what it is, pokes its ugly face around our home."

"Sir," one cadet asked, "what do we do to repel it if it comes?"

"Ready the Force, Lucius." He told the soldier. "All men to their fighters! Now!"

At that the soldiers of the SDF prepared for an invasion of their home by Dark Matter. They didn't have to wait long. The first group of Matter came around midday, spreading like Wildfire through the Salamands' capital city. They arrived in groups, in forms that the Salamands called Seekers and Dreadnoughts. The Dreadnoughts were gigantic, four legged creatures made of the Matter that bored holes in the planet, trying to reach and corrupt the core. The Defenders always made it a priority to destroy the Dreadnoughts first, because they knew what happened if they breached the core.

The Seekers were almost as feared as the Dreadnoughts. They were sleek, bird like creatures that attacked in groups, tearing their targets apart with electric forces. Some of them protected the Dreadnoughts, some went after Defenders at random, but all of them tried to cause as mush destruction as they could. They attacked anything that moved, not caring if the target was a threat or not.

Although the Salamands defended their planet well, the sheer numbers of the Dark Matter force overwhelmed them. The end came when a Dreadnought finally breached the core of the planet, oozing itself into it. At that point, severe tremors shocked the planet. The sky began to darken as in preparation of what would happen.

"It's all over…" The commander of the SDF said, feeling terrible for his inability to defend his planet. "Everyone, into the transports!" At those words, Salamands swarmed into the transport vessels so they could have a chance to escape their planet. The transports had just left the atmosphere when several explosions rocked the planet. In a few hours, planet Scion was no more.

As the refugees fled from their destroyed homeland, the Seekers followed. No matter how good the pilots were, their ships were all targeted by bands of Seekers. Lucius watched in horror as several transports were torn apart by the cruel Seekers.

"Lucius, watch out!" His commander yelled. Lucius barely dodged in time to avoid the Seekers that threw themselves at his ship. His commander then did a brave thing. Halting his own progress, he fought off all the Seekers he could to buy his men time. Soon, however, he was overcome. He didn't cry out as his ship was torn apart by Seekers; that was the most unsettling part of it for Lucius.

Soon, the young pilot was set upon by more Seekers. He dodged as well as he could, but they stuck to his ship. He winced as the first shock struck his fighter, and the second one incapacitated his engine. He braced himself for the landing and death as his ship hurtled towards the nearest planet.

*******

The Star Fox Team sat in stunned silence as Lucius told them his story. Pausing to wipe the tears from his eyes, Lucius continued in a shaky voice.

"Fortunately, my ship was picked up by a Cargo Freighter and sent to Corneria. I joined your team in the hopes that I would meet the Dark Matter again to avenge myself." He sobbed, hardly able to speak. "It took everything from me; my home, my family, my friends… my life. I…" At that point Lucius broke down, letting the memories flow through his head. "I miss them so much…"

Fox tried his best to comfort his friend. "I know how it feels to lose someone you love, too. My father, James, was killed by a mad scientist named Andross long ago. I still have trouble accepting that he's gone…"

Before Fox could finish this statement, however, General Pepper appeared to him via hologram. "Fox, this is urgent! Planet Katina is being attacked by the ooze…"

"Dark Matter." Fox corrected him.

Pepper looked at Fox sternly before going on. "… and we need you to give them a hand. We can't lose any more planets to the ooz… I mean, Dark Matter!"

"Affirmative, General!" Fox saluted him as he faded from view. "Well, boys, time to save Katina. Are you ready, Lucius."

Lucius nodded, his eyes glinting coldly. "I've been ready for too long."

*******

Bill Grey, one of the Cornerian Army's officials on Katina, was having a terrible time defending the planet. He watched several of his wingmen's ships get torn asunder by the ooze, and his weapons didn't seem to have much effect on them. He was about to give up and retreat when he saw the familiar figure of the Great Fox in the sky.

"Fox is here!" Bill cheered. "Fox! Do you hear me?"

"I hear you, Bill!" Fox replied as he flew out of the Great Fox's hanger. "What seems to be the problem?"

Bill sighed. "We can't do any kind of damage to these things! My wingmen are dropping like flies and they aren't even dented!"

"Use heat, Bill!" Falco replied, arriving from nowhere to torch a Seeker. "That's how you do it!"

Fox, and Falco devoted their time to destroying Seekers while Bill, Slippy and their wingmen took out the Dreadnoughts. Up in the skies above Katina, Lucius was scattering the Seekers like a pack of wolves. His ferocity was too much for the Dark Matter based Seekers, who fled to find another, easier to kill target. Suddenly, Lucius noticed that three Seekers were right on his tail. He swerved to the left just in time to avoid a deadly electric charge, and was relieved of his pursuers by Fox and Falco, who helped to take care of them.

On the ground, Bill and Slippy were finding themselves overwhelmed with Dreadnoughts. Whenever they destroyed one, several Seekers merged together to form a new one.

"Fox!" Bill called to him. "We can't hold out for too much longer!"

From where he was in the sky, Fox could barely see a ball of Dark Matter away from the others. This one produced new Matter, so Fox decided that it was a leader of some sort. "Bill," Fox told his friend, "I'm going after the big guy!"

*******

Fox's second look at the ball of Dark Matter was that of a hideous, medusa like creature. Its face was surrounded by a network of tentacles that covered its black eyes. It felt surprised to see Fox, but recovered from its initial shock.

Well, Fox, I see you wish to destroy me. It said. But it is I who will crush you! You will fall just like your father before you… "What do you mean?" Fox yelled. The creature laughed at him. Fool… it was Dark Matter like me that empowered Andross, allowing him to do what he did. Do you hate me now, Fox McCloud? Do you hate me for what I did to your father? If so, Fox McCloud, strike me down if you can! The blood in Fox's veins boiled. He yelled as he charged at the thing before him, saturating it with lasers. It laughed at him, thrashing his ship with its tentacles. This time Fox yelled in pain, trying to adjust himself to the controls of his Arwing as the Dark Matter grabbed his ship in its tentacles. And now you die! It hissed, crushing Fox tighter and tighter. Fox felt breathless as it continued its assault on his ship, laughing all the while. Suddenly, Fox blasted one of its eyes with a plasma blast. It roared in pain as the eye burst, blindly thrashing at its tormentor. Fox dodged them all, destroying the creatures other eye. The fury of Fox's attacks took its toll on the creature as it thrashed one more time at Fox's ship. Weakened as it was, Fox's ship allowed the Dark Matter in to enter Fox's body. Having done this, the gigantic medusa of Dark Matter fell to the planet in a rapidly decaying ball. With the loss of their leader, the Seekers and Dreadnoughts fled as fast as they could, with Bill's forces hot on their tails. Not a single Dreadnought escaped, and few Seekers were around after that to destroy any more planets. Bill let out a cheer. "We did it!" He yelled. "And we owe everything to Fox!" Fox didn't answer. "Fox? Where are you?" Bill asked, searching for his friend. He finally found his friend's downed Arwing next to the dead leader of the Dark Matter. "Bill…" he moaned, walking out of the Arwing in a labored manor. "Please help me!" At that, Fox passed out. "All doctors, come quick!" Bill yelled. "Fox is injured! Help him!" At that, several doctors, including Peppy, rushed him into the Great Fox's sickbay for medical treatment.