This story is lovingly dedicated to Aimee, my sun in day and my moon at night. Foxmerc]
Hatred Falls
By, Foxmerc
CHAPTER 1
Paths of Fate
Fourteen months after Andross' fall
Zoness, abandoned military base
1403 hours
The things I do for cash. A year ago,
I had it all…money, fame, and the ability to make Cornerians piss their
damn pants at the sound of my name. I laughed at the army's pitiful attempts
at the beginning of the Lylat War; they were schoolgirls compared to my
skill. Soon I lost count of how many I killed on Venom's unstoppable wave
of destruction across the galaxy. The heft of cash in my pocket and the
warmth of blood on my hands…what more could a mercenary ask for?
But that was all stopped when
McCloud and his little sissy band entered the fight. One lucky win after
another, and in the blink of an eye, it was all over. Now, I'm reduced
to this…hiding below the toxic waters of Zoness in an "abandoned" base,
being paid a wage that would make a janitor cringe, and overseeing the
latest in last-ditch efforts of Venom's remaining army. I couldn't take
it anymore…if I had to spend one more damn week breathing stale air and
dealing with these moronic soldiers not fit to guard a sewer hole, I'd
snap.
"Uh…excuse me…Mr. O'Donnell…Sir?"
Speaking of the morons…I slowly
swiveled my chair around, my head resting low on my hand, and let the poor
bastard know with my good eye that I didn't like his interruption. It brightened
my mood a little to see his frightened expression and the attempts at steadying
his voice. It wasn't surprising, though…who wouldn't be intimidated at
seeing me? Even just sitting there, unmoving, in a simple attire of gray
camouflage pants, black boots, and a plain black t-shirt, I had the power
to reduce this soldier to a spineless wimp…not that there was much spine
to begin with. He stood there, quaking, waiting for me to respond.
"What do you want?" I finally
replied in a low, patronizing tone. I already knew what he was there for,
but seeing him sweat was just too much fun to pass up…certainly more fun
than reminiscing about McCloud.
"Th-The experiments have reached
their final phase. You requested t-to be informed when the time came, s-Sir."
I continued to glare at him
from the corner of the room, half-bathed in darkness. He stood at strict
attention, his stare straight forward, though he kept stealing nervous
glances at me. Finally, after I thought he would pass out right there on
my floor, I waved him away. If you looked up relief in a dictionary, the
lizard's expression as he quickly left would be illustrated.
With a heavy groan I stood up
and walked from my small, plain, dimly-lit room into even more plain, dimly-lit
corridor. The base wasn't exactly in prime shape when the army secretly
reopened it for the experiments. Every day I expected the junk heap to
just implode in on itself, end of story. But, like I said, money was scarce,
and I'd handled worse before. Besides, I had the added bonus of pushing
wimps like that lizard around and seeing these experiments…while they probably
won't work in the end, it was still quite a fun show to watch what happened
to our test subjects.
Still, I think Leon and Pigma
got the better deal. We decided to do two jobs at once for more money,
and all they had to do was baby-sit a convoy of freighters. It was no more
boring than this, and they might actually see some action while not cooped
up in a huge metal box under an ocean. The only thing Leon had to complain
about was having to deal with that stupid, fat ass. If only Pigma would
take Andrew's example and leave StarWolf…can't say I was exactly sad to
see him leave. Overjoyed is more like it.
After five minutes of walking
through the redundant, creaking, rusty, dark corridors, I came to a clean,
newly-installed security door that seemed very out of place with the regular
motif. I swiped my card and it slid open with a nerve-gratingly high-pitched
ding. Inside was the Playground, as I called it, the only room in the base
that anywhere near resembled something high-tech. It was a huge room, about
the size of a gymnasium, with rows of computer consoles and other stuff
that I didn't know what the hell was for. Each side wall was made of heavily
reinforced transparent polymerized resin. Behind each large window was
a bare space slightly smaller than the control room…that's where the real
fun happened.
Though a few bored-looking guards
wandered the room, most of the activity came from scientists in those white
lab coats, always busy with something. They were much harder to intimidate,
and believe me I've tried, mostly because they're smarter and they know
they're not expendable. Most of them were cold and heartless, the two traits
needed for a project like this, and I actually admired that to some extent.
Seeing their work in action was definitely enjoyable, anyway.
I scanned the room until I saw
the lead scientist by the left window, writing something on a clipboard.
Dr. Enghusen was a light gray coyote, slightly older than me, a genius
in the biological field, and not too bad looking…I'd take her in bed in
a second if I could, do my own biology research. But she was the stern,
no-nonsense type, and hearing her talk about her work gave me a headache.
So, instead, I just played the commander and she played the scientist.
I moseyed on over to her, my
arms folded, and peeked at what she was writing. It was the normal science
crap that made me dizzy, so I looked away and said, "I was told your new
pet's ready. What kind of show do I get to see today?"
The doctor glanced up at me over the rim of her
glasses, like a big sister to an annoying little brother. Anybody else
who gave me that look would find themselves chained in a pit with toxic
water slowly eating away at their flesh…but not the top scientist. But
just as I knew she wasn't expendable, she knew not to push me too far…there
are times when my anger doesn't follow rules and orders, and heaven help
whoever's in my way when that happens, regardless of status.
"Yes, O'Donnell, we have an
experiment today," she finally replied in a hurried tone. "As much as I
know how you love watching them, I'd appreciate a little respect for what
we do here."
"I'll give it respect when it
actually works," I mumbled back. So far, all the experiments might as well
have been shows; none worked, only killed the test subject. "What does
this one do?"
She lightly sighed and spoke
rapidly while continuing the scrawl on her clipboard. "The gas is called
E3. It's a hormonal inhibitor endorphin that binds to opiate receptors
in the brain, coupled with a simulated adrenal—"
"Spare me, Doctor. I asked what
it does, not for your med school exam thesis."
"E3 stand for 'Enhanced strength,
Enhanced agility, and Enhanced resilience"," Enghusen continued with a
slight scowl. Another simple joy of life in the rusty metal base: pissing
the geeks off. "It gives the subject the strength of two heavyweight fighters,
the agility of the most skilled infiltrator, and resistance to pain as
if his flesh was practically made of anesthetic...the ultimate all-around
soldier. Was that clear enough for you, O'Donnell?"
It was my turn to scowl…sometimes,
the bitch just pissed me off. I gently put my hand on her shoulder, as
a friend would to comfort another, and she immediately tensed up. She knew
full well that sometimes she went too far with me, and that I wasn't the
most forgiving person in the galaxy. I slowly slid my hand until it was
caressing the back of her neck, and I squeezed…not hard enough to seriously
hurt the poor girl, but enough so she felt her pressure points under attack.
To her credit, she didn't try anything, not even a dirty look…just stared
straight ahead with a grimace.
"In case you haven't noticed,"
I whispered harshly into her ear. "I don't exactly love being here. The
sooner you finish this, the sooner I get paid and leave, do you understand?
And if you can't make that happen, I can find someone who can, which makes
you officially expendable. So if you don't want to find yourself on the
other side of that glass, breathing in your own disfiguring projects, I
suggest you cut the crap and make it work."
The coyote nodded slowly, still
staring ahead. I smiled as I felt her heart pounding through her back.
She knew damn well I meant every word of it, and the thought of being used
as a test subject for these projects was enough to scare anyone. As a little
touch to remind her that she was still under me, I gave her a quick little
kiss on the side of her muzzle, and my grin widened as she flinched away.
"Now get to work," I said and
roughly released my grasp. Her chest rising and falling from heavy breathing,
Enghusen gently massaged her neck then got back to her rapid writing on
the clipboard, her eyes stealing nervous glances in my direction every
now and then. Believe me, when you make it so that people nervously glance
at you but wouldn't dare look at you, you have a gift.
I took a few steps backwards
and leaned on one of the blinking consoles, waiting for the geeks to get
their experiment going. After a few minutes, an old black jaguar in a white
lab coat strode over to Enghusen, and they started talking. The test was
apparently ready to begin. Enghusen nodded once to the jaguar then hurriedly
walked over to the intercom system on the wall. Talk in the room died down
as her voice emitted from the speakers.
"Attention all lab personnel,
E3 experiment number twenty-seven-A is about to commence in the west chamber.
All key factor controllers to your stations, all others stand by for observation."
She switched the intercom back off and jogged to the huddle of scientists
forming near the center of the left window, looking eagerly into the chamber.
Other white-clad scientists took positions at various consoles. A grin
began working its way onto my muzzle…let the fun begin.
I moved closer to the group
of scientists to get a better view of the action. A collective hush fell
over the room as the thick metal door on the side of the chamber opened
just long enough for the test subject to be shoved in. Today's victim was
a disheveled-looking raccoon in a torn Cornerian Army uniform. The Venom
Army was fortunate enough to get the drop on a division of 150 Cornerian
soldiers on Macbeth a month before, and a hundred of the captured soldiers
were shipped to the Zoness base as test subjects. A few of the pitiful
ones have died from the lacking conditions, a larger chunk from the experiments,
but over sixty still remained to have fun with.
The weakling stumbled and fell
to his hands and knees on the cold metal floor of the chamber. Immediately,
he jumped up and started looking around wildly. Upon seeing the eager eyes
of the scientists through the window, he flattened himself against the
back wall, his chest heaving. It was a pitiful sight, really…no wonder
the gutless wimps had surrendered in the first place.
Enghusen waved her hand briefly
in the air, the signal to let it rip. One of the techies at the consoles
typed for a few seconds, and a series of vents opened in the chamber's
ceiling. I grinned as a stream of light green gas was blown into the room,
sealing the prisoner's fate. The raccoon, horrified at the cloud, crouched
down and covered himself, like that would stop the gas…idiot. Soon the
room was filled with the green vapors, making it impossible to see what
was going on. As planned, microphones in the chamber were turned on so
we could hear the reaction, and fans began purging the room of the gas.
I label what happened next as the official beginning of this whole nightmare.
As the gas was sucked from the
room, I saw the raccoon lying in a fetal position on the floor, writhing
slightly. I'd seen it before; soon he would puke his guts out or go into
convulsions, or start bleeding from his eye sockets or something. That
was how all the other experiments ended. The only thing wrong was that
he wasn't…he was just lying there, twitching. A pained moaning could be
heard from the speakers. A few scientists, disappointed, turned and start
walking away from the window, mumbling. I was pretty damn disappointed
too.
That's when the shit hit the
fan.
An ear-piercing scream erupted
from the speakers, scaring the hell out of everyone in the room, and even
startling me. Everyone looked back at the tank and saw the raccoon hop
to his feet, clutching his head with an expression of agony of his face.
The scream continued as the soldier fell to his knees, his arms wrapped
around his torso. Every eye in the control room was glued to the prisoner
as he…what's the word…evolved.
The first thing that told us
that either something was horribly wrong, or something was finally right,
was the raccoon's flesh. I was reminded of water boiling when I saw it…his
gray-furred skin boiled and bubbled, expanding in great lumps. After a
minute or so of his deafening screams of pain and his skin bubbling and
stretching, he threw his head back, or what was left of it, and screamed
one last time. He then fell silent as the back of his head exploded, spraying
the metal wall with a splash of blood. It was turning out to be a better
show than I thought.
By this time, his shirt was
ripped off by the rapidly expanding and bubbling skin. All but tiny, random
tufts of his fur had fallen out, and the shapeless blob that used to be
his head had seemed to stop expanding. For that matter, it seemed his entire
transformation was complete. The end product was definitely not what the
damn scientists had intended. It was a living nightmare. Quite a few of
the scientists turned away from their creation in disgust and lost their
lunches right there on the floor. I came close a few times, but I'm not
that weak.
"Fascinating…" Enghusen breathed,
her eyes wide as she stared at the monster. "Absolutely amazing."
The thing now stood on two legs,
giving me a good look at it. The image that came immediately to mind was
that someone had taken the raccoon, shaved him, and made him swallow a
million rocks. His bare upper body was a huge mess of lumps and bubbled
skin, his arms suffering from the same effect…only the fingers on his left
arm seemed to have grown much longer, almost being tendrils. His head was
as shapeless as the rest of him, with tiny slits for eyes and a black hole
for a mouth, randomly ringed with teeth. I was starting to see why he had
screamed so much.
"Vital signs are way above normal!"
one of the techies called in a quaking voice from the consoles. "All experiment
factors seem to have taken effect."
Regaining her usual stone expression,
Enghusen checked some notes on her clipboard and nodded. "Well, the physical
form is not what we intended, but the project has succeeded. Send in the
second subject."
I grinned slightly…this was
part I was really waiting for. I moved forward and stood next to Enghusen,
wanting a front row seat. I had to hand it to her…she was unflinching through
the whole thing, much more so than those other meek scientists. She continued
her cold stare into the chamber, waiting for the next phase of the experiment.
It came with a new torrent of
screams, but this time from a young Cornerian Army prisoner who was shoved
into the chamber, just like the raccoon was. It was a female, surprising
me for some reason, a pretty leopard who looked as disheveled as the other
prisoners. When she was pushed into the chamber, her eyes immediately fell
on the monstrosity in the center. Her facial expression was classic…I wish
I took a picture.
"Please, no! Let me out! No!"
she screamed desperately, clawing at the door. The bulbous monster slowly
turned, as if sniffing the air, and saw her. The leopard flattened herself
against the wall, tears streaming down her cheeks, and whimpered as the
thing took a few shambling steps forward. At first I thought it would just
shamble the whole way, disproving all the enhanced this and improved that
crap. But after a few steps it broke into an almost blindingly fast leap,
flying across the chamber and right in front of the girl. With a final,
cut-off scream all became silent except for the unique sounds of tearing
flesh and spilling blood. The monster swiped at her, over and over again,
roaring a low guttural noise. Blood effectively painted the walls and the
window around them, and torn bits of flesh and cloth accompanied by severed
body parts were strewn about the chamber.
The experiment ended. The scientists
busily wrote down whatever it is scientists write down after these things,
and I officially gave the spectacle two thumbs up. Looking at the destroyed
bodies, I couldn't help but chuckle. I bet they weren't expecting this
when they enlisted.
"Fascinating," Enghusen kept
repeating as she distractedly walked by me. I had to agree with her…I'd
never seen anything like that thing, and fascinating was a good word for
it. I personally couldn't wait for the next experiment. Of course, I should've
heeded the advice on being careful what you wish for. The next experiment
would come soon enough…and any fascination I had left would be replaced
by sheer horror.
* * *
Fourteen months after Andross' fall
Great Fox
1537 hours
The things I do for money. During
my fifteen minutes of fame after the Lylat War, I thought I had it made…money,
fame, and the ability to make those damn Venomians piss their pants at
the sound of my name. Even after the war, we still had jobs rolling in
to help eradicate the remaining army cells, and to liberate quite a few
towns and base's from the die-hard Venom soldiers. I felt that I was really
making a difference in those times. The heft of cash in my pocket and the
satisfaction of helping the free universe…what more could a mercenary ask
for?
But that all ended soon enough.
As life moved on and the war took back burner to current events, StarFox
was again a simple mercenary team…and jobs those days were few and far
between. Simple repairs to the Great Fox soon became an issue as our bank
account shrunk, and we came close to selling an Arwing or two a few times.
If it hadn't been for the huge payment for the war, we would've already
found ourselves stocking shelves in a corner store. I guess it was the
extreme need for money that got me wrapped up in this mess to begin with.
It was a year or so after the
war, and we had just completed one of these elusive jobs that landed another
fairly large chunk onto the end of our account balance. It had been quite
a while since we last took a vacation…since just after the war, actually,
and we were all exhausted. We needed a break from the incessant creaking
of the ship and the same plain, metal corridors we woke up to every morning.
Most of all, we needed a break from boredom and worrying when the next
check that buys the food would come in. Well, nobody can call me a party-pooper…we
took the vacation.
Well, almost. My office, or
what I frequently referred to as my "study" in a jokingly snotty voice,
held a bit of paperwork that needed finishing before I could even think
of going anywhere. It was actually, in my opinion, the most relaxing room
in the ship, and I put quite a bit of effort into furnishing it. The walls
were transformed from their gray metal with ornate, colorful wallpaper,
and the floor was covered with an equally colorful, deep rug. It was just
the kind I like to go barefoot in, getting a free massage to dull the pains
of paperwork. The lighting was dimmed, instead of the harsh fluorescent,
just enough to light up whatever happened to be lying on the wooden desk
in the center. Add all that to the amazingly soft chair that I sometimes
used just to doze off in, and you have quite a nice setup.
I was actually in the middle
of a nice doze when Peppy Hare knocked on the door and came in, startling
me awake.
"I thought you were finishing
those bills," he said with a slight grin, closing the door behind him.
I chuckled as he seemed to lose even more of height, sinking into the rich
rug.
"I was," I replied, stretching
my arms over my head with a groan. "Got to thinking of old times and nodded
off…you know me and this chair."
"I know…it's amazing you get
any work done at all. Well are you almost done? We're leaving tonight,
you know."
I rested my elbow on the chair's
arm
and cradled my head wearily. I was looking forward to this vacation so
much…a rich old friend of Peppy's had a really nice vacation house in a
resort town on Macbeth and agreed to loan it to us for a couple weeks.
Just what we needed…sun, palm trees, beaches, relaxation, and hardly any
money spent. Even my beloved study couldn't compare. But…
"I can't," I moaned with disappointment,
eyeing the stack of papers that still stood inches high. "There's too much
left, I'll never get it done before tonight."
A mirrored look of disappointment
swept across my friend's face, but he nodded. To this day, I consider myself
amazingly lucky to wind up with the teammates I have, always supportive.
"I understand, it's ok. Don't kill yourself doing it, we can leave tomorrow."
I was about to nod and thank
him when an idea popped into my head…a very fateful idea. "Why don't you
all go on ahead? I can finish up here and fly down there tomorrow."
Peppy's face brightened and
I smiled. There was no reason to keep them all there for a few signatures
and checks to write out. Do the work, get a good night's sleep, pack the
swimsuit, and head down in the morning…couldn't be simpler.
"Thanks, Fox," Peppy said, relief
showing in his face. "But what about you? You going to be ok alone up here
alone?"
"I'll survive somehow," I replied
with a grin. "Besides, having the place to myself is close enough to a
vacation."
I laughed as Peppy rolled his
eyes and stood up. "Well, I'll let you get back to work. I'll stop by to
say goodbye when we leave."
I nodded and waved as he left,
then looked back down at the white stack with a sigh. It stared right back
up at me, mocking me, dozens of bills and forms about this and that and
everything else that ate up money, time, or both. Figures…I finally get
some down time and leadership duties get in the way. So goes the life of
Fox McCloud.
It was just before midnight when
I stumbled wearily from my office, my writing hand cramped and my eyelids
heavy. The team was already long gone, the Great Fox blanketed in silence.
But it was done…the evil pile of paper was taken care of. Now, time to
grab a quick bite for my rumbling stomach, go to bed, then two weeks of
relaxation. It was almost too good to be true.
I poked my head into the refrigerator
in the galley and perused our meager food supply. No shopping had been
done recently in anticipation of the weeks away, so I settled for a cheese
sandwich and a can of soda. Since I hadn't eaten anything since that morning,
it tasted as fine as a seven-course meal at a five-star restaurant just
then. I polished the sandwich off then took a seat at the soft white sofa
in the rec room to stretch and drink from the can. I had just leaned my
head back and closed my eyes when the phone rang. I had a bad feeling from
the start…
Who the hell would be calling that
late? I figured it must be the guys, checking in or something. I lazily
slapped the comm. on my head and groaned without opening my eyes, "ROB,
who is that?"
"General Pepper on line one, Sir.
Should I tell him to get lost?"
I laughed out loud…damn literal robot.
After I had received an annoying call earlier in the day, I muttered that
if anyone else called, they can get lost. Pepper would just love that.
Living with ROB was a good comic relief sometimes, if not always efficient.
"That's ok, ROB, I'll take it in here."
With a good bit of effort, I opened
my eyes and shuffled over to the screen on the wall. I hit the receive
button and Pepper's saggy face showed, looking just like how I felt.
"Hello, Fox. Sorry to call so late,
did I wake you up?"
"Nah, just grabbing a midnight snack.
What are you doing up so late?" I could see that he was still in uniform,
and the background was that of his office. His eyes looked even droopier
than usual.
"Something's come up, and I've been
here forever trying to find someone to take care of it. I know you're going
on vacation, but—"
I held my hands up to stop him and
shook my head. "Uh-uh, no way, that's right, I'm going on vacation. No
jobs, no chores, no assignments, no missions, and dammit, no papers. I'd
be gone already if it wasn't for the eighty pounds of bills lying in my
office."
"Fox, please, hear me out," Pepper
said, a hint of desperation in his voice. The poor guy was exhausted, I
could tell that. But the thing that clinched it was his next sentence.
"I can pay you double the normal rates for this one."
My eyes widened. He must really be
desperate…interrupting me on my vacation and willing to pay double. It
sure made me more inclined to listen, so I gave him my attention. "Alright,
I'll listen, but I'm not promising."
"Fair enough," Pepper continued, clearing
his throat. "It's nothing too intricate, just a simple recon mission. A
scout on Zoness has reported Venomian craft landing at an abandoned base
on a small island. They could be rogues wandering the islands, stripping
the place for scrap metal, or they could be actual army, we don't know.
No activity has been present for the last few days, so we deemed it a favorable
risk to send in the scout who had reported the sightings. He failed to
report in. We have no other standing forces in the immediate are; you're
the closest."
"Let me get this straight," I interrupted.
I couldn't believe what I was hearing; it was like I was asleep already
and dreaming. "You want me to go alone into what could be a fully-functional
base where you've already lost a scout?"
"I don't want you to run in, shoot
it up, and destroy it. All I need to know is whether there is in fact a
presence at the base, or whether the scout just ran into an accident. Literally,
land peek your head in, see if the lights are on, and get out."
That sounded a little better. "And
for this, how much? Recons usually pay twenty-five thousand, so fifty?"
Pepper nodded. I looked down and thought
as hard as my tired brain would let me. We were desperate for money and
the general was desperate for a scout…seemed to all work nicely.
Sure, lying on the beach would be a lot more enjoyable than sauntering
into what could be a Venomian base, but it didn't seem like too bad a risk…at
least not a risk to throw away much-needed money over. So I'd be a day
late for the vacation, so what? I'm sure the guys would agree with me that
a day late and fifty-thousand credits richer was a good deal.
"Alright, deal. I'll leave in the
morning."
"Great, thanks Fox. I'll send you
the coordinates. Good luck."
After the screen was switched off,
I smiled wide. Wait 'till the team hears about this one…fifty-thousand
was a huge payment, and for such an easy job? Another thing for the day
that seemed too good to be true. As I headed off to bed, already planning
the countless things the money could be used for, I had no idea what would
truly await me at that base. Being in my profession means risks, and taking
risks were necessary to pay the bills…but any relief I felt at getting
the job would soon be replaced by sheer horror.
-Chapter 2 coming soon-