Chapter VII
"Oh, my."
Krystal gawked at the amalgamation of metal on four wheels behind the bulletproof glass. Fara smirked at the appreciation of her team's handiwork, before unlocking the thick door that led into the test chamber.
"Come on in, I'll show you the upgrades," Fara said.
"I hope you never plan on doing upgrades for the design department," Krystal joked.
As Fox, Krystal, and Fara approached the car's new form, its renovation only became clearer to the azure vixen.
"I always did take a more 'form-over-function' approach," the fennec replied.
"Just wait 'till you see what's inside," Fox said as he pulled the door handle. "It's got more buttons than an arwing cockpit."
"As far as aircraft are concerned, it's more on the level of archaic fighters like the F-45A."
Sure enough, as Krystal peeked inside the mechanical beast under the gullwing, buttons, switches, and lights littered the interior.
"I see you went for the dinosaur-age aesthetic," she said, noting the dialpad in the center of the dashboard.
Fara just shrugged. "I've spent enough grant money on this project as it is. It was either this or a rotary dial."
Fox snorted at the thought.
"Still, would it have killed you to clean up the interior a bit?"
The fennec put her hands on her hips, scolding him like a mother would a child.
"Look, flyboy, not everything has to have an arwing console in it. That would be like turning a positron cannon into a potato gun for a science fair project. Besides," Fara leaned in and ran a hand along the thick cabling snaking between the seats, "If I couldn't see any of the wiring, how would I know if any of it melted?"
The vulpine sighed as he rested a hand on the A-pillar. Traumatic memories of electricity lectures in academy physics classes came rushing back.
"Fine. Moving on, how do you plan to send us to the right time and place? I'd better not be chasing boats again whenever you send us out."
The fennec snickered at the mention of his adventure the other day.
"Right now all we can do is use the instruments we used to build this to listen for ripples across space-time," Fara said. "'Listening' isn't the best analogy, but the idea is you'll be dropped off wherever we heard them last."
A small chime rang out from a speaker above the chamber door. Miyu's voice followed soon after.
"I've got a lock for you. You might not like where it's at, though."
Fara wasted no time in leading them back into the observation room, over to where Miyu and Slippy sat at one of the desks. Fox struggled to make sense of the different graphs and colors on the galactic map, but the fennec's flat look didn't make it seem good.
"What's the scoop," the vulpine asked.
"Well, it looks like they just landed at Sargasso, or at least what's left of it."
Krystal raised an eyebrow.
"How is that possible? I thought the military destroyed it."
"They did," Slippy said. "But this part of the timeline appears to have some parts of it still intact."
"I'm not liking the implications of that," Fox sighed. "There better not be more copies of Wolf coming to get me."
"Well, the plan involves a little more than just killing him. In fact, if you kill him now you'd probably cause more harm than good," Fara frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"It's just a hypothesis, but if you kill Wolf while he's somewhere other than wherever he came from, you'll probably end time itself."
Fox ran a hand between his ears.
"What does that mean for Andrew and Pigma? They're still locked up last I heard."
Fara looked at Miyu, whose eyes darted to Slippy, who only shrugged.
"Honestly, We're not sure. Based on what we've found from tests they'll probably just vanish out of existence, but you'll have to hunt down wherever they made their time machine first."
"That's a bit too big of a haystack to find a needle in," Fox said.
"If you can swipe it off of them, we'll do the rest."
"Really? How?"
"Don't worry too much about it," Miyu smiled. "All you need to know is we have a way to track where something's been through time."
"Alright. Fine. Hunt 'em down, nab something that looks vaguely like a time machine, and get out. What's the worst that could-"
Krystal held his snout shut, both out of playfulness and seriousness.
"Don't even finish that."
"She's got a point, Fox," the fennec said. "Now that we're past the formalities, you'll have to hang tight for a couple hours for me. There's a few things I need to put the finishing touches on."
"Isn't that wasting a bit of time," Fox asked. "I don't want Wolf and his cronies getting too comfortable in the meantime."
"More or less, but for the most part we have all the time in the world."
-[TW]-
That evening, Fox and Krystal stood in the observation room attached to the test chamber. They were both clad in standard-issue CDF EVA suits, retrofitted with communicators that Fox was too afraid to ask how they worked. The vulpine glanced at his mate, who had her helmet tucked under her arm just like he did.
"Being in one of these makes me feel like we're back on the Great Fox again," Krystal mused.
"I might have to give Falco a call, it's been a while since we've been aboard," Fox replied.
"What, have you forgotten more of your stuff since we moved out," she snickered. "I thought all you left was your flight suit."
A playful glint reached Fox's eyes.
"Shame you left yours. I missed seeing you in a spandex liner."
Krystal's ears turned beet red. Her hand covered her muzzle, the other giving him a smack on the shoulder.
"Maybe it is a good thing we left those behind."
Fox grinned, running an arm around her waist. The outer metal shielding of the spacesuits clinked together as Krystal leaned into him.
"Oh, come on. It doesn't take a telepath to know we were both guilty of sneaking glances."
"Fox McCloud, what have you yourself gotten into," she sighed, shaking her head.
Fox smirked.
"Just one more mission, love."
Just then, Slippy moved beside them, unlocking the chamber's blast door.
"Knew I'd hear that coming from you eventually," he said. "Though I'm surprised it was you first and not Falco."
Fox rolled his eyes. That bird-brain would only retire if he broke both his legs, and even then he'd be gunning at pirates in a wheelchair.
"The only person that's gonna get him to that point is Katt, and I don't see that happening given she's stuck in the same boat as he is."
"Touché."
The toad ushered them both inside, before both foxes donned their helmets. A small beep and a green light informed them the seals were tight.
"Fox, Krystal, you both hear me?"
Fox opened the driver's door and climbed in, giving a thumbs-up to the observation window.
"Loud and clear, Slippy," Krystal replied as she ducked under the passenger's gullwing.
"Good. I've gone ahead and sent the numbers to the computer now. There should be a blinking button near the dome light."
The two glanced up, spotting a white button flashing. The letters "RCV COORD" were printed on its shell.
"I've got a button marked 'receive coordinates.'"
"Go ahead and push it."
The vixen reached up and hit the button, causing a set of numbers to jump onto the segmented displays on the dash. Fox turned the key on, smirking at the familiar engine note.
"You can reach us if you need to with the comm button on your helmet. Just be warned that it won't be able to sustain the link for very long without the circuit burning out," Slippy warned. "You should be all set now; good luck out there."
"Thanks, Slip."
"Fox, one last thing before you go," Fara's voice entered the comm. "If you ever see anyone vaguely similar to either of you, run. It'll probably end space-time as we know it if you meet yourself."
"Then I hope alternate-timeline-me hasn't reached Sargasso. We're ready to rock when you are."
The giant doors on the opposite side of the test chamber opened to reveal the long stretch of storage behind it.
"Everything's green on our end. Good luck."
"Seat belts?"
Krystal pulled the belt over her shoulder and clicked it into its buckle.
"Check."
"Suit seal?"
Eyes darted around huds as fingers traced around necklines.
"Check."
"Morale?"
Krystal giggled at the goofy tradition started by Falco. Fox gave the top of her helmet a knock, before she returned with a playful smack across his helmet's temple. She could hear Fox laughing over the communicator.
"Check."
"Let's rock and roll," she finished for him.
Fox couldn't help but grin as he shifted, dropped the clutch, and let the LeDorean spread its wings. The engine roared as they rocketed through the test chamber and into the cleared pathway through the warehouse. Fox reached the highest gear as the needle continued to climb, one hand trained over the horn. When the speedometer crossed its mark, Fox pressed the center of the wheel in.
A blinding flash of light and an ear-splitting bang marked their exit.
-[TW]-
"I see we've amassed quite the stash."
Wolf didn't look up at Panther's comment, instead continuing to stare at the gigantic pile of money on the floor. It had been stacked into a rectangular prism, several of the cash bundles spilling off from the top and sides.
"Yeah."
The lupine then sat on the corner of the pile, before laying down across the top of it. He spread his arms out to cover as much of the money as possible like a king-sized bed, staring at the ceiling.
"I'm gonna be here for the next few hours. Call me if we have any trouble," Wolf said.
"Better not have forgotten the cuts," Panther snorted.
"Yeah, yeah. Wasn't planning on Pigma or Andrew sticking around anyway."
Just as Panther was about to turn the door handle, a heavy rumble shook the walls of Sargasso station. The metal plating quaked along with their eardrums. The cat turned and looked at Wolf, hand still resting on the handle.
"We have trouble."
-[ Hostage - Nima Fakhara ]-
The lupine groaned as he sat up and pushed past him. Outside, Leon was already grabbing his blaster. The chameleon tossed a gun to each of them, both catching it and flicking the safety off.
"The hell's goin' on," Wolf grunted as they passed through the doorway to their main hiding room. The airlock had ceased function ages ago, so it had to be pushed open and closed each time.
"No clue," Leon said as he twisted the lock shut behind them. "Best case is an asteroid hit us, worst case is someone's here."
"My wallet hopes it's the former," Panther groaned.
As the three members of Star Wolf navigated the labyrinth of corridors that made up the fragmented remains of Sargasso, two vulpines landed in their vehicle on the other side of the station. The wake of the LeDorean kicked up a cloud of space dust which spread in every direction.
"This will be a problem getting out," Krystal frowned.
Fox nodded. The station's artificial gravity seemed to be offline. The wheels automatically folded in response and allowed the car to hover above the floor. "Fara was at least kind enough to give me a couple thrusters, so we'll have to fly out."
"Ah."
Fox's eyes danced around his suit's HUD. By the looks of things, the station's airlock was no longer functional.
"It also means we'll be breathing reserves until we can find a room with atmospheric pressure."
"Great. Anything else to look out for?" Krystal clicked the seat belt's buckle and allowed it to retract over her shoulder.
"Stick together, get in, and get out," Fox said, pulling the door latch. "Let's go."
Krystal nodded and lifted the gullwing beside her. The two stepped out of the LeDorean, feeling the artificial gravity generated by the suits' diffusers kick in. After a brief glance around the darkened station lit up by their headlamps, the lack of a clear direction became apparent. Fox sighed, wishing for something more like a "Star Wolf Hideout" sign with an arrow.
"There's no-one else around. I can hear them from here," Krystal said. Her gaze shifted to a spot on the wall across the main floor. Fox drew his blaster, as did she.
"Lead the way."
Simultaneously, Wolf, Leon, and Panther had spread out to sweep over what was left of the corridors between their makeshift war room, and the source of the unknown tremor.
"Nothing West."
Wolf kept his blaster pointed down the dark hallway as he listened to Leon's voice over the communicator. The station's ambient groan of straining metal seemed to echo in response for him.
"Copy that. Panther, what's your status?"
"East is clear."
He cursed under his tobacco and alcohol-ridden breath. That meant he'd probably drawn the short end of the stick with the area he still had to cover.
"Fine. Both of you get over here– I'm not getting shot without someone to drop the intruder."
"What's the matter? Scared?" Leon chuckled.
"Don't come crying to me when your cut of the cash gets stolen," Wolf shot back.
"Whatever you say."
By the time Leon and Panther had finally caught up to him, Wolf had ventured down parts of the darkened corridor. The lamps mounted on their blasters provided just enough light to stretch across the width of the hallway, eventually reaching an airlock at the very end. Wolf's frown grew as they glanced through its window. As if to add to the weakening gravity this far from their room, the tunnel on the other side had a huge hole blown in the side of it. Chunks of metal, glass, and wire were littered about the hall and its adjacent rooms.
"See? Nothing to be afraid of. Nobody is here to bother us," Panther said.
Wolf, although still unconvinced, begrudgingly holstered his weapon and began walking back from where they came. His gut told him someone was somewhere on the station, even if he had no way of getting to them.
"Help me start packing the cash. We need to be ready to leave at a moment's notice."
Panther huffed in response. To think they'd set all that out to stare at it for nothing. He looked at Leon, who just shrugged and set off after Wolf.
As the black cat turned and left, the station's intruders had been navigating the maze of lobbies, rooms, halls, and airlocks. Most were left without power, all were left without gravity. Headlamps lit the way as Fox floated behind Krystal, occasionally tearing and leaving a strip of reflective tape on the wall to mark their direction.
"Still hear them?"
Krystal nodded. "Yes, but they're getting faint. They must be either retreating or assuming the noise was just an asteroid."
"I hope it's the latter."
"Agreed."
The vixen continued to follow the general direction of where she felt the presence of their minds, eventually reaching an airlock at the far wall of a small lobby. Fox caught up and peered through the window, seeing another large chunk of the station between a gap of open space.
"Is that our destination?"
Krystal's gaze narrowed as she studied the structure. It still had light coming from a few of its windows, so it definitely had power. The large cylindrical structures attached to its sides indicated it might have life support as well.
"It has to be."
Fox pulled open a small panel next to the airlock's door, finding a red handle. He yanked it outward, causing the door's halves to separate by a few inches. They each grabbed a side and pulled, sliding the airlock open to the starlit ocean of space. Cautiously, Fox pushed off of the fragmented steps, firing his suit's thrusters to maintain the path toward the other side. He grabbed the ledge and pulled himself up, before turning to see Krystal landing next to him.
"Well, that's a problem."
Krystal noted the lack of a manual release on this side of the airlock.
"Not to mention the noise we'd make trying to open it."
Fox nodded. "Two problems, then. Think we should try and peek around?"
The vixen glanced at her HUD, noting the oxygen supply already at 60%. She shook her head. "Reserves wouldn't last long enough. We have to breach."
"In that case," he said, tapping a button on his wrist. "Open sesame."
A small tube folded out of the plating around Fox's wrist, revealing a standard-issue reactive cutter. It wouldn't be able to cut cleanly through the glass like he'd hoped, but it would at least get them through the paneling to the locking mechanism. He traced a rectangle around the airlock's center, watching the metal heat and turn incandescent until it melted through. The panel fell away in the zero gravity, revealing more metal and circuitry to cut through. By the time Fox had reached the locking system and his cutter reached his thermal limit, Krystal deployed hers and sliced through the last bits of metal.
The airlock cracked open, kicking a small cloud of debris toward the door.
"I hope there's more airlocks ahead," Krystal mused. "Especially since this isn't closing again."
"Well, I don't hear any breach alarms, but they probably aren't even working."
The two sides of the door slid aside like the previous ones.
"In we go."
As Fox & Krystal ventured into the dim corridor, the artificial gravity slowly began to take hold of them. Once they were able to walk without jumping to the ceiling, Fox's headlamp illuminated another airlock. Thankfully, the manual release was on their side, allowing Fox to pull it open with one hand and wield his blaster in the other.
After scanning each direction that split away from them, he laid another strip of the reflective tape on the floor. Krystal pulled the airlock shut and set the release, locking the two parts back together.
"Another problem."
Fox looked back at her.
"Whatever door we open next will cause a pressure drop. They'll know something is wrong."
He put his hands on his hips and looked around on the floor, then back up at her.
"Even if we did take another route we'd still have a noticeable pressure difference," he muttered. "I suppose a firefight would be unavoidable."
"Remember what Fara said. Even if we are in a firefight, we have to keep them alive while we're here."
"So we'll set for stun, but what does that mean after we deal with them?"
The vixen shrugged.
"All we're here for is the time machine. Everything else we can deal with later."
Fox sighed, before nodding.
"Okay. Get in, heist a time machine, and get out," He started. His breath steadied as they began the walk into the inky abyss before them. They both raised their blasters, ready to incapacitate whatever moved with a bolt of plasma.
"Let's go."
As another airlock at the end of the corridor came into the glow of the intruders' headlamps, the other bodies aboard the station stood in the small room that used to house the stack of stolen money. Stacks on stacks of Lylatian credits were split into three rucksacks, held over the shoulders of Wolf, Leon, and Panther.
"Where to?"
Wolf pondered Leon's question. Venom was off the table; if they settled in any habitable place they'd likely run into themselves and ruin the whole gig. Fichina had all of Andross' strongholds raided, and the half of the system closest to Corneria was a definite 'no.'
Last he'd heard, some of Andross' experiments still had Titania as their playground, so Macbeth it was.
"Get ready to take us to Macbeth. We'll figure out what to do from there."
Leon's gaze narrowed.
"The Cornerians have been making headway into an alliance there."
"There's still plenty of places to hide. That dump's got an alley for every sonofabitch stuck in that shithole."
Leon nodded.
"Not to mention our bargaining tool-"
-[ Your Choice - Nima Fakhara ]-
The chameleon was cut off by a sudden drop in the station's pressure, felt by everyone in their eardrums. The station's life-support reacted quickly after, doing its best to keep the atmospheric pressure stable.
"Shit– We've been breached!" Wolf barked. "Leon, get that thing charged. Panther, grab your gun and help me hold them off."
Panther nodded and dropped the sack of money next to Wolf's, before the two set off down the hallway. Leon quickly fumbled with the hexagon, watching a light come on and a meter begin to climb at a snail's pace. He gripped his gun with his free hand, occasionally stealing glances down the three hallways that led into their hideout.
Minutes passed as an uneasy feeling began to settle at the base of his spine. Something was watching him; waiting to jump out at him the moment his guard dropped. The pace at which he checked each hallway with his flashlight quickened, taking even less time to watch the charge meter on the time machine.
18%
"Come on, you stupid piece of-" FZZZT
The sizzling song of blaster shot rocketed past his head, causing him to duck underneath the table. He grabbed the hexagon and shoved it into the pocket on his jacket, swearing under his breath.
"Wolf, they're here."
"What?!"
Two more blaster bolts nearly shaved the top of his head off, forcing his head further below the top edge. Leon flicked his gun on and aimed down the hallway from which they came, seeing nothing in the darkness. He groaned.
"I mean they're here! Get the fuck back here!"
Leon took a few blind shots into the abyss, but got no indication of hitting anything. He checked the time machine again.
22%
-[TW]-
Slippy sat at his station with his fingers steepled up to his chin. Back when Star Fox was still around, he was used to regular status updates from everyone. To watch Fox and Krystal go straight into the unknown without so much as a peep since was unnatural to him, if not unnerving.
"Fara, I don't like this."
The fennec had been looking up at their makeshift mission board, her hands shoved in her pockets.
"Everything is in their hands now," she sighed. "I trust Fox and Krystal will be fine."
'I hope.'
"They do have plenty of combat experience," Miyu added, attempting to lighten the mood.
"Even then, if anything goes wrong-"
Fara cut him off by holding up a finger.
"There's the keyword. If. The chances of anything going wrong go down astronomically when we have someone as experienced as them."
Slippy pursed his lips. He was glad Fara trusted Fox, but Fox was still his friend. The guilt he would suffer if anything went wrong out there would be insurmountable. Trying not to dwell on it, he nodded and went back to watching the coordinates of the LeDorean.
A light flashed on the corner of his desk, along with a loud beep. Everyone's eyes snapped to the source as Slippy hit the button as fast as he could.
"Fox! Come in, Fox!"
The transmission was covered in static, but Fox's voice could still be heard among the noise. He only managed to get a single sentence in before the radio feed was engulfed in the buzzing.
"Slippy! I've got you a time machine and Leon on my tail! Send me coordinates with room to land-"
The transmission had gone silent.
Slippy wavered slightly as his finger trembled. They'd foreseen the radio burning, but it was not something he'd wanted to hear coming from his old friend's radio. The frog quickly snapped back to his computer, pulling coordinates to send as Fara raced over to him.
"Room to land?" she quickly asked. "How fast is he going to be going?"
"They dropped at Sargasso, that can only mean they need to use the thrusters to escape. There's not enough room to use his wheels!"
Fara understood immediately and jabbed her finger at the monitor with a map pulled up on it.
"There! Bring him back near the shoreline by the loading dock!"
Slippy had never typed faster as he sent the coordinates and prayed for Fox to receive it in time.
-[TW]-
'Through here!'
Fox narrowly avoided flying down the wrong hallway as Krystal kept the sprint's pace up. After narrowly incapacitating Wolf and Panther, they had to put up with Leon who'd managed to lock them into a stalemate while donning a spare EVA suit. Even after Fox managed to stun the chameleon with a well-timed shot, Leon was back up and chasing them down like an Arwing tearing through space with a lock on its target.
His call to Slippy didn't last much more than a sentence, but all he could do was hope his transmission made it across the gap. The margin of error was thinner than a knife's edge as the two of them closed in on the idle LeDorean, carrying the hexagon covered in little lights and loose wiring.
Krystal spotted the last strip of reflective tape left behind, practically dragging Fox behind her as the low oxygen alarm assaulted her ears. She pulled herself over the broken railing, scrambling to get into the car as Fox did the same. He tossed Leon's time machine to her, before starting the engine and spinning around to face the deformed hangar exit to the station. Krystal saw the button to receive coordinates flashing, and wasted no time in hitting it as she tossed the hexagon into the glovebox.
Without warning, Fox squeezed a red button on his shifter. A brilliant blue glow emanated from the rear of the car as Krystal was pinned back in her seat. Out of the mirror on the door, she saw Leon on the railing. Through her shaky vision, he picked up what appeared to be a large tube. A flash of light followed, with what appeared to be a red dot closing in on them. It approached at a much higher speed; the letter 'B' now coming into view.
'Fox!'
Krystal's breakneck heart rate reached a new height as the smart bomb continued to fly towards them.
'Fox, get us out of here!'
'Just a little farther!'
The bomb was about to collide with the LeDorean's rear. Fox shut his eyes tight as he punched the horn, and hoped for the best.
-[TW]-
The building rumbled as Slippy stood up from his seat. The resounding thunderclap sounded like it had shaken a few windows. He turned and ran for the door, kicking his chair over as Miyu and Fara caught up to him. As soon as the door slid open, the toad took off for the loading dock, with the lynx and fennec close behind.
The three of them burst through the door leading out next to the warehouse's loading dock, running across the asphalt and onto the dock's pier. A few of the lab techs chased after them, wanting to see for themselves as well. Out across the water, a stainless steel coupe with little red accents skipped across the ocean waves. It wavered as it ran from the start of its wake in the water, eventually stabilizing as it neared the shoreline.
The small group erupted in a cheer, waving at the foxes in the car.
Fox gently slowed the LeDorean as he aligned it with the shoreline, finally coming to a stop on the sand near the pier. In one swift motion, he flopped out of the driver's seat and rolled onto his back. The EVA suit's shell contorted as his heavy breathing slowly began to calm his nerves. He heard Krystal stumble out as well, doing her best to hold herself up on the hood of the car.
Once the vulpine tore his helmet off, he was greeted with Krystal dropping beside him and smacking him on the torso.
"That," she breathed. "Was far too close."
Fox nodded, slowly propping himself up on his elbows.
"I've suddenly remembered why we retired."
The vixen lazily draped an arm around his neck, nodding.
"Don't ever scare me like that again, Fox."
Fox held her arm as his knees slowly returned from their jellified state. His lungs tingled from the sudden switch to fresh air.
"I won't," he coughed. "Promise."
We're (finally) nearing the end soon. Sucks when things get in the way, but at least we're getting there. Sorry to make you all wait this long.
You also may notice that the scuffle on Sargasso itself was cut short. Don't worry, it'll be shown in due time. :)