Part 3:
THE BEHEMOTH
"In times of trouble a second can stretch to an eternity"
"Good luck Commander Lombardi" Falco blinked, for a moment confused. It would take him a long time to get used to being addressed with a rank. He didn't salute, Star Fox never did, instead he just inclined his head slightly.
"Thank you sir. We'll see you at the victory dance"
Pepper smiled then turned to the rest of the team.
"Good luck and swift speed to you all Spectre Strike"
Blaze, Silver and Lupus saluted, Salty just nodded his head nervously and Tyson pretended not to hear.
"Come on then boys, lets get this over with" Falco paused and turned to Silver grinning "Sorry, force of habit"
Silver just grinned and walked at Falco's side as he led the team into the shuttle. The six of them moved almost mechanically to their assigned positions. Falco and Silver strapped into the pilots seats, Blaze and Lupus took seats at the back, Tyson strapping into the gunner's position. Salty checked the Arwings were well stowed and ran a final visual check on the various systems responsible for the cloak.
"Check in everyone" Falco said
"Blaze ready"
"Lupus strapped in, nice and tight!"
"Ready as always!" Tyson, who else?
Falco looked back to see Salty scamper for a vacant seat. "Arwings secured. All systems go" he pulled the restraint harness on "And I'm ready too"
"This is shuttle Spectre, all systems prepped and ready to go, asking permission to leave" Silver said
A new voice over the comm. "Permission granted Spectre. Follow shipping lane delta to exit corridor Archaic. A path has been cleared for you... Good luck."
"Thank you Cornerian Control, will follow lane delta and exit through Archaic. Spectre out"
"Roger Spectre, have a pleasant flight."
Falco laughed quietly "Pleasant flight..."
Silver beside him smiled "Protocol"
Gently Silver eased the shuttle up off the deck and out of the hanger, with the immense patience that characterised a shuttle pilot. She pulled it up and a way and joined the invisible empty road in the sky.
"Oh well that's it, we're on out own now" Blaze mused.
"You worry too much!" Tyson said and stretched in his seat, leaning back as though preparing for a nap.
"Only until the Angels get here" Falco reminded them.
"Yeah..."
Silver pulled the shuttle upwards, Falco turned round to watch.
"Now leaving Cornerian atmosphere. The sooner we can get off the shipping lanes the better." Silver said.
"Nice and casual remember, the last thing we want is pirates or Wolves!"
"Yeah that would screw things up nicely" Lupus laughed.
"Oh come on with me on cannons, they don't stand a chance!" Tyson said.
"You never quit do you?"
"Nope!"
"Never give up... Stand tall be, strong and... never give up" Falco mused thoughtfully under his breath.
"What?" Sliver beside him asked.
"Oh nothing, just something Peppy used to say"
The shuttle glided slowly away from the Cornerian atmosphere. Falco looked around at the team. Tyson it seemed really had decided to take a nap. Lupus and Blaze were both unusually silent, their faces set in determined lines of concentration, both of them thinking of the mission, replaying their roles in their minds, thinking now of what would go right, hoping for the best, after the endless preparations for what could go wrong. Salty was on his feet running one check or another on the Arwings, his hand running carefully over every contour of the ships, checking for anything that might be amiss. Silver's eyes were fixed firmly ahead, her mind also on the mission. Falco sighed and closed his eyes. Thought over the whole mission, remembered his sniper training, he tried his best to relax, release the nervous tension from his muscles, for this last little while before he would go into the bullring....
Falco opened his eyes again; he looked round at the nervous faces, at least, everyone except Tyson, who pretended not to be afraid, though at least he appeared to be awake now. Lupus checked his gun for what felt like the hundredth time. Salty simply rested his hand on one of the Arwing's noses now, looking towards the bay doors at the back of the shuttle, thinking quietly to himself. Blaze checked the bomb components were firmly in his bag. The mood had changed, it was low and nervous, the tension of the team seemed to crackle in the air, they were getting close. Silver's voice cut through the silence.
"We're approaching stage 1, Salty are you ready for the cloak?"
"All systems go" Salty responded with obvious unease.
"Right, here goes"
Silver pulled the lever mounted in the ceiling above her head. There was a click then a whining sound which rose in pitch until it blended with the droning of the engines. The team exchanged glances, mutual smiles of reassurance. There really was no going back now.
"Alright boys, lets check we're ready for the sniping. Everyone be ready to go immediately, we can't afford to wait if you've forgotten something" Falco got up and pulled his rifle from the wall. He checked it briefly, lifting the scope to his eye, and looking down the barrel, then checking it was loaded and the safety off. Lupus, Blaze and Tyson he found were doing the same. Salty was looking at his power tracker. Blaze went back to his seat and again checked the bomb components.
"Everyone ready?" Falco asked checking the magazines in the belt round his waist
"Yes sir" Lupus said subconsciously
"Ready" Blaze
"As I'll ever be" Salty squeaked in an uneasy voice
"Ready sir" Silver said and then finally Tyson
"Let's get um!" he cried to which all the rest mumbled their agreement.
Falco returned to his place by Silver, the sniper rifle laid across his lap. Now it was only a matter of time...
"There she is" Silver said slowly
"Hullo again" Falco mumbled
Falco and Silver stared out at the massive square object that was the Behemoth as it dominated the space ahead of them. Falco for a moment thought how ugly it was, he'd always considered Great Fox to be beautiful, the Behemoth was definitely not. Again he struggled to tell which side was the front, the ship had no windows, most of its hull was dominated by vast guns. The rest of the strike team all came to the front of the shuttle and crowded around Falco and Silver, all desperate for a glimpse of the Behemoth.
"Whoa! Its gunna make one hell of a mess when we blow that thing up!" Lupus joked
"Do you think we brought enough explosives? Its bigger than I thought it would be anyway" Blaze said
"I think it's bigger than any of us thought it would be" Tyson said, unusually serious.
"Except Falco of course" Salty said
"I think its grown"
"There's no sign that they've spotted us yet. Your cloak seems to be holding Salty"
"Good"
"Let's do this. I've got a birthday party to go to tomorrow!" Falco said
Falco starred out the window, every instinct screaming at him as the shuttle simply glided past the Behemoth's patrolling fighters.
"Hold her steady Silver"
"I know what I'm doing Falco, this is my show" She said tensely "bay doors are open, we're going in boys"
"Snipers in position" Falco ordered. The four of them rose to their feet and took their positions at the side doors, Salty took cover at the back where he would be out of the firing line. Silver's hands on the controls where sweating, if the mission went wrong at this stage it would be no-ones fault but hers. The Behemoth grew bigger and bigger in her view until she could no-longer see the stars. She fixed her eyes on the selected docking bay and tried to ignore the ship around her "it's just like every other landing you've done. Just a little faster" She told herself. She approached the atmospheric barrier; still no-one seemed to know they were there... maybe just maybe this would work.
"Hold steady boys" she said putting her hand on the door controls. "We're about to breach the barrier" This was crunch time; it could all go wrong now. She cut the engines and prepared to glide the shuttle into the bay. Then there was a blue glow across her screen, she could see the workers in the bay. The middle of the shuttle crossed through the barrier. One of the ground crew looked up.
"Come on, come on" Silver breathed "Atmospheric barrier breached! Doors opening!"
She slammed her hand down on the controls and the doors began to open...
Falco was facing forward. He pushed against the door as it opened seemingly slowly, everything seemed to be running in slow motion. He got the gun out the door as fast as possible, the shuttle would be just about visible now... he spotted a member of the ground crew, just about to look up. Instinct took over, just as he aimed and went to squeeze the trigger he heard Lupus next to him fire the first shot. Then he fired, he saw blood explode from the man's head and didn't wait to see him fall. The shuttle's bottom touched the deck. Falco swung the gun to switch targets. This one was staring right at the shuttle. He took aim and fired as multiple shots rang out from the others. Falco hit but this one had a friend, he turned and ran, Falco panicked and didn't aim properly, he fired and only succeeded in hitting him in the arm, he staggered and ran on. Falco's hawk eyes spotted what he was heading for, an alarm!
"Shit"
Falco raised the gun again, every stride of the man as he ran for the alarm seemed slowed, Falco was now fighting against nothing but time. He fired. He hit him in the chest, he went down, blood smeared gaudily against the wall. Time seemed to suddenly return to normal
"All clear"
"All clear"
"clear" The rest called
"Yeah me too... got a bit close but... Ok Spectres, lets move out!" Falco cried.
In a rush the six of them were out of the shuttle onto the Behemoth's landing deck, Falco barely pausing to drop the sniper rifle.
"Salty, which way?" Falco asked as they ran quickly across the deck towards the main exit from the bay.
"I'm still scanning... come on come on faster!" Salty said to his tracker. "All right! Through those doors, then take uh... Left!"
The team responded unquestioningly to his orders and dropped into their positions which were by now second nature, watching each others backs. The six of them moved silently, like black fog, listening for the sounds of approaching enemies, hearing nothing but the patter of their feet on the Behemoth's metal floors. Falco took note of their design, square, completely utilitarian, metal floors metal walls, large lights in the ceiling periodically, also square. So unfriendly, he shuddered.
"Shit. Salty can we go a different way?" Lupus' voice. Falco looked ahead, a set of double doors blocked their way, and refused to open
"I have something that can deal with this" Salty said pulling a square object from one of his many pockets. He looked up at Falco "It might take a while"
"Ok lets give Salty some cover, take up defensive positions as best you can" Falco ordered.
The team fanned out sticking close to the walls, watching up the corridors, listening for the sounds they all dreaded. Falco closest to Salty could only hear the occasional bleep of the door decoder as it worked. It seemed to be taking an eternity, Falco's hands on his black blaster were sweating, briefly he took his hand away to wipe it on his trousers.
"Salty how long"
"I'm almost there" Salty said tensely
Falco went back to starring up the corridor. He kept imagining a torrent of guards laying siege to them up the corridor, he shook his head. He couldn't understand why. Then he heard a hiss and sliding noise as the door opened and Salty's small shout of glee. Swiftly he turned, gun at the ready, half expecting hundreds of guards to be waiting for them on the other side. Fortunately there were none. Falco frowned to himself as the team filed quickly through the door and it closed behind them, the Behemoth was worryingly empty, Falco had expected far more resistance. They headed up the corridor; unbeknown to them a small red light on the door panel had stared to blink...
Salty continued to lead the way up the corridor. Suddenly they heard footsteps, with a hand gesture Falco stopped them and then they all flattened themselves against the nearest wall, Falco then signalled to Blaze and Lupus, the two strongest in his party. He took his black bladed combat knife out of his belt, held it up so they could see it, tapped his hand on his beak twice then made motions of drawing the knife across his throat. He beckoned for them to follow him until they found a place in the corridor where they would be hidden from the approaching people. Falco held his knife in his hand and waited, listening to the feet and now voices growing closer. Then he gave the others a signal and as one they leapt out. Four, they were outnumbered. Falco launched himself on the closest caught him in the way he'd been taught when he was nine, and half the size of most of his adversaries, pulled him against himself and quickly slit his throat. As he did so he watched Blaze knock one to the ground while plunging his knife into the other's chest then turning it up in his flesh into his heart. He withdrew the knife and dove for the other. As Falco let his victim drop silently to the floor Lupus slit the throat of his struggling target. Blaze as he dropped simply put the knife straight through the final one's throat, using his momentum to drive the blade, he probably broke his spine, but Falco couldn't tell without the feeling knife in his hand. Falco caught Lupus grinning at him as he examined the carcasses, two Canite Lupines, a Vulgarian and a species Falco wasn't familiar with.
"Lupus go get the others, we need to get these bodies out of sight"
Lupus trotted back up the corridor to where the others were hiding. Falco and Blaze looked around for a convenient place to hide them. The growing puddle of blood on the floor would as good as give them away now anyway
"Ah screw it we may as well leave them where they are now! Why do they have to bleed so much?"
Blaze grinned but said nothing. Falco looked up to the rest of the team following Lupus up the corridor. Silver raised her eyebrow when she saw the bodies, leaving them behind they continued towards the energy source.
They continued through a maze of corridors, Salty leading the way, suddenly he stopped.
"What is it?" Lupus whispered
"I thought I heard voices"
"All right close it up" Falco ordered. Peppy's hearing had always been better than his, and he wasn't about to take any chances. They carried on, in a tight formation, walking as quietly as they could.
"Hey! There they are!"
A shot. Falco jumped round to see four guards... and Lupus falling to the ground. The team had been caught by surprise. Falco shoved Salty against the wall firing his blaster, also jumping to the side. Something stung burning at his chest and he fell to the ground.
Salty watched Falco fall in front of him where he cowered against the walls, with only a narrow beam blocking him from the enemy fire. He was terrified. The corridor seemed to have erupted into noise and chaos. He squeezed himself against the wall, unable to fire on the enemy. One had gone down by Falco's shot. The others were engaged in a fierce gun battle. Then as he watched one went down then the others. The Spectres it seemed had lucked out and had found more cover than their attackers. Finally the lasts of the guards fell to the ground... And Salty looked down on Falco's body sprawled in front of him.
"Falco!!" Salty cried
"Is he dead?" Tyson's voice, unusually concerned
"I don't think so... I think the body armour saved him" Silver's voice, Falco could feel her hands on his chest. "Come on Falcs, wake up"
"Ugh... Lupus" Falco groaned
Only then did the rest of the team dare to look where Lupus lay. A pool of blood spread out below him. He had not been so lucky. He lay dead in the corridor. Shot in the head.
"Lupus..." Blaze moaned, softly, his voice cracking for the first time Falco could remember.
"What, what is it?" Falco asked sitting up. The sight made his heart go cold "Oh no"
The team looked at each other then at Falco.
"Come on. We can't sit around here. We have to go"
Silver helped Falco to his feet; he could see tears shimmering in her eyes.
"Come on guys, Salty said it's not much further. Let's finish this and go home. The
Angels are due any minute. That should take the pressure off us"
Purposefully Falco led the team on, away from Lupus' broken body, turning a blind eye to Silver and Salty's tears. There would be time for him to grieve when this was all over. Falco looked down at his watch nervously as they all followed Salty again. The Angels were overdue. Falco had a feeling Lupus' death was not the only disaster which would befall them. Ahead another set of double doors blocked their way, but these were opened quickly they walked out into a massive room housing a huge reactor core glowing green, and Spectre Strike came face to face with a whole battalion of soldiers.
"What do you mean you're pulling the Angels!!" Pepper roared "Spectres are too far into it now to be withdrawn!"
Commander Kramer grinned slightly waiting for Pepper to see.
"That was the idea... wasn't it?... You turned Falco and his team into suicide bombers!"
"Lombardi is a mercenary. If this government doesn't have to pay him at the end of the day so much the better"
"That's sick!!" Charles Pepper couldn't believe what he was hearing, he didn't want to believe it. "Why wasn't I informed?"
"The War Cabinet took a vote, and we decided it wasn't worth throwing away the lives of 250 of our pilots" he said calmly
"Why wasn't I there, why didn't I get to cast my vote"
"You could not have swung the result even if you had been there"
"How many others did you neglect to invite"
"The rest were all present. Angel flight was outvoted 7 to 2"
"I'll send my own fighters then" Pepper said stubbornly
"Don't be a fool General" He said snidely.
At that point Pepper would have jumped in an Arwing and flown against the Behemoth himself... but he knew it was hopeless.
"We need you to fire the bomb by remote. No objections, orders from Federation command"
Pepper sighed to himself. There was nothing more he could do, he was caught in the government red tape, the decisions for this mission had now gone to a level much higher than him, Falco and his team were lost.
"Surrender or die" The leader of the guards said. Falco's world started to tumble. It was as though his mind split into several parts and they all ran in different directions at once.
"I suggest the leader makes his decision quickly"
Falco couldn't believe this was happening. He suddenly felt as though he was in over his head. He had never been trained to decide things like this, he was still only a teenager, his world grew dark and a strange unidentifiable terror rose up in him from somewhere. He looked around. The guards were getting more numerous by the second. There was no way they could win in a fire-fight. He could feel Salty next to him shaking. The bomb wasn't ready, they couldn't even blow that. Hope was visibly draining away, they had little chance of rescue. The Angels weren't here yet and Falco increasingly felt they would probably never appear. All these thoughts had taken just seconds. Falco knew he would be betraying himself as leader now but he had to say something. He felt Silver touch his hand.
"Drop your weapons" he finally said. Falco felt the familiar black blaster, warm where he'd been holding it, slide out of his hand and clatter to the floor. In his mind he questioned what he'd done as he watched Blaze, ahead, bend to put his larger rifle down. No-one looked at him. He tried to convince himself they would find a way to escape later, still he couldn't stop himself shaking.
"Wise choice purple bird." Falco ignored the insult, he couldn't do anything about it anyway "Raise your hands" The voice belonging to a scaled creature, almost like a dinosaur said. Falco was reminded of Leon, friend of Wolf O'Donnell. Falco had made sure Leon wouldn't survive, his ship never hit the ground. The soldiers took the guns from the group and grabbed hold of them. They forced Falco's arm behind his back holding it so that they could inflict pain if he moved. They were all roughly searched for weapons, Blaze tried to struggle but was quickly subdued with a gun held to his head. Then Falco felt the sharp pain of the muzzle of a gun shoved into his back
"Walk" one of the guards ordered. Like sheep the team obeyed, they all knew better than to try and make a break for it when they were this outnumbered.
Falco felt his mind memorising the paths he was being led down. A photographic memory had not been something he'd been born with, it was something he'd had to learn. Only Fox had been fortunate in that respect, the only problem was frequently it didn't seem to have any film in it. Falco was determined to remember the way back, he would lead the team along this way shortly, once the odds were more in their favour they would make their escape.
Falco heard an odd clicking sound. Everyone stopped. The guard holding the partially assembled, utterly harmless bomb looked up. The team looked at the bomb and their watches, someone was trying to detonate the bomb by remote... 14 minutes too soon. Falco watched and saw what they all knew to be Pepper's code go through the bomb, and he knew his team had been screwed.
It didn't work. Pepper didn't know whether to be happy or sad, he just knew he'd betrayed his friend, and his government its people for the sake of a secret and a hope to maintain power for another term. Their plan it seemed had backfired, and their mistake would be paid for with the blood of civilians and soldiers alike.
An odd smell caught Falco's attention, the place they were leading them to smelt of death. Blood, and decaying flesh. Salty obviously noticed it too, he retched. Falco's fear increased immeasurably. There was a flash of one of his nightmares, it crossed his mind, he cowered in a corner. Falco stumbled over his feet, shaking his head. He stared down the corridor ahead of him. Doors led off either side at equal intervals. The smells seemed to be resonating from behind those doors. Falco knew a prison block when he saw one, he'd been in them enough times. He and Blaze caught one another's eyes and exchanged a nervous glance. Then the team were split up. Falco watched as the rest were flung roughly into the individual cells. Then finally his guard forced him into a door behind him, before he could so much as turn the door was slammed closed and locked.
"Shit"
Falco starred around the room he was in. At first he could see very little, then his eyes adjusted to the darkness. The only light entering the room came through a letterbox shaped hole in the top of the door and a narrow slit between it and the frame. Falco looked again round the room. The floor was wet, with blood and other things he didn't want to think about, this cell hadn't been empty for long...
"Please let them have shot them"
"A spirit is fragile and easily broken...
and can take a lifetime to mend"
For a long time he walked around and around the dark cell. The only thing he hated more than confined spaces was water. A primal part of his mind was angry and scared of being trapped, and Falco found it hard to control that part of himself. In truth he was terrified, flashes of what Peppy had told him of Venom kept creeping up on him. He walked faster, round and round the cell, the hawk in him searching for an escape route, the sentient knowing it would find none. They called this a "vice" in animals, when they had been slowly driven mad. Falco stopped. It hadn't taken him long to slide over the edge. Mentally he shook himself.
"Get a hold of yourself Falco!" He thought to himself "Think of a way to get out of here... And stop walking in circles!"
He slumped onto the floor and leant against the wall. For a moment he concentrated on calming himself, slowing his breathing and reducing his pulse. Finally he forced his mind to concentrate on the issue at hand. Their options were limited to say the least, Falco didn't go much on his chances of getting himself out, let a lone the rest of the team with him. Even if he could get them all out of their cells he would then have to get them back to the docking bay and into ships, or in the worst case scenario, escape pods, Falco frowned, he guessed the Behemoth wasn't the kind of ship which would have escape pods. He would have to get them to the docking bays then. The likelihood was that if he could even get them out of their cells they would then face a running gun battle, in which his measly team would be outnumbered 100-1. It would be a bloodbath. Even if he could get some of them to the docking bay, the shuttle would be a sitting duck. It was more than he could hope for to have enough survivors for a proper escort. Falco knew in his heart he was going to lose at least one more of them, if, they got out at all. He felt sick as despair took hold, cold, in his chest, seemingly his very soul. His nightmares were coming true. General Pepper and the Federation had betrayed them; the remote detonation attempt on the bomb had proven that beyond any reasonable doubt. The Angels weren't coming. Falco's strike team were alone, there would be no-one coming to rescue them. Even Fox had no idea where he was...
Falco heard footsteps approaching. He looked up from where he sat in the corner of the cell. The feet continued to get closer. Falco stood up. The footsteps stopped outside his door. Falco listened to a key turn in the lock. He dropped to a half-crouch, ready to strike whoever came through the door. The door swung open. Falco launched himself forward to meet only a club swung haphazardly towards him. He was knocked back. He fell heavily against the floor, unable to stifle a cry.
"Falco!" Salty shouted.
"Shut up!" one of the guards warned "No talking"
Falco was aware his dog-tag had escaped from under his shirt. He squinted at the silhouetted shapes coming towards him. Two men who looked like they were in charge and two standard guards. These came to either side of him and took hold of his arms roughly. Falco couldn't believe what was happening. People said this sort of thing didn't happen in the Federation anymore. He supposed he should know better. The scaled creature came close to Falco, so close he could smell his vile breath. He pulled Falco up by the tag. If he hadn't been held by the guards he would have struggled, as it was he was helpless. He was forced to stare at that ugly face.
"Lombardi eh? That's a familiar name isn't it?"
The other man grunted in response.
"We're gunna have lots of fun with you Star Fox, and once we're bored maybe we'll sell you to Venom, we'd get a good price for you"
"Bast-" one of the guards struck Falco on the beak before he could finish speaking.
"Shame you didn't bring your little friends with you, that Peppy's already been conditioned for us, but there's still lots of spirit to break"
Falco launched himself forward filled with rage, the guards held him away.
"I'll kill you!!" Falco screamed
"Insolent little shit, we'll soon knock that out of you" he waved his hand and one of the guards struck him on the back of the head with the butt of his gun. He fell forwards. But that was just the beginning...
Falco managed to bring his head back up to look at him and spit in his face. The creature wiped his saliva from his ugly nose.
"You won't want to be doing that again"
Falco scowled at him.
"Or be making faces like that. Because in here you do as I say, in here I'm God"
Falco snorted with contempt.
"Leaders always get to go first! Welcome to hell!" He said joyously
Falco hardly saw the knife coming. Before he could really comprehend what was happening they had buried it in his arm, driving it deep, until it was stopped by solid bone. Falco screeched. The thing with the knife backed off a little, stunned. Avion screams could unnerve anyone.
"Stop it, don't hurt him!" Salty's voice came again, pleading.
"Salty shut up!" Blaze hissed.
"Don't make me tell you again!" one of the ones in charge shouted "Or you'll make it very much worse for yourself and your feathered friend."
Then grinning the scaled thing came closer again and took hold of the knife handle which had been left in Falco's arm. He drew it down, its tip grating against the bone. Falco wanted to pass out, instead he screamed some more. Hot searing pain spread not just down his arm, but across his chest, into his head, blinding his senses, until pain was all he knew. When the knife came out again the pain reached a whole different level. His vision started to swirl, he noticed a red puddle on the floor, surely all that blood couldn't have come from him. The scaled creature held the glinting red knife up in front of Falco's face so he could see. Taunting him. Falco's blood stained his hand, then he took the knife down and slashed it along Falco's leg, shallow. Something warm dripped from the cut, thick red blood joined the puddle on the floor. The guy handed the knife to his companion. Falco dropped his head panting, glad of the brief rest. He heard the one with the knife walk round his back, but couldn't find the strength to turn his head to look. Searing pain shot up his spine, making him jerk upright, shaking another screech out of him.
"Don't move purple shit or this knife goes through your spine"
Terrified Falco remained motionless; the knife was slowly drawn up his back, slow so Falco felt every new inch with clarity. It seemed to take an eternity for them to finally reach the base of his neck. Once they did they took the knife away. Everything seemed to speed up after that. Falco was laid face down on the floor. There was lots of noise, like a bat swinging through the air, whistling in the wind, someone shouting, screaming. Begging for them to stop. Heavy hands rolled him over. The club came down against his chest. There was a loud crack. Searing pain, stronger, yet also weaker than all the others spread across his chest. Falco only then realised it was him screaming, he wished he would stop, the sound hurt his head, but he seemed to have lost control of his voice. Falco's world became a blurred puzzle of pain and blood for the next eternity. Then it stopped, at least he couldn't feel any new pains. He was laid in a puddle of blood and vomit, seeming to spin. Everything was quiet. Falco lay there unable to move, each time he tried agony ripped through him. It was best to just lie still. In the background he thought he could hear someone crying. For a moment Falco wasn't sure if it was his voice he could hear. Then he realised distantly it was Salty. The guards didn't seem to mind him crying. The sound of it made Falco's heart sink, if no-one else's.
The sound of Falco's screaming still echoed around Silver's mind. She'd never heard anything like it, it was so awful. When he had started crying her heart had felt as though it would break, he had always seemed so strong to her. She could hear Salty sobbing. She brushed the tears from her own face. She wanted desperately to know he was ok, and do something to ease his pain. Rock him in her arms... She was angry at them for what they had done to him, and afraid of the horrors they still had up their sleeves for the rest of them...
Falco heard footsteps for a while and then voices.
"Who should we take next Mitoc?"
"Oh I dunno... We've had our fun with Lombardi for now, why not make it a pair and have some fun with the McCloud look-alike"
Falco's heart dropped. Tyson.
New screaming ripped out in the silence. Falco could hear Tyson crying out for his mother. That call chilled him to the bone, even the tough defensive guys could be shattered like glass. Falco couldn't remember crying out for anyone, he couldn't remember anything but pain. Now as he listened to Tyson screaming he felt a deep despair take hold of his soul, as though it was being drowned in it. The Angels weren't coming, that was clear. They had been betrayed and there would be no rescue party. Falco remembered with a new despair that he wasn't the first member of Star Fox to be betrayed to this. In horror he realised they would all dead within a few days... but until then it would be hell... The guards slammed the door, sending pain searing through Falco's head and walked away laughing to themselves. Idly the rest of the team wondered who would be next.
It was Salty. When he screamed he sounded like a child, for that was what he was. Every thud as something heavy made contact with a part of his body Falco flinched. Than Falco heard a snapping sound and Salty screamed with renewed vigour. The guards howled with laughter. Salty it seemed couldn't scream anymore, Falco could hear him struggling to draw breath, heard him cough, then the sound of something wet splattering the ground. There were a few more thuds, then the guards left his cell, muttering disappointedly to themselves.
"Fuck you asshole!!" Falco heard Blaze shout as he lay face down on the floor. Then there was a deep bellowing growl and one of the guards yelped.
"Get off me you bastard!" He shouted. Falco heard the sickening sound of something heavy hit bone and then a body falling to the floor.
"Badger likes to bite does he? We'll soon put a stop to that" There was the sound of another strike, and more muffled sounds of struggling, but then Blaze went the way of all the rest. His screams shattered the silence in the prison block. For a short time his stubborn determination held out, he continued to swear defiantly at the guards, rousing the fighting spirit in everyone, then after a few moments more he started begging them to stop. His language deteriorating into a confused mixture of Lylat and his native Vulgarian. It seemed to go on for hours, Falco just lay there trembling, glad it wasn't him they were doing it to, and angry at himself for thinking that. Finally it stopped. Blaze's screams failed to quiet rasping breaths. There was only Silver left now...
What they would do to her was truly unforgivable. Her screams brought Falco back from the brink, it was a scream of pure terror, a primal scream of the fear that united all girls and women alike. Falco had heard those screams before, on the streets, the girls Jedd had been too late to save... he didn't need to see to understand this time. Silver screamed out to begin with, then her voice just faded to broken whimpers accompanied by the grunts of those men... the sound of their laughter... it filled Falco with rage. Rage like he'd never felt before. These people were no better than monsters. He wanted to scream, beat their faces into the ground, give them just some of the hurt they were causing her. He tried to get up, a fresh wave of agony burned through him, forcing him back against the cold, dirty floor. Panting in the darkness Falco solemnly promised himself he would get revenge for what they were doing. With every whimper he heard Falco felt as though his soul was being ripped out of his chest, but he knew it must be nothing compared to what Silver must be feeling. Sadly Falco resigned himself to the fact that Silver was lost, he'd seen rape victims before. They never seemed to go back to how they were...
For Slippy's birthday the ship was unusually quiet. There was a sombre air prevailing. Peppy was afraid he was the cause and did his best to be cheery but somehow he had hoped that Falco would be back for this. So far he was well overdue. He'd never missed one of their birthdays before, not for anything. Slippy seemed to miss him too, he didn't have anyone to play with, Fox wasn't obliging. There seemed to still be tension in the air, Peppy wondered if Fox was still angry at him for shouting at him. Peppy couldn't blame him, he hated himself for jumping to conclusions and overreacting. Peppy was sure Fox thought he was worrying over nothing, and it was obvious he was angry at Falco, mainly for getting him in trouble Peppy supposed. Peppy smiled, he hoped deep down some part of Fox would miss Falco. Peppy rubbed at his aching temples, the headache and sick feeling that had started late the previous afternoon was still there, nagging at the back of his mind... A bang startled him from his thoughts, Slippy looked up at him guiltily, the remainder's of a red balloon on the floor in front of him where he knelt. Peppy had to laugh, he'd have to remember to be careful with Slippy's candles...
He wasn't sure how long it had been when they came back. Falco realised with horror that the first session had just been blood letting, to weaken them, they hadn't even begun to twist the knife, to get what they wanted. Falco considered just giving it to them, the Federation had betrayed them, fair's fair. Then he thought of all the civilians... all the mothers and children who would cry. He managed to give the one they called Mitoc a defiant look from where he cowered in the corner. He frowned then, they were bringing in something that looked like a small square tank, as they brought it closer he realised it was full of ice and water. Falco felt hid eyes widen and pulse leap... every Avion was terrified of drowning. He started to shake. Mitoc came towards him, grinning an evil smile Falco was already coming to hate. Falco tried to shuffle away, his terror masking the searing pain, but they caught him and dragged him towards the water. Falco struggled desperately but to no avail, they were too strong. The other man grabbed his head and forced it into the water. When he couldn't get it out again every part of him panicked, he beat all his limbs wildly, ignoring the tearing sensations and fire seeming to burn up his limbs. No matter how hard he fought he couldn't get his head up. He seemed to fight for hours, the terror driving him on. Then the cold started to take hold and his limbs stopped responding, things started to get dark. The tank had been dark, but now the inside of Falco's head seemed to be going dark, shutting down, dimly Falco was sure it didn't take this long to drown...
"Metal water... metal water... breathe the metal water... put out the fire in my chest... metal water... breathe! Metal water... breathe! Breathe the metal water... I'll drown!! Metal water... I am drowning!! Metal water... breathe the metal water... breathe..."
Mitoc pulled his head out off the water bath and punched him in the face, forcing him to inhale. Falco's senses came back in a rush, furious biting cold gnawed savagely at his face, the rest of him felt as though it was on fire. Falco had only a little while to get his breath back, all the while they hit him, their laughter ringing in his ears. Then Mitoc grabbed the back of his head and he was in the water again. Though not for so long, but long enough for his lungs to burn and for the animal in him to panic. Then he came out again and Mitoc changed tactics. Falco wasn't sure what it was, it stung like a whip, cutting into his skin, his arms mostly where he held them up to protect his face. Occasionally they kicked him. As the pain became the norm Falco heard something different, his own voice crying out unbidden, with his cries came blood...
"Peppy please help me... Make them stop, they're hurting me. Help me... Please Peppy..."
Peppy dreamt of Falco, he'd been dreaming of him a lot lately. It was a recurring nightmare, though this night Falco's cries seemed more vivid in his mind, his voice calling out to him, though the words were lost to him, they just seemed urgent and filled with a desperation that was rare in his voice. Then as he tossed in his sleep a few words came through suddenly clearly, and with them horrific images he found all too familiar...
"Peppy... make them stop... they're hurting me"
Peppy jumped awake, his hands clenched in fists. Anger burning in his chest, every muscle in his body tense. He sat like a statue for a moment. Then as though released form a trance he blinked and breathed again. He stared about him, frowning at the nightmare, shaking his head he put it aside "It's just a nightmare" he told himself as he lay down again to sleep. Nevertheless his worry for Falco increased "Where are you little one?" He wondered.
The worst thing was not being in control. Falco in his short lifetime had grown used to believing he was in charge of his own destiny, for good or ill. Now he could do nothing, not even discern the passing of the hours, or even hold his head up and look his enemy in the eye. It hurt his spirit more than his body, he felt so helpless, given the choice he would rather death than the continuation of this abuse... but he didn't even have that choice, and that was slowly destroying him. He could remember back, he could remember being free... he could remember soaring above the clouds of countless worlds... he could remember standing at the edge of oblivion, and watching the sun rise. When he closed his eyes he could sometimes go back to that world... escape into himself...
He soared over a milky sea. The moon glowed round in front of him, filling his cockpit with silvery light. When he looked to his side he could see Fox flying beside him, his fur and features outlined with silver in his dark cockpit. When he turned to grin at him his eyes twinkled as his face fell into milky shadows, as though he were a ghost. He boosted away. Falco watched the light glance off the metal of his wings as he crisscrossed in front of him, asking him to play in his own silent way... There was always pain... Falco stood as just one in a vast crowd but one of four within that crowd. His ears tingled with the sounds of the music, his heart seeming to beat with the drums... The grey mare surged forward below him, trees flashed by in a blur, just for a moment they were one, seeming more to fly than run. Then they burst out from the forest onto a glorious green hillside spotted with flowers. The wind rushed in his ears and the smells of grass, flowers and heather wafted round his nose. Falco looked back, Peppy's vast brown gelding thundered along behind, tossing its head with glee, Peppy bent low to his neck willing him to go faster, to win their race. Falco too bent closer and willed his smaller lighter mare to find speed in her hooves. He could hear the thundering of Peppy's gelding as he drew closer... hoof beats became footsteps and Falco willed it to be Peppy walking the Behemoth's corridors, but he knew it wouldn't be...
Peppy stared at the star maps spread out on the table before him, trying hard to concentrate, but he couldn't, despite the painkillers his headache hadn't gone away, it had been three days now, but for some reason he knew it wasn't the kind drugs were going to get rid of. He looked back at the constellations, his mind seemed to be wandering to everything but what he should be doing, and Fox's music wasn't helping. Peppy was considering just giving up, for a moment he closed his eyes and just listened to the beat of Fox's music and Slippy's mumblings as he fiddled with one invention or the other. Then over the music he noticed a different sound.
"Hey Fox shut that up a minute"
Fox grumbled but complied
"We've got a message" Slippy said and flicked a switch to answer it. General Pepper's face appeared on the Common Room screen.
"Good afternoon Fox, Slippy and Peppy" He said cheerfully, not mentioning Falco's absence "I have a mission for you"
Fox immediately perked up. An image of a planet appeared on the screen. Peppy had to look at it twice, it looked as though pieces of it had broken off and were floating around it, but it couldn't be, surely.
"This is Dinosaur Planet"
Fox smothered laughter
"Yes Fox the Cornerian officials weren't feeling very inventive. As you can see parts of the surface have broken away, so far we don't have much information as to why. That's your job, I'm sure you'll enjoy looking into the planet's history Peppy." He laughed, Peppy frowned, Pepper's laughter sounded false and he refused to look him in the eye. Pepper hastily carried on. "Your job is to stop the planet ripping itself apart, even if that means tying ropes around the broken bits and using Great Fox to drag them back. If the planet explodes it will take the Lylat System with it, frankly Fox I'd rather not have to explain why Corneria and Katina have been obliterated and all the lives here lost. I can't stress the importance of your success enough"
"I get the idea sir"
"Yes of course. Good luck Fox... Be careful" Pepper's eyes briefly glanced at Peppy before he cut the channel. Great Fox changed her course and Fox began preparing for a new mission, one he'd rather not be doing alone.
A kick in the chest woke him. Something was laid next to him, dead eyes stared into Falco's. Screaming he jumped away, much to the amusement of his tormentors. Falco shuffled away so that his back was up against the wall, wishing that by getting away from the horrific sight it would stop it being true. He pushed his spine into the wall, aware he was still screaming. Then he realised it wasn't a nightmare and it wasn't going to change and that silenced him. Salty just lay there, his young body horrifically mangled. They'd sliced his ears into three and plaited them, just for starters. Falco stared at him, willing him to move, just a little, but he knew he wouldn't. He was unmistakably dead. Something deep within Falco shattered and died, he broke down sobbing. The grief was too overpowering, he could do nothing, the pain was worse than anything they had so far done to him. Worse than anything they could ever do. Falco had been told how much a broken heart hurt, he had never believed that it was a real pain before. Something inside was gone, shattered, broken and gone. Salty had believed in him and he had failed him, he'd failed them all...
Fox stared bemused around ThornTail Hollow. The giant dinosaurs, though they just cropped grass slowly were more than intimidating, Fox felt suddenly very alone, and for once thought he would have welcomed Falco's company. The Hollow was undeniably beautiful, the river running through it was crystal clear and bubbled away quietly, the bright green grass, that seemed almost too vivid was springy beneath his feet. A cool wind brushed against his fur. Fox had to remind himself that this seemingly tranquil place was classified as a war zone. Mildly he set out to explore the area, wishing to find a weapon more fitting to this world than his blaster, he wasn't supposed to have brought one at all, but Peppy had turned a blind eye to him smuggling one into the inner pocket of his jacket. Ahead he noticed something glinting next to a circle of palm tree like trees, curiously he waked forward. At first he thought it was a sword, Falco seemed to have developed a fascination for them of late. As he got closer he realised it was a staff, its head buried deep into the ground, as though it had been dropped from a great height. He looked up, almost expecting to see its owner flying overhead, unsurprisingly he saw only blue skies. He reached out and touched it. It was as though electrified, Fox snatched his hands back startled, it took him a moment to gather his courage to touch it again. This time he pulled it from the ground, it seemed to resonate with a strange power, humming up his limbs and across his chest, bemused he stared at it. The staff was taller than he was, decorated with purple, yellow and blue, in not the most tasteful way. At one end a teardrop shaped head spread out, judging by the trigger in the handle Fox guessed it was some sort of firing system, Fox's curiosity got the better of him, he squeezed the trigger. Bang! The bolt of fire that shot from the end of the staff caught him off guard.
"Arh!" he cried alarmed. A ThornTail the blast had narrowly missed stared angrily at him. Fox laughed self-consciously. They had always laughed at Slippy for doing things like that, they'd called it the "Push the Button" gene, for when his curiosity for technology and such overwhelmed all sense of reason and caution, usually with disastrous results for poor Slippy. He was a familiar face at the minor burns unit a the Cornerian Central hospital. Grinning Fox put the staff on his back. He was again surprised when it shrank to a more manageable size. Thinking what a weird world he'd stumbled onto he trotted off.
It was just like James' funeral. Only Fox was older now, he stood close to Peppy, his expression empty, just staring numbly ahead, detached. Peppy cried quietly and hugged Slippy tightly by his side. Slippy's face was wet and pale, his large eyes watching the coffin being carried slowly along. Just like James the coffin was empty. No body would ever be recovered. Pepper sighed, the three of them stood apart from him, at James funeral he'd been standing at their sides. Peppy had been holding one of Fox's tiny hands, this time Fox's hands hung limply at his sides. Pepper knew that this time their loss was his fault. The three of them huddled close together, Fox still not crying, just looking lost, their family Peppy had called it, they didn't look right anymore, one smiling face was missing...
Pepper snapped awake, and sat up in bed. Sleepily his wife Amelia spoke to him.
"What's wrong Charles?..." She put her arm across his chest
"N-Nothing... go back to sleep" he stammered weakly
Charles Pepper listened to her groan and then roll over and fall back asleep. Quietly, so as not to disturb her he climbed out of bed. He pulled back the curtains slightly, making sure the shaft of moonlight they let in didn't fall on her face. Charles starred up at one of Corneria's two moons. He wondered how Fox was getting along on Dinosaur Planet, and found himself praying for his safety. The last thing Star Fox needed was to lose another member, especially not their leader. If Fox was killed it would destroy Peppy. Charles sighed and wondered how he could ever find the words or the right time to tell them. There was never a good time. He'd already decided to wait until the mission on Dinosaur Planet was finished, he couldn't break the news to them when Fox was away on combat. Besides, he felt he owed it to Peppy to tell him in person. Either way he knew the truth would be devastate Peppy, he cared too much, about all of them. He also knew Peppy would never forgive him. Charles groaned to himself. He should never have let Falco go, he should have let Peppy know where he was when he'd had the chance. He should have done more to make sure the Angels flew. Six people were now dead... or dying... because of their misjudgement, one of those Charles had counted as a friend for a number of years. Falco had taken leadership of the strike team in good faith, believing the Federation commanders would uphold their side of the plan, and they had betrayed him. Charles had been in charge of missions that had gone wrong before, but he'd never been left feeling like this. They had just been children, the orphans of the Federation, no-one would miss them. None of them had deserved to die, and he doubted that they would have simply been shot. The silver light of the moon grew blurred in his watery vision, the stars multiplied and blended into one, he leant more heavily against the window, his strength seeming to leave him in a tide...
Peppy was trying to read his expression.
"What's wrong Charles?" He asked concerned.
"I'm so sorry..." Pepper began but lost his voice. He only managed to lift his hand and hold it out to Peppy. His eyes remained locked on Peppy's face as he made his fingers open. Peppy looked down at his hand to reveal the red winged fox. Pepper watched his face as he realised what he was holding. It seemed to go through a range of terrible emotions before his eyes finally came up to look at his.
"No..." he moaned softly, he looked as though his soul had just been ripped out of his chest, totally destroyed.
Pepper fell onto the floor. Amelia sat up in bed.
"Charles!" She cried jumping up and coming quickly to his side. He couldn't rid his mind of the image of Peppy's face. He was aware Amelia was by his side.
"What's wrong Charles? Are you ill? What were you doing out of bed"
Charles finally found his voice.
"Stargazing... I must have dozed off" he tried to reassure her, though his voice shook slightly.
"Silly old coot!" She rebuked softly "Come now to bed with you"
She helped him up and guided him back to bed. Laid by her side Charles did his best to put Falco and Peppy out of his mind.
"How does that cloak of yours work?" Mitoc demanded. Falco clutching at his gut turned to look up at him. He managed to splutter a response
"You - fucked up. You killed the wrong guy. The only one - who could answer that is dead!"
That defiance earned him a kick in the chest, where broken ribs ground against one another. He coughed up more blood and fell to the ground groaning weakly, no longer able to scream.
"Tell us Lombardi, or would you like more time in the water?"
"I don't know!" Falco cried.
Mitoc clicked his fingers and Falco heard him bring the water bath in again. Falco felt himself start to tremble.
"Well lets see if a cold bath will jog your memory"
Then it all started again. Mitoc would ask him over and over again, but Falco couldn't tell him anything, Salty had taken his secrets with him to the grave as far as the strike team were concerned. Then Mitoc suddenly changed tactics, he drew Falco's head out of the water.
"What are Great Fox's computer access codes"
"Fuck you I'm not telling you that" Falco heard himself say. That earned him the full wave of Mitoc's fury. Falco wasn't sure exactly what he did to him but all he knew was it hurt worse than anything else. It started in the base of his spine and worked out to every extremity making his fingers feel as though they were crumbling.
"6Omega15FoxtrotAlphaChaos!" Falco screamed out, anything to make him stop. As suddenly as it had started it did stop. He collapsed into the floor. "What have I done?"
"See Lombardi, there are advantages to helping us" Mitoc smiled shrewdly "What was it now... 6Omega15FoxtrotAlpha-...?"
"Chaos" Falco groaned... it was an old code... the first one he'd ever had... long out of date. It would raise alarms if they tried to use it, Falco smiled inwardly, Mitoc seemed to be convinced by his conviction. Falco felt himself be rolled onto his back so that he looked up at Mitoc's grinning scaly face.
"I'm going to leave you alone for a bit now, as a reward for helping me, but just remember" Mitoc tossed something up in the air "What happens when you defy me. Let me just remind you" He touched the device he'd been throwing in the air to Falco's arm. The same agony ripped through him, as though his bones were dissolving, fizzing away and merging with his blood. Then he took it away again. Falco's world was dizzy and spinning, from far away he heard Mitoc's voice.
"Just remember Lombardi. I decide what happens to you."
The door slammed behind him and Falco's world went black.
The sound of a commotion stirred him, confused shouts, Falco tried to clear his head and hear what the voices were saying. He heard feet run fast past his cell, then more shouts
"Shoot him!"
"Don't let him get away"
Falco came more awake, his soul suddenly alive with hope, someone was trying to escape!
"Damn vermin fox!"
It must be Tyson, Falco wished hard "Go on Tyson, run, please get away!"
Then there were shots. A scream, more shots, a squelching sound that seemed to carry loud and clear even over the chaos and a thud as something hit the ground. Then sickeningly a cheer. Falco felt his hopes vanish to disappointment and in the cell opposite him he was sure he heard Blaze groan.
"That'll teach him for trying to escape"
"Shame they shot him up so bad, there isn't even enough left to use as an example to the others"
"Yeah... Someone come and clear up this mess! I won't have this filth dirtying my corridors! Now... Slytir would you care to join me for dinner?"
"Certainly..." The voices grew distant.
"Goodbye Tyson" he sighed and slipped slowly back into that dark place...
The wind ripped at Fox's face as the speeder bike swept along after the SharpClaw. Fox was aware of trees passing him and sharp outcrops of rock that would shred him to pieces if he got to close, but he didn't have time to think about that. Suddenly he raced past one SharpClaw then the other, they seemed to be slowing down, but why? Suddenly Fox was airborne, he felt the bike fall away beneath him.
"ah crap"
Splash! Fox landed in water, pleasantly warm. As he surfaced he could hear the sound of laughter. He swam to the source of the noise. As he looked he saw a small dinosaur, purple, a little triceratops or EarthWalker as they called them here.
"Asheco tamero afen, sufon corro munch" The dinosaur laughed.
"What? I don't understand you!" Fox cried exasperated "Slippy a little help here!"
"Asheco-" the dinosaur began to repeat itself. Slippy's translator came online "Hot springs, other wise you'd be dead now"
Angered Fox raised his hand to slap the baby dinosaur and shut him up.
"You better not! My dad's the king EarthWalker and he'll beat you up real good! I'm prince Tricky"
Fox stared down at him, he'd found what he'd been looking for but he had hoped the prince wouldn't be this annoying; it was going to be a long mission.
"We have something to show you Lombardi" Slytir said, he gestured to the guards his laughter ringing out into the dark prison block, Falco's heart went cold, whatever it was, it couldn't be good. They were dragging something in behind them... Someone. They pulled Silver by her leg. Falco starred at her, she was half naked, her clothes torn from her body for those men to gawp at. Blood was dried to the fur down the inside of her legs, bruising and blood across her abdomen and chest all to clear to Falco's eyes. Slytir dumped her in front of him. Falco felt himself start to cry, how could they do this to her? It was the most cruel thing he could imagine. At least she was free now... Falco jumped, her chest rose slightly. She was still breathing, barely. Falco wasn't sure if that was worse. He knelt by her side.
"Sliver..." He said quietly, talking hurt his throat, his voice gurgled past blood. She looked up at him, her once beautiful silver blue eyes glazed with terror. Didn't she recognise him?... He was male. The enemy. A new part of Falco's soul descended into the depths, and the void it left was filled with rage.
"Fal..." Silver mumbled. Falco looked down on her suddenly. He took her hand in his; the silver bracelet was gone from her wrist he noticed.
"It's ok Silv' I'm here" Falco soothed past the lump in his throat. She sighed, and managed to squeeze Falco's hand gently before slipping away from him forever...
The grief this time gave him strength. Falco didn't care what they did to him, nothing seemed to matter now. Tears streamed down his face. His hands balled into fists and he slammed them into the most convenient body. He stood up, shrieking like an enraged animal, words, names, jumbling out of his mouth in an angry muddle. He didn't care what he was doing, he just struck at anything solid. Flailing his limbs, felling the satisfaction of burying his fists and bare, sharply clawed feet into soft yielding flesh. Light caught his eye, flooding in the open door, he made a rush for it... Something hard slammed into his head and the last thing he was aware of was the floor coming up to meet him.
Blaze's heart fell through the decks. Falco, like Tyson had come so close to escaping, he listened forlornly as they dragged him back into his cell.
"We'll make him regret that"
Blaze felt so helpless, so alone, it seemed there was nothing any of them could do to stop this. They no longer had free will of their own, even how long they would be given to live would be dictated by Slytir and Mitoc. Blaze failed to painful sobs. One by one they were falling, Silver was gone too by the sound of things, he and Falco were alone. Blaze found himself hopelessly wishing Falco wouldn't wake up again...
This had to be one of the weirdest missions he'd ever been on. The baby dinosaur Tricky looked down on him as he climbed down the ladder into the ThornTail well. The place smelt of damp. An unpleasantly cool wet mist clung to his fur as he reached what he thought was the bottom. Mushrooms, he was hunting mushrooms. They could have just given Tricky's mother a dinosaur sized shot of penicillin and be done with it but nooo he had to go looking for magic mushrooms, and not the kind he used to buy in nightclubs.
"I don't get paid enough for this..." Fox mumbled to himself as he picked his way around the stagnant puddles on the ground. The walls of the cave at the bottom of the well glowed eerily grey in his torchlight. Aside from the torch beam it was pitch black, he shivered slightly. His boots squelched on the wet moss growing on the floor, and somehow the water found its way in. It always did.
"Note to self, buy better boots"
Fox wandered on through the dark cave
"Here little mushrooms, where are you? Mushy, mushy, mushy... ugh shut up Foxy! Stop calling the plants... wait are mushrooms plants? Ah who cares."
The cave Fox was walking through suddenly opened up into a wide expanse. He shone the torch beam around. In front of him stretched an underwater lake, and on a small island right in the middle he spotted what he was looking for.
"Oh typical!" Fox growled to himself.
He stepped forward into the lake, he shuddered as water ran into this boots and soaked into his trousers, he carried on walking out into the lake until he was up to his armpits. The water was cold and smelt disgusting.
"I really need a new job" Fox said to himself "so glamorous my life..."
Just as he was contemplating having to swim the water got shallower again. Eventually he stood on the shore of the island, bedraggled, dripping wet, filthy and stinking of swamp gunk.
"Ahchoo!" Fox sneezed "mm bless me"
Fox drew the staff from his back and wandered towards the white mushrooms. To his immense surprise they upped their roots and ran away from him.
"What the? Am I seeing things?" Fox watched the mushrooms huddle in a group on the far side of the island. He ran for them and swiped the staff, the mushrooms jumped away and he missed completely. Fox set about chasing the mushrooms around the small island. They constantly evaded him. It took him almost an hour to catch the required six. Once he had them he sat against a convenient lone tree in the middle of the island, panting and immensely glad no-one had been around to watch.
One day faded into another with only the frequent visits of Slytir and Mitoc to give any hint of time's passing. It was always dark, except when they were there, Falco learnt to fear the light, and the sound of their approaching footsteps. He started to forget the world outside the cell, the darkness and stench seemed eternal, all there was in his world, besides the ever present pain. Even when they left him it lingered, and as he grew weaker and weaker Falco felt his spirit let go, give up on the world. He was simply waiting to die...
Peppy watched the monitor showing Fox's movements. Life was changing, and he didn't like it, he wanted nothing more than to have all his team under one roof again. He watched the display as Fox chased after a rouge SharpClaw, he'd wanted to go with Fox, to help, but he was getting to be too old for that kind of work... he sighed deeply, sadly, he wished his team were all tiny again... then he would still be young. He watched Fox again, growing old and seeing the children choose their paths wasn't supposed to hurt this much... or come so soon. He sighed wearily, he seemed to always be tired recently, he seemed to be sleeping a lot yet he was always weary. He laid his aching head on his arms on the instrument panel and listened to the soft bleeps and clicks of the bridge...
Falco and Fox smiled up at him. The damp wind blew the sea into foaming white crests, the pale brownish sand was wet beneath his feet, it stuck between his toes. The beach was deserted, it wasn't the weather for holiday makers, but somehow he preferred it like this. The sound of laughter could carry for miles even over the crash of the waves. He watched Fox chase Falco along the shoreline until he finally caught him and they tumbled to the ground together, laughing. Fox was first up, away and running again, closely followed by Falco. They both ran towards him. He ran from them, joining in their games, Fox rugby tackled him and Falco added his weight until he fell to the ground. Giggling they pinned him so that he ended up laid on his back with both of them sat on his chest. He sat up pushing them both off onto the sand.
"Silly little pups" he laughed standing up and brushing the sand from himself. He watched as they scampered off to continue their games...
"No parent should have to bury their child"
Peppy shivered. In the distance he could hear Falco crying, whimpering, calling weakly for him, but not expecting him to come. Peppy filled with despair. He seemed so far away, he could not reach out and touch him, though he wanted to, the rift between them was too great. All he could do was lend his voice...
"Don't lose hope... As long as you have breath in you there is hope... be strong my little one..."
Falco half opened his eyes, he could almost feel a familiar presence in the cell with him... but that was impossible. He wondered if he was finally dying.
"Don't be afraid... keep fighting and you'll win out... don't ever give up!" the voice in his mind was stern for a moment then softened again "Wasn't that what I always tried to teach you? Don't lose hope little one..."
Falco drew great comfort from the voice.
"Stand tall, be strong, and never give up. You've always been a survivor. That doesn't end here. Don't ever give up..."
The voice in his mind faded and the warm comforting feeling vanished like a wisp of smoke. Falco drifted away again.
"Hey Peppy, you sleeping on the job?"
"Huh? What? Falco?" Peppy asked bemused
"No, this is Fox" The voice said tersely.
"Oh sorry Foxy... what'd you need pup"
"I'm lost. Can you scan the area and give me directions"
"Sure thing, bear with me a sec"
There was silence at the other end of the comm. Peppy ran the scan then came back to the comm.
"Sorry Fox, which way you headed?"
"North" he answered irritably
"Ok, take a left then the second right then left again. That should bring you out onto the plains. Did you get all that?"
"Yees. Try to stay awake next time ok Peppy?" Fox said and cut the comm.
Peppy rubbed at his eyes, and tried to force himself to wake up. He yawned loudly. He was having really weird dreams of late, maybe Fox was right, maybe he should lay off the caffeine... "nah". Peppy stood up to stretch his legs. He wandered around the small bridge, for a moment pausing to stare out the main windows at the stars then down onto Dinosaur Planet. Finally he returned to his place by the controls. Slippy would be up to relieve him in a little while. He yawned again, that couldn't come too soon.
When Falco's barely conscious mind heard the name McCloud, oddly his first thoughts were of James, Fox's father, who, 10 years ago had died in the same way he seemed destined to now. Then as his mind came more awake he realised that the two guards standing outside his door were talking of Fox. Falco listened intently, for the first time in what felt like years feeling something other than pain.
"So McCloud's on Dinosaur planet is he?"
"Yeah, from what I heard"
"Does he know about us and Andross then?"
"Doubt it, McCloud's an idiot, just like his father, he wouldn't know a plan if it was staring him in the muzzle. As far as he's concerned that lackey Scales is his biggest problem. They're all fools"
"But shouldn't we just remove McCloud? He could be trouble. He has a habit of sticking his nose in where it doesn't belong"
"I don't think McCloud and his stupid Star Fox will be causing us many more problems" the guard laughed "Him and his dinosaur lap-dog will get ripped to pieces by a SharpClaw sooner or later."
Falco felt something now, fear, Fox was in danger and didn't realise it, though he struggled to understand what Andross had to do with all this, he was dead...
"I don't think Star Fox will be causing anyone anymore problems" He laughed again "Least not judging by him in there. I'll give him a few more days, three at best."
"I dunno- you've seen the things them lot do-they're tough bastards the lot of them."
"Would you call him in there tough?"
"Well you've gotta admire a guy that can hold on this long."
"The only thing to admire is Mitoc's skill with a knife. That one will die only when he dictates"
"Yeah but the others... there's only him and the Vulgarian left now isn't there?"
Falco felt sick, how could he say that, just like they were animals to be slaughtered for sport.
"Yeah, the Vulgarian didn't look too good though. I think Slytir's getting bored with him."
Falco didn't want Blaze to die.
"I don't know why they didn't use Star Fox as a hostage. He'd be a good bargaining token wouldn't he?"
"Idiot. No Federation commander is going to negotiate for a mercenary" he laughed again "Especially not that one, maybe if it was McCloud..."
"Yeah, they'd pay well for his hide!"
In the cell Falco burned with anger, even here Fox was worth more than him.
"McCloud's making quite a nuisance of himself from what I heard. He's trying to take back the SpellStones. If he does that we'll never get the master weapon working. He might even be able to stop them reviving Andross."
Falco was sure he was hearing things
"Why don't they just send someone to shoot him then rather than risking letting him screw things up"
"oh come on do you really think McCloud can stop us. One Andross returns we'll soon have this puny Federation under our fists! With this ship were invincible!!"
In the cell Falco managed to snort to himself. No ship, no mortal man was invincible, anyone who believed that was overconfident. Someday the Cornerian Army, the fleets of the Federation would destroy this beast, whether he would live to see it or not was another matter... but someday even the Behemoth would fall, and that gave him courage.
"In extreme situations an extreme part of the mind takes over...
and all your left with is a monster"
He had nothing left to lose. As Falco stared down at Blaze's broken body he felt cold, detached. This time there was no grief. He seemed to have gone past that. There was no-one left now but him, no-one else for him to save. The only person he had to get out was himself, he had to get out, to help Fox. He had to. No matter what. He had only to bide his time, wait for Slytir or Mitoc to slip up, underestimate him and give him a chance. Then he would have his revenge, and he would teach them what it was to be afraid.
In the beginning Mitoc used to bring guards into the cells with him, but as they grew weaker he had started to come in with only one, then he came in alone, to get his sadistic kicks in privacy, this was to be his big mistake. Falco knew he was alone, he didn't have anyone else left to save, and he'd be damned if he was going to let Mitoc be the end of him, at least not while Fox needed his help. Falco lay on his back in the corner of the cell, listening to the hum of the Behemoth's engines, not really thinking of anything, the darkness made him like that, numbed his mind, he didn't care much about that, that way he couldn't have so many regrets about what his life had been before, what he'd given up. He didn't feel much, mostly hatred, towards Slytir and Mitoc, but even that seemed numb and distant... he was also aware he hated General Pepper, but he couldn't remember exactly why. While Slytir or Mitoc weren't there everything seemed distant somehow, but when they were everything seemed to be thrown into sharp relief, as the light shinning in the open door and the pain made everything, even sounds sharper than they were. Falco lay there not daring to think trying not to listen for fear he would hear footsteps, he was the only one left for them to be coming for. Falco couldn't tell if they came more often now, or less, time was like a bubble, shifting and changing shape as though on his own breath. He heard footsteps; he tried to ignore them, as though imagining they weren't there would make them go away, but they drew closer and he heard the key turn in the lock. The sound of it made him wince, the scratching as the teeth ground against the inner workings of the lock. Mitoc entered alone. Though he closed the door behind him, he didn't lock it.
"Good morning Lombardi!! How are you feeling today?" he cried in mock concern.
The sound of his voice filled him with a primal dread, and turned his heart to stone. Mildly he wondered if this session would be the end of him, and part of him hoped it would be. He managed to open his eyes and look through the darkness at him, the thin light from the door shining on his scaly skin. He was carrying just a small knife. Twiddling it round his fingers for Falco to watch, the anticipation was almost as bad as the pain. Falco let his eyes wander around Mitoc's body, suddenly he noticed something. Mitoc was wearing a gun. He'd never done that before, Falco wondered if he was going to shoot him. Then something else stirred in him. He looked from the gun to Mitoc and back again. For a moment he felt a smile creep across his face. Mitoc approached, Falco tensed his waiting muscles, Mitoc came forward and went to strike him. Falco darted to his side and was aware of himself pulling the gun from the holster at his hip. He rolled to his feet grabbing Mitoc round the neck. He had him in a headlock before either of them knew what was happening. Falco pushed the gun into Mitoc's face, holding him around the neck.
"I'm blue" he sneered staring into his eyes. It was Mitoc's turn to look afraid. "Revenge is sweet isn't it?"
Falco pulled the trigger. Mitoc's body, with a hole through its head dropped to the floor. Falco looked down on it pleased and kicked it out of the way, pausing only to take the knife and gun.
Falco couldn't quite believe what was happening, but he wasn't about to hang around thinking about it. He slipped out of the open door and walked quietly along the corridor between the rows of prison cells. He couldn't help but feel remorse that he'd entered with five others but was leaving alone. There would be time for grief later. He walked slowly, his feet plodding softly against the cold floor. Up ahead he could hear voices, two guards discussed something. Slowly he crept up behind them. They were both dead before they even knew he was there. He took one of their larger guns, drew up the mental map of the Behemoth's corridors and ran.
He was past the point where pain could touch him. He was only anger and aggression, and woe betide anyone who got in his way. Falco was gone. Already dead. His body soon to follow, but for now it was a weapon for extracting revenge. Before he finally fell he would take some of them along with him.
Avions move fast, Falco faster than most. He could go especially fast when he was frightened. Most of the first guards didn't hear him coming, until it was too late. Falco opened fire and dropped them before they could even so much as blink. Guard after guard slid to the ground leaving bloody splatters against the walls. Falco became distantly aware an alarm had been raised. All the better, let them come, and his fury would feed on their blood. A voice in the back of his mind called out orders "Left! Now right!" as corridor after corridor flashed by and blaster bolts rained mercilessly into unsuspecting chests. The fury fed on the blood, wanting more with every passing footfall. Falco could smell blood, he was drenched in it, his and theirs. His mouth tasted of metal.
More guards came to try and stop him, but he wasn't afraid of their blockades, he wasn't afraid of anything anymore. He ploughed his way through them, gun blazing in one hand Mitoc's sharp knife in the other. He didn't know why he was still alive, he didn't care. The odds all said he shouldn't be, yet he was still on his feet and running-better off dead than giving in. Falco became death on legs, a plague sweeping through the ship, destroying everything it encountered, unheeding of the futile attempts to stop him. Some guards stepped back, frightened of the blue monster drenched in blood.
A set of double doors opened. It was the smell that brought him back to himself. He blinked and stared around the docking bay, rooted to the spot.
"No way! Why am I still alive?"
He jumped sideways, turned round and shot out the door controls, sealing them shut, for the time being at least. Now his mind was active again, and it was determined to live. Falco jumped behind a box of supplies near where he was standing, crouching he peered over the top. He couldn't believe it, a short sprint away sat his and Tyson's Arwings and the shuttle. His first stroke of luck for what felt like an eternity. There appeared to be a research team working around the shuttle, probably trying to figure out how to work the cloak. By now they had realised something was wrong, armed guards were approaching his position, they hadn't spotted him, but it was only a matter of time. Four of them between him and his ship. Falco held the gun tightly. He popped up, one shot, one down, next, down, third, down. Falco aimed at the forth and squeezed the trigger. The gun clicked and wined, no shot came out. Falco ducked down again as fire glanced over his head and into the crate.
"Shit! How could I be so stupid, no ammo!" Falco felt his heart sink. He'd come too far to be captured now... and Fox needed his help. He looked down. Mitoc's knife was still in his hand. He flicked it over, taking hold of the blade. He shuffled sideways. He stood up and with a flick of his wrist threw the knife. It struck the guard in the chest, not a perfect shot, but good enough. Falco had run past him before he hit the ground. He would bleed to death... "oh well". Falco ran for his ship. The cockpit was open thankfully. He leapt up the side and sank into the familiar seat...
The hawk was back where he belonged... soon to touch the sky again. The Arwing became part of him, his wings, his limbs, his hands moved over the controls in a slow motion dance, the cockpit closed and the engine kicked into life...
The sudden blue burn of the Hydrogen engine roasted 2 of the research team foolish enough to work behind. Falco lifted the Arwing off the deck, the movement of the wings broke limbs. He armed the weapons as he turned the ship towards the closed bay doors, as he turned he squeezed the lasers. Ships docked in the bay blew sky high, they in turn taking walls with them. Falco surged forward into the middle of the bay he spun his Arwing quickly as a squad of guards fired on him, their shots glanced harmlessly off the shields. He fired at them and they all died in a huge explosion. He turned his ship to Tyson's Arwing and the shuttle. He fired on them. The explosion from the shuttle was spectacular taking the roof and the floor with it, shrapnel bounced against the triple strength shields encasing his Arwing and him. Finally he turned on the bay doors...
"Open sesame"
He squeezed the trigger and the doors blew open, and with them the atmospheric shield went down. Falco's Arwing along with everything else not securely locked down was sucked out into space. A few sharp strikes against the Arwing took the shields down a few points, but nothing to worry about. Falco waited for the flying metal to pass before switching on the cloak. The Behemoth's guns couldn't catch him, they fired aimlessly searching for a needle in a haystack, the fighters couldn't get him either. Falco flew across the Behemoth's massive bow. He dropped all but 4 off his bombs onto it, satisfyingly parts blew up...
"I should be dead... I should be dead... what's takin' them so long...
"Don't push it, run! Help Foxy... run Falco, RUN!"
Falco listened to the voice in his mind. With the increased speed Salty had given him he fled through the waves of fighters, dodging them like in the asteroid fields. Then one turned that he wasn't expecting, he yanked the control stick to turn away from it.
"I don't wanna die!"
The wing tip of Falco's Arwing sliced through the vulnerable cockpit of the ship, instantly killing the pilot.
"I'm alive? My wing's been better... but I'm alive!"
Falco made his course erratic as he ploughed his way through. Then all of a sudden there were no more fighters... then the Behemoth was just a distant blip on his scanners... then nothing more...
Falco blinked, fully aware for the first time in weeks. He was alive. He could only ask, why? Why had he survived? Why hadn't he been shot into a million pieces like Tyson? Why hadn't he bled to death? Falco stared down at himself. He needed help. He set the autopilot to take him to the nearest base. Then all of a sudden the adrenalin wore off and all of his pain assaulted him in a wave. With an audible cry of agony he collapsed onto the controls.
Peppy frowned at his coffee mug, suddenly aware something was missing. He rubbed his temples thoughtfully. Then all of a sudden he realised what it was. He took his hand away... the constant headache that had been plaguing him since before Slippy's birthday was gone, it had stopped unnaturally abruptly just a few minutes ago. Bemused Peppy went back to making his coffee.
He stirred to the sound of bleeping. He sat up, and stared around himself, at the stars. He couldn't understand where he was... heaven? With the stars? Then the pain came back... Hell? He groaned and looked down, at the control panel. He remembered where he was, in his Arwing, he was oddly comforted by that. He was alive...was that good... or not? He was free, that made him feel better. The base was showing up on the display. Falco remembered... he was going there... His mind felt fuzzy, his limbs heavy and his body cold. His Arwing flew closer to the base on an automated approach, he felt tired, the world seemed distant and unimportant.
The base towed in the unresponsive ship when its pilot made no effort to land manually. The thud as the landing feet touched the deck brought Falco back to himself. He stared around the busy docking bay. His Arwing was not alone, there was a huge range of ships in the bay, small shuttles, civilian personal transports and even the odd sleek fighter. Falco's Arwing would stand out, obviously marked as Star Fox, but he was past caring. He wanted to sit in the Arwing, he didn't want to move... at least then the team would find his body... they'd have an extra ship then... Falco shook himself mentally, he'd survived this far. He wasn't ready to give up, not yet. Not as long as Fox needed him. He pulled himself out of the cockpit and slid, more than climbed down the side. His mind far away he found the medical kit in the storage compartment along with it a spare jacket, he was cold, he pulled it on, his arms screamed in protest but Falco just didn't seem to notice anymore. Dreamily he walked off... he wasn't aware what he was looking for really, he just wanted somewhere quiet... that was what they said about animals, they found dark corners to curl up and die in. Falco wandered on... he was thirsty... he needed water... and something to clean his wounds.
It upset Falco, how the civilians backed away from him, nervously, as though if they came close they would catch some horrible disease or as though they were afraid his blood would stain their clothes. It hurt him to think how so many had died to help people who would not so much as help each other. It was like being back on Avion, he was invisible, scum to be trodden in and shaken off their boots. He could barely walk, wincing with every step, bleeding freely, and not a soul offered to help him. He wondered what his team had died trying to save. A little girl walked out in front of him, not looking where she was going. Falco stopped suddenly to avoid walking into her. The movement sent searing pain through his body. He let out an involuntary gasp. The little girl looked up at him, for just a moment she stared into his eyes , then she ran, screaming. Though the sound felt as though it would shatter his skull he followed her with his eyes. She ran to her mother who took her up in her arms, comforting her. Falco watched them, for a moment the mother looked up at him, they made eye contact, Falco gazed beseechingly at her, for just a second concern flickered over her face, then as she looked down on her own daughter concern turned to a scowl and Falco looked away. He just wished someone wouldhelp him.
"Anyone in here?" Falco shouted weakly. No response. He turned and wedged the door shut. Then once he was sure he wouldn't be disturbed he limped round to the sinks. He saw someone black reflected in the mirror. He jumped and spun round. There was no-one there. Breathing quickly he listened. Nothing. Frowning he turned round to look in the mirror above the sinks. Falco couldn't believe it. It had been his reflection. The face looking back at him from the mirror was truly terrifying. No wonder the little girl had run away screaming. To say Falco wouldn't have recognised himself would have been an understatement. He'd seen corpses that looked better. His face was more black than blue. There were patches where he had no feathers at all, like a mange ridden animal, most of those patches were black with bruising. His eyes... red. Falco suddenly wondered horrified if the damage to his sight would be permanent. He slumped against the work surface, his hands sliding. He lifted them up, they left red smears on the pale surface. He turned around and leant his back against it. He looked down at himself. His jacket covered most of his top half, though the formerly clean grey sleeves were now beaded with pink and red. His trousers were now little more than rags, dirty and soaking, flapping around his painful legs like whips. As he stood there Falco also became aware he smelt of unmentionable things. He felt suddenly very dirty. He staggered away from the sinks and went hopefully round one of the corners. He found what he'd been hoping for. Showers.
Falco had given up on standing, He just sat there motionless, watching the blood turn the water yellowy red and flow down the plughole accompanied by the occasional blue feather. Something nagged at the back of his mind that this wasn't the best idea, but it didn't seem to matter anymore, the warmth in the water soothed the pain... made it seem far away.
"Falco... Wake up!" Falco never had been able to refuse that voice. Peppy was calling him.
"Yeah, come on Falco, quit hoggin' the bathroom" Fox was here too. They'd found him! He could go back, they'd been looking for him! Everything was going to be alright...
His eyes opened. He was still sat on the floor of the shower. The water still rained down on his head. Falco looked around for Fox and Peppy, then he realised they wouldn't be there. His world seemed to crumble around him and he found himself sobbing.
"I want to go home" he said, his voice sounding like a lost child, pleading with the fates to bring its mother to it. The fates hadn't served Falco too well recently and they obviously weren't going to oblige today. Mildly Falco wondered what the team would think when they were told his body had turned up in a space base toilet, if they would even care. He sobbed some more. Thinking of how far away they were always made him want to cry, and then the thought that he might never see them again hurt even more. He was alone... Silver... Salty, Blaze, Tyson, Lupus all...gone... forever...
Finally he managed to make himself think straight. Slowly, painfully he pulled himself to his feet. He had to hold onto the walls to stand. Even his feet hurt. He swayed miserably for a moment dripping wet and shivering slightly. He wondered where he had gone wrong in life as he stood there, soggy and shivering, his mind a fragmented blur, why had this happened? What had he done to deserve this? He wondered if he was being punished... punished for being something evil, like his father had said all those years ago... something insidiously evil within him that he could never escape... or even hope to understand, he would only be punished with pain and despair for it for the rest of his life... and maybe even after... Falco shook away that thought... he'd stopped believing a long time ago...
As he gazed into the mirror again he realised patching himself up was going to be more difficult than he'd thought. No matter what he did he was going to stand out, especially considering the state of his clothes, or rather what was left of them. He couldn't wander about like this, aside from the effect it had on the civilian population it wasn't practical, he would freeze if he ended up on just about any planet. He looked at his face again. Dignity and self-worth had stopped meaning anything a long time ago. He frowned at himself in the mirror, but the frown turned into a wince of a powerful headache, he tired to shake it off, put it aside, until he worked out what to do. He looked down at his hands, again resting on the pale work surface. His biochip nestled in the space between his thumb and index finger would have given up on him long ago. They were attached to the heartbeat of the owner, if it stopped for more than a few seconds it would deactivate, and could only be restarted again by the police or a doctor. Falco could numbly remember them taking the resuscitation equipment out of the cells, he'd been dead more than once, but Slytir and Mitoc had brought him back so they could inflict more pain. Without his biochip and bank details he couldn't buy what he needed, he had no money. He had nothing.
"Oh today just keeps getting better." Falco mumbled to himself. He knew what he was going to have to do, and the worst part was he knew how, and had done it before. Stealing had never been something Falco had done lightly, but once he'd found out where all the StreetRunner girls went every night he'd stopped worrying about it, and under Jedd and Altayu's guidance had become an accomplished thief. Falco could still remember the look on Peppy's face when he'd told him, he hadn't known what to think or say... That didn't matter for now. He had to patch himself up, before he bled to death.
He noticed for the first time how sorely inadequate the medical packs were, either that or Falco was more of a wreck than the kits were designed to save. He pulled out the contents across the sinks, the basics, water purification tablets, plasma vaccine, one thing he actually didn't need, bandages, suture kit, painkillers, industrial strength antibiotics, antiseptics, local anaesthetic and several hypodermic needles... Falco didn't know where to start. First priority he supposed was to stop himself bleeding to death, grimly he took out the suture kit, now he just had to decide which wounds he would have to stitch and the ones he could afford to leave. He was never going to have enough to stitch all the ones that needed it. Grimly he found the needle and thread, grimacing he began on his arm, he didn't have enough hands so he had to use his beak instead, he winced at the fresh pains, not wanting to waste the anaesthetic. He found his fingers wouldn't move, they made doing the stitching almost impossible. Every stitch took him twice as long as it should have, and was excruciatingly painful. Finally he finished when he ran out of suture material. The rest of the deepest wounds he glued with the medical glue and hoped for the best. Then he turned back to the medical kits. He found the painkillers, he stared at the bottle, the dosages for him were written on the side, he had to stare at them for a long time before he could read them. Finally he drew out the dose, and stabbed the needle into his leg. It wouldn't be as quick as intravenous, but it would find its way into his system sooner or later. He repeated the process with the antibiotics, slightly more than he was supposed to, but he had lots of wounds to go septic, and that was the last thing he needed.
Falco stared at himself in the mirror again, his reflection gazed unblinkingly back, it seemed harsher now for some reason, even when he forced a smile his face seemed to remain angry, almost aggressive, even though that was far from how he felt. His appearance wasn't helped by the bruising around his eyes and the crack in his beak. He stared at himself, Falco smiled briefly, he wondered if even Peppy would recognise him... "Yeah he would... but Fox wouldn't, unless I wore a sign..." He noticed his face didn't seem quite so harsh when he thought of Fox, Slippy and Peppy. He sighed, again remembering the look on Peppy's face when he'd told him he'd once been a professional thief... he'd been appalled... maybe even disgusted... that was what that face had been... he wondered what he would say if he knew he was about to put his light fingers to work again. Falco shook himself. He needed new clothes, and if he tried to buy anything with a biochip that didn't work it meant instant police involvement, something he couldn't afford. Slinging his bag onto his back he unblocked the toilet door and stepped outside, hoping no-one would bother to do a genetic trace on the blood he'd left on the sinks. Mildly he pitied the mess the cleaner would find.
Modesty was cheap in the Federation. Falco walked out into the base, trying his best to ignore the discerning looks he was getting. It really was like being a StreetRunner again; people looked at you out of the corner of their eyes, but still kept a distance. The people pretended he wasn't there, only looking at him to ensure like a pile of dirt they wouldn't step in him or only scowling when they thought he wouldn't see. Falco sighed to himself, he should be used to this by now, but as it had when he was a child running the streets of Malcapay, it still hurt. Falco sighed, and looked down on himself, it would be even harder now than it was then. He'd promised himself he'd never do this again. He'd always hoped he wouldn't have to; he'd never thought he'd be in this position again. But he always been taught to do what had to be done, and not think about it. Mildly he wondered if he could still do it, he wasn't exactly inconspicuous, his clothes marked him out as something unpleasant before they even noticed the blood, Falco wasn't sure if all of it was his own. He wasn't sure if he could run, they'd catch him. He wasn't sure how he felt about that, all he knew was he didn't relish the idea of another prison. He continued to walk, for a moment delighting in the newly recovered freedom to choose where he walked. He stumbled past a café, the smells coming from it reminded him he hadn't eaten in a countless number of days. He had food in his ship he told himself, he couldn't risk it. As he passed a girl, maybe his age wiping a table with a cloth looked up at him, she met his eyes, which startled him so much he stopped. For a moment her eyes flicked up and down then returned to his. During this time Falco recovered from the shock and started walking again, swiftly, turning his back on her and trying to slip into the crowd. Falco heard running feet for a moment.
"Hey, are you alright?" She called after him.
"Kaiya where are you going?" The running stopped
"There was an Avion boy... like the one form Star Fox walking past, he looked really hurt..."
"Probably just some drunk, do your work..."
Falco sighed sadly to himself, he'd just been offered help, and he'd run away. Maybe he didn't want people to care about him. He looked about, everyone else was treating him like dirt, the girl was one of very few. Up ahead he noticed what he was looking for, a clothes shop selling disgusting and overpriced goods. Falco eyed it form a distance, wondering the best way to do it. Jedd had taught him lots of methods, but most of those involved being part of a team, doing anything alone was much harder. There was always the old standby of "I have a gun, and you don't", but that was best avoided if you wanted to leave with your hide intact. Falco looked down at his arms again; one more hole wouldn't make that much difference. Still he couldn't afford to be identified, or he could have half the Federation breathing down his neck, not to mention Peppy. He eyed the shop and pinpointed the things he needed. It would have to be a grab and run operation. In the state he was in anything more subtle simply wouldn't work. Carefully he looked up at the signposts for the direction back to the docking bay. He took a deep breath, again looked at his targets, the things he needed to steal against the position of the staff. He waited for a moment for one to move away, took another deep breath, and ran at the shop.
Falco raced in along his pre-planned route, snatching the first things his hands touched. He gasped in sudden agony as pain ripped up through his fingers. Things clattered to the ground behind him as he swung round in a loop to head out again. The staff and customers looked up startled just as he swept out of the door and the security alarms rang out, their shrill whistle piercing into his skull. He raced away from the shop, his feet pounding hard against the ground. Then he heard someone from the shop give chase. He didn't want to have to run all the way back to his ship, but he wasn't fast enough to get too far ahead, far enough to loose them. His feet hurt, his legs hurt, he cried in pain as he ran. He could feel tears streaming down his face. He wanted to give up. He felt as though his lungs would burst and he'd only been running a few moments. His top speed would normally have left all but the athletes of most races wallowing in the dust, as it was it was all he could do to keep the distance between him and his pursuer. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't force any more speed from his limbs and with every stride it became more and more painful. He passed the café. The girl looked up at the sound of the commotion and again their eyes met. She looked at him concerned, and maybe startled and shocked as he ran past. Falco was sure he couldn't run for much longer. The security guards would get him and then... there would be more prisons and a lot of explaining to do, and therefore, more pain. He shook his head and bit back the pain and tried to inch just a little more speed out of his limbs. Then as he ran he saw the doors into the docking bay, he ran through them, his feet sliding on the landing surface. He ran past ships both large and small, then finally he saw his silver and purple angel, his Arwing sitting serenely on the docking bay floor. The cockpit opened automatically as he approached. He ran up to it and swung into the cockpit with well practised grace, ignoring the pain it gave him. Once inside the Arwing again Falco felt safe, as he had on the Behemoth. He pulled up and away, a little of his personality coming through as he turned towards the doors as he raised his hand to wave at the shop staff and security guards that had been just a little too slow.
"RedEye Lombardi runs again" Falco thought to himself as he undercut a personnel transport leaving the base. A burst of speed and he was gone.
Falco was glad to get out of the stinking clothes, though what he'd stolen was far from perfect it wasn't cold, wet or full of holes. For a moment he revelled in the warmth a new jumper gave him. He knew where he needed to go now, a new and crucial mission awaited him. He set the homing beacon to look for Great Fox, it found her, not so far away, barely a day's travel at top speed, in the Lylat quadrant, not far from the Lylat system itself. He set the autopilot to take him there and watched the stars flitter slowly past in the blackness of space.
