Two Brothers

Veritas

"He is…my brother."

-Staris McCloud

His fighter sailed over me and I had kept an eye on Sal Chon, the whole trip from Titania. I hadn't allowed him to go into warp since I could lose him, so it had been an exhausted five hours. I had learned some very interesting things about him; he was abandoned at a young age, and Talia had taken him in and she had raised him while they were both young. She had been walking a fine line of dark and light but soon fell to the dark side dragging Chon along with her.

I had fought her predecessor in the last Venomian War and he had not gone down easy, a few times I had thought my life was forfeit but my Arwing had held. I can still remember him screaming at me…

"Hey James," I was jerked out of my reprieve and Chon was talking to me.

"Yeah?"

"We are almost there so put your craft in cloak; Venomians won't like seeing a Cornerian vessel." I did as he asked and my craft shimmered as it blended in with space. Chon stayed close with my craft and we orbited Venom as his face appeared on the Comm.

"She's not here, her vessel is somewhere else." Despair hit me and I looked back at him.

"Then, where is my son?"

"I don't know, we need to get out of here though, Venomians won't take kindly to a Cornerian." I nodded and we turned away from the planet as I felt sadness creep in.

Staris awoke sharply and he quickly got back to work, it had scarcely been an hour of sleep and he wanted to get back to work. Staris quickly brought up more files and he clicked on an icon, a personal profile came up and as he read it, his mouth dropped.

Name: Fox McCloud

Occupation: Mercenary

My God… Staris thought, he knew the assassin's identity, it was his brother that he had never known. A picture came up and he kept back the tears as he saw his brother with a panther. It was a very old one, maybe a few years, and they were on a Venomian frigate; underneath the photo was an inscription. Talia and Fox.

Staris sat back in his chair and things began to fall into place; Fox had tried to kill his mother, Staris, his whole God damn family. How could his brother do this? Unless the panther was filling his head with lies and perverting what he knew was right.

There was a knock at the door.

"Staris?" His mother asked but the young vulpine did not answer. "Staris? Are you ok in there?" How could he tell his mother?

"Yes, I am fine…" The door opened and she walked in.

"Did you crack that data pad yet?"

"I did." He rose up and turned around as she saw the worried look in his eyes. "Mom, there is something important I need to tell you. You might want to sit down." She sat on his bed and Staris took a deep breath. "I don't know how to break this to you but, the assassin….is my brother."

Vixy almost had a heart attack.

"WHAT?" She screamed and Staris nodded.

"Yes, I divulged the information from the data pad…" He quickly embraced his mother as she cried hard.

After a while, she calmed down and he sat next to her.

"My own son tried to kill me?"

"Yes, but he was being influenced by a panther named Talia."

"Talia?"

"Dad might know about her, he said that she was involved in the last Venomian War is I would think he knows her." He said and she cried again as her son embraced her. "Dad will know what to do…"

Fox slowly sat up and his vision was quite hazed as he rubbed his eyes, something very hard was beneath him and he looked at the floor. He was alone again in the room and he tried to clear his vision. It would not and he sighed as something whipped around him, in the dim light it looked to be a crimson….something. He could not tell but there was a whistling noise and the pitch grew higher until he had to cover his ears.

Then it stopped. Fox looked around and he saw no one…

"I am here." Fox yelped as he leapt up and turned, there was a figure walking toward him. "Fox, do you know me?" The voice was oddly familiar but Fox could not place it.

"No, who are you?" The figure laughed and the sky went dark as he turned into the demon again. "NO!" The cry ripped from his throat and he took a step back as Hell was forced upon him.

The two fighters shot out over Titania and Chon came up on the Comm.

"James, cloak now." He did and Chon saw the frigate, Talia's frigate awaited him. They flew over it and the Comm was activated as someone contacted Chon.

"Chon, why have you come back?" Talia asked and Chon swallowed hard.

"Malion…did you send him?"

"No, he asked me if he could kill you and I didn't answer him. Why do you ask that?"

"Because I was almost killed by him and his gang."

"Well, that's not my fault is it Chon?"

"No, and I am coming back to see Fox." Talia nodded and the docking bay opened as both fighters shot in; James's secretly docked and he turned on the stealth generator that Chon had given him. He stepped out into the bay and Chon walked over to him, he did not say anything but his body language told James to be careful. His sword was slung onto back and James had his blaster as they walked through the bay; Talia met Chon at the exit and James felt hatred for the panther rise up. He could kill her now but his and Chon's life would be put in jeopardy. "Now, where is Fox?" Chon asked and they walked down the hall. There seemed to be so many hallways, passages, corridors that James lost count.

They took a turn and James saw a young vulpine writhing on the floor; he held in a gasp of surprise when he saw that it looked so much like the assassin.

How could he be my son and yet he looks like the assassin. How is this possible? James thought and Talia stood by them as Chon administered a needle to the fox. He quieted down and his eyes opened as he saw Chon.

"Sal Chon, what are you doing here?"

"I have something to tell you…" He whipped out his blade and pinned Talia against the wall as she growled.

"You traitor." She said and Fox looked confused.

"Wait…what?" He asked and Chon disarmed Talia of her weapons. He threw Fox's sword to him and he still looked confused.

"Your father is here, we have come to rescue you and get you out of this hell hole." He said and James materialized. Fox looked at him and they knew each other, the assassin and the victim.

"He's my father?" Fox asked and James nodded.

"Yes, I am. Even though you tried to kill my family I want you back, I have missed you so much." Fox stood up and he couldn't move.

"Fox, they are lying." Talia said and he could not move.

"Shut up you bitch." Chon said and dug the blade a bit into her neck.

"Fox, I am your father." James said and Fox looked back at Talia.

"One word out of you and you lose your head." Chon said and she growled at him but said nothing. "Go to your father Fox." Fox slowly walked over to James and they embrace.

"Father…" He whispered and James hugged him back.

"Yes, you are my son." They remained like that for a bit and Talia growled again.

"Oh isn't that so fucking awesome."

"You keep your mouth shut panther, you've caused enough pain." He removed the blade and slammed it on her head while hitting her in the stomach. She fell down and did not rise as Fox let James go.

"We should get out of here." James said and Fox nodded. He slung the blade over his shoulders and James cloaked himself as they walked back out to the docking bay, someone was waiting for them.

"Malion…" Chon said and the human drew his blade, his crew spread out and Fox also drew his weapon.

"How did you survive Chon?"

"I was aided, now I have come back to kill you." Malion laughed and his gang drew their blades.

"Now, you are outnumbered give up and I will kill you painlessly."

"What may come in life may also come in death. You cannot kill me Malion; I will always be there to hunt you down." Malion smiled and they charged.

Author's Note: Well, it's been a great eight chapters so far. I think this might end in one more or two more chapters. It's been a rush and I want to thank everyone who has looked and reviewed, thank you all for your support. If it hadn't been for you crazy ass people, I would have written a thing. My next fic (gasp!) might be about a character I created, a silver Meta dragon…wow, how original. It's going to be called Conspiracy 6 (another gasp if you know what was in the first one). Anyway, if you play Halo 2, check my profile for my tag. And check out my favorite writers, they all kick ass!

-SMD