And this makes 50 chapters. Random thought - I'm nearing two years now in writing this fic (based on the original publication date). I don't know if I should be impressed or not.
FraGmenTd - Thanks for the compliments, and...that must be a really thick binder. I've printed out a few pages before, and even at size 8 (barely readable), that's a lot of printer paper.
Marble Didymus - Yes, I follow that line of thought in this fic. While it's not as simple as the comics make it out to be (the whole 'I had a spare bomb' thing), it's also something I really don't go into much in this story.
Chapter 50: Andross' Base
Andross is so close to us now, I can feel it. I will kill him for all the hardships he's put my team through. Even if it's the last thing I do. – Fox
If there was one thing I could change about myself, it would be my utter paranoia I have whenever I lose my mobility. I know how I got it, I just can't control it. It's such a terrible weakness… – Fara
What possessed me to give them a second chance?
That question and many others passed through Andross' mind as he sat in his control room. I had them right at my fingertips, yet I let my greed get to me. Why?
He looked away from the monitor that he'd been staring at most of the night as he continued his thoughts. There's this uneasiness I've felt ever since I arrived. Almost as if somebody was watching over my every move. It wasn't there when I first found this place months ago. Maybe that has something to do with it.
He sighed. And now I have no idea where the blasted Starfox team hid for the evening. All of this technology around me, and all of it useless in finding four determined people.
He pushed himself to his feet. But no matter. They'll find me more than ready to take them on, even if I have to do it without my usual compliment of lizard troops.
"Bring me your worst, McCloud. I'm not as vulnerable as you think I am."
Dawn broke slowly over the swamp. The otherwise bright light was blocked by the overwhelming amount of leaves and branches overhead, allowing only a dull glow to filter to the ground below.
One such beam of light inched its way down Fox's face. He swatted at it in his sleep, as if it was a fly or some other annoyance. It wasn't until it reached his eyes did he finally wake with a start.
He squinted against the light until he woke up enough to realize he could raise a paw to block off the effects of the sun. Now that he could see again, he looked around, his sleepy mind trying to comprehend why he seemed to be up in a tree.
The memories of yesterday suddenly flooded back to him. His brief capture, his escape, the battle against himself; all of these images and more he relived in a matter of seconds. Blinking the sleep out of his eyes, he now knew why he was where he was.
He glanced down at the top of Fara's head and smiled. Based on how she was laying against him, the vixen had used him as a giant pillow. He could feel her rhythmic breathing from the close contact, and it pleased him to know that she was still asleep, even though he hadn't done his job properly last night of staying awake.
Unfortunately, there was still the mission ahead of them.
While he debated on the best way to gently wake her up, she solved the problem by popping awake on her own. He could feel her respiration speed up and he noticed her stir slightly. Both were a sure sign that she wasn't asleep anymore.
"Morning, Fara," he said in an attempt to hurry things along.
"Hmmm?" She leaned further into him and let out an undignified yawn, raising both paws into the air.
At least that's what it looked like she tried to do.
Her left arm was high over her head, stretching towards the morning light. Her right arm, the one coated in now-dried mud, only rose about a foot off the tree limb they were sitting on.
"The hell?" she asked sleepily.
"What's wrong?"
He could feel her muscles firing as she tried again to lift her arm. She was fully awake now. "My arm won't move."
Fox leaned to one side and looked over her mud-covered body. He had a good idea as to the reason of her plight. He just had to tell her before her fears overcame her again. "Fara, I think I—"
"I can't move my legs." She squirmed and tried to make any headway. "I can't move!"
Fox quickly put his paws on her shoulders and squeezed, reminding her that he was right there. It was apparently too late to stop her fears from resurfacing, but he could limit the damage that they'd cause. "Fara, I'm right here. Calm down."
"But I…I…"
"Fara, look at me."
She grunted as she twisted around. Based on how much she was straining, it was apparent that the mud had dried around her and left her cocooned in place. Either that or she was too tired to accept the extra weight she had on her. Finally, they met each other's gaze. "Help?"
Now that he had her attention, it was time for action. He just hoped that he was right. "Fara, the crap I pulled you out of yesterday was thicker than Falco's sauce last time we let him cook. It's just dried on you. Pretend you're wearing a cast, and try breaking it."
Fara took one last look at Fox, head tilted to one side as she tried to comprehend what she'd been told, before she turned around and gave it a try. He thought about getting up to help, but quickly realized that with Fara right in front of him, he simply didn't have the room to maneuver to a standing position without falling out of the tree.
He looked around the vixen and massaged her shoulders as she hit her right arm as hard as she could. Gasping from the pain of striking a nearly solid object, she reared back and tried again.
On her second attempt, she was far more successful. A faint crunching noise was heard as spider web-like cracks arced outward from the point of impact.
Her cast withstood only one more strike before it crumbled to pieces. Chunks of hardened mud crumpled away and rolled off the tree to splat into the swamp below.
Fara yipped in glee as she waved her now free arm and sent the smaller pieces that were still attached flying. Her fur and clothing were a matted dark brown underneath, but it was a drastic improvement over the syrup-like coating she had before.
"Now for your legs," said Fox confidently.
"I know."
She attacked her legs vigorously at that point, as she knew that freedom was nearby. It didn't take long before she broke her legs free of their confinement. With a grunt, she stood up and tried to brush off the remaining pieces as best she could.
Fox looked her over from where he was still sitting. From the chest down, all he could see was the drab and dull brown from her prior trip into the mud. With a smile, he now realized why she always wore such colorful outfits – it emphasized her shapely body and her natural curves, something that he couldn't see now with her new coloring.
"You're not going to get that off you know," said Fox.
"I've noticed that." She finally gave up and turned towards him. "And another outfit…what are you smiling at?"
"Huh? Oh, nothing."
"Right."
"Fara, I…" He quieted upon noticing the glare she was giving him. "Forget it."
"Uh huh." She craned her head upwards and looked at the upper levels of the tree. "Well, I'm heading up to see how close we are to our goal."
Fox leaned over and looked down. It was much too far of a drop as far as he was concerned, and knew he wasn't nimble enough to climb down. "Shouldn't we head down first?"
She glanced his direction and snidely said, "What, afraid you're gonna fall or something?"
Fox was concerned at Fara's sudden change of attitude. She'd gone from being meek and polite to a battle-hardened warrior in a span of a few seconds. All over a smile. Was she just trying to cover up for her weakness earlier? "No, I'd just like to get down. Is there something wrong with you?"
"I…" Her expression softened. "I'm just tired, that's all."
"You sure?"
"Yeah. I want to get outta here. This place is depressing."
"That it is." He was glad to see Fara revert to the attitude he knew so well. "How do you want to do this?"
"Can I burn down half of this swamp in the process?"
He grinned as he knew that this time his facial expression would be appreciated. "It would make a nice distraction, but no."
"Damn." She looked down and carefully worked her way towards the edge of the branch. She came to a stop with the back half of her boots hanging out into open air. She then leaned forward to keep her balance as she said, "Okay, I'm ready. Just don't push me, whatever you do."
"Will do."
Fox approached Fara like before and stood on her feet. He then grabbed hold of her and gave a quick squeeze in appreciation. She smiled back as she reached behind him, and within moments, the pair was in the air.
It didn't take long before they landed safely in the swamp. Fara only waited long enough for Fox to step away before she started her climb back into the tree.
"Not flying?" asked Fox as he watched her ascent.
"No," she replied through her helmet. "I have limited fuel. Besides, you know how well I can climb."
"Good point."
As Fara climbed, Fox looked around the dreary swamp. Short of the many footprints that were still clearly visible in the mud, nothing had changed since last night. He gazed down their direction of travel until Fara's static-lined voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Fox, I'm nearing…top."
"You're breaking up, Fara. I can hardly hear you."
"Must…interference…area."
"Yeah." As a precaution, Fox drew his weapon and flattened himself against the tree. "Hurry down and tell me what you've found out then."
"Okay."
The minutes slowly passed as Fox kept watch of the surrounding area. He was fearful that Andross had returned, which would explain the sudden interference between their helmets. He debated on trying to contact his other teammates, but quickly changed his mind. The last thing he wanted to do was to give away his position if there truly was anybody nearby.
Short of the occasional noise from above, the surrounding area was silent. It allayed his fears somewhat, but he remained on guard for any intruders. He was not going to be caught unaware again.
He was relieved when he heard Fara come down from above. He turned just in time to watch her drop down the last few branches to ground level. "Find anything?"
She nodded. "We almost made it yesterday. Andross' base is nearby."
"Finally, some good news."
"Yeah. We could use some."
"Lead on then."
Fara paused only long enough to get her bearings with her compass before she marched off through the swamp. Fox followed after a moment, speaking his mind. "Fara, any guess as to the sudden interference in our helmets?"
"Other than the obvious – some kind of heavy electromagnetic noise nearby – no. That might explain the issues Pepper was having with the satellite though."
"Makes sense. What about the remote control for the Arwings? Think they'll still work?"
"That…is a good question." She looked over her shoulder at Fox, her face showing signs of worry. "They've never been tested much, so I really don't know. I hope they do though. I don't want to walk back through this."
"Neither do I."
After that depressing thought, the two pilots continued their march without conversation. The relative silence, broken only by the occasional muted curse from Fara whenever she floundered in the mud, lasted until Fox noticed that their traveling conditions were improving. "I think we're nearing our goal."
"Yeah. I almost lose a boot every fourth step instead of every other." She lifted her head up for the first time in as many minutes and looked around. "The trees are thinning out too."
Fox watched as Fara came to a stop a few steps later. She craned her neck upwards and opened her arms wide in the sunbeam she was now standing in. "Missed the sun?" he asked with a grin.
Her response was long in coming, so overjoyed she was in seeing raw sunlight again. "Yes."
"Well, don't spend all day soaking it up. You can do this anytime you want once we finish this mission."
"Yeah, yeah." She turned and looked at him. "You won't let me have any fun."
Fox shook his head and smiled, taking a long look at her glittering green eyes before moving on. He was glad to see her in such a better mood from earlier in the day, especially considering the events that they were working themselves towards.
The pair kept to the trees at that point and used their cover to mask their approach to the base. It didn't take long before they spotted their goal in the distance, rising above the now solid ground like a scar on one's fur.
It was Andross' base.
The large, blue-gray dome rose only two stories into the morning sky, not even topping the smallest of trees nearby. One set of closed double doors faced them, imprinted with a strange, alien looking symbol. Worst of all were at least a dozen lizard guards slowly marching around the perimeter, eyes peering into the trees. Unlike their more savage brethren they encountered before, these lizards were well armed with energy weapons and protected with light armor.
Fox felt Fara push away from where she was holding on to his shoulder for support and move back towards the cover of the tree. After a moment, he followed and happened to glance at her eyes. They held both equal parts fear and excitement. "You ready for this?" he asked quietly.
She nodded. "Ready as I'll ever be anyway. What are we going to do about those guards? And what's that symbol on that door mean?"
"That's a good question on both counts." He poked his head back around the tree and watched the guards for a few moments before using the binoculars in his helmet to look closer at the door. It had what looked to be a cave painting of some kind of bird on it, flying over a planet. Fox had no idea what it meant, but he had a feeling that Andross hadn't built this building based on that alone. "Have any other tricks up your sleeve?"
"Other than another sonic grenade, no. And these guards are spread out too much for it to be of any real use." He felt her peer over his shoulder again. "That symbol, and the whole building for that matter… It really spooks me out."
That was just what he needed to hear – Fara's intuition saying that there was something wrong with their final goal. "Why? Have you been here before?"
"No way. I haven't even visited Fortuna until yesterday. Something about this place just…worries me. I don't think Andross built this place."
Now even Fox was getting worried, as he had the exact same thoughts as she did. He brushed it aside though, as he had a mission to accomplish. "I feel the same way, Fara. But we have a job to do, so let's wonder about this place once we're back home, okay?"
Before she got a chance to respond, they both watched as every guard in sight suddenly paused, listened to something they heard on their headsets, and took off running towards the other side of the building. "The heck?" asked Fara.
"I don't know, but let's make the most of it. Come on."
The pair broke cover and ran towards the door with their weapons drawn, watching for any enemies that might be hiding in wait. They arrived at their destination with little fanfare, having found no obstacles in their way. There was just one problem.
"Fox, do you have any idea how to open this thing?"
The vulpine stared quietly at the solid stone construction without a clue of what to do. From this distance, he could tell that the symbol was actually carved into the granite and the colors were created as the elements eroded away at the cut out sections. Curious, he took a finger and traced one of the sections, feeling the stone underneath for any variances.
Much to his surprise, the rock reacted, a white light appearing in the outline he was making. He jumped away in shock and the light vanished instantly.
Fara apparently didn't notice the light, but she did comment about him goofing off. "What are you doing? We need to—"
"The stone just lit up."
"What? What the heck are you talking about?"
He made sure she was watching before he turned around and touched the stone again. This time he took his other paw and pressed it against the granite as he made the same outline as before, wondering what would happen if both paws were touching. "See?"
"What's causing that light?"
He continued to draw on the stone, the light following his every move. "I have no—"
"Fox, your other paw!"
He looked over and was stunned to see that a square area a bit larger than his splayed paw was lit up on the stone. The white light turned to an angry red after a moment and some strange characters in an unknown language appeared above it. He jerked both paws away and was rewarded with the lights fading away once again.
"What is this place?" asked Fara nervously. "It's like we're not in the Lylat System or something anymore."
"I don't know, Fara. I really don't know." He looked closely at where the red light was before in an attempt to piece together what little he knew. "Okay, red is generally the universal color for rejection, so I'm guessing my pawprint isn't good enough for opening this thing up."
"So?"
Fox turned to look at Fara. "Why don't you try it?"
"No way." She slowly backed up and looked at Fox as if he was crazy. "No damn way. I am not touching that thing."
He understood her reservations, but now was not the time to let her fears get in the way. "Fara, look – either you try it, or else we're going to have to drag every guard around here to this place. I've touched it twice now and nothing has happened to me. I'm still here."
He could see her thinking through the alternatives, but finally with a huff, she said, "Fine. Nothing's gonna happen though."
"You're probably right. But we have nothing to lose."
Shaking her head, Fara cautiously walked forward and placed a paw flat against the stone. Her other still held her blaster, ready to fire at a moment's notice.
At first nothing happened. Then, like what happened to Fox, the area around her paw glowed white. It stayed that way for a few seconds, prompting Fara to say, "See, nothing—"
Suddenly, the white area turned green and displayed a few different characters above it. As they watched in shock, the stone moved inward then swiftly rose upwards without a sound.
The pair stood nearly speechless, short of Fox's confused mumbles as he knew that his idea wasn't going to work. "How did… Why…"
Regaining his composure, Fox peered inside with both of his borrowed weapons at the ready. He didn't understand what was going on with this building, but he knew that he carried enough firepower to make short work of anything he encountered.
The doorway opened into a large rock chamber, lit by sections of stone that glowed blue equidistant apart all around the room. From where he stood, he could see two hallways, one left and one right, leading out of the room.
He turned towards Fara, who still stood there with her mouth agape in shock. "You ready for this?" he asked quietly.
She remained silent, her eyes glazed over as if her mind wasn't focused on the objective ahead. Worried, Fox reached over and touched her gently on the shoulder. "Fara?"
She flinched from the touch and looked his way in confusion. Moments later, she blinked repeatedly, her eyes focusing on his own. "Yeah, I'm here."
"What's wrong, Fara?"
"Nothing…nothing is wrong." At his insistent and disbelieving stare she continued. "I don't know. It…it's like I've been here before or something. But I haven't. I know I haven't."
Whether she was telling the truth or not, he knew one thing – she was scared. "If there's anything you want to say, then say it."
She shook her head. "No, there isn't. Let's go in."
They walked in with their weapons at the ready, turning around and keeping watch from all angles. As soon as they cleared the entrance, the door smoothly and quietly fell back into place, sealing them in. They split up and worked their way towards the hallway exits after a few words, trying to decide which exit out of the room to take.
Somebody else made that decision for them.
Without warning, a bright blue shield covered all the exits and split the room into two. The pilots turned and looked at each other fearfully as they realized they were now separated from each other.
Fox could see Fara's concern quickly mount and decided to take action. Without thinking, he pointed both of his weapons at the shield and pulled the trigger.
That seemingly simple action almost killed him.
Both shots reflected back at him upon striking the shield. One went wide to his left while the other whizzed by close enough that he could feel the fur on his arm singe from the near miss. He dropped to the ground as they bounced off the opposite wall and came back. Thankfully the shots dissipated after a few seconds.
"Fox!" yelled Fara from the other side of the shield. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," he replied as he jumped to his feet and looked around for an escape route. "I'm fine."
"No you're not," said a third voice suddenly.
"Andross!"
"Yes, you insolent fools, it's me." The voice seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere in the room. "How do you do it? You continue to evade capture and death at every turn! Now you've somehow wandered right through my front door, an entrance that not even a single lizard can gain entry through! How?"
The pilots had no answer to the ape's rants.
"No matter. This base will be your tomb. Say goodbye, as this'll be the last time you'll ever see each other alive."
Ever since Fara had first seen Andross' current residence, she'd had the most overwhelming feeling of déjà vu. She knew it was unwarranted, as she'd never even visited Fortuna before, but it still had affected her all the same.
But then the strangest things began to happen. She knew before even touching the granite door that it would open to her contact. It was as if somebody had told her it would work. That's why she was so reluctant to touch it in the first place.
And then there was this chamber. The déjà vu continued, although the voice remained quiet. She wondered if she was going crazy, or if Andross was affecting her thoughts somehow.
Nevertheless, when the shields in the room appeared from nowhere, she almost jumped in panic from her lack of concentration. Andross' dreadful voice afterwards didn't help matters any.
Fighting to keep her emotions under control, she looked towards Fox and tried to see if he had any thoughts on his mind. A short shake of his head answered that question all too quickly.
Suddenly, slabs of rock dropped down behind the shields and sealed the pilots further into their tombs. "Fox!" she yelled in panic.
He didn't have time to answer before a strange hissing sound filled her ears. She swiveled around, only to find a green mist spewing out of the walls from multiple locations.
Andross was simply going to kill them both where they stood.
Covering her mouth with her arm, she desperately looked around for a way out. There had to be a way out. There just had to be. But there were no clues forthcoming from the smooth rock walls.
Then, she somehow knew what to do. Like before, something in her mind told her how to lower the shields in the room, as well as inform her that her paw would once again open the doors as soon as that was done.
Not having a clue as to where she was getting this information from, and frankly not caring as long as it worked, she did as it said. She turned and opened fire at one of the blue glows embedded inside the wall near the entrance. A few shots later, the glow flashed and dimmed out.
She turned towards the exit, her eyes watering and her lungs gasping for fresh air. She picked another glow seemingly at random to anyone who might have watched, and fired.
As soon as the sparks flew on her target, all of the gentle blue glows dimmed short of one and the two shields vanished with a pop. She ran forward, coughing violently from the gas, and slammed her paw against the stone, praying the entire time that the door would open. She had little time to live if her mysterious thoughts were wrong.
A few seconds later, a green glow underneath her paw signified that she was allowed access, and the stone door slid upwards into the ceiling. She staggered into the clear air and gulped in giant breaths in an attempt to expel out whatever poison she'd inhaled.
It wasn't until she'd somewhat recovered did she think about Fox. Now in a panic, she tried to find some way back into the room, but the door had closed behind her. Desperately she flipped on her headset, but was rewarded with a deafening shriek in her ears from whatever Andross was using to jam her communications.
Tears streaming down her fur in worry, she took off down the hallway and searched for a connecting tunnel back to Fox's exit from the room. Hallways and rooms opened to her left, but she knew they wouldn't lead her back the way she came.
Finally, when she'd almost given up, she spotted a break in the stone walls to her right. She skidded around the corner and was about to pick up speed again when she was stopped by something she hoped she'd never see.
It was herself.
