Conspiracy 6

PART THREE: UNDERGROUND LAB

Chapter 9: The Lab

Author's Note: Hey guys, I decided to upload another chapter. This one is long overdue and Deviant Art is currently being a bitch to me so I'll finish this fiction.

Fox slowly opened his eyes and his head spun as he tried to focus, his vision was quite hazed and he could not move his body. It felt locked into position and every time he tried to move, his joints would scrap painfully.

"Well, who do I have this acquaintance of meeting?" The voice was spoken hard and yet it had a soft quality to it slightly unnerving Fox.

"Where am I? What happened to my ship? Where is Krystal?" He asked and the blurred figure laughed.

"All in time, now what is your name?"

"Fox McCloud, who are you?"

"I am the Director of this laboratory, you my fellow Fox are an intruder. And you know what I do with intruders?" He asked this is a slow, inquisitive voice and Fox began to worry a bit. "I have them operated on."

The dragon landed in the snow and he held two figures in his arms as they had no wings of their own to fly with. He set Krystal and Markal down and he sunk into the snow as his scales afforded him some camouflage. Krystal and Markal lay down and they crawled toward the entrance of the lab, it was barely marked and hidden deep in the snow.

The dragon could sense it with his almost supernatural nose and his razor eyesight picked out the entrance from afar. There were no guards but the automated defense systems were quite active; two laser turrets poked slightly out of the snow bank. The dragon raised his armored paw and the pair froze as he slowly activated a device. It whirred quietly and two small pipe like devices slid out from under the metal. He aimed them at the turrets and they fired silent ultrasonic waves, the turrets did not move as they were temporarily put offline.

"Quickly, follow me!" The dragon said in hushed tones and they ran to the entrance. He stopped at the steel plated door and his claws came out, they dug into the resisting metal and he rent the steel. The sound was a loud whining as his claws carved them an entrance and he bade them to get in. The pair slipped into the lab and the dragon moved ahead of them, his neural net inside his mind powered on and map flowed before his eyes. "Ok, I have located Fox and another that does not belong here."

"Falco…" She whispered and Markal looked around. He shivered slightly and the dragon unclipped something from his massive frame; he handed Markal a large plasma rifle and the dragon looked forward.

"Won't you need this?" The dark lupine asked and the dragon shook his head. In place of the rifle, a beam shot out which formed into a four foot saber. In his other paw a similar but modified looking plasma rifle sat his claws around the trigger.

"I'll be fine, you two look for Fox and Falco as you said?"

"Yes, but where are they?" She asked and he located them on his map.

"South Brig, looks like one is being prepped for an operation. I will come with you two to keep you safe." He said and the dragon began walking. He kept the blade out in front of him and he activated the subsonic pulse; it would deactivate any cameras but there would be one draw back.

Breach in Sector 7! Breach in Sector 7! An automated voice screamed and an alarm went off.

"Dragon, what do we do?" Krystal asked and Markal primed the Plasma Rifle.

"Keep behind me and fire to my side, I will protect us." He said quietly but his voice overtook the klaxon and reached their ears. He growled and guards started to pour into their hallway. He roared a feral cry and fired his rifle, it scored deep into the unsuspecting guards and that bought them some time. "Quickly, take a left and run I will follow." He yelled and charged the guards, saber making curving arcs of light and blood.

Fox heart the alert faintly and the techs around him stopped working.

"Take him back to the brig, I will be back when this threat ceases." Kariston ordered and he walked into a side room. "Status report now." The tech under him typed rapidly on the screen and it showed the dragon approaching with two other figures, then the image cut out and Kariston growled.

"Sir…isn't that the…project?" The tech asked nervously. Kariston nodded and he pulled out his Comm.

"Alert all units, we have a code 0011 in progress, take the subject down by any means necessary. Try not to injure the other two units with him but I give the order to kill the dragon."

The dragon heard the order being given in his built-in headset and he redoubled his efforts to get his newly found compatriots to safety. He bashed down a door and the wolf and the vixen rushed in as he barricaded the door. The dragon has suffered minor hits to his armor and he put away the rifle as it would be of no use if the fighting was in melee range. He held the blade close and Krystal slipped off her helmet; if she was hit in the head the blow would kill her helmet or not. The Environ-Suit offered little protection but she stowed the helmet away in case she need to make a trip outside.

"So where are we?" She asked and Markal also lost his helmet.

"We're in Sub Level 4, room 435. The brig is to our lefts and I think I can manage to get us there. There is an armory close by and if I can find you two weapons and armor, you might have a better chance of survival." He reported and Markal remained silent.

"How close are we to Fox?"

"Very; he is very close now." There was a noise outside and the door was being slammed. "Go, I will stay them." The dragon said and Krystal nodded. She and Markal ran out another door and into the armory as the dragon smiled, his fangs showing as the bloodlust built up in him again.

Krystal pulled off a suit of armor off the wall and she slipped into it as Markal did the same. His actions were swift and silent as he did not utter a word. He slipped a high powered launcher onto his back and with a pulse rifle in his paws, he turned to Krystal. She sensed his thoughts and he felt his worry in her heart and his exhaustion stunned her; he had not had a peaceful sleep since he was captured and his brother had died. He did not meet her eyes and he fingered the trigger to the rifle nervously.

"Come on Markal, let's go." He nodded and they ran out into the hall, the dragon's roar sounded and they ran to the brig. Fox was tied to a large panel on the wall and his chest fur was tainted with red stains. His ripped pants showed red markings as well and his head hung low as he breathed quietly. Krystal ran over to him and she quickly cut him free of his bonds, he fell into her arms and Krystal cradled him as she tried to revive him. "Fox, please, wake up." She said and he coughed, blood leaked from his mouth and his eyes opened slowly.

"K…Krystal?" He asked bewildered and she smiled as a tear ran down her face. "Why did you come back for me?" He asked.

"Because, you mean a lot to me and I couldn't leave you behind." She replied and Markal turned his head. A noise from the hallway sounded and the dragon stalked into the room, his scales were drenched with the crimson liquid and he smiled darkly.

"Well, they stood no chance." His dark humor made Krystal laugh a bit and he nodded to them. "We need to find your falcon friend."

"Is Falco even alive?" Fox asked and the dragon accessed his map again.

"Yes, he is being held in the next hallway over. His life signs however are faint and I fear he has already been subjected to Kariston's torture." The dragon said and then he looked downcast. "His vitals have just dropped; it is not worth trying to save him." Fox lowered his head and silent pain filled him for his close friend. Falco had been an ass sometimes but he was a good fighter pilot and a close compatriot.

"Then let's get out of here." Fox said.

"The Great Fox is down though." Krystal said and Fox's memory brought back the horrifying image.

"How are we going to escape?" He asked and the dragon looked to Markal.

"I can get the ship, bring it down here and rescue us." The wolf answered. "But Kariston will still be here and he will pursue us."

"Not if we blow the lab." The dragon said softly and the others turned to him. "The laboratory is run by a giant reactor, if it is overloaded it will breakdown and detonate. That will destroy everything within a 100 mile radius."

"So…who is going to do it?" Krystal asked and the dragon stood up straight.

"I will, I was brought to this lab and was experimented on by Kariston. I will bring him down. Get Fox out of here and save yourselves, he only wants me." The dragon stated and they nodded. The dragon walked out of the room and he unleashed his weapons; the blade shot out of the hilt, the plasma rifle hummed in his paws and he sprinted down the hallway, a scream of rage firing from his muzzle.

Fox leaned on Krystal and Markal kept his rifle up as they slowly made their way back to the entrance. Blood was spattered all over the walls from the dragon meeting the guards and Fox coughed as he spit blood.

"Fox, how are your wounds?" Krystal asked.

"I'll live as long as we get out of here. I was hurt a bit as they tried to put me under for an operation." He replied and Markal's eyes flicked around. He gripped the pulse rifle and primed it as Krystal looked over at him.

"You see something?"

"No…I can hear something following us." He replied and whipped around. His paw pulled the trigger and there was a scream of agony. An invisible guard fell, his paws on his side and Markal walked over to him. He placed a foot paw on the guard's neck and growled.

"Please, don't kill me." He pleaded and Markal lifted him up.

"Get us out of here and I will spare your life." The guard nodded and Markal kept the gun at his back. Krystal looked around and they walked to the entrance. Markal remotely landed the craft outside and Markal knocked the guard out as they boarded the craft. The wind whipped into Fox's wounded frame and Krystal quickly placed him into the pod to warm him and heal his injuries. Markal slid into the pilot's seat and he lifted off; the craft pulled away from the lab and Krystal looked back, wondering if the dragon would succeed…

Or fail…