A/N: Damn, so those Space Marine dropships/gunships are called Thunderhawks? Sorry about that little misprint, I'll correct it once I completely finish this fic.
Also, due to popular request, future corse language will be uncensored from now on. I'll remove the rest of the censors when I also finish this fic.
Chapter 25 – Just Another Lylatian Night
With his seat pulled up to his desk and his lamp turned on, Jacques wrote once again into his journal, not too concerned about when he was going to fall asleep, knowing that he could go weeks without the need to rest.
He looked out the window near his desk, over the planet MacBeth as the Great Fox sailed away from it, once again into the void, as he contemplated what to write. It soon came to him as he looked amongst the stars…
War journal of Jacques Mortensen, Heavy Weapons Specialist/ Combat Expert of the Lylatian mercenary company Star Fox. Lylatian date: Sunday, Nineteenth of March, 41st Millennium.
I has only been this afternoon that we managed to bring to a grinding halt an Ork WAAAGH, those vile greenskins led by none other than Gorgutz, the only Warboss to have united more than a dozen clans under his banner, and was responsible for the Ork presence on Lorn V more than thirteen years ago…today.
With collaboration from the Cornerian military after the desertion of their commander known only as Liebowitz, we destroyed the Ork forces, drove away their Venomian allies and killed the Warboss himself, only to discover what we were fighting towards all along was a tower of terror.
Of my young years in service to defending life in the universe, I had never seen so much carnage. It could not have been that of the Orks, but something more sinister. Chaos perhaps? No, that is nonsense; if there were Chaos in Lylat, I would have sense their taint long ago.
We do know that the Orks are on the payroll of the Venomian 'Emperor' Oikonny, who probably knows he can only pay them with war. What else he has promised to give them is yet to be seen? A Cornerian space station? And entire planet? We do not know…yet.
I have begun to notice strange happenings revolving around Princess Krystal, Cerinia's last daughter. I have seen her staring at me with a sort of…longing. It is almost as if…
It was then that the Space Marine, out of his power armour and his left arm in a sling, heard knocking on his door. He stopped writing in his journal, where he put it safely away in a drawer in his desk. He stepped up cautiously to the door.
'Who can be that be at this hour?' he thought curiously, seeing how Fox and the others would always get under the covers of their beds before 11 P.M.
He pushed the button to open his door…
"Krystal?"
…to find her standing before it, dressed in her bedclothes, which consisted of only a nightie.
"Jacques," Krystal greeted, smiling slightly, "Still awake?"
Looking at her questioningly, Jacques said, "Usually at this time you are asleep."
Krystal nodded, "I'm afraid to fall asleep, facing those god-awful nightmares again."
"This is very understandable," Jacques said.
They just stood there for a few seconds, noticing how everything has just gone quiet between. Krystal broke the silence…quite intimately.
"Can I…come in?" she asked, hesitantly.
Jacques studied her for a moment, before stepping backward and allowing her to step in. Instantly, Krystal noticed how well kept his room was, considering how three months ago it was just a large janitor's room.
Krystal smiled slightly at the human as she sat down on his bed, much to Jacques' surprise. He shrugged it out of his mind and sat down on his desk chair.
"How's your arm?" Krystal asked.
Jacques looked down at his sling and replied, "The muscles should loosen in a few days, maybe less. I should not swing a blade with this arm until then."
"That's the right thing to do," Krystal agreed, smiling.
Jacques returned the smile, before sensing something stirring within the Cerinian.
"Did you want to talk about something?" Jacques asked.
"Yeah," Krystal replied, "It's about what went on today. I'm surprised Fox and other guys can just sleep soundly, after seeing what was in that tower."
Jacques nodded, "It figures. They do not realise what else all that carnage means, quickly believing that is the work of the enemy we just fought."
"You don't believe they were all butchered by the Orks?" Krystal asked seriously.
The human shook his head and replied, "It is not like greenskins to let their enemies' bleed out onto the ground like that. They would kill them quickly and efficiently."
"Just like on Cerinia," Krystal brought up, "Like what they did…to our people."
Jacques noticed Krystal was starting to tear up slightly.
"Krystal?" Jacques begun, "Are you…?
She let the tears flow now, bringing her hands up to her face, cursing silently at herself for crying in front of her own protector. Jacques looked at her curiously, taking in the visage of a crying vixen on his own bed.
"Oh God," she moaned, "Everything reminds me of Cerinia…"
He knew he had to say something comforting.
"I am sorry," Jacques said, standing up and head bowed slightly.
Krystal tears stopped flowing, just to look questioningly at Jacques.
"For what?" she asked, surprised and quite confused.
Jacques swallowed softly, before stepping forward towards her and answering, "That you had to face the same Orks who destroyed Cerinia."
"That's nothing to apologise for?" Krystal pointed out.
"I am not apologising because it is my fault," Jacques explained, "It is out of sympathy."
Krystal looked straight at him now, finally comprehending what he said. She smiled slightly and got up from the bed, standing before the Space Marine.
"Jacques?" Krystal said.
"Yes?"
"What is the Ultramarine's mantra again?"
"Courage and Honour," he answered, "Why?"
She shook her head slightly, "Nothing."
Krystal then suddenly embraced Jacques, completely taking the human by surprise at her sudden motion towards him. She nuzzled into his clothed chest, hearing both his hearts beat loudly. She exhaled softly.
"Could you hold me for a moment?" she asked, looking up at a slightly shocked Space Marine.
Jacques looked down at the vixen for a second, before nodding slightly, the shock soon leaving him forever.
"All right."
He put his right arm around her back gently and they hugged, feeling her soft fur against his hardened skin, enjoying one another's company and warmth. For once in her life, Krystal felt like she was completely safe from anything and everything, while Jacques believed that this was the way to truly protect his main cause in life.
"Brother…" Krystal said softly.
Jacques couldn't help but smile softly, holding her gently to himself. He then felt her hold on his shoulders loosen, and he could see that she had fallen asleep against him. He looked at her face closely, taking in her sleeping visage.
He let out a sigh, before standing up and holding her up with his good arm, her head resting on his shoulder. He then walked out of the bedroom, down the hall and towards her room, where he opened her door and laid her out on her bed. He looked over her, seeing her sleep peacefully.
'Comfort,' he thought, 'I was comforting to her.'
He smiled at that thought.
"Sleep well, Your Highness," he said softly, before closing her door behind him.
He stepped out into the dark hall, where he rubbed his head slightly, realising what he just said. He walked down the hall, back towards his room and his desk, where the lamp was still on and a pen was waiting for him on the top of his desk.
He got out his journal and flipped back to where he was writing…
…it's almost as if I am the brother she never grew up with; and she is to me, the sister I never lost on that fateful day, when they took my life away from me; the very people I used to serve, which I only rendered service to the one of the beings that truly saved me life; and that is the Emperor of Mankind.
Give me strength divine one; as I continue to fight the injustice which plagues this universe.
Meanwhile, Fox tossed in his sleep, fevered dreams flicking through his mind, all about what he saw today: The ugly faces of the Orks, the warzone outside the fortress walls, and of the tower itself and what floated and hung inside it.
"Blood…blood…blood," he said in his sleep.
He gripped his bedsheets, before tearing them off and rolling off his bed, hitting his forehead on the floor.
"AH! GODDAMN IT!" he cursed out loud, waking up with a start.
Jacques heard this as he laid down on his mattress, having no cause for alarm.
'You were wrong about one thing, Your Higness,' he thought, 'They're not sleeping soundly.'
Fox rubbed his forehead and hissed painfully, that was going to leave a bump. He noticed the sweat that coated his whole body and couldn't tell if that was because of his nightmare or that he was just hot at night. He wished it were the latter.
'That damn nightmare,' he thought, 'It was so real. What's up with that?'
Falco was no better because of the fact that he not sleeping at all. He couldn't get that picture out of head: That pond of blood with nearly a hundred floating corpses and those bodies dangling from the roof, all skinned, mutilated and God knows what else.
"Come on," he said sternly to himself, "Suck it up. You've seen worse…"
He then thought of that.
"…come to think of it: No I haven't."
He knew it was going to be a long night, but just didn't realise how long.
And on the planet Corneria, sitting in the corner of his padded cell in his straight jacket, Wing Commander Bill Grey eyes were opened, with crimson fire burning behind the eyes.
And he was smiling with complete malevolence.
"Soon," he said to himself, in a tone of voice which was not his, but someone else that was born from the darkness, "Soon, it will once again be all mine."
He could feel dark energies swirl from within him, begging him to let them loose on the planet and all who dwelled on it. He promised soon enough that he would do just that.
Suddenly, Bill came back, his eyes returning to normal.
"Wha…what was that?" he said to himself.
His pupils suddenly diluted when he saw what was hitting him; saw what no one else could with their own eyes.
"They're coming," he said softly, before screaming out loud, "THEY'RE COMING!"
And watching him from his own home on his portable terminal in his office, General Pepper in a robe watched through Bill's cell camera his insanity.
"What's coming?" he said softly, "For God's sake Bill, please tell me. What is coming?"
Suddenly, his phone rang.
"General Pepper speaking," he greeted, "Report?"
Hello, Pepper, the other line spoke, Good to hear your voice once again.
The general's eyes widened, knowing who spoke on the other end. He then frowned.
"Macragge," he said with slight vehemence, "What do you people want now?"