Fox looked all around him as he gazed back to the figure in the screens.
"Xerxes…" He shook his head in disbelief. "This can't be. Xerxes went down with the Messenger, I saw it."
Xerxes grinned, much more jovial sounding in his new incarnation. "Ah, but you didn't stick around to see what happened afterward. When my loyal Cybers located me, well, what was left of me, and took me back to the planet where my work first started."
Fox's eyes opened wide as he remembered what Krystal told him. "You mean…"
Xerxes nodded. "Yes. Standing before you right now are the very same Cybers who captured ships from Andross' fleet, and destroyed Cerinia after making several adjustments and enhancements to the weapons systems. Ever since they came back and destroyed those ships to avoid detection, they had been waiting for me patiently to return from Mondas and retrieve them for my grand plan." His smile faded. "Which of course was thwarted by your sweetheart, and her new allies, such as my turncoat daughter."
Fox frowned for a moment, and then scratched his head in confusion. "How come you look like that?" He motioned to Xerxes and his suit. "How were the Cybers able to regenerate you so well?"
"Regenerate?" Xerxes laughed, amused that Fox still didn't get it. "My boy, they didn't regenerate me. My body has been dead for quite some time now."
Fox just furrowed his brow as the image of Xerxes pointed to his head. "My brain…the Cybers found it wasn't completely dead when they retrieved me, so they simply pulled it out of my body, and hooked it into the computer system here. You're now looking at the smartest, most sophisticated, and not to mention best looking, computer system in the galaxy." He grinned and straightened out his suit a little.
Fox shook his head gently. "Let's cut right through the nonsense, Xerxes…What do you want with me?"
Xerxes looked to him and gave him a simple answer. "Bait, my boy…you're going to help me catch a vixen…I mean, You ARE rather fond of Krystal, aren't you, judging from your reaction that time when I told you she was dead…I think it's safe to say the feeling's mutual on her part, and she'll come rushing over to save you, once she's heard of your capture."
Fox scowled. "And what makes you think she isn't gonna succeed in rescuing me, and wiping you out in the process?"
Xerxes grinned. "Because, I have a brand new weapon waiting for Krystal, and her allies." He motioned to another screen, as the diagram of a steel skeleton came up, slowly covering itself in flesh and creating the figure of a female Cerinian .
Fox looked on in a horrified silence, as Xerxes rubbed his chin some with a smile. "You like her? I call her 'Diamondo'. She's an advanced model I cooked up, specially designed, non-decaying flesh over a metal endoskeleton, and a prototype for a possible new generation of Cybers, to back up my current generation. Most of the cells for her flesh were harvested from the remains of my old body, so she is literally my own flesh and blood."
Xerxes grinned as Fox was looking around for a possible escape route. The computerized Cerinian spoke again. "The hardest part was the brain, though. Now that people through the galaxy know who I am, I can't very well snatch a random person's brain without someone taking notice, so I had to construct a computerized brain from scratch, which I think has been working out quite well for my Diamando. My computerized operating hands are far more skilled than the ones in my flimsy mortal body were."
Fox tried to make a run for one of the doors, before a Cyber stepped out, and grabbed him by the arm.
"Do not leave the presence of the Creator." The Cyber warned, as Xerxes laughed a little more.
"Where do you think you're going?" Xerxes mused, watching Fox struggle in the arms of the Cyber. "Do you honestly think I'm going to let you break open my polished doors, and run out of here? I'm in control of every single aspect of this base now, so I say you are going to be staying here for quite some time…and just to make sure you don't try anything stupid…." He looked to the Cyber holding him. "Put him in stasis!"
"Enjoy your power trip while it lasts, Xerxes!" Fox shouted as the Cyber dragged him out. "Krystal's gonna come for me. With her friends! She's gonna save me, she's gonna take down that pet monster of yours, and then she'll take you out of commission, permanently!"
Xerxes slowly shook his head. "Don't hold your breath, boy." He watched from his screen as The Cyber dragged him along, the door closing behind them.
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"Krystal!" Peppy said aloud as the blue vixen stepped onto the bridge of the Great Fox, having just made a surprise visit to the ship in her Arwing, Fang and Topaz behind her.
"To what do I owe the pleasure of your presence today?" He grinned, getting up from his seat.
Krystal smiled as she walked closer to the aging hare. "I've got a special delivery for you, Peppy. One that needs to be put into a holding cell as quickly as possible."
"Oh?" Peppy looked over Krystal's shoulder, seeing the figure in binders being pushed along by Topaz, grunting and falling to his knees weakly.
"Panther Caroso!" Peppy exclaimed, looking over at Krystal. "So you're the ones who found the surviving member of Star Wolf!"
Krystal gave him a confused look as Topaz spoke from behind her. "What do you mean, 'surviving member'?"
Peppy blinked a few times. "You…you didn't hear?"
Fang stepped forward. "Uh, no Peppy. We passed by a meteor shower on the way over here, so our comms weren't really receiving a lot of signals."
"I see…" Peppy nodded as he sighed. "Normally I'd consider this to be good news, but the circumstances are most distressing. You see, not long after you left Joppa, another Cornerian fleet passed by the planet, and picked up another strange set of signals, which they believed to be from Cybers. They set down on the planet, and while they didn't find any Cybers, they DID discover the bodies of Wolf O'Donnell, and Leon Powalski."
"No…" Panther shook his head as he was now restrained by Topaz again. "I don't believe you. It's all a trick to scare me into compliance. I'm not gonna buy it."
"I'm sorry, Panther." Peppy walked up to him, showing the pictures they took of Wolf and Leon's lifeless bodies. "I'm afraid this isn't just a cruel trick on our part."
Panther got a good look, as he then looked off to the side. "Ohhhhhhh damn…" he groaned in a mournful way.
Fang scratched his head. "But, what about this is concerning you so much?"
Peppy looked to Fang and the rest of the group. "We recently discovered that all three of Star Wolf's ships were stolen, most likely after Wolf and Leon were disposed of. We also found out that they were both killed in the same way, by a strong electrical current introduced through the shoulder."
Topaz almost gasped out loud as she realized what this meant. "That's one of the Cybers' preferred methods of 'deletion'."
Peppy nodded gently as Fang furrowed his brow. "But the Cybers have their own ships. What could they possibly want with Star Wolf's ships?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Krystal spoke. "Not only are they quality fighter craft, but they are also very hard for anyone to track. And we've destroyed a few more of their ships ever since they lost The Messenger. It's only natural they'd want re-enforcements, particularly strong ones."
Topaz changed the subject as she forced the bound Panther to his feet. "Where's your holding cell?"
Peppy looked over to Topaz and motioned off to the left. "Right over that way. I'll see that he's transferred to the nearest prison colony."
Topaz pushed the groaning Panther along as she grinned. "Hear that, buddy? You're going to be put away. No more female faces for you for…oh probably some time."
Panther just went along, too shocked about Wolf and Leon's deaths to even respond to Topaz's remarks, as Krystal and Fang stayed around to chat with Peppy.
Within moments, the surviving member of Star Wolf was inside of a holding cell, and Topaz was standing by herself in a hallway, thinking to herself. She looked down at her necklace, a small gold globe attached to a chain as she lifted the globe. She pushed a little button, making it click and open up, revealing a picture of her father and mother together, as a pretty little tune began to play on it.
The necklace had been a present from her father when she was young, years before the madness that inspired him to create the Cybers took over. She remembered those days fondly each time she heard the tune, as he'd spend so much time with her, playing with her, giving her hugs constantly, and tucking her in at night. Even as his disease was taking hold, he didn't let it dampen his spirits. It was only when he began to use his research in the field of cybernetics to replace his amputated body parts that he slowly began to lose himself in his work.
She stood there, listening to the tune, before she heard a voice call out.
"Nice necklace."
Topaz jumped a little, looking over and seeing a new person, a young male wolf standing in a uniform, his face smudged with grease.
"Uhhhh…thank you." Topaz blinked a bit. "Do I know you?"
The wolf chuckled as he ran a cloth over a wrench he was holding. "Oh, sorry…I'm Fulton. I was sent up here to assist in some repairs. I guess they think I'm pretty good at it, to have me working at this place."
Topaz smiled and nodded some, as Fulton thought to himself. "So, uhhhh…you're part of that team that hunts down those Cybers I've been hearing about, right? 'Blue Specter' I think its called?"
"Yes." She smiled a bit, addressing him politely. "I'm Topaz. Nice to meet you."
Fulton nodded with a smile, as a high pitched voice called to him from behind.
"Hey Fulton! Are you gonna help me with this stabilizer, or what?" Slippy shouted.
"Oh! Right!" Fulton gasped. "I'll be right over!"
He started to walk off as Topaz watched him. He seemed different from the other guys she had met since leaving Mondas. There was something kind, and unassuming about his nature, a nice breath of fresh air from all the other testosterone jugs she had come across, such as the one who was waiting to jump her in another corridor.
Falco, after many failed attempts to redeem himself in the eyes of his comrades, leapt at her with a yell, trying to get her into a chokehold of his own from behind, only to have Topaz grab a hold of his right arm with her right, and use his momentum to flip him over in front of her, onto his back.
Falco groaned from the impact on the metal floor, as Topaz sighed and shook her head.
"Falco…are you really that insecure about your masculinity?"
Falco just grunted and sat up, rubbing his back as Topaz walked off, Slippy trying to stifle a laugh as he watched on with Fulton.
"Wow…" Fulton mused as he watched Falco walk away. "I'm glad she didn't do that to me."
"I was surprised too." Slippy chuckled. "You're one of the few males I've seen that Topaz hasn't treated like slime."
"Really, now?" Fulton's eyes went wide.
Slippy nodded. "She's a good fighter, pal, so if I were you, I'd do my best to stay on her good side."
Fulton chuckled a bit and nodded as he got back to work with the toad.
Moments after the chat, Peppy noticed something odd on one of the computers.
"Hmm, that's odd…" He took a closer look.
"What is it?" Krystal perked her ears as Fang looked on with her.
"I've a received a delayed message of sorts…from Fox." Peppy spoke, as he pressed a button, playing it…
Within seconds, the horrifying sounds of a tractor beam, and Fox struggling with his controls came on over the speakers. "Emergency! Emergency!... My ship seems to be caught in some kind of energy field! Possibly a tractor beam!…"I can't steer the ship, and the beam seems to have frozen my ejector functions! I can't escape! Repeat I can't escape!"
Krystal gasped out loud upon hearing this, her hands over her mouth, speechless, as the recording ended.
Fang quickly ran to Peppy's side. "Do you know where he might have been before this happened?"
Peppy nodded slowly. "Yes. He said was going to go take a look at that rock planet, Necross."
"Did you say Necross?" Topaz stepped into the room with a surprise look, before nodding slowly. "The Cybers must have taken him then, they MUST have. I remember distinctly from Xerxes' logs, that was the planet where he secretly started his work on them!"
Krystal shook her head. "But Topaz, we swept through that planet weeks ago, remember? We didn't find anything."
"Then they must have found a damn good way to hide on that place!" Fang almost laughed as he exclaimed.
"That's right." Topaz nodded. "Like I said before, they can be very crafty when they have to be, and god knows we've given them enough reasons to be crafty right now."
"It looks like they're correct." Peppy nodded as he looked to another screen. "I was able to trace Fox's message all the way back to his Arwing. It's currently located hundreds of feet underneath Necross, and down there I'm dectecting the signals of multiple Cybers!"
Krystal nodded as she quickly went to gather her equipment. "Well then…we know the planet, we know our enemies, and we know our hostage…So I'd say a rescue mission is in order!"
Topaz quickly nodded and gathered her things, as Fang quickly packed all of his weapons and supplies.
"All right! A chance to rescue the one and only Fox McCloud! There's no telling how famous we'll all get from this…especially me!" He laughed a bit, jokingly as he ran off ahead to his ship, as Topaz sighed and shook her head with a smile.
"You can't help but love him…Even if he is a prick sometimes." She mused to herself, as she walked off to join him.
"We'll keep an eye on you all from here." Peppy told Krystal. "If anything goes wrong, we'll be right there to back you up, okay?"
"Thank you, Peppy." Krystal nodded, as she ran off to join the others.
Within moments, all three of the ships in "Blue Specter" had taken off once more, on a one-way trip to Necross.
"I hope they haven't killed you, Fox…" Krystal thought to herself as she flew. "Dead or Alive, though, I know one thing's for sure…For what they've done to you, I'm going to wipe out every last stinking Cyber in your name! Count on it!"
She zoomed along in her Arwing, leading the way.
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"Sir…" Diamondo spoke from her recently acquired Wolfen ship, two Cybers controlling the other two ships. "I have just picked up the Blue Specter team on my scanners. They are now leaving the Great Fox, and are headed in our direction."
Xerxes' image came up on the screen in front of her. "Splendid…Wait for them to get close to Necross, make them think they're going to arrive quietly, and engage them. Do what you wish with the other two, but leave Krystal alive, and unspoiled…understood?"
"Yes sir…" Diamondo nodded, looking on patiently at her scanners.
Xerxes grinned as his image appeared in another room on the Necross base.
"All is going as I have planned." He turned and looked up at Fox, who was now in suspended animation, floating in the middle of a large glass tube, an empty one sitting right next to it.
"Do not be troubled, boy." He addressed the sleeping Fox. "You shall soon be reunited with your loved one…"
With that, he turned, and made his image vanish from the room once more.