--Author's Note: As always, many thanks to my readers and to those that review. To Nail Strafer: I'm honored you took the time for that long and detailed a review, and even moreso that it's that positive. Edit: Also, thanks for giving me the heads up on the rating system, but I could not find any official notice of rules of censorship. If you know where the official word from is, please let me know, but until then I'll keep it at Pg-13 because I believe it to be the proper rating so far. Thanks again. And without further delay, Chapter 7!--

CHAPTER 7
Brothers in Arms, Brothers in Life
McMarthen Base, Fortuna
1234 hours

No matter how high we turned up the heat, there always seemed to be a chill floating around the Mac, as if the freezing wasteland was ingrained in the base's walls. But after Harverton, I welcomed the bone-chilling weather with open arms. The town had more of an effect on me than I realized. I didn't fight a goddamn war just to have mercs swoop in and take over the people we freed, turning their shattered town into a shattered black market. I wouldn't forget. There might not have been anything to do about it at the moment, but I wouldn't forget.

Besides, we had more immediate problems. Fox holed himself up in the control room, coming out only to grab something from the mess hall then returning with barely a word or even focused eyes. I was beginning to wonder if the Viper incident had an effect on him. When he laid the whole plan out, Fox wasn't sure whether to let the missiles strike the Vipers or not. Finally, we left it up to him. I told him that he would know what to do when the time came. Personally, I'm glad he made the choice he did. This was war, and war is unforgiving. The Vipers would have simply struck again and again. Still...watching over a hundred mercs die right before you without a chance had to be a bit of a shocker. Women, no less.

With him off in his own world, I began to think about Andrea. It was her old team that we blew away after all. If she had any feelings about it, she hid them well. We played back the video feed from Fox's Arwing and watching Commander LaMonte dismiss Andrea's life didn't help foster sorrow. Andrea wasn't a merc at heart. I don't know what she was, but it wasn't a merc.

We somehow managed to dance around the subject of the kiss for a full day, which was fine with me. Maybe if I picked up the chick magazines once in awhile instead of going for Guns and Blades whenever I was in a store, I would have known what to say. In any case, we spent a long time talking; just chatting about old times at Dagger tryouts, what we've done since then, all that. I liked talking to her, and since I usually say a grand total of five words per day to people outside my team, that's saying something.

"I don't like it," she said the day after the Viper op as we sat with coffee mugs in the empty, echoing mess hall. "He's barely said a word and we don't have time to guess at what's going on."

I sighed. I hated dealing with mental strain, even if it was Fox. Here I thought the guy would have seen enough in his time to be over shock and depression. The only thing to top that was marriage. "Think I should talk to him?"

"Yeah. Just be gentle."

I cocked an eyebrow. "You're asking this of the guy who thinks our armory here still isn't overkill?"

Andrea rolled her eyes. "Maybe I should—"

"No, I'll do it. I've done it before to soldiers. Why don't you go spend some time in the range? I'll stop by to give you some lessons later."

She gave me the finger as I walked out.

I had to commend the architects for the structural planning. The mess hall was nearly all the way across the base from the command center, where the officers would have worked. Let the brass work for their meals, dammit. The rest of us have to. Bad side, that meant a long walk for me. At least the cold base made a man want to keep moving. I reached the command center and tried the door. Locked, of course. I knocked.

"Fox? You in there? It's me."

No answer.

"Come on, open up. I just want to see how you're doing. I'll stand here all day and tap on the door. I'll make it extra annoying too."

I grinned and sighed after a moment when there was still no answer. I was about to knock again when I heard the clean slide of the lock being removed. When the door didn't open, I helped myself.

Fox stood by the huge window overlooking the landing pad, gazing out into the snow, his arms folded over his chest. The blinking lights and orange glow from the rows of consoles bathed him and the room and a sickly light. I had no idea how he could stand it for so long. He didn't look like he noticed much of anything though. He glanced back at me with distant eyes, then turned back to the window.

"Hey, Fox," I said gently. Yes...gently. "How you feeling?"

I didn't expect an answer, but he gave one in a nearly whispered voice. "How do you think I'm feeling?"

I slowly walked up behind him. "Listen, man. You made a decision out there, and it was the right one. It might not have been easy to watch, but it had to be done. We're behind you on it. You did a favor for the galaxy, not just yourself."

I thought my little speech was good enough to be in a movie, but he looked back at me as if I missed something. He didn't turn back, though. He kept staring at me with this piercing gaze and a face stern enough to make a clown cry. It was only then that I noticed the pistol in his hand.

"You think this is about that?" he asked rhetorically. His voice was slowly rising to a dead-serious tone, the kind of voice that was so full of pain you almost wish the guy would shout. "No, Gage. This is about you. It's about this. I found it on MercNet."

He picked up a long sheet of paper and slapped it down on the console before me. Confused as hell, I picked up the paper and read. A pit in my stomach intensified as I continued to read. It was a list of information, every kind of tidbit an assassin would want to know, everything from the locations of fire extinguishers on the Great Fox to the inventory of its armory. Hell, even the brand of toothpaste Fox used was on there.

"I found the third to last one particularly interesting," Fox said.

I scanned down and found a line that I would place under disturbing rather than interesting. It listed the specs of his Arwing as well as one last piece of information: "Known alias: Lightning."

Fuck being gentle now. If he was hinting towards what I thought he was hinting at, things would be anything but gentle. "Oh, come on, Fox. Anybody could have—"

I looked up in time to see him grab my shirt and slam me against the nearest console, his teeth bared and his eyes burning like the fires of hell. "Where are they, you back-stabbing shit?! Where the fuck is my team?!"

I was floored; shocked, appalled, stupefied, and every synonym in between. Lastly, as my eyes narrowed to fit his and I started glaring back, I felt hurt and betrayed in my own right. Commander LaMonte told him someone close had betrayed him, but it never even crossed my mind that he would suspect me. After leaving Corneria and following him straight into a war, pledging my life to aiding him, this is how he thanks me? Is that what he truly thinks of me? I shoved him back, breaking his hold.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," I spat back. "Fox, you look at me right now and tell me if you think that. And you better think real fucking carefully."

He grabbed the paper again and held it up. "You're the only person outside my team who knows that, and they sure as hell aren't talking! Even Pepper doesn't know half the shit on this list! The Vipers thought Andrea's dead, so LaMonte had to mean someone else. Who the hell's left, Gage?!"

I shook my head. "You're unbelievable, Fox. I follow you into a fucking shit storm, and you finger me first!"

He shook his head, pain apparent in his face. His eyes shone with the beginnings of tears, but I didn't care. After hearing this, I didn't give a shit.

"No lies this time," he said. "I'm not believing any more lies. What were you gonna do, wait so you could get me alive and snag that bonus? Huh?"

"Fox..."

He picked up his pistol from where it fell. "If you're not out of this base in five minutes, I add your ID to the turret security system. And if I ever see you again, it'll be through the sights of a gun."

The words struck me like sniper rounds, and they hurt just the same. I didn't know what to say, so I let the first emotion I felt take control: anger. "You ungrateful son of a—"

"Get out—"

"—bitch. You—"

"Get out, dammit—"

"—were like a fucking brother to me! We—"

"You were like a brother to me too!" A tear slipped down the fur on his cheek. "And today, I lost a brother! Now get the fuck out!"

There was nothing left to say. My mind raced, but I could think of nothing to disprove the information on the sheet. Even if Andrea had been spying, there was too much there that she didn't know. I really was the only culprit, which made this that much more disturbing. The only thing I could think of was another spy that we hadn't found, or one that got away without leaving a trace, but that was too thin to go with. I gritted my teeth. Of all the countless shootouts I'd been in, this was one of the tensest confrontations ever.

I had to leave.

With a hard swallow, I turned to see Andrea standing in the doorway, her eyes wide. I didn't know how long she had been there, but it didn't take a genius to see what was going on. I said over my shoulder, "And Andrea?"

He didn't answer for a moment, just kept staring out the window. Finally, he muttered, "I want to be alone."

She looked confused and hurt at the same time and looked at me with questioning eyes. I just shook my head and motioned for her to follow me. The door slid closed behind us and moments later, the lock clicked into place.

CNS Solar Wind, Solar orbit

I should've left him. I should've just gone back to my good ole apartment in Corneria City, got back to work, back to my team, and just check the news every day to see how long Fox could hold out. But I didn't. I couldn't. I was still pissed to hell at the way he treated me and Andrea, but I was in no position to judge. I stayed close to Fortuna, just in case. I couldn't abandon him like God and the galaxy had done.

There was always a carrier fleet on patrol between Fortuna and Solar, I knew, so I took Andrea in one of the Starfire fighters and caught up with them. The fleet admiral, an old war vet named Admiral Satcher, was happy to take us aboard one of the cruisers, the CNS Solar Wind. It was as simple as flashing my ID number. Formally, it told them that I was in Dagger. Informally, it told them, "Yes, I'm black ops and probably floating out here for top secret reasons that I can't tell you, so just let me aboard and take me where I need to go."

Admiral Satcher gave us a two-man room in the crew quarters and full clearance to anything on the ship for as long as we needed. That was fine with me, and it felt good to be in a fully-defended flying fortress again with someone besides me manning the radar. Andrea felt a bit tense being in what was considered enemy territory up until few days before, but I just told the admiral that she was a "friend" and that was that. She eventually settled down, but stayed in the room most of the time.

Me, I got my ass to work. I hated leaving behind all that photographic manipulation and investigation equipment back on Corneria and equal replacements could be found on the Solar Wind. The ship's data banks had backups of the videos, so I picked up where I left off. Unfortunately, where I left off was pretty much as far as I was going to get. Our mystery asshole was pro, and the video was airtight.

It was after two days of mind-numbing process work that I finally got some company other than Andrea or my own addled mind. The voice snuck up behind me that evening as I was losing half of last month's pay on bets in the range with Andrea. I really have to learn to stop giving pointers, then betting. Other way around, Gage, you moron.

"Well, well, could it be that Gage Birse finally found a girl? And one that can shoot better than him, no less."

I'd recognize that voice anywhere, mostly because it sounded like it belonged on a snooty scientist instead of large jaguar who could bench nearly twice his weight. I spun around, my eye focusing on the scar beneath his left eye first, just as it always had. I was fighting alongside him when he got that scar. I laughed, he laughed back, and I slapped my hand into his, shaking hard.

"You're still deemed safe to be let into society? What's the galaxy coming to?"

Arthur "Torq" Torqinski was as smart as he was tough, and had long grown used to my patented brand of humor. He just shook his head and eyed Andrea.

"Aren't you going to introduce us?"

"Oh, right. Torq, this is Andrea." I left out the last name. "Andrea, meet Arthur Torqinski, or just Torq. He was an army man for a couple years after the war then went off with aspirations of being one of the 'good' mercs. Who'd you end up joining anyway?"

His face fell a bit. "The Guardians."

Good one, Gage. I sighed. "Damn, I'm sorry, man. We saw the video. What happened?"

"Not much to tell, really. We all vowed to take McCloud's side in this war, like the bastard on the tape said. We hardly saw it coming. Fighters, ships, soldiers from every evil merc group in the galaxy overwhelmed us. Most of us were killed outright, a dozen or so captured. Me and a few others managed to make it here, and the admiral said we could stay until they head back to Corneria." His eyes grew distant. "I never want to see anything like that again."

"I'll bet." What else is there to say to that?

He shook his head. "But anyway...what about you? What are you doing here, or is that top secret?"

"McCloud also. Me and Andrea were helping him out, but some bad shit was posted up on MercNet. He got suspicious of me." I shook my head. "Truthfully, I can't even think of anyone besides me who would have that kind of information. Guess I can't blame him."

"Seems the whole galaxy is revolving around this little war," he said with a small grin.

"No kidding. Well, we're hunkering down here a bit so I can keep an eye on him. I know he's going to make a move on the Warriors on Katina, and believe me, this guy needs a guardian angel to make sure he doesn't get himself waxed."

Torq chuckled and punched me in the arm. His playful punches hurt more than most people's most powerful right hooks. "That's why I respect you, man. Loyal to the end. Well, hey, keep safe. Maybe we can get a beer in the lounge later, eh? And if you're going after the mercs and need a right-hand man, come get me. I've been itching to get back out there."

"No problem." I gave a little wave as he nodded to Andrea and left.

Andrea chuckled when we were alone again. "Are all your buddies soldiers?"

"Actually, yeah." I slid the spent energy clip out of my pistol and started to take the gun apart for cleaning. I vowed a long time ago not to die because my gun was crusty. "Maybe it's because it's all I've known since high school. Or maybe it's instinct. I like having people around me who I know can cover my ass."

"Yeah?" She followed suit, though I could tell from the sporadic glances at my work that she wasn't a chronic gun-cleaner. "So you think I can hold my own?"

"Who said you were my friend?"

I expected a scoff or another graceful rude gesture, but instead she looked up with something between surprise and concern. Once she saw my little grin, she smiled back and relaxed. I suddenly realized how glad I was to have here there. For a good part of my life, I'd been sort of a loner. Outside of my team, I didn't talk to anyone and walked around with downcast eyes. I wanted nothing to do with anything around me, and I thought I was happy that way. Keep things simple. But I don't know...after spending these days on the cruiser with Andrea, I started wishing I had known her sooner.

"You look over the new equipment more?" she asked, finishing up her cleaning.

I blinked and my eyes focused again. Heavy thinking and a disassembled weapon didn't go well together. "Yeah. I found a light-shader option on the newer software that might do something. But...it's complicated. Don't get your hopes up."

"I never do."

McMarthen Base, Fortuna
At the same time

I don't cry much. I used to think that my personal reservoirs turned bone-dry after my father's death. But that wasn't it. After that, I just couldn't find anything to cry over. No one close to me was hurt, and I was toughened by the war. The war made me feel like fighting, not like crying. Even at the hardest parts, when all seemed lost or when it looked like an entire battle rested on my shoulders, I took it and stood to the task. Pressure? Hell yes. But there was something above that pressure that kept me going.

I sat in the command center of the empty base, watching snow blur in the wind outside the large window, and I thought about what it could have been. It was nearly two hours before I figured it out, and it put me in no better mood. Back then, I had backing. No matter the difficulty of the battle, I knew I was fighting for a just cause, I knew my wingmen would be there for me, and I knew the allied planets of Lylat were cheering me on and rooting for me. Now...what did I have? I had myself, alone in a base on Fortuna, my team imprisoned, a best friend a probable traitor, and the people who I thought supported me out for my blood because of money. What was I fighting for? Why?

And I cried now. I didn't sob, weep, blubber, or any of that. I just sat in the dim orange light of the Fortuna evening, staring out at the endless wasteland, and tears ran down my cheeks. I never thought Gage would turn on me, especially after his little speech back on Corneria. The emotional side of my brain couldn't believe what I had done. I didn't honestly believe Gage betrayed me. But the logical side begged to differ. Nobody else could have known all that, nobody else knew about MercNet, and besides...if the entire galaxy betrayed me, why not a friend?

But I still had one thing going for me. My team was suffering out there because of these mercs, and that was enough to keep me moving, keep me planning, and keep me training. I had enough resources in the base to give me all the information I needed on the Warriors on Katina. The army database that held the tabs on every merc group out there was readily available in the Mac. The Warriors operated openly all over Katina, but transmission recordings were thickest in a small island group off the coast of a western continent. Officially, the place was your typical tropical paradise with no inhabitants, but satellite imagery clearly showed a series of buildings under construction by the Warriors. When I looked up the date the video proclaiming my team prisoners was released, I saw the clincher: a large boat convoy and radio recordings of a "special shipment."

I uploaded all the necessary data to my Arwing and, for the first time in my life, I skipped the ops center. Though it was only a construction yard, normally I would have planned. But I didn't need a plan. I didn't need to figure out landing zones, security grids, points of entry, or anything else the maps could offer. Looking back, I suppose there was a very small suicidal thought to what I did, but my anger had taken over and fear for my life had dissipated. I knew exactly what I would do. I would fly down to the islands in my Arwing, blow up anything that moved, and move to the dock the convoy stopped at. Then I would find my team. And God have mercy on the poor son of a bitch that gets in my way, because I sure won't.

CNS Solar Wind
Forty minutes later

"Gage, he's moving."

I looked up from the console screen and rubbed my eyes. Now I know why techies wear glasses. I turned in my chair to see Andrea standing at the doorway of the A/V research lab, an alarmed look on her face. I should've known what she was talking about, but I suppose staring at the damn video and playing with every light angle around our pal the Shadow fried a few brain cells. "What?"

"Fox, dammit, he left the Mac. The radar guys picked him up a half hour ago. Two guesses where he was heading."

I sighed. At least I could answer that. "Katina."

She nodded. "What do you want to do?"

What did I want to do? Wake up in my billion-credit mansion and realize this is all a bad dream. But I wished for that enough times to know it wasn't true. I thought for a moment. "Find Torq, ask him if he wants to go for a little jaunt, then meet me back here. I might've found something and I want to toy with it for a bit longer."

She nodded again and ran off. Rubbing my eyes one more time, I turned back to the screen and the second video. What I found might not appear like much; just a flash of light refracted when the Shadow held out his hand to show the StarFox emblems. The kicker was that the refracted light, for a split second, flashed against another figure. There was someone slightly behind the Shadow; bodyguard, crony, loot-carrier, who knew? In a lesser station, I wouldn't have been able to find out, but the cruiser was equipped for deep analysis. I was set. All I had to do was expand the refracted light over the entire figure and it would "nullify the black spectrum filters." If I translated the gibberish from the user manual right, it meant it would bring the figure into light.

After a few clicks, the light began to spread. I would've popped some champagne if I had some handy. I leaned forward in anticipation and didn't blink. Finally, one of our enemies would be made concrete and I could get a real investigation going.

Boots...legs...nothing big. Tail hidden behind the Shadow. Folded arms...that jacket sure looked familiar. As the light started to creep up the neck, I felt a deep pit in my stomach and I swallowed hard. No way...it couldn't be. The light finished its journey. I sat and stared with my jaw hitting the floor. I didn't even notice when Andrea walked in. I finally felt her hand on my shoulder, but then she also stood stock still, probably stupefied by the figure on the screen as well.

"Oh, shit..." she whispered first. "Oh...holy shit."

I snapped out of it. Fox had no idea! I jumped up, sending the chair toppling over with a crash. "Get a ship and grab anything you can from the armory! We gotta get to Katina! We have to warn Fox! Now!"

--Chapter 8 coming soon--