Chapter 8: Sector X-cursion

Fox McCloud

"So, Star Fox," Admiral Cooke said, projecting himself via hologram in the main briefing room as always. "I hate to put you in such a position."

The aged human admiral showed us a map of Sector X, the nebula of space debris.

"However, information is extremely limited here, and as such, you must take extreme caution," he warned us. "We sent in Captain O'Grady at fourteen hundred hours today, and lost contact at fifteen, his report was that of just debris and ruined ships, as documented in your last mission here."

My eyes flicked to the nearby clock. 19:32.

"And our team went missing at just seventeen hundred hours," General Pepper added. "Since then… complete radio silence."

"You can count on Star Fox to get your guys back," I nodded and gave a thumbs up. "Consider it done."

"Godspeed, Star Fox," Cooke nodded. "Be careful."

"And good luck."

"Miyu, Fay," I said, stopping the girls in the hangar. They both looked… confused. "I want you two to stay with the ship. Just in case something happens to us. If so, we'll send info to you."

"Saving all the fun for yourself?" Miyu chuckled. "Well, if you say so, chief."

The lynx said in her typical tone… but… I could sense a bit of disappointment in her voice. I always felt a bit odd around her, what with her being taller than me. Immediately, she took off her coat and wrapped it around her waist.

"Be careful, Fox," Fay stepped forward, her bright blue eyes filled with worry. "Don't do anything too risky."

"I won't, Fay," I nodded and put my hand on her shoulder, squeezing it tightly. "I'll be safe."

She just looked at me, then to Miyu. The spaniel seemed less than reassured.

"I'll make sure they're gonna walk out of this one," A fourth voice called from behind the ladies. We all turned to see the owner. It was Peppy. "I've got a baaad feeling about this, and you're a ship down without Krystal. It'll be like old times."

He stretched from left to right.

"I'm still spry as a hare!" He laughed. "Er, one of you girls mind lending me your Arwings? Since Krystal took my old one and kitted it out to her teleken… telepath… her powers, she customised it too much!"

"Take mine, Pep," Miyu gave a thumbs up. "Touch the seat though, and I'm taking your stuff from the fridge."

"No guarantees," He laughed and walked by to the ships.

"What… what is your seat like?" I fearfully asked the lynx, who held her hip and watched him leave.

She guffawed and turned to leave.

"That ice cream in there is as good as mine," She looked back at me, then Fay. "As ours, I'm not gonna leave a sister hangin."

As she left, Fay looked at me and took me into a quick embrace.

"Good luck, Boss,"

She let go of me and followed her friend down the hall, back into the bowels of the Grand Fox. I let myself smile at such a gesture. I hoped Miyu would take care of her.

I shook my head and walked down to the rest of the crew, who were all huddled around their Arwings. A huge rush of nostalgia hit me as I looked over at Slippy, Falco and Peppy. It almost made me feel like I was three years younger!

"So, we got a plan, boss?" Falco leaned back into one of the storage crates.

"Fly in, scout around, and get our guys out, simple," I responded, double checking my kit. "Give or take a few details."

Before Falco could inevitably sneak in a cheeky response or one liner, Slippy stepped forward with his data pad.

"Fox," the shortest of us four simply said, showing me a diagram of our ships. "I've made a few modifications to our ships… Since the Fichina mission, I've been paranoid about EMP attacks, so I've installed emergency generators and whatnot to the Arwing's designs, stripped a few of the unnecessary components out… I don't know why Phoenix Flight and Arms put those servos there, but I didn't think we needed them."

"Wouldn't tell Fara you're playing around with their stuff," Falco chuckled. "That's a lawsuit begging to happen."

"Well, until the lawyers start knocking," I said, turning to my Arwing. "I think protection against another electro attack is a good plan."

"You boys ready?" Peppy adjusted his belt and looked at my usual wingmen. "I'm as peppy as I can be!"

"You're always peppy, Peppy," Slippy laughed and made his way to his respective ship."

"Hope you've looked up the handbook, geezer," Falco smirked. "Cuz they're called aileron rolls now."

"Hrmph…" The hare grumbled something about barrels under his breath.

"What in tarnation has that girl done with the chair?!" Peppy hissed over the radio as we launched from the Grand Fox's primary hangar bay. "That darn lynx! My feet are hanging off the seat!"

"She is tall, I guess," Slippy responded, sticking close to formation as we made distance from the homeship, flying to the glowing blue nebula we parked outside of. "As long as it's flying straight…"

"It's flying straight, but I might be flying in zigzags at this rate! Where are the levers on this thing?!" The elrderly officer complained.

"Check under the seat, that's where I'd keep it," Falco smarmed.

"Watch your beak, blue boy, I— oh!" His voice jumped from anger to a happy surprise. "Comment retracted, I found it!"

"Comfy, Pep?" I shook my head and sighed. "We're entering Sector X now. Stay close and stay slow, we don't know what kinda junk is still floating around here."

"Doesn't help we kinda trashed the place on our first road trip here," Falco laughed, staying close to my wing surprisingly. "I'll recognise what I've trashed. From a mile off."

"Should I be worried, or?" Slippy gulped.

"Cut the chatter, boys," Peppy whispered. "Incoming frigate! Two o'clock!"

Immediately, I cocked my head to the side, noticing the distinct shape of Andross' frigate types, blocky and long… but… it wasn't shooting. It just floated there with the debris. It looked more recent… recently disturbed.

"Let's have a look at it, something is wrong," I tightened my eyes, slowing my arwing down to a crawl as we approached it. "Slippy, run some scans, if you can."

"On it!"

From what I could see, it looked like the occupants of this vessel just… up and left. The escape pods were still in the bays, the engines showing no sign of overheating or failure. But, as I flew around the dark vessel, something caught my eye. Portside was damaged, but not by conventional means, no laser burns or torpedo holes… instead, a giant crushed area of the ship.

It looked compressed…

"You guys seeing this?" Falco whispered, clearly examining the injury through his cockpit. "That's not normal."

"Structural warping indicates that this was subjected to massive amounts of internal and external pressure," Slippy said, typing like a madman on his computers. "The kinds of pressures seen on a gas giant!"

The toad gasped.

"How did this happen?" Peppy asked, slowly patrolling around the ship.

"I… I don't know… it's so precise… everything up to the reactor core has been crushed completely, compressed so hard that any and all carbon has crystallised to diamond,"

"So at least we'll get rich if we sell this," Falco chuckled.

"I… I don't like this," I said and just ogled the destroyed ship. "Let's just find our missing teams and skedaddle."

"Did you just say skedaddle, flyboy—?"

"What? It's a good word!" Peppy snapped back.

"I'm with Falco here," Slippy added. "Kind of an old fashioned word."

"Enough," I sneered. "Let's just get a move on."

Without objection, we flew onward.

My heart thumped in my chest as we pressed on into the nebula. Despite flying with the original three, I felt off. This mission was gonna be strange, wasn't it?

Moving forward, we began passing by more of these now obsolete ships in several states of ruin, all destroyed by the same means. All with a crushed section that led straight to the reactor. This definitely was not our tech. All had zero lifesigns and all escape pods intact. I had a sinking feeling in my chest.

"I think we might have a new kind of weapon, here," I said, quickly becoming even more observant than I was before. "I don't like this."

"You don't like my new toys?" A familiar voice called.

You had to be kidding me…

On the display, a familiar symbol appeared. An X, followed by a smirking Lemur.

"Hello again," Dr X smiled. "I'd say it's a pleasure, but it really isn't. Only four today? And you brought an elderly man with you, curious. You left your harem behind."

"Oh look," Falco scoffed. The doctor finally found a place he can relate to, Doctor X in Sector X."

"Clever." He said without a care in the world. "I suppose you're clever enough to figure out what happens next."

From the darkness of the nebula, an emp missile emerged, detonating right by us, in an attempt to shut us down.

As it blasted, our systems went down, but Slippy's little trick kicked in.

As power failed, emergency generators kickstarted our arwing's power supply, getting us back online.

"Ah, you brought compensation,"

X said, a twinge of disappointment in his voice. "You weren't as inept as I thought, Mr Toad."

"Yeah, like you, I'm capable of learning and adapting strategies!" Slippy said with a pride filled voice. "How bout you come out of hiding, coward!"

X's face appeared on screen. The lemur grinned cruelly.

"Certainly."

From a huge, blank spot of sector X, a massive cruiser appeared out of stealth. It was ginormous. Bigger than the one we saw on Katina. Several spotlights and point defence turrets immediately pointed at us.

"Miyu, Fay!" I immediately hissed into my radio, trying to fly away from this huge, sleek and pitch black ship. However, my thrusters, try as they might, could not propel me. We were stuck. "What the fu—?!"

"Hush now, I've taken the liberty of jamming your signal now, I did the same with those cornerian and federation brutes sent earlier," he smirked and got close to the camera, looking me dead in the eyes. "Tractor beams initiate. Bring them into the hangar. I wish to speak with the leader in person."

"Falco, Slip?!" I gasped, trying to contact the others. "Peppy, come in!"

Nothing. Radio silence.

I looked out the cockpit, seeing only Peppy panicking in his ship. I held onto my control sticks for dear life as we were brought in.

The lights of the nebula and stars quickly faded as we were brought into the hangars of this monstrosity. From all angles, I saw masked troopers surrounding us, outnumbering us at least ten to one. I just sighed and braced myself. We were brought down to the landing bays.

In preparation, I simply opened my cockpit, stood up and placed my hands behind my head, only after unclipping my holster in front of the pirates and apes. Waiting for us were all four members of Star Wolf. With Dr X with them. I glared at Wolf. He glared back. I took no pride in surrendering, but… I did it for the team.

Following suit, Falco, Peppy and Slippy emerged, quite obviously surrendering.

"Welcome aboard the Shade-Two," X said with a grin as Felix stepped forward and cuffed me. "I do hope we haven't scratched the paint on your ship."

"Where are the others?" I sneered at him, watching Star Wolf take the others prisoner. "The two teams before us."

The lemur just clapped his hands together and smiled wider.

"Not to worry, Mr McCloud, they are safe and in prison, after all, what's a war without a good hostage situation… and you make a valuable hostage."

"Gee, thanks?"

"Hey genius," Falco scoffed, being escorted by Panther. "Could these cuffs be any looser? I could practically slip out and punch you."

"Mrrrow, I didn't take you as the kind to like it tight~" Panther cooed.

"Y-your servos need tightened," Slippy gulped as Weavel escorted him by the shoulder. "N-not saying it to insult you, just—"

The cyborg just twisted his wrist around for a moment before just shoving the toad to the rest of us.

"I suppose it does," The once-pirate nodded and stood by us on guard. "I'm surprised any of you had a brain."

"Rich coming from the tin can—" Peppy spat in his general direction, marching to us before Wolf could even touch him. "I don't need some young punk pushing me places!"

"Keep your dinner in check, Fox," Wolf whispered in my ear as he joined us. "He's getting rowdy and old."

"I see you are missing four," Dr. X rubbed his chin. "The women, funnily enough. No matter, I do believe the leader of Star Fox is a worthy enough prize. Do not worry. You four are in no real danger."

"We got a nice hostage taker today, just my luck!" Falco sneered at the Doctor.

"Just your luck indeed," Panther purred. "Spending time with you lot does sound like fun."

"Felix, Escort McCloud to the guest room, he deserves first class seats with the esteemed guests," X turned to the others. "Wolf, I trust you shall take these three to the brig with the others."

"On it," Wolf looked at me with a smug grin. "Can't believe you willingly gave yourself up. What an end. Alright, let's get these idiots to the brig."

"Cmon, move it,"

Felix nudged me forward, forcing me out of the hangar and into the winding halls of this ship. I didn't appreciate the way he manhandled me. I just kept walking, eyes pointed only forward, avoiding all the glares of pirate and ape alike.

I don't know how long we walked for, but it felt like an eternity. Through narrow corridors, up elevators and eventually, to a quiet conference room with a large window looking out, facing forward. I just deeply sighed into the empty room and walked over to one of the chairs, stepping over my cuffs so my arms were at least in front of me.

I pulled it out and sat, blankly looking into sector X before turning at the lone spaniel guarding the door. I just stared at him. He really was Fay's spitting image. From even his lax posture, the way his tail swung, down to how his bandanna was similar to her bow and—

"What're you looking at, McCloud?" Felix sighed and stared back at me.

"You look like one of my teammates," I responded, turning back around. "You know you have a sister?"

"..." I heard him sigh deeply. "I do."

"Yeah, she knows about you too."

"..." He walked up to me, staring down at me with a more than upset expression. "Does she know where my… our father is?!"

I just shook my head and frowned. He grimaced at me and banged his fist on the table. While I flinched, I didn't take my eyes off him.

"Course she doesn't," He sighed and just stood up straight, adjusting the straps and belts on his red jumpsuit. "What does she know about me?"

"Not a lot, she knows you share a dad… but," I just examined him. "But you've made yourself quite elusive."

"Of course I have, I'm a bloody mercenary!" He raised his voice, his accent sounding nearly identical to his sister. "She's safe, though, right?"

I just nodded and looked down at the floor.

"Hmph," Felix sighed. A different sigh. Tired… relieved. "I suppose she was wise not to come on this mission."

"What's… happening?" I looked at Fay's brother.

"No clue, something about this weapon," he walked to the window, his tail slowly swishing back and forth. "They didn't tell me much, I'm just here for—"

"For the money of course," the door opened, revealing an awfully shrill voice. One that I immediately recognised. "Ah, Fox McCloud!"

Entering the room first was Andrew, black cape flowing behind him.

"You know… I'm surprised we haven't met in person until now!" He laughed cruelly, taking a seat beside me. "You're a lot shorter than I imagined you to be."

I just glared at him, watching his gaggle of apes, mad lemur doctors and space pirate commanders enter as well. They all took seats, most of them glared at me with looks of sheer disgust.

"Leave us, Farley!" Andrew snapped at Felix. The dog just rolled his eyes and began to leave… but… he couldn't. Standing in the doorway was Samus' dark doppelgänger. All heads in the room turned to her.

I could see the colour drain from Felix's face as he stood far too close to her. Dark Samus didn't even acknowledge the spaniel's existence. She just hovered forward, standing between Andrew and me. My heart thumped in its chest as she peered down at me, through her blue visor.

Felix slipped away in the meantime.

"Now that we're all here, I…" Andrew stopped, looking at Dark Samus. "Where is your pet?"

Dark Samus broke her death glare from me and turned to Andrew, staring him down instead.

"W-well?"

"Master Ridley is clearly too big for this puny ship!" A female space pirate slammed her fist on the table.

"He's much too big for many things, General Karkow," X said. "But he is likely watching in spirit—"

"Or the hull of the ship," Andrew rolled his eyes. "I'm sure we're all dying for some good entertainment, aren't we, Fox?"

"Let's hope you don't speak nearly as much during the show," I retorted with a slight sneer.

"Oh, I'll be quiet enough, if only to watch the despair grow in your eyes!" He grinned. "Because this weapon will break your fleet. Our onboard systems are powered by phazon, provided by Dark Samus."

In response, Dark Samus looked at Andrew, then to me. Even through her opaque and glowing blue visor, I could feel the wrathful and cruel gaze beneath Samus' dark visage.

"You speak a big game, Oikonny," I sneered further. "How do you know this'll win you the war?"

"Oh, my scientists and weapons experts say this weapon is capable of so much, so, so much…" The ape stood up and clapped his hands together. "Everyone, observe."

He pointed at the window.

"Bring in the GFS Trident," X said into the communications device on his wrist. "Set Gravity Levigator to full power."

We all turned to the view port. Two space pirate ships brought in the damaged form of a GF Griffin Class frigate, contained by tractor beams.

"Not to worry, this ship's crew is safely on board the Shade," Andrew said. "Ah, the Workhorse of the federation fleet, a Griffin class. Top of the line."

"These ships have better shields and defences than our Fleets," General Karkow said, voice angered yet muffled by her crimson, cone shaped helm. "The Federation uses their technology as compensation for our numbers."

"That changes today," Andrew stepped forward and swished his cape. "This weapon shall be the federation breaker! And the breaker of Corneria! Now witness it at full power! Fire at will!"

My heart raced as from the bow of the ship, the entire hull opened up, revealing a massive cannon. It glowed a bright and piercing phazon blue. It began to charge. From its barrel, a large blue beam grabbed the Trident, locking it in place while the pirate vessels moved out of position.

Within seconds of being grabbed by the beam, the body of the Trident began to compress, crushing it. I could see explosions beginning to erupt across its surface. It only took five minutes before the entire ship was crushed into scrap, damaged even worse than all those old ships we saw floating out in the sector.

I just stared at the remains of the Trident in slight horror, watching as the once angular grey ship was nothing more than just extra debris for Sector X.

"Wanna know the best part, Fox?" Andrew walked over and put his hands on my shoulder. "This pierces shields. They won't stand a chance when we come for your fleet. Your fleet is useless… and bombers can't pierce our shields. You are doomed."

"You… you're bluffing," I clenched my fists. "No ship can withstand an endless barrage from our—"

"On the contrary, Mr McCloud," X stepped forward. "I've addressed that issue thoroughly. It appears Phazon truly is the greatest and most efficient power source. Very little of it produces a lot of energy. Perfect for keeping our systems online for as long as feasibly possible. So, theoretically, you could break through… but, our point defence would eradicate you well before that."

"I'll start thinking about my speech for demanding an immediate surrender. X? How long does this weapon take to charge?" Andrew turned to his scientist.

"At full power, this will take five hours to charge," he responded. "But we don't need a full charge for every ship."

"Good, good," The Venom leader said. "Dismissed for now."

Andrew opened a door to the winding halls, revealing Felix standing guard.

"Take this idiot to the brig, with his friends."

"Yeah, right…" Felix beckoned me over. Without complaint, I did… I couldn't complain… I was just weighing my options.

I just looked behind and saw the leaders either dispersing or discussing. My heart sunk as I saw Dark Samus roaming. Shifting my view to the spaniel, he seemed worried too...

Slippy Toad

"Could you be any rougher?!" I gasped, pushed into the brig by Weavel, his metallic grasp tight on my shoulder.

"Quiet, Toad," the cyborg hissed, shoving me into a cramped cell with the rest of Star Fox, stripped of our weapons and personal belongings. "The incessant complaints from you and your teammates is giving me a headache. Which isn't good, for I am but a brain in a suit."

"...you're just a brain?" I asked as he shoved me in the cell.

"Why, yes! Star Fox's new girlfriend did that to me," He laughed, though it was a malice filled laugh. "Now, stay here like a good little amphibian and you'll probably be spared."

I grimaced as we were all separated and shoved into different cells. I sighed as the mechanical door shut behind me. I turned around to see only two sights.

A camera looking down at me, and a very large federation human, still in his armour. However, it was turned off, judging by his black visor. But… that wasn't the only thing that was off. The camera wasn't doing a very good job at following me.

"Psst you, over here, mate!" I jumped at the voice whispering at me. Hidden under the bench was a man, very large and in charge. "Och, I'm a lucky bastard getting you."

"Who… who are you?" I stepped towards him

"Captain O'Grady, dinnae worry, mate, I disabled the camera… well, buggered more like, it's not live footage anymore," He chuckled. "Fit like?"

"Oh, is that why the camera… huh," I looked up. "Why did you do that?"

"Cuz I'm planning a prison break, obviously," He stood and offered a hand to shake. Not being one to be uncouth, I shook it back. "Bloody apes are not the smartest lot, EMP downed my armour, but they didn't remove it!"

"Intellect isn't their forte, no," I shook my head. "It's still down, hold on, I think I can maybe hotwire it or something…"

"It'd be good if ye did," He nodded at me. "We need to get a message out to t'fleet, they have tae know what Andrew has!"

I nodded in agreement as I opened a panel on the back of the suit.

"And I'm assuming you used this suit as a decoy for the camera?" I idly asked while playing with the cables. "I'm not sure if I can do much with this, it looks fried."

"Damn it," he sat down and examined his armour. "Do… do ye think we could do something with the camera's power source?"

"I could jumpstart it with those, dunno how good the voltage is, but…" I turned to him, only to see him rip the camera from the wall, revealing sparking wires. "You're… certainly forward thinking…"

I gulped and stood up, pulling a pair of rubber gloves out of my coat, glad I was a trained electrician. I was also glad these weren't confiscated.

"This might only give us so much power… but…" I said, connecting the wires to the suit's power supply. I flinched as sparks flew everywhere as his systems came back online. The dead visor glowed blue once more. "There, you're back!"

"Brilliant!" The captain grinned, opening the back of his armour and climbing in. His voice became staticy due to the radio. "Much better! Now! Scream."

"Wha?" I asked, interrupted as he picked me up by the collar, staring into my souls through his blue visor. "Ahhhh!"

I screamed as he pulled his fist back.

"What are you doing?!" I yelped. Such a commotion led to the door flying open, revealing a few ape guards.

"What's going on in—" one of them said, immediately interrupted as O'Grady dropped me and tackled him. Within a second, the armoured man disarmed the ape and shot him with his own blaster, shooting the other.

"We got a prison break, lads!" O'Grady laughed, kicking one of their pistols to me. I sighed and held my collar, adjusting my hat.

I could hear gunshots being exchanged outside my cell. I flinched, but steeled myself as best as I could.

"I can do this, I can do this," I whispered to myself, checking if my gun was loaded well. I gulped and peaked out of cover, watching as O'Grady opened all the cells near him and started using them as cover. Alarms started blaring.

"Slippy!" I heard Falco yell from the cell ahead of me. "The hell's going on?!"

"I fixed his armour!"

"Yeah, I can see that!" He shouted. "I also see him taking a few shots!"

"I've had worse!" The human shouted.

"Warning, prisoner breach in sub level four. All available teams, take care of this threat!" Doctor X said over the intercom.

"Slippy!" O'Grady turned to me. "I saw a vent, back wall!"

He motioned for me to look behind at the rear wall of this metal hallway. Lo and behold, a vent.

"Ye look like ye could fit in there!" He pointed. "Get to the communication deck! Call the fleet! This bloody ship needs to be destroyed."

"Yeah, what he said!" Falco yelled. "We'll hold this place, you call for help!"

He ducked out of cover and grabbed a fallen ape's gun.

"R-right!" I nodded and took my chances, running to the back wall and opening all the cells containing cornerian and federation troops. Eventually, I got to the small vent. It only looked just big enough to fit me.

"Here, let us get that," a federation marine and a husky trooper ran up to me, ripping the vent cover off. "Good luck, Star Fox."

"Thanks," I smiled at the two before climbing in the vent.

I crawled forward, letting the sounds of gunfire grow quiet behind me. I hoped they'd be alright. But, I had to keep moving forward. I just kept crawling, glad I was born short. Through other grates, I could see troopers running back and forth, likely to the prison wing.

"The hell is going on over here?!"

I heard a voice complain, a familiar one. Moving forward, I peeked through one of the grates, seeing Fox being held by… was that… was that Fay? I gasped, but quickly realised this spaniel had a brown spot on his ear. He seemed to be stuck at a blast door.

"Part of the lockdown, maybe?" Fox said.

Now was my chance! I slowly opened the grate and pulled out the pistol, tiptoeing over to the duo.

"L-let him go," I barked and order out and quickly pulled the spaniel's pistol out of its holster, pointing mine at him.

"I guess that's why we're on lockdown," He let go of Fox's shoulder and held his hands up. I stood back and just kept him in my sights.

"Uncuff him!" I barked again, noticing a camera looking at us. So I shot it to make my point clearer.

The dog didn't hesitate in freeing Fox.

My boss just looked between me and his captor for a moment, slowly walking to me. I handed him the spare pistol.

"Slip, put the gun down," Fox said. "Felix is in no position to stop us."

I just lowered my gun, glaring at this 'Felix.' He lowered his arms and crossed them, tapping his foot.

"What're you going to do with me?"

"Just… get out of here," Fox sighed.

"What?" I looked at him. "You serious?"

"I am."

"Well… I'm surprised…" Felix just stared at us, scratching the side of his head. He just slowly passed us before trying to leave.

"Before you go," I said. "Where's the communications deck?"

"One level up," He said before leaving down the winding halls of the ship.

"Why did you just let him go? I asked, turning to the fox as we began making our way to the nearest elevator.

"Slip," He looked back at me before scanning any and all nearby doors. "I made a promise to his sister that Star Fox wouldn't hurt him."

"His sister…? Don't tell me it's—"

"It's Fay," he said before his ears perked up. "In here!"

He pulled me into a nearby alcove as we heard talking.

"Where are they, Felix?!" I heard Weavel yell. I looked down the hall, seeing all four of Star Wolf united and in a hall. The other three were heavily armed.

"How could that toad escape and cause an entire ass breakout?" Panther hissed. "I guess we shouldn't underestimate the slimy ones."

"I doubt he can fight back with just Fox," Wolf grumbled.

"Down that way," Felix pointed in the opposite direction of us. "They're trying to take out the weapon."

"Good. Let's spring a trap before they realise what hit em," Wolf ordered, beckoning them to follow. As they all ran down the hall, I saw Felix glance back in our direction before following.

"Did he just… cover for us…?" I gasped.

"Yeah, he did…" Fox seemed as bewildered as I did. "Let's just keep moving."

"We have to get to communications," we need to warn everyone!"

"Right, let's go," Fox said, checking his ammo before we ran down the hall, ready to face whatever comes our way...

Fay Farley

Miyu and I sat in the break room of the Grand Fox, on the lookout for any communications from Fox. I just sat on the chair, tapping away at the data pad stored on my lap, my free hand cradling a cup of tea. Once again, I found myself staring at a portrait of my brother.

"Anything new about your brother?" Miyu said, already in her 'pyjamas.' "Or, just the same?"

"Put some trousers on, we're meant to be professionals!" I said, trying to maintain eye contact. To varying levels of success. "And, n-no, nothing new about Felix…"

"Mysterious, ain't he?" She leaned over me. "And, at least you're trying to acknowledge that my eyes are indeed up here."

"S-shut up," I sneered and looked at my half brother's mugshot. "I called my mum, but—"

"Mum?" Miyu laughed and jumped over the couch and sat next to me. "Man, with that dialect—"

"You can tell I'm fancy?"

"Yeah pretty much," she sniggered. "What did your mum say?"

"She said he's my spitting image," I just sighed. "Quote; if I tripped into a chocolate cake."

"Your mom sounds like a blast," the lynx lady laughed. "I can see it, actually."

I stared at him and flicked between images of myself, Felix and my father. All three of us were peas of the same pod. White curly hair, eyes as bright and blue as the cornerian sky. It was uncanny. I wondered if Felix knew me… knew if I was his sister, our fathers were one in the same… a piece of me yearned to speak to this Felix… but…

We were at opposite sides of the same war…

"Do you have any siblings, Miyu?" I looked at her.

She shook her head and looked forward at the tv, showing whatever was on corneria tv at the time. Something about our recent military successes. She then looked back at me.

"Nah, I'm riding solo, only kitty, if you catch my drift," she simply smiled. "I've always wondered what a big family was like, but… it's always just the Nijimura trio of my household, me, mom and dad."

I frowned and just looked at the tv too, placing my data pad aside on the armrest.

"Ah, I thought it was the same for me, but," I sighed and looked at her. "I guess I had a secret brother."

"Mm," Miyu just blinked and leaned back. "Well, whatever the case, I'm here to help ya."

"Thank you, Miyu," I whispered and hugged her side. "Dunno what I'd do without you."

"Don't mention it."

I smiled and broke our hug, shifting around in my chair. Despite the hardships and stress… I didn't regret joining up with Star Fox. They never viewed me as some pampered rich girl, just another equal. But… Miyu stood out even more so.

I supposed everyone did see us as a duo, and her quirky antics kept me at ease during the stressful days… much like today.

"Whaddya think my secret brother is like?"

"If it's anything like you," I sniggered. "I'd hate to see him as an enemy merc."

"He'd be awesome!"

"Not as much as you," I whispered and smirked, looking at the tall lynx. "Flying into that hangar on Katina and whatnot."

She looked back at me with a cocky grin.

"Hey," She grinned. "You followed me in, you crazy bitch."

I laughed and leaned into her somewhat,

"I was only looking after you,"

"Nice of you to return the favour, huh?"

I just chuckled, noticing her wrap an arm around me, a gesture I didn't fight or stop.

I looked at her hand, letting her move it from my shoulder to my hip.

"I suppose it was…"

I returned the gesture, unsure of where it would lead, my heart beating in its chest rapidly. I started burning up somewhat, watching Miyu close the distance between us. Was this the culmination of our friendship? I… I hadn't quite expected it, but… I wasn't quite against it either. I just closed my eyes, letting her lips meet mine in a tender moment… I even felt her cup the bottom of my muzzle with her index finger and thumb, as gentle as could be...

It wasn't quite heaven, but it was close. This was gonna be awkward to explain…

But…

For now…

I'd let it happen.

End of chapter~