Fox McCloud groaned, trying to move anything he could. A icy cold, wet feeling overwhelmed his nerves, the chilling shock not being what he'd expected after passing out earlier. Fox's senses slowly came back to him, his entire body wrapped in a cold blanket of still air. He forced his eyes open slowly, unsure what he would see. A gunmetal gray, welded and segmented ceiling was the first thing to meet his blurry vision, with dead light fixtures mounted to it in a repeating pattern. The vulpine attempted to glance around wherever he was, not feeling like moving his entire head just yet. Fox almost instantly recognized his surroundings; the bridge of the Pathfinder. Gathering enough strength and willpower to sit up, Fox brought himself up off the floor where he found himself laying.
"...Wait... Cold?" Fox mumbled, not feeling the warm inner layer of his undersuit. Instead, he felt his bare fur ripple in a passing breeze, he wasn't wearing his vacuum suit anymore. Panic took hold, instinctively holding his breath in what was a futile attempt to survive unprotected. But, instead of the freezing death of the void overtaking him, only a simple chilly current of air came along, more like a winter wind on Corneria; cold, but it wouldn't kill him directly. Fox took a sharp breath in, deciding if the wind blew then he could probably breath.
"...Seems okay..."
Fox's breathing calmed, panic subsiding as he closed his eyes for a second in an attempt to relax. He opened his eyes, taking time to look around. The bridge was mostly how he'd left it, minus his new, flat position on the floor. His vision gazed at the front window, it still being shattered in a spiderweb of cracks.
"...W-how am I still breathing...?"
Despite the apparent hull breach exposing the interior to deadly vacuum, Fox could still breath. The damage from the fight with the robot was still around too, with the scarred far wall covered in hundreds of heat marks from where the robot's weapon went wide. The cabinet that Falco had taken cover behind was carved up and slagged, but had still sheltered the bird from the storm of blaster fire the robot had put down. The thing's wreckage was still there, too. The blown-open hull still sitting on the floor where the grenade had contacted it, it's turret missing entirely. Falco however, was nowhere to be seen. Had he left him here?
Fox, slowly began pulling himself off the ground with a nearby safety railing. He quickly remembered being impaled in the leg, and getting shot somewhere on his hip, but looking down, there was nothing. Just his normal getup of the usual green flight suit and his white jacket. Nothing was sticking out of his leg, and Fox didn't feel any pain in his hip.
"...What? W-why am I wearing this?"
"Hey Fox!"
He blinked once, opening his eyes. Fox stood up for a better look outside, but immediately noticed the figure standing in front of the window, staring at him.
Two tall, cream-colored furry ears gave Fox a good idea who it was.
"...F-fara?! What-why are you here?"
The fennec gave Fox a small smile, being dressed in a getup rather similar to Fox, but with a pink flight suit and hoodie.
"Oh... You know... Just chillin'..." Her voice seemed chilling, being unusually calm despite the situation, as if she didn't know where she was.
"That... That doesn't really tell me anything... Fara, w-where have you been? I haven't seen you in years..."
The fennec turned around, gazing out the front window and putting her arms behind her back. She sighed, giving a slight shake of her head. "...None of this is real Fox... You should've known that by now..."
"Yeah... Should've figured that..." Fox sighed, walking up to her by the window. He quickly recognized the outside through the shattered glass, the inky black void outside held no stars, nor anything else. The glowing rays of Lylus were no longer present, being nearly identical to the dark realm where he fought Wolf in another dream.
"I need to warn you, Fox..." Fara mumbled, her eyes still staring into the dark abyss outside. "Someone close, a friend... Isn't planning on being truthful to you..."
Fox's complete attention turned to the Fennec. "...Who?"
Fara's voice shifted to slight panic. "I-I'm sorry Fox... I cannot tell you... He is watching me... I only have so much time to contact you." Her tone seemed to tremble at the mention of 'He'.
"W-what? Who's watching?"
"I am, and I wouldn't get in my way, were I you..."
Fox began to turn around and look behind him, trying to see where the second voice came from. It seemed deep, cold and monotone, with Fox lacking anything to compare it to in the second he had to think.
WHAM!
Before Fox could see behind him, a powerful blow struck him square on the cheek. The impacted imparted enough energy to knock him over, sending Fox sprawling to the metal deck. Pain shot through his skull where he had been hit, and Fox could taste the coppery tang of his blood in his mouth. His body hit the ground, splashing in a shallow puddle of chilly water. The vulpine held his paw to the injury, feeling bone that was probably out of place with his blood-stained fingers.
"Ahhh... Shit..." Fox groaned, slowly picking himself off the ground again, clutching his cheek.
More gray wall and ceiling met his vision, the walls taking on a rocky texture instead of the smooth metal. Fox braced himself on the cold wall with a paw, but found more cold metal to grab. A few dozen pipes ran along the walls, each being different diameters and shades of gray or black. A few were marked with what appeared to be text, but Fox couldn't make out what any of them said. Another feeling snapped back to him; water current, and that he was currently soaked, but was standing in an inch or two of water that flowed down the long, dim and wet hallway he found himself in.
"...The hell...?" Fox mumbled weakly, the throbbing pain in his cheek subsiding just enough to become more of an annoyance rather then something too painful.
None of this made any sense; this wasn't the Pathfinder, or the Great Fox. It didn't even look like a ship at all, not one he'd seen anyway; nobody builds their ships out of... Concrete? Fox's flight suit and jacket were drenched, along with the fur underneath it. It'd provide no protection from the chilly air and current covering the entire floor in a small stream.
Another sense came back to him as he carefully picked himself off the floor. The sound of howling, intense wind seemed to bounce off the walls, followed by what appeared to sound similar to the thunderous boom of crashing waves. Fox thought back to the surf on Aquas, remembering Falco trying and failing miserably to surf the crashing waves, while the sound now was rather similar to the oceans of the blue planet, no waves he'd heard were as loud or as deep as what he heard now.
Fox glanced around once again after standing up, now that his sight had mostly returned. The hallway he found himself had a vague hexagonal shape, the pipes from before coming into more detail. The text he'd spotted earlier was completely illegible to the vulpine as he took a closer look.
"...Can't say I've seen this before... I don't even know if it's even writing, or if it means anything..."
The text resembled various shapes and lines, precisely arranged in a neat 'font' along some of the pipes, a few repeating symbols told Fox it was probably a language, but not that one he'd be able to read anytime soon. The vulpine sighed, picking a direction to follow in the hallway, the current flowed off to the right, towards where Fox thought he'd heard the waves from.
"Maybe... if I get outside I can figure out where the hell I am..."
Fox began his soggy march down the hall, it feeling more like a sewer then anything else. It didn't smell the part, but Fox certainty wasn't going to try taking a drink. The water was rather clear though, the stone-like texture of the ground being clearly visible underneath the calm , bubbly current. Fox let out a deep sigh, stating down the hallway. He still had no idea where he was. He'd never seen a location like this, with large runoff canals on Papetoon for the infrequent rainy seasons being the only thing to compare this place too. Even then, you weren't supposed to walk through the current.
Dim, rectangular lights recessed into the ceiling provided a dim, white glow for Fox to walk through, probably being for whenever some poor maintenance worker needed to come down here and fix something. A chilly wind blew down from the direction the vulpine was walking to, the icy bite eating away any warmth he had left. His soaked fur and clothing only made things worse as he shivered from the cold wave.
"...Not as bad as Fichina... But, damn..."
The roaring waves got closer, the sound of them splashing seemingly vibrating the walls ever so slightly, followed by yet another wave of freezing air from down the hall. Not seeing any other options other then turning around, Fox pressed onward down the dim hall, his durasteel combat boots trudging and splashing in the shallow current.
"...So... I was fighting a robot on the bridge of the Pathfinder... And now, I'm in a drainage tunnel somewhere... Is this the same deal with the dream with Wolf?" Fox thought to himself, keeping his mind occupied as he marched on down. "...Wait... My scouter's GPS..."
Fox tapped the side of his headset, it thankfully powering on without an issue. The usual cross hair it displayed showing up in the eyepiece he used when flying. Obviously, it had no wireless connection to his or the team's Arwings down here. Fox pressed another button on the side, toggling the small GPS antenna on. His headset's small power cell wouldn't last forever, and Fox had no idea if he'd ever get to recharge it down here.
"Hopefully this finds some- Oh, wait... I'm probably behind a few meters of concrete... Never mind..."
Fox sighed, turning off the antenna before it used more battery. "Better find... Well, outside." The vulpine gave a sad shrug, walking onward down the tunnel.
Fox's boots continued to slog through the current, splashing the already wet walls even further.
"Still the same crap..." He mumbled, shaking his head. Small droplets of water spraying off his fur. Fox had been walking for what could've easily been 15 minutes, and the hallway had shown no sign of changing in direction or appearance. His scouter's clock was working just fine at least, but down here every minute felt exactly the same.
"If this is a dream... I-I don't know, guess I'll snap out of it eventually... I hope."
Fox's expression soured; the dream with Wolf had only been a few minutes, but this one had dragged on for longer then he'd like.
"Unless... This ISN'T a dream... and everything else is- No... That-that doesn't make any sense... But then again, these things don't usually in the first place... Damnit!"
As if to save him from thinking about it any deeper, a small light at the end of the tunnel came clearly into view, glowing a neon cyan like the rest of the dotted lights along the tunnel. This one was clearly mounted vertically on the wall, hopefully because the tunnel branched off somewhere; the current had to flow somewhere after all.
Fox broke into a splashing jog, kicking up more water as he picked up speed. The booming crash of the waves was clearly louder now, with the chilly wind biting at his damp fur once again.
"Please be something..." Fox mumbled in his jog, the light becoming clearing in view as he approached. The current could be seen being joined by more water from another perpendicular tunnel, both joining up and flowing out of view to the left. After a good 30 seconds of jogging, Fox reached the junction in the tunnel. The crashing waves were much louder now, Fox having a hard time hearing himself think over the perpetual noise. He glanced to his left, another identical hallway with current running in the opposite direction he was looking. He couldn't see the end of it, it being too long.
To Fox's right, was another stretch of hallway. Instead of stretching off into the distance, this one seemed to end into a larger, open area. Fox could spot another featureless wall further down on the other side, it seemingly being the other end of the open area.
"Finally..."
Fox took a right, approaching the end of the hall. The pipes on either sides of the hallway ended here, dumping what looked like more water into whatever lay ahead. A handrail was built into the wall as he neared the viable end, Fox grabbing hold as the howling, chilly wind became stronger and stronger. The vulpine was thankful for whoever built this place, as the rail probably existed for this sole purpose. Fox pulled himself along the handrail, forcing himself to walk into the hurricane that seemed to be just ahead outside, gritting his teeth and narrowing his eyes as he made his way further to the outside.
The vulpine reached the edge of the tunnel, with a monstrous chasm awaiting him. The water from the tunnel being dumped downwards out of view. Fox peeked over the edge and cast his gaze, eyes going wide Below him was a churning maelstrom of gigantic ocean waves hundreds of meters down, each being putting even the worst storm waves on Aquas to shame with their sheer size and intensity. The waves slapped the side of a monolithic, flat wall of concrete and metal built into an enormous rectangular block of sheer mass. Other drainage tunnels on the other side of the chasm drained more water into the wet void below.
Fox slowly glanced to his right, seeing what appeared to be more walls of titanic size, arranged like hulking buildings in mammoth-sized city blocks, with streets of churning storms. The dim sunlight struggled to break through what Fox assumed were the clouds, casting dim photons down into the abyss. Heavy rain poured down from the sky, the hail of moisture clearly visible from glowing, cyan lights lining the side of each monolith. The vulpine angled his head skyward, hoping to see anything above. The massive structures stretched up into the sky, with the higher-up walls being lined with what seemed like shimmering and smooth windows.
Distant thunder flashed, casting the entire landscape in a brief flash of light. Even higher up on the structures, Fox could make out more shapes through holes in the dark clouds. A complex network of bridges and walkways seemed to connect each titanic structure, with the white, moving glow of what might've been headlights shining on the sides of the walls.
"Are those... Headlights? Oh shit..."
Fox realized that each towering structure was a gigantic building, all apart of a city on a scale that even the most creative civil engineers in Lylat couldn't even dream of. Fox's jaw hung open as he took in the insane sights. He'd never seen anything like any of this, even just one of these buildings could put the biggest skyscrapers in Corneria city to shame. Fox had no idea how tall they were, but judging by each one's diameter the things might be easily kilometers in height.
"...And it's built on a goddamn ocean? HOW? No way this can all float... But the foundations must be insane to hold these things up if they don't..."
The screaming roar of an aircraft engine seemingly came out of nowhere, Fox turning his gaze to the direction of the thunderous sound. The level of noise quickly overtook the roar of the waves, with Fox using a free paw to feebly cover his left ear and trying to fold back his right. Seconds later, a black shape careened by at a speed that would give a Wolfen fighter a run for it's credits. Just as it passed by Fox's position on the wall, it's engines somehow became louder, followed by a powerful shockwave emitting from it's dual, glowing thrusters.
The pressure wave shook the entire concrete and metal landscape as it passed by, rattling the poor vulpine to the bone. Fox screamed in pain at the sheer level of decibel, his furry ears literally bleeding from being quickly ruptured. The vulpine lost his grip on the railing, tumbling forwards into the abyss below with a scream. As he plummeted end-over-end, he barely caught a glimpse of the aircraft responsible, it's long fuselage, canards and long swept-forward wings shooting upwards in an impossibly steep upward bank while maintaining it's speed, rocketing upwards into the clouds.
Fox's poor body impacted the churning sea below, all his senses instantly going black.
Peppy tipped the hot kettle over his mug, filling the ceramic cup with steaming hot water with the teabag already waiting inside. The hare gave the beverage a quick stir, leaving the cup alone to brew on the metal counter top, with him sitting on the nearby couch to wait. Peppy let out a sigh, letting himself sink into the foam padding.
"...Falco?"
The bird was sitting on the other end of the couch, clutching a game controller in his wings, eyes set intensely into the nearby screen mounted on the wall. After a good few seconds, Falco let himself pause the game to give the hare some of his split attention. "Yeah?"
"You check on Fox lately? All I've seen you do today is play that game..."
"Uh, yeah, like... uh..."
"...Nine hours? Minus the time you sat in your room doin' who-knows-what?"
"Hey! I ain't been playin' that long!" Falco shot back, having lost his sense of time for the moment.
"...You started a few hours after you two came back in the shuttle... That was yesterday. Don't think I've seen you go to the medbay since..."
Falco shrugged, taking a long swig of his soda set on the coffee table in front of them. "Eh... I ain't worried; if ROB says he's fine, then he's fine..."
Peppy sighed, letting his arms go limp on the couch and leaning back. "...While that might be true, that's not the point of seein' him... You know, since he's your friend and all..."
Falco didn't respond back, his expression seemingly twisting into one of guilt. The rabbit sighed at his response, or lack thereof. "...You're lucky I don't have the energy to start tellin' you off right now..."
Falco remained silent, out of guilt, shame or a mixture of something else Peppy was too tired to tell. The rabbit slowly got off the couch, with the bird resuming his game once again. Peppy grabbed his mug, collecting milk and sugar from the cabinet and fridge to add to his drink. Falco resumed his game, flipping through menus of all the loot he'd collected over hundreds of hours of playtime. Most of them were just boxes, filled with randomized items he had yet to open.
Falco stared over at Peppy making his tea, making sure the rabbit was occupied and would remain so for the next few seconds. Quickly, Falco flipped through another game menu, this one being a credit shop for more of his virtual crates, the rare, bright purple and expensive ones. Before Falco could buy more using Peppy's account, a frightening, high-pitched scream of terror echoed through the halls of the ship, giving the bird a startle and causing him to drop the controller.
"Uh oh, was that...?"
"Yeah. Sounds like Fox... ROB?"
The Great Fox's in-house android came over the carrier's intercom. "Captain Fox McCloud has regained conscious, he is currently in state of panic, but is otherwise medically stable."
Peppy let out a sigh of relief, thankful that Fox hadn't fallen out of his bed and landed on something. "Thanks ROB... I'll be there in a sec..."
Fox's panicked breathing overtook his senses as he shot up in his bed, his paws clutching his sheets like the railing from before. As the familiar sights of the Great Fox's medical room came back to his sight. The warm, fuzzy blanket he was covered in was a warm bastion of comfort compared to the chilling, wet gusts of wind and spray from his previous location. His breathing calmed, Fox realizing he wasn't in the monolithic, strange city from before.
The door slid open, Peppy walking through in a speedy stride, the two's eyes met.
"Heya Fox... Uh... You okay?" The hare asked, his tone seemingly careful with his choice of words.
Fox took a second to respond, thinking Peppy's question over. "...Well... I guess I am now." The vulpine allowed himself to relax, The rabbit's presence establishing what was real to Fox even more so. "How long was I out?"
"Ehhhh... 15 hours, give or take. ROB got that shard out of your leg, too. It shouldn't hurt too much, but I wouldn't walk on it for long..."
"Thanks... Uh, I guess you heard me screaming, didn't you?" Fox blushed slightly, cheeks going red over ashamed that he freaked out over what amounted to a rather surreal dream.
Peppy gave Fox a sad look. "Yeah... You wanna tell me what that was about, Fox?"
The vulpine gave a reluctant, small nod. "Might as well, otherwise this will probably bug me later..." Fox took a deep breath in, struggling to remember exactly what he had seen, despite him just being in it moments before.
"Okay... So, I remember passing out on the bridge of the Pathfinder... Wait, did Falco find the recorder?" Fox began to start panicking again, he didn't particularity want to head back inside that wreck for a second time.
Peppy nodded, seeing Fox's expression. "Yep, it's sitting somewhere on our bridge. And no; We haven't looked inside..."
The vulpine breathed a sigh of relief, picking up where he left off. Fox went over his recent dream, describing in the best detail he could muster. The stale, yet breathable air of the Pathfinder's bridge despite it being breached, and the lack of his injures from the fight. Then he got to Fara, and her cryptic words before he was knocked out.
"...Alright... It-it was Fara... She was there with me on the bridge... Said something about 'someone close to me isn't going to be truthful', and that someone was after her."
"Fara?" Peppy questioned, his expression twisting into one of blatant curiously. "We haven't seen her in years..." Peppy paused, thinking the meeting the fennec for the first time, before the war. But... Someone not telling the truth, huh?" Peppy rubbed his paw on Fox in an attempt to comfort him further. "Well... I haven't lied to you, Fox. And I don't plan on it, if that makes you feel any better..."
"T-thanks, pep'..." Fox took in a deep breath, picking up where he left off. Going over the flooded hallway and the unknown language marking the pipes, with Peppy taking interest with an eyebrow raise. "Language huh? Might be nothin' for all I know, dreams aren't known to make sense..."
"...I don't know Pep'. It all felt weird anyways..."
The hare nodded, rubbing his cheek. "Anyways, you were sayin'?"
The vulpine struggled to remember the prior events, doing his best to recall the giant city he'd witnessed.
"...Wait wait wait... Hold on Fox, a city? On an ocean? You sure that's not Aquas?" Peppy held out a paw, thinking to Aquas's floating cities.
"No... I don't think what I saw were even floating... They all had these giant concrete foundations. Like, as thick as an entire block in Corneria city, but-but for a single building..."
"Well... Lylat's got nothin' like that, far as I'm aware. Seems like somethin' out of one of Falco's games..."
"It-it gets worse..." Fox mumbled. "This-this aircraft passes by while I'm on the edge... And, I... I fell..."
Peppy sighed. "I take it that's why you were screaming when you woke up?"
Fox sniffled. "...Yeah... Sorry Peppy. I think that's all I can really remember." Peppy only nodded, rubbing Fox with his paw. Peppy's actions closely reminded Fox of his father, the older vulpine's soft, comforting hugs being something to look forward when he got home from another successful mission. Fox stopped himself before this thoughts went too far ahead in the timeline, to darker thoughts involving a certain pig.
"...You wouldn't know what that aircraft looked like, I take it?"
Fox leaned back in the bed, rusting his back and letting out a long sigh. "Not really... Didn't look like anything I've seen before, though. It wasn't an Arwing or a Wolfen, that's for sure."
"Hmmm..." Peppy placed a paw on his chin, thinking. "Eh, wouldn't worry about it too much..." His phone buzzed twice, the hare pulling it out of his jacket pocket. Peppy opened it up, seeing an update to his bank account.
-Recent transaction detected. 120 C spent at: Deep souls 5, charged to user: Fa1c0nX .
The rabbit grumbled something under his breath, taking in a deep breath in.
"FALCO!"
The vulpine leaned back in his captain's chair, the metal throne providing much-needed relief to his bandaged leg. It didn't hurt as much anymore, thanks to the liberal amount of painkillers Peppy had suggested earlier. The wound felt more like a slight throb now more than anything, but walking on it still proved rather unconformable. Fox gazed out into space, the stars and familiar planet they approached being a relief from the starless, strange opaque realm of Fox's dreams.
The Great Fox achieved high orbit over Corneria, parking itself in a stable geostationary position roughly above the Capital. The green, lush continents of the planet poked through fluffy cloud cover below them, along with small patches of gray where larger population centers were located.
"Slippy, open a channel with Corneria Central Starport's flight control?" Fox asked, glancing over to the toad, with Slippy manning a computer console on Fox's right.
"Opening a channel..." Slippy navigated his hands over the computer in a practiced motion, connecting a direct channel to flight control as ordered. "Channel open, Fox!" He exclaimed, Fox giving him a silent thanks in the form of a nod. Fox raised his voice, making it easier for the microphone to pick him up.
"This Fox McCloud, commanding the light carrier Great Fox. Requesting permission to land at-"
"-Great Fox, this is flight control. Be advised that we are under direct orders from General Rickenbacker to divert you to Fort Nyle Air Force Base, how copy?-"
Fox paused for a moment, surprised at the sudden change of orders. "Uh... One moment flight control-"
"-Negative, Great Fox. You are ordered to land at Fort Nyle Immediately. Docking control will contact you on approach to the base, you are already cleared to enter the base's airspace. Repeat, how copy?-"
Stumped, but not willing to refuse the order, Fox reluctantly spoke back. "...Good copy, flight control... setting a course for Fort Nyle..." The vulpine killed the line, leaning back in his chair. He let out a long groan, disappointed in another change of plans.
"Peppy, do we know a General Rickenbacker?"
The hare groaned at the name, resting his head on his paw and staring down. "...Yeah... I know him... Small time General, last time I heard he was in charge of a tank battalion... Guess he got promoted. He's not the nicest dog, him and Pepper don't get along. Somethin' about 'acceptable losses' or whatever."
Falco yawned, taking a chunk out of a slice of greasy pizza sitting nearby at his station on the bridge, wolfing it down. "Can't say I'm likin' this new guy... Hell, Haven't even heard about im' until now... Can we even trust him, Pep'?"
"I wouldn't trust that bastard as far as I could throw him, and I ain't too strong these days..."
Falco went utterly silent, eyes darting to Fox, the vulpine still staring ahead. His expression seemed worried as Peppy glanced over to the bird, but the hare didn't press further.
"ROB? Plot us a course to Fort Nyle?" Fox commanded, the robot immediately beginning to type on the keyboard in front of him.
"Acknowledged, Captain McCloud. Planetary reentry vector plotted, commencing main engine burn..."
The carrier slowly pressed forward, powerful thrusters burning liquid methane a in brilliant blue cone of light. The fires of atmospheric reentry made themselves known shortly after, bathing the Great Fox's hull in an dance of orange and white embers. RCS fired, angling the carrier into a diagonal, nose-first dive into the atmosphere, allowing the ship's to bleed off speed. The atmosphere had claimed many lives during the early Cornerian space age, with returning craft sometimes lacking vital heat shields, or a poor understanding of the pilot. Regardless, reentry was more akin to a controlled crash then a flight back then. Now, doing it was practically trivial.
The ship plunged into the planet's sky, the resistant outer hull providing more than enough protection from frictional heating cooking the craft into a exotic soup of material. The vessel shook as it approached the lower atmosphere and the clouds, like an old airliner flying through turbulent skies. Fox clutched the armrests of his seat, keeping himself in place as the ship descended deeper into the atmosphere. Despite the intense rattling of the hull, the vulpine took the time to rest his eyes, thinking about what the team would do after they turned over the flight recorder. The supposed paycheck was valued in the low millions; enough to keep the carrier flying for almost a year in terms of general maintenance and fuel.
A vacation would be nice...
The carrier nosed forward, it having bled off enough speed for regular atmospheric flight. The four, pointed wings bit into the thick air, providing sufficient lift along with the repulsors to fly. The Great Fox broke through the clouds, the vast metropolitan area of Corneria City sitting in the distance, the city's different starports having provided Star Fox a safe harbor to rearm and repair many times in the past. Instead of heading to the city's central starport, the carrier banked to the right in a relaxed turn, pointing the nose to the even more distant Fort Nyle. The fort was a large airbase, with a small military port added as an afterthought. Four gigantic runways down below sat mostly unused for their primary, original purpose. Now more for outdoor storage then anything else, as modern fighters and freighters no longer needed long stretches of open space. The Great Fox dropped in altitude as it approached the base's premier wall, shadowing the abandoned set of elevated magrail tracks sticking out of the lush forest below that once served the base, the rails being severed just before the wall long ago.
"-Great Fox, this is Fort Nyle docking control. We've been expecting you. You are already cleared to land on pad 3. How copy?-"
The fort's flight control came through the radio unexpectedly, Fox being rather used to contacting wherever they land at first, not docking control forcing railroading them into a preset pad. Still, Fox complied.
"Uh, good copy flight control. Proceeding to pad 3..."
ROB took the hint, banking the ship around to line up an optimal approach to the landing pad. Fox spotted it as the carrier neared, it being marked with a large '3' in a blocky font. The landing pads were near the base's main gate, with pad 3 being flanked by another five identical landing pads nearby. Ground activity was light, only a few trucks and other military vehicles navigating the service roads below. A single, boxy vehicle was waiting next to the road nearby Star Fox's assigned pad, no doubt waiting for them. Fox soon recognized it as a model of Cornerian army transport truck, complete with six wheels and and armored cab.
Fox sighed, hoping he could've just walked in and turned over the recorder without a fuss, but it seemed this Rickenbacker guy had other ideas. The Great Fox fired it's RCS, slowing the carrier and bringing it to a hover above the landing pad, lowering itself and touching down on it's landing gear. The main engines spooled down, the fading whine being replaced with relative silence as Fox got out of his command chair. Falco shot out of his seat right after Fox, the bird pacing over to him.
"Hey Fox... Uh, got a text from Katt. Says she wants ta' hang out for coffee or somthin'... You, uh, mind if I go?" Falco sheepishly asked, checking his phone.
Fox's expression shifted. "Katt? Haven't heard from her in a while, how's she doing?"
"Ehhh... Somethin' about freighter escort, guess she's stoppin' at Corneria before she leaves on another job."
Fox looked Peppy, the rabbit already heading to the door. They exchanged glances, with Peppy giving Fox a quick nod before heading down the hall, followed by Slippy.
"Well, if what you're saying is true..." Fox trailed off in thought, almost considering Fara's words. He quickly pushed the thought aside however. "...Yeah... Guess this is her only chance to hang out then. Yeah, go ahead, but just make sure you get back before we head off again."
Falco beamed. "Heh, thanks Foxy... Yeah, I'll catch the bus or somethin' if I really need to. Don' worry about me." The bird gave Fox a simple nod, and dashed out of the bridge. The vulpine watched his friend run off before turning around and gazing down at the airbase's command building.
"Alright, General... Let's see if Peppy's right about you..."
Star Fox walked off of the landing pad's cargo elevator, Fox himself stepping onto the paved surface of the base's vast, flat open areas. A cool ocean breeze swept over the team, Fox embracing the pleasant, moderate chill. It was almost refreshing, compared to the stale recycled air of the team's carrier. The smell of fuel and tarmac filled Fox's nose, carried by the breeze, forcing out a cough.
"Come on, get moving you furless bastard!"
Fox sighed, the pleasant silence being broken by Peppy's handing of the monkey they had captured a few days ago. Lrin was cuffed again, the hare doing his best to keep him moving forwards towards the awaiting convoy. Fox turned around, staring at the pirate, Lrin doing his best not to snicker.
"...You need help, Peppy?"
"No, no... I'm just glad we'll turn in this Venomian asshole soon enough..."
Peppy's voice was laced with venom as he gave the monkey another shove forwards. Fox paid it no mind, not really caring too much about the monkey himself anymore. The vupine's ears perked up at the sound of someone approaching. Fox turned around, only to be greeted by a Cornerian solider walking up to the team, blaster carbine held low and loose in his paws. He was dressed in the army's standard issue combat armor, light gray uniform and soft, metallic blue chest plate and helmet. Fox couldn't tell what exact species of canid he was, only seeing brown fur along his muzzle and face as he walked up.
"Ah, the Star Fox team..." He said, voice seemingly tired. "Welcome to Fort Nyle, Captain McCloud, I'm Sergeant Middlemutt..." Lrin snickered quietly, with Peppy giving him another shove. 'Middlemutt' was a common name on Corneria, but it was clear the monkey had different naming standards. "...I've been assigned to bring your team straight to General Rickenbacker... I take it you have the package?"
Fox's expression twisted, raising a brow. "...He told you about our mission?"
Middlemutt shook his head, waving a paw. "Nothing I didn't need to know, just that he needs something from you, something pretty important."
Reluctantly, Fox patted the side of the duffle bag slung over his shoulder, the boxy recorder making it's shape known through the bag. "...Yeah..." He mumbled, almost sneering. "We were supposed to meet General Pepper at the navy HQ originally. You wouldn't know why were rerouted?"
Middlemutt mumbled something, before shaking his head once again. "No, sorry. Last I heard, Pepper's on vacation with his family."
"Wait, on vacation?" Fox stuttered, voice coated in suspicion and curiosity. He didn't exactly believe Pepper would just flake on the meeting, especially considering how apparently critical this flight recorder was to him.
"Sorry." The solider answered, picking up on how unsettling the change of plans was to Fox. "All I know is that Rickenbacker hired you merc's for a mission a few days ago, something about getting a 'package' from the outer rim." Middlemutt put his fingers up for air quotes to emphasize his point further.
Fox sighed. "No... Pepper contracted us, I didn't even know who this Rickenbacker guy was until a few minutes ago!" He shot back, annoyed at the conflicting information solider was giving, either he just didn't know, or there was more to this than a simple drop-off.
Middlemut only shrugged. "Like I said, I don't know." He shifted his weight, and adjusted the optic on his carbine to appear busy before speaking again, while Fox only looked back, rather confused. "Uh... Right. Now, I need all five... Wait, where's Falco?"
"He said he needed to pick something up for a friend, it's pretty important." Fox lied through his teeth, thinking hanging out with friends wouldn't be a good enough excuse for the solider to buy. Falco had already taken the stairs from the pad, and was probably past or near the main gate by now, with any luck he'd get out without a fuss.
"Eh... Alright then, General won't be too happy, but that's not my problem." Middlemutt mumbled something to himself once again. "Now, can we please get moving? We're wasting our time here." He gestured to the army truck convoy waiting nearby with a thumb, engine still running and waiting to move. Fox quickly noticed the vehicle's lack of maintenance; patches of rust staining the body, chipped and faded Cornerian army paint job. All topped off with missing panels, exposing interior components to the elements. It was a strange sight to see, usually the army took good care of their vehicles and equipment, but this looked almost like something Fox would find at a salvage yard, not an established base.
"Yeah... Let's get this over with..."
The team followed the solider to the side of the truck, it having an enclosed troop bay instead of a cargo bed. Grabbing the door and swinging open, Middlemutt climbed up into the bay to find a seat. Fox followed the solider, lifting himself into the vehicle's dull interior. The troop bay's apparent furry musk invaded Fox's nose as soon as he planted his feet on the bay's floor, forcing himself to breath through his mouth to avoid the awful, wet smell. Fox found himself a seat across from Middlemutt, followed by Peppy and Lrin came inside soon after, the four of them finding seats in the vehicle's dark interior, with Slippy squeezed in right behind.
Middlemutt pounded a balled fist on the wall, signaling the driver to move out. The truck did so, pulling out from it's parking spot and driving to the base's main road that looped around the command center. The truck took a hard left, picking up speed and heading for the command building.
Fox took a bored glance out the window, seeing the airbase's usual operations proceeding as any other day. Fuel trucks traveling to and fro to service starfighters and atmospheric craft. Fox could see the single, full-length operational runway between more support buildings, with hangars storing giant atmospheric cargo planes further down. The truck pushed onward, approaching a large, blocky, angular building sitting near the center of the base. Brutalist architecture wasn't exactly Fox's first choice, but it's imposing stature over the rest of the base's modern, clean buildings gave him something to think about as the truck headed down a ramp leading to the building's underground.
The building stood like a small fortress, thick concrete and durasteel construction forming solid, near featureless walls of defense. The team's ride pulled up to a thick blast door blocking the road, it being more at home deep in a bunker rather than something outside. Middlemutt keyed his helmet radio shortly after the truck stopped.
"General, we're right outside the access tunnel, Fox has the package in his possession. He's also bought a possible bounty in, too."
Seconds past by, Fox still trying to avoid smelling the truck's furry musk, it was clear it hadn't been cleaned in ages.
Middlemutt's radio broke the silence, crackling to life. A new voice filled the musky truck, it's owner sounding rather annoyed with a thick Papetoonian accent. It wasn't uncommon to for people with the accent to think less of others, and this General was no exception.
"-Well, it's about damn time. I'll order the door open and unlock the elevator shaft to the my meeting room, don't delay, Mutt.-"
The line cut, with the blast doors ahead slowly rolling open. Fox was left to ponder why this Rickenbacker guy managed to sound rather snobbish, even the hardest higher-ups in the Army didn't act quite on the level he did. The truck lurched forward into the tunnel, it's yellow ceiling lights quickly replacing Lylus's soft glow, darkening the truck's interior. Shadows flashed inside as the vehicle drove along, with some of the lights no longer functioning, another thing Fox found strange considering the Army's usual good care for their equipment. Even Slippy seemed to notice, with him piping up for the first time since they landed.
"Uh, Sergeant, w-why is your guy's equipment kind of... Well, I-I'm seeing a few things that seem to not be m-maintained too well..." The toad stuttered out, it having been a problem for him when talking to strangers.
Middlemutt only shrugged. "From what I hear, the base isn't as well-funded as some of the others."
Peppy picked up on it too. "Doesn't make any sense; this is one of the largest airbases round' the Capital, and it ain't funded much? No, I think the answer's a bit deeper then that, Sergeant."
The dog didn't respond verbally, only sighing with another shrug as if his world view was being challanged. Saving him from answering further, the truck slowed, pulling off the main road and stopping in an unloading zone, recessed into the side of tunnel.
"Alright, this is your guy's stop. Elevator to his meeting room is on the right, good luck with him." The dog mumbled to the team. "Oh, leave the prisoner with me, you'll get his bounty after we run him through. Might take a bit though, bureaucracy and all that."
Reluctantly, Peppy let go of the Monkey's left arm, with Lrin not capitalizing on the fact he wasn't being held.
"I ain't got a bounty, old man."
"Like it makes a difference right now..." Peppy grumbled, reaching for the door and swing it open. The tunnel's cold air gave Fox another chill as he followed Peppy. Slippy climbed out, with the truck gunning it's engine and speeding off with a squeal of it's tires. It disappeared around a bend in the tunnel soon after, leaving the three alone.
The floor of the tunnel was rough and unpolished, occasional patches of dirt and cracks mixed in.
"Man, feels like we're miles deep, not just in a basement..." Fox commented to himself as he looked around for the elevator. It was sitting recessed in the wall just as the Sergeant had said, it's twin doors open and elevator already waiting behind.
"Well, better not keep this guy waiting..." Fox mumbled quietly, still unsure what to expect.
The three team members boarded the lift, doors quickly snapping shut as soon as they were all inside. The vulpine noticed the lift's almost lavish interior, compared to the rest of the base with it's polished wood floor and carpeted walls, it was something Fox would find in a nice hotel, not a bunker. It was odd seeing it's rather pristine condition compared to the rest of the base, adding on more questions for this General when the team met him.
The doors rolled open, with an automated, soft female voice. "Command bunker floor..."
"Damn thing's like a amusement park ride..." The hare uttered to himself complaining about the elevator's speed, stepping out into the hall after Fox. The bunker's usual concrete was replaced with pristine, white wall panels, with clean overhead lighting, none of them flickering; a far cry from the base's condition above ground, and Middlemutt's comment on lack of funding. Fox felt like he was more on a starliner than a bunker, one probably couldn't tell they were deep underground if they weren't told.
The hallway let straight from the elevator to a door at the other end, seeing no other intimidate options, approached the door. The large brutish, pair of blast doors sitting before them, it being secured with large durasteel beams lain across the front. The General's voice came over a hidden loudspeaker, as the team approached, still using his irritable tone from before.
"Well... if it isn't the Star Fox team... Ah, I suppose I haven't properly introduced myself..." His tone changed again, with a more prideful undertone. "I am General Bernard Rickenbacker, commanding officer of Fort Nyle... An admittedly, boring position of power, but, my..." He paused, thinking of the right word. Fox narrowed his eyes, disdain for Bernard already growing. "..Soldiers, are loyal... Ah, anyways, do you have the recorder, retrieved from the ill-fated Pathfinder?"
"...Yeah..." Fox murmured, clutching the bag tighter with his paw. "It's right here with me..."
"Hmm... Adequate performance, as to be expected from a Mercenary, but, nonetheless... Oh, I'll need you to surrender your weapons before I let you into the command room proper, you'll get them back on the way out... I'm sure you understand, security, and all..."
"I'm not going anywhere without my blast-" Fox began to protest, but the audible sound of the General literally hanging up the receiver cut him off. The vulpine let out a small growl as the blast door began to part open. The large beams mounted in front of the thick door slowly retracted into the walls, grinding on their hydraulics as they pulled back. The two halves of the main door slowly parted open vertically soon after, Fox peered into the gap, seeing a smaller room with another door, both sided guarded by heavily armed, and armored Cornerian soldiers. Both shot back at Fox with a glare, one adjusting his heavy blaster rifle, thumbing the safety. Fox, confused, sheepishly tried to return the look, still puzzled why they'd be on edge at the sight of Fox and his team. Ultimately deciding on wanting to leave as soon as possible, the vulpine approached the two. Before the pilot could open his mouth, the solider on the left spoke up, voice gruff.
"You three mercs need to turn in your weapons, otherwise, you're not going anywhere." He spat, putting extra emphasis on 'mercs' with a disdainful tone.
The vulpine, not wanting to prolong his stay, reluctantly compiled. "...Here..." Fox grumbled, pulling his pistol out of his holster and handing it to the dog's open paw. "I better get that back..."
He stood off to the side, gesturing to his team to do the same with a thumb. Peppy sighed, turning his own gun in for the moment.
"...And the one on your ankle, Hare..."
The rabbit laughed. "Ha! Like you know I have one there!"
"I know you have a spare firearm, merc... The general knows more about you all then you think..."
"Well that's just peachy, isn't it?" Peppy glared back, placing a paw on his hip.
The second solider slowly thumbed off his rifle's safety, trying to be discrete. Fox noticed the dog out of the corner of his eye already being ready to escalate the situation, and shot Peppy a look. Fox was still curious as to why the soldiers were ready to get violent so soon; disdain between Star Fox and the navy was still a real thing, but it was rarely more then an inconvenience. These two, however...
"Peppy, we're not going to get very far with this guy if we're having arguments with his personal guards... Just drop it, please."
The hare grumbled, but complied. Slowly reaching down to his leg and uncovering the hidden blaster pistol holstered just above his ankle. He handed it off to the guard, getting a small smirk out of the dog as he placed it on a nearby table along with the other two pistols.
"Aren't you going to search Slippy?" Fox asked, looking to the team's sidearms, sitting helpless. The toad's expression soured, having enjoyed not having to converse with anyone on the base so far.
"Nah, I know he doesn't carry one; besides, what's he going to do with one? Freak out and shoot a wall?" The other guard let out a small chuckle, flicking his rifle's safety back on.
"Well, that settles it then, head on through. He's waiting for you, Fox, in the conference room..."
Fox strolled into the large, ornate room with the rest of this team trailing behind. Extravagant wooden walls covered up the bunker's bleak concrete, with a large, wooden conference table sitting dead-center. Each side of the room decorated with paintings of other famous Cornerian military personnel, some being high-ranking officials, with others being batted-hardened infantry. Fox recognized a few of them, but one in particular stood out among the others.
The vulpine glared at the painting of none other than the late Captain Shears. The Captain's smug grin and sunglasses just as Fox had remembered them, along with his green, spotless Captain's uniform.
"Ah,The late Shears... I know you had a... History with him, didn't you?"
Fox quickly spun his view around in the direction of the voice, it being rather similar to the voice over the intercom earlier, sounding like it was for someone more highbrow than it belonged to. Fox saw who he presumed was the General, a tall German Sheppard with a gray uniform like the one Pepper wore, minus the color and medals.
"You're Rickenbacker, I'm guessing?"
"I am indeed. And I'm assuming you have what I'm asking for?" The dog added an intense glare, almost as if trying to bore into Fox's head with eyes alone.
"Didn't we already tell you? Twice?"
"Of course you did, but I'd like to hear it from you, in person..."
Fox hid an eyeroll, swinging the bag onto the table and fishing out the ship's FDR, placing the device onto the wooden furniture with a hefty thunk. The General approached Fox, turning to the device and looking it over. He rubbed a paw over it's boxy edges, admiring it's battered and worn exterior casing. After what seemed like a full minute of the dog metaphorically salivating over the device, Fox cleared his throat in attempt to grab the General's attention.
"Uh... General, are we going to talk about our reward? The mission to get this thing back wasn't exactly easy..."
The General didn't react to Fox's question, still admiring the flight recorder and mumbling something to himself. The vulpine leaned slightly forward, close enough to just barely hear scraps of his voice, but not enough for him to notice.
"...I'll find you... you freak..." The dog's mumbling was almost frantic, yet quiet.
Huh? Who is he talking about? Yet again, the vulpine found himself with more questions then answers, adding to the pile of questions that he wasn't sure he'd ever get real answers for.
"Excuse me, General?" Fox tried to cut into the dog's own little world of him and the device. It seemed to work, startling the General and yanking his attention from the recorder. The dog growled at Fox, shoving a finger in his face.
"You'd do well to not disturb me, Fox." He sneered, Fox wanting to mumble something about the General's lack of professionalism that was to be expected with his position, but decided against it. "...But yes... I'll arrange for payment to be transferred to your account, McCloud. But fist, I need answers from you."
"About?"
Rickenbacker got straight to the point. "The Pathfinder... Did you happen to secure a cargo manifest? It was carrying weapons, as you probably know. I'd just like to confirm a few things about it's contents before you leave."
Fox thought back briefly, but didn't remember actually taking anything off the ship himself; it was Falco who actually recovered the recorder. "No, sorry, we weren't looking for anything other then the FDR."
"...And Pepper didn't tell you to retrieve it?"
"Nope, he only asked for the recorder, but I think he said he'd send his own people to recover was was left."
The dog balled his fists, eyes going wide. "That son of a... When did he say they'd leave?"
Fox stepped back, somewhat taken back by the General's reaction. "He didn't give me an exact date, but within the week at least... Why are you so worried about them finding it? Something I don't know?" Fox pressed further, inquisitively.
The dog waved him off. "No, no ...I'd just like to secure those weapons as soon as possible, with them all being Cornerian property... Don't want them in the wrong hands, I'm sure you understand."
"Right..."
The general looked to the recorder briefly, the device still sitting on the wooden table undisturbed, then back to Fox.
"Well, that's all I need you for, you're all dismissed."
Fox gave the dog one last gaze, still unsure what to think about the general or his strange behavior. "Uh, yeah, thanks... Come on guys, let's get some lunch."
Fox headed for the door, walking past the two guards and recovering his pistol from the table, with Peppy doing the same. The three headed for the elevator once again, Fox thinking about grabbing a warm bagel from some cafe in the city, hoping to never set foot in the base again.
The vulpine and his team stepped off the shuttle bus, it having a stop within walking distance to the landing pads. The Great Fox's majestic hull stood out among the two navy corvettes that had taken the free pads adjacent to the carrier, it's silver and white metals almost shining next to the gray armor of the other two. "Let's get moving; I'm not sure I'm willing to pay the docking fee they set up just for us."
With collective agreement, the three approached the pad's elevator. Just as Fox was about to step aboard, the squeal of tires on pavement and the thundering roar of an engine got the mercenaries's attention. A large Cornerian APC had came to a halt behind the team, it's black skid marks clearly visible behind the bulky vehicle. The rear troop ramp dropped with a loud clang, followed by a small squad of military police. The group approached Fox and his team, blaster carbines all pointed at him.
The dog in the front, presumably the squad leader began to yell. "Paws where I can see em', traitor!"
"W-what the hell are you guys on about? Traitor?" Fox stumbled over his words, confused at being held at gunpoint by a faction he thought he could trust.
"Paws up, I won't ask again, McCloud." The MP barked back, no longer yelling, but still hardly using a friendly tone.
Fox rolled his eyes, still confused. "Fine... What about my team?"
"The general only wants you, but the Great Fox stays here; you're not taking it anywhere, anytime soon. You two try anything, and we'll shoot you down."
"Like hell you are! What's Fox have to with all this?" Peppy shot back. "We gave your armchair general the recorder just as he asked, that not good enough for him?"
"It would've been, if all the data on it wasn't wiped clean."
"That's bullshit! We didn't touch the damn thing's internals!"
"Yeah, well, the data would still be there if you hadn't." The dog countered, Peppy not knowing how to respond in a meaningful way. The hare resorting to only glaring at the guard. Slippy hadn't even bothered to say anything, not that it would've mattered anyways.
"I'm going to need a better explanation for why I'm being arrested. We didn't touch the recorder, so something's up with whatever your general is using to read it." Fox replied, knowing it never left his sight after he woke up. "He's going to be pretty damn disappointed when he finds out it's probably just a technical issue on his end."
"Someone close, a friend... Isn't planning on being truthful to you..."
Fara's ghostly words, and the realization at what had actually happened hit him like a freight train, his head going dizzy in panic at the notion. He'd never thought he'd be outright betrayed by his friend like this. They'd had their issues in the past, involving his old gang years ago, but even that had a good outcome. This though, was something else entierly.
"No... No... Not Falco..."