Falco's Theatre (pt.2): The Investigation
Falco's group is about to dive headfirst into the search for the staff piece on Venom. Let's see how things turn out.
Revenge…
It represents the lack of forgiveness within one's soul…
It is symbolic of hatred for specific persons…
While some reasons behind this act are justified by plausible conditions, most of them are not…
When this motive's fire burns out of control, a furious desire to step outside of society's boundaries will take control of the vengeance-seeker's mind…
It can cause havoc in very severe cases...
It is the reason why the mad scientist Andross lashed out against Corneria…
Revenge he sought, ruin was brought to Lylat and the life of James McCloud was lost forever…
Inside the remains of Peppy's secondary residence, Falco and his group, guided by Slippy, were now standing inside a high-tech, chrome-colored room filled with computers and monitors of varying sizes. All the equipment present was created for keeping a vigilant eye on the Lylat System's activity, as Falco so deducted, seeking out anything suspicious or threatening. It was all for simply keeping the peace. The room would have been bustling with computer lights, had the explosion-triggered power failure not occurred; right now, a backup power supply was keeping only the primary monitor, seated at the far wall, active. Perhaps due to a tremor accompanying the blast, some of the monitors had toppled over and taken serious damage. Unlike the rest of the area, there were no windows to grace this room with views of the outside world.
"Alright, Slippy," Falco spat, letting loose a small cough in the process. "Where's Peppy?"
"He should be here in a couple of seconds," the toad answered. But as soon as he had stopped speaking, Peppy Hare, the most recent member in a line of Cornerian Army generals, quickly stepped inside from the room's only door. As the Smashers, not counting Falco, stared at him, they came to realize that the sole surviving member of the first Star Fox team seemed quite different from his earlier days as an Arwing pilot; they were, as a side note, exposed to his younger appearance thanks to Fox showing several photos to them when recalling his earlier adventures. For one thing, he was further into elderly age, with his appearance marked by graying fur, longer facial hair, floppier ears, and facial features that were slightly less defined. His voice had also been affected by the continuous cycle of ageing, now possessing a gruffer tone that traveled along with every word spoken. His attire, representing his strong authority in Corneria's military, was drastically different from what he had adorned during his Star Fox years. Replacing the old, tan-colored uniform was a bright red uniform with sharp, gold-coated details on the upper half and dark brown boots on his feet.
"Okay, Peppy," Falco snorted in a sarcastically interested tone of voice. "What's the problem?"
"You don't sound too excited for this task," Peppy grunted. "But I digress. Now, six days before you and your group arrived here, I received a strange audio message from an unidentified source. While I was initially unsure on how to respond to this, I decided to play whatever the sender had to say and see if it was dangerous or not. What I got was something that reeked of ominousness.
"Who was the guy, and what did he say?"
"I am still not sure who the caller is, but the only words that he said were this…"
With the touch of several buttons, Peppy guided the main screen towards what many would identify as an inbox of messages, reminiscent of an email account. The second newest message, dated six days ago, was highlighted and opened at the speed of a modern-day vehicle, revealing an audio clip that had previously been played. With the final button press, a clear voice filled with sinister overtones crawled out of the room's undamaged speakers to shoot chills down spines. It hissed the following words:
"Give it to us… Give it to us… Give the piece to us or your city will perish… You will not stop us from reviving our savior…"
"What the hell?" Falco gasped.
"Is something wrong, Falco?" Ness asked.
"I wish could say otherwise, but the Orm's Lords have something to do with this mess."
"Wait, the Orm's what now?" the general muttered, not fully comprehending the wingman's comment.
"The Orm's Lords. They're the bastards that are looking for the pieces of this artifact called the Staff of Björn. This staff is responsible for sealing away the Svärtad Orm, a monster that brought destruction to all the realms in ancient times. What the Lords want to do is that they want to reunite the pieces of the staff so they can revive that thing. And it turns out that one of those pieces is in this solar system, at Venom. We need to gather the pieces so that we can keep the Lords from achieving their goals."
"And who told you all this?"
Before Falco could continue, Sonic stepped up to answer the elderly rabbit's question. "A mysterious woman from another world named Lillian Åkerfeldt told us all the information."
"A woman from another dimension... Wait, before I go on, what's your name?"
"Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog."
"Alright, Sonic. I'll try to keep your name in mind; Slippy's already told me your names, but pardon me if I start to become forgetful. Now, did the woman appear to be trustworthy? I mean, she could just be using you all to fulfill a dastardly plot."
"Well, I didn't see anything suspicious about her and neither did anyone else, so… yes?"
"Hmm. Now, back to what I was saying. After I played the message, I revealed this to a few of my most trusted subordinates, but none of them had any clue as to who the sender was or what it was doing in our database in the first place. Some of them attempted to triangulate the sender's position, but they got no results. Then, three days after, another message came to us and, yes, it was from the same sender. This time, the person said this…"
Peppy selected the very first message on the inbox, this one dated three days ago, and played the voice recording inside of it. Once again, the haunting, bone-rattling voice echoed throughout the damaged room, this time croaking these words:
"You have failed to satisfy our demands… Now, you and your city will burn in the fires of destruction…"
"And that was when the Lords launched an explosive of extreme power to this place…" Lucario muttered to itself.
"Immediately after the message," the rabbit continued, "I noticed a large red blip on the Lylat System's map, followed by one on the shorter-ranged radar. The blips were moving at a shockingly fast pace, which immediately provoked me into calling on the Cornerian Army to checking out the possible threat. Slippy was also summoned to this location, but I don't think he told you about his involvement. But just when I was about to pull up an image of the object via satellite imaging, a strange form of interference suddenly caused all electronic equipment to be disabled momentarily. I had to personally send out a team of engineers, Slippy included, to pinpoint the problem's source, which was supposedly coming from the facility's main generator. They were working as fast as they could, but…"
"What happened next?" Ness asked, even though his mind already knew the answer to begin with.
"The bomb had already reached the very center of the city and detonated. Immediately, I told some of my men to shut the blast doors manually, but sadly, there wasn't enough time to completely shield all windows before the wave of destruction reached us. As you can see, this building is quite reinforced; it can withstand lots of things. But that wasn't enough to stop the wave from inflicting damage, especially with windows open and heavy rubble pounding this place like hail."
"After the blast," Slippy squeaked, "Peppy sent me out to search for possible survivors. With all the important equipment spared from the blast, I searched large portions of the city at a time to make sure that we weren't the only ones left. During that time, I salvaged some equipment to create an emergency beacon as well as a makeshift broadcasting tower for communication purposes. Unfortunately, what I had gathered was below-average, to say at the very least; besides the lack of better parts, the tower and beacon had very low effective range due to damage. Thus, we could not contact anyone outside our sector of Lylat. I would have given up if you hadn't veered into the tower's range about an hour ago."
"Due to the aforementioned problem," Peppy added, now staring at Falco, "We were also unable to broadcast an interdimensional message to you and Fox. You were at the Smash Mansion, correct?"
"Yep," the pheasant replied, wiping his bill. "We were outside this realm at the time. And did you know that Fox isn't here?"
"Slippy already informed me about that."
Falco cracked his knuckles very slowly before continuing. "Okay. So, now what do you want us to do?"
The elderly rabbit coughed before revealing his newest assignment. "I need you to investigate the source of the explosive. From the earliest blips on the map, I believe it is somewhere close to Macbeth."
"Okay; I'll lead my group to Macbeth, and I'll make sure that the bastards behind this mess don't cause any more trouble."
With a physical gesture, Falco directed his group out of the main room and into one of the third floor's darkened hallways. But he was no more than four meters from the door when he noticed a dark purple glow creeping out of a broken window.
"What the…?" he gasped, slowly stumbling towards the light's source.
"Beep?" Mister Game & Watch chirped.
"A purple glow," Popo muttered. "That's not normal in this realm, isn't it?"
"Nope," the expert pilot grunted. While at the window, a very disturbing sight was unraveling right in front of him. The midday sky was coated in a sinister of shade of purple, something that would not happen in everyday life on Corneria. This coloring darkened the already light-deprived area and presented an even uglier view of the wreckage that was once a prosperous city; in fact, the colors were warped to more hideous versions of themselves. And the way the sky itself was tinted…
It was as if a malicious force was crawling over the planet's once-serene skies.
But worse still was the presence of robed figures, spreading across the streets by the hundreds. The darker lighting made it difficult for Falco and his partners to observe them properly, but that did not prevent them from gathering the general details of each member. The figures were dressed in blackened robes with white symbols, with the robes themselves concealing all details of each person underneath. The universal symbol consisted of a serpent with the head facing upwards, as if it was staring at the demonic skies above, longing for the darkness. The density of the crowd seemed to create a pool of black coloring that oozed through each of the streets like a lava flow. And to make matters worse, parts of the crowd were very close to where the Great Fox was parked at. Meanwhile, the other Smashers approached the window, only to be struck with the same feeling of disturbance that overcame their group leader.
"Damn," Falco grunted. "Now we can't get to the Great Fox without the Lords seeing us."
"Well, why can't we just fight them?" Nana squeaked, underestimating the power of the sinister cultists.
"I don't think that's a good idea," Lucas whimpered. "Do you see how many of them there are? They'll simply overwhelm us if we try to attack them."
"Lucas is right," Lucario whispered, its Aura-sensing powers actively sweeping the area. Nothing but red coloring was filling up its dulled vision. "Their numbers are exceeding the thousands."
"Also, there's the fact that we don't know their weaknesses," Falco added. "Speaking of which, I need to get a hold of Lillian for this."
After pressing against the right side of his headgear, the expert pilot waited for the maiden's voice to echo in his head. As he did so, Peppy and Slippy stepped out of the main room to find the Smashers still within the building's somewhat isolated confines.
"Hey, Falco," Slippy called in a rather loud tone of voice, oblivious to the situation outside. "Aren't you going to find the source of the-"
"Shh!" Sonic interrupted, fearing that the loud engineer might draw unwarranted attention. "They might hear you…!"
"Who are you talking about?" Peppy grumbled.
"The Orm's Lords," Lucario answered. "They are swarming into the city in great numbers. Look through the window here and you will understand what I am saying." At the Pokémon's request, the two Star Fox veterans strolled towards the broken window. Like the Smashers before them, their reactions to the ruined city's new imagery were nothing short of pure shock. Besides leaping backwards, Slippy nearly yelled at the sight of the Lords but managed to restrain himself before his natural instincts took over. He had hoped that things would not get any worse after the city's horrific bombing; being completely serious in every possible way, the bombing alone was terrifying enough. But fate was now here, not only to deny him of his wish but to rain more hell onto the beaten streets. Peppy was also bewildered, albeit to a far lesser extent.
"What's up with the robed guys out on the streets?" the general asked.
"Those are the Lords that Falco mentioned earlier," Popo spoke. "But now that I'm looking at this whole thing, I wonder how so many of them were able to get here in a short amount of time. I mean, one minute, we're all alone in this area. And then, the next one sees us surrounded by those guys."
"Maybe they use portals to get around the realms," Sonic muttered.
"That might explain their earlier presence, but still… There's just something about off about this group's sheer size. Also, why have they come back here? I'm pretty sure they've caused enough damage already."
"They still don't know where the staff piece is at," Ness whispered, hoping that the robed figures would not hear him. "For all we know, they might be thinking that it's on this planet."
"Falco," Lillian's gentle voice reverberated, "What do you want?"
"Hey," Falco chirped. "Do you know how to put the Lords down? My group is being surrounded by these guys right now."
"Yes. The Lords are using a spell called Återuppliva. Not only does it give them boosted strength, but it also allows for advanced regenerative abilities. They can survive for injuries that would kill a normal being, but there are two things that the spell cannot withstand: burning and dismemberment. Burning disrupts cellular regeneration and Återuppliva itself cannot regenerate full body parts, such as limbs."
"Gotcha. Also, has anyone else encountered the Lords yet?"
"Mario and his group have encountered them already; I've assumed this when I noticed Mario's vital signs going red for a moment. Why are you asking me this?"
"Well, we need to let the other groups know of their weaknesses. I think that should help them on their searches."
"I understand. I'll let the others know as soon as possible."
With the telepathic link gone, Falco redirected his attention towards his teammates. "Okay. Lillian has told me about the Lords' weaknesses. The only two ways that we can destroy these guys are burns and dismemberment."
"I still my PK Fire in handy," Ness grunted, summoning a flame from his hand. "And so does Lucas."
"Okay, so you two can take them out. What about the rest of you guys?"
"Sorry," Sonic muttered. "I don't have anything that can cause burns or rip opponents apart."
"Beep," Game & Watch added, revealing a two-dimensional torch in his right hand and a frying pan in his left.
That frying pan isn't what I'd call conventional, Falco pondered as his eyes were locked onto the pan. But it'll have to do.
"We don't have anything fire-related," Nana muttered.
"Wait," Popo interjected. "Maybe we can freeze them and then smash them apart with our hammers."
"Well, whatever works for you kids," the ace pilot spat. "And you, Lucario?"
"I may need to rely on my Aura-based abilities, though I am not sure if they can put the cultists down," Lucario responded.
"Wait, I just remembered something," Slippy squeaked, "Before you leave this place, I may have something that can help you guys along the way."
The next image introduced to the entire group was the frog retreating to the stairway at the far end of the hall, possibly to retrieve some supplies. For the next couple of seconds, the scenery was silent except for the distant marching of the robed cultists. Staring back at the chill-inducing view, Falco was reminded of Popo's comment about the massive numbers that the Lords had in their group on Corneria. Indeed, their appearance was so… sudden; in fact, there was something in the back of his mind, and it was leading him to believe that the presence of the Lords here was due to more than just simple, realm-traversing portals. Were they… created by something?
There was no answer to that question, at all. Furthermore, he was completely clueless about the actual size of the organization, just like Popo.
Then, another thought entered his head, one that was focused on the inhumanity of the enemies. It was truly amazing, so to speak; he had not even been in a fight with them and they were already showing themselves to be even more heartless than Andross. How could they even obliterate a city filled with innocent lives? As cruel as the mad ape scientist was, he only wished to establish a new empire in place of what Lylat was used to; murdering good-willed citizens was not his primary agenda, but it still occurred under the fiery wrath of his forces. These new enemies were certainly on par with the Aparoids in terms of death dealing, if they had not surpassed the infectious creatures already. Both thoughts, when combined, led to one unanswered question:
Are the Lords even human at all?
"Alright, I'm back," Slippy called, keeping his voice quiet. "I've got some equipment that you guys may want to try out."
Thud…
A metallic box was dropped in front of the Smashers, creating a small thud upon landing. Falco grasped the top and yanked it open, revealing an assortment of hi-tech equipment stuffed into the cubic space. There were only two types of gadgets placed with the dark confines of the sleek container; one such type was a set of red-and-white bombs marked with a large B on the front. The bombs appeared to be circular when viewed from the front, but closer examination revealed that the overall shape was closer to that of a cone.
"Smart Bombs, huh?" Falco puffed. "These should be quite useful. But what the hell are those?"
"You mean these?" Slippy mumbled, pointing to a group of greenish, octagon-shaped devices. "Those are cloaking devices, just in case you need to get stealthy. This will help you get past those guys without being seen. Oh, yes, I've got one thing specifically for you…"
Reaching into one of his pockets, Slippy pulled out a device that was black in color and cylindrical in shape. Compared to the rest, it was very small and did not seem to possess any functionality by itself; in fact, for verification of the latter, one end was shaped into a plug of some sort. It was most likely an attachment, but for what specific object was not clear, until Slippy spoke again.
"That goes on to your blaster. It's an invention that I came up with while you were away; it can either give your weapon a scattershot effect, increase the rate of fire at the cost of power, or concentrate energy into one explosive shot. It just depends on what mode you're on."
Without uttering a word, Falco grabbed the attachment from the engineer's hands and firmly pressed it against his blaster like converging tectonic plates. A small click echoed faintly across the hall, though the timeframe for the sound was so short that most of the others did not react to it. Meanwhile, Slippy and Peppy passed the cloaking devices to each of the Smashers, with each recipient activating his, her, or its copy immediately afterwards. All users vanished into thin air, leaving sound, be it in the form of a voice or a footstep, as the only indicator of their presence. Keeping all the Smart Bombs inside, Falco shut the lightweight container. Much to his relief, it became invisible with him; predictably, he was relieved because the container, when held, could no longer give away his position.
"Are you guys all set?" Slippy muttered.
"Yep, I think we're all good, Slip," the still-invisible Falco answered.
"Wait," Sonic gasped. "I still don't have anything that can help me with the Lords."
"I'll give you one of my old blasters."
"Good luck," Peppy remarked. "And don't worry about us. We'll retreat back to the shelter to remain hidden, for now."
"Alright."
Slowly exiting the high-tech building, Falco and the other fighters kept their noise level to a low point to avoid unneeded attention; not only were they traveling slower than usual, but they also had to avoid crushing glass shards with their feet, which was easier said than done. Even Sonic, who would normally favor speed over stealth, had to remain quiet by strolling at a slower pace. Once they were well inside the hangar, they deactivated their cloaking devices, closed the area's giant doors, and retreated to the bridge.
"Man," Lucas sighed. "That was scary."
"Ah, man up, kid," Falco chirped. "You really need to stop being such a wuss."
"I wouldn't really call him a wuss," Ness said. "But I do agree that he needs to have more courage."
Lucas's face was quickly painted with deep shades of reddened embarrassment. "Ness! Could you please not talk about my courage?"
"What? It's true."
"There's no time for pointless banter," Lucario interrupted. "We need to remain focused on the mission."
Ignoring the rest of the conversation, Falco activated the ship's specialized cloaking feature, an upgrade that Fox had opted to implement for stealth missions, and proceeded to exit the decimated city. A slight rumble ripped through the surrounding area, but the departure was otherwise unnoticed.
Still in search of Lillian, the young man was now beginning to tire out from his endless travel across the territory that was his homeland. With no response from the maiden, his hopes were gradually beginning to fade away. She could have been captured by now, or worse…
"Lillian…" he croaked. By now, his voice was now tired from the constant yelling. No longer did he have the strength to raise his voice, and all that he could produce were raspy, wheezing words. The rest of his body was also losing strength, no doubt due to constant travels and a fading supply of adrenaline. His legs were on fire, his breathing was heavy, his head ached relentlessly, and, most importantly, he was on the verge of passing out. The Lords were still on his tail, as his mind was quick to point out. If he decided to drop into unconsciousness now…
"Where are you…?" he wheezed. On slow, wobbling legs, he continued his sojourn into the darkness of the calm forest. Mist was blanketing the area with a gentle white, but there was nothing gentle about its effects on the man's vision. To be more precise, he was stumbling even more because the heaviness of the airborne water vapor rendered him unable to examine the ground for any pits, rocks, or anything that might be an obstacle to his travel. Bouts of tripping and falling over soon became more frequent, with each fall inflicting minor injuries and exacerbating his still-weakened physical state.
"Speak to me…" he gasped. "Say something…"
As if on an auditory cue, slow footsteps began to approach.
"Lillian? Is that you…?"
Wait, they were coming from multiple persons. Who could these unseen figures be?
"Where are you? Is someone with you?" he called again, this time speaking in his native language. As his head twisted in all directions, he noticed several figures, around twenty of them, shambling towards him from all directions. The sheer number of trees, combined with the heavy mist, prevented him from noticing any distinguishing characteristics about the newcomers. His right hand swiftly reached for his sword's handle, preparing for a possible skirmish…
"Who are you people?" he asked out of curiosity. But no response echoed from the deeper forest. Footsteps continued to pound on the ground in a slow but ominous manner.
"I need to know who you are, so it would be helpful if you gave me an answer." As soon as he muttered his comment, the figures were now less than a few meters away from him. One of them finally replied to his comment, but it was not the comforting voice of Lillian, nor was it that of a friendly person.
"There is no escape," the voice sneered. "We know that you are hiding very important information for our savior's revival. You will reveal the information to us, one way or another."
"No," the man fired back, realizing the figures surrounding were the Lords themselves. "I will never help you revive that hideous monster."
"So be it." Brandishing whatever weapons that were available, the Lords immediately attempted to subdue their surrounded victim.
There falls another
Vapor hands released the blade
Insane regrets at the drop
Instruments of death before me
The man wasted no time at all and unsheathed his sword. Decapitating one of the figures instantly, he retreated into the deeper part of the tree-laden land to space himself from the enemy group. Avoiding magical blasts and energy beams, his heart was racing like mad as the possibility of dying phased into reality. The ability of self-defense was recognized by the enemy when the man magically deflected one beam with his blade, destroying the head of another opponent.
The enemy was on him once again.
And he was now in a state of sheer panic, as with all the times that he had encountered the evil group.
The Great Fox, now freed from Corneria's atmosphere, began its journey into the outer layers of Lylat. The cloaking device was deactivated upon Falco realizing that there were no hostiles within the ship's current vicinity.
"So, Peppy stated that the explosive came from Macbeth or somewhere close to it, right?" Sonic sighed.
"Yes," Falco answered, bringing up a map of the Lylat System as he spoke. "And, wouldn't you know it, we'll be going past Solar, which is a star in this area. Or it could be a molten planet. I honestly don't know."
Cruising through the starry world of Lylat, the Great Fox drifted past several of the planets, from the tropical Zoness to the icy Fichina. Once again, some of the Smashers, the younger ones to be more specific, were hypnotized by the magnificent beauty of the galactic scenery. However, their entranced state did not last as long, mainly due to prior exposure on the way to Corneria. Music once again shot through the speakers, but its ear-piercing property was now absent; Falco, against his own personal desires, kept the volume at a lower level. Conversation between the fighters was nearly nonexistent, as there were not a whole lot of interesting things to talk about.
But Falco was not interested in conversing to begin with. What he was interested in was the adventure itself. After being confined to the Smash Mansion and its surrounding areas for five long years, this was now his time to satisfy his thirst for raw action, regardless of whatever danger was awaiting him and the other Smashers. The Lords, heartless beings they were, only boosted the excitement of it all, since they were not like the Venomian Army or anything that the pilot had faced in the past.
"This is gonna be fun," he whispered, effectively, in a semi-sarcastic manner, summarizing his feelings for the current adventure.
At the complex, basement level…
"Any progress with that Arwing?" Peppy sighed.
"I'm getting very close to fixing this thing," Slippy squeaked. "The only thing left to be done now is to get the G-diffusers properly configured."
"How long will that take?"
"I would say about another twenty minutes or so."
The general quickly exhibited an expression of worry. There was the possibility that the Lords could detect the two before the ship was to be completed. If the situation ever found itself going along with said possibility, there would be no chance of surviving the wrath of the dark beings.
"Well, hurry up," he finally grumbled. "We need to leave this place before those enemies see us. Also, how are they doing?"
"What?" Slippy was initially unsure of whom Peppy was referring to, but he quickly remembered in a matter of seconds. "Oh, you mean Krystal and Marcus? I haven't heard of them for two days straight. After they came to this place for refuge, they just suddenly disappeared on the following morning."
"Have they ever contacted you about their plans to go somewhere?"
"Nope. It's strange, really; why would they even bother coming to this place, only to wander off afterwards?"
The elderly general scratched one of his ears. "I do not have the answer to that. However, I can only pray that they're still alright, especially with the Lords invading this area as of late."
"Yeah; I bet that Fox is worried about them as well. Once I get the Arwing repaired, we will-"
Thud… Thud…
"What is that? Is that the main doorway?" Peppy was slightly shaken by the sudden sound.
"I'll check right-" Slippy started, but he was cut off just as quickly.
"No! The Lords might be attempting to break into this place; do not open the doors!"
"Well, it could just be Krystal and her son coming back to this place. I mean, who knows?"
The general sighed at the comment. The engineer could be right about Fox's family members returning to the base, but with the sheer number of hostiles within the area, the chances of those innocent souls approaching the front doors were close to zero. And, as he believed, since Slippy was not exercising extreme caution in this situation, he could end up killing them both if the general's hunch was correct. Not willing to take any unnecessary risks, he muttered:
"We'll go find an open window, preferably one that is out of their view, and see if Krystal and Marcus truly are at the door."
Slippy was initially reluctant to back out of his plan, but after allowing Peppy's words to be absorbed into his mind, he found himself strolling into the upper floors in search of a safe observation point, with his longtime friend accompanying him. A flashlight, conveniently located in the engineer's pocket, had to be utilized due to the extremely poor lighting; it was perhaps the duo's only means of guidance through the chilling darkness, one that would leave any lesser person crippled with fear. The hard pounding of the locked doorway continuously echoed throughout the ruins of the main hall, and it imposed another layer of tension upon the atmosphere. Peppy was not visibly affected by this, but Slippy, lacking his friend's level of courage and despite his attempts to remain calm, was swallowed by uncontrollable nervousness.
"Man," Slippy whimpered, "I just keep thinking that the doors are gonna break down at any second."
"The doors are reinforced to withstand lesser attacks," Peppy huffed. "But I'm not sure what the newcomers might have up their sleeves."
Reaching the second floor, the two Star Fox veterans were eventually near an unshielded window, one that was devoid of any glass. It just so happened to be located at the far end of the building's frontal wall, and there were not many Lords within the nearby area; the crowd was, at this point, beginning to spread out. In addition, the darkness of the building's interior would reduce any chances of detection by a noticeable amount. This would be a perfect, no, adequate observation point.
"Keep the flashlight off, Slippy," the rabbit ordered. On cue, the toad disabled the flashlight. The duo then stared at the area where the doorway rested, expecting to notice Fox's family. But what they were exposed to was a smaller portion of the army attempting to smash through the reinforced entrance.
"So," Slippy squeaked. "They're not really here…"
"Well, we need to look for them sooner or later," Peppy grunted. "Slippy, can you get back to repairing the Arwing?"
"Of course."
The intensity of Solar's light was much greater than any other light in the Lylat System, apart from the area's central star, also named Lylat. Falco had specialized visors positioned over the windows to prevent anyone on the bridge from suffering total blindness.
"Ah, good ol' Solar," he muttered. "Haven't been there in a long time."
"I find it rather hard to believe that you have been close to that celestial body," Lucario softly interjected.
"Yeah, a lot of people don't believe me or Fox when they are told about our travels to the fireball. The fact of the matter is that Arwings can withstand temperatures up to nine-thousand degrees Celsius. This sun, or planet if you like, isn't hot enough to outright fry our vehicles. Now, if we're talking about Lylat the star, that's a different matter altogether. It's a hell of a lot hotter than what's right in front of us."
"Interesting…"
Passing over the fiery world, the Great Fox drifted further into the array of planets and was soon approaching a planet filled with hundreds of minerals. From the group's point of view, the rocky surface possessed a pale blue-green coloring, with faint clouds dotting the atmosphere in irregular patterns. Water was present, albeit in noticeably lesser quantities than on Corneria. To Falco, this planet was relatively unchanged since his departure to the Smash Mansion, but a new, barely noticeable property was about to prove his thought wrong…
"Wait, I'm seeing a purple light on the surface," he spat, removing the visors in the process. The others gathered around him to witness the abnormality for themselves. The dimness made the light difficult to locate, as it was just barely flickering for a few seconds before going out and reappearing afterwards. Lucario, with eyes as attentive as Falco's, was the first to notice this strange event.
"You are right," was its response.
"How can you be so certain about this light?" Popo mumbled. "It could just be something normal."
The pilot snorted at the young Eskimo's words. "I've been to Macbeth before, not during the Lylat Wars, but in my free time. Nowhere during my previous visit did I ever see a purple light of this intensity. I'm bringing this ship down to the planet; we're going to find out what the hell is going on there, and if we're lucky, we may even find the source of the explosive that devastated Corneria City."
Some of the Smashers were still reluctant to believe his claim due to their unfamiliarity with the planet, but they still decided to go along with the plan for one outstanding reason. In specific terms, visiting Macbeth was the only for them to verify the suspicion on Falco's mind. If the pheasant's claim was true, then forcing the pilot to ignore the light would result in them missing a clue on the explosive's origin.
"Let's head on down there," Ness grunted. Not one to waste any time, Falco guided the ship into the Macbethian atmosphere. Just like the Cornerian descent, a wave of extreme heat engulfed the outer hull and transformed the bridge view into a furious image of reds and oranges, but what came afterwards was something of a contrast to the lush greens of the most populated body in Lylat. The terrain was very rocky, with no permanent trace of flora to be noticed. The blue-green coloring from before had given way to a dull gray that was painted across the ground by forces of eons past; maybe the gases had something to do with the color change, as far Falco was concerned. As the ship's altitude decreased, an assortment of industrial structures came to full view. From the style of arrangement, the area was like a smaller city specifically catered to an industry-based economy. The large railway in the center was a large, metallic snake that slithered across the perimeter, placed low enough to cut it into two halves. Machines in many shapes and forms were present, but, strangely, all of them appeared to be inactive. But the one thing that truly caught Falco's attention was the complete lack of workers.
The Cornerian government had reclaimed this area from Andross's forces years ago, and top officials had previously stated that activity would resume once the damage from the war was repaired.
So, why was this place deserted? Something had to have happened here, but the exact details remained invisible for the moment.
"This looks like a mine of some sort," Nana whispered.
"Yep, and no one's here," Falco sarcastically snorted. "It's pretty pleasant."
"Wait," Ness muttered. "I see the purple light ahead." All the Smashers responded to his comment by focusing on the source of the abnormal glow: a building painted with shades of purple, black, and red. Its overall design was a complete far cry from the rest of the complex. The architecture was from a past time, most likely from the Victorian years, and not from the futuristic era that Lylat was currently stuck in; darkened gears were present, decorations were more elegant than sleek, and titanium-forged steam towers were littered across the outermost part of the structure. The top of the building housed a glowing orb that was probably the main generator to the entire place. Beside the differing look, it was also much larger in comparison to the other buildings. In fact, it was approximately five times larger in terms of overall space.
"That wasn't there before," Falco grunted. "Someone, most likely a member of the Lords, set up this place very recently."
The Great Fox hovered into the front of the mysterious structure and parked itself there. Stepping out into miner's territory, the Smashers strolled cautiously towards the metal-plated doors. With no knowledge on the contents inside of the building, most of them were slightly nervous and preparing for the worst of possible outcomes. Lucas, specifically, was shaking in such a way that resembled a person trying to warm up his or her body due to low temperatures, but he was not cold in a literal sense. No, he was trembling from fright building up inside of him.
"I'm scared…" he shivered.
"We're all nervous, Lucas," Lucario replied in a soothing tone. "But you must keep your courage together."
"Beep," the two-dimensional being added, agreeing with Lucario's statement.
"Let's get inside," Falco ordered. "And make sure to keep an eye out for the Lords or anything else that might seem important."
The doors slowly creaked open to reveal a dark, mechanical environment that was already ominous enough without the Lords nearby. Speaking of which, there were no hostiles within the visible vicinity. There were only doors, several windows, a chandelier with purple-flame candles, and pipes stretching across the ceiling in no clear pattern. A low, barely audible hum was all that broke the silence in the air, not counting the footsteps produced by each of the fighters or the doors slowly shutting from behind. The Smashers attempted to proceed with their investigation, but a few seconds later…
"What the fuck is this?" Falco growled, frustration filling up his voice. "The doors here are locked."
"Looks like the owners really didn't want anyone to enter this place," Sonic muttered, pulling on a nearby door to make sure that it was truly locked. "These doors also look very reinforced." As a way of disputing the hedgehog's claim, the ace pilot began firing at the door with his blaster with all available modes, but he failed to produce even a smaller dent on its surface.
"So, what's next?" Nana squeaked.
Falco remained silent for a good ten seconds before replying, "Well, there's no choice but to go back the way we came from. The only way to get further into this damn structure is by an alternate route, which I have no idea about."
The group members departed from the barren hall and slammed the doors behind them.
"Alright," Slippy chirped. "This baby is ready to go."
"Now let's get out of this place," Peppy grumbled, hopping into the fully-repaired, two-seat Arwing. After starting the ignition sequence, Slippy guided the vehicle into the greener pastures of the planet with surprisingly sharp precision. As Peppy twisted his head to the left, he noticed that the beaten remains of Corneria's finest metropolis were beginning to lose their specific details, but that was offset by the area's general scenery becoming more visible. This did little to comfort him in any way; if anything, just simply staring at the horrific mess from this point of view only forced him to grimace even further. Thankfully, the Arwing quickly zipped its way into rural territory before the general's disgusted facial expression worsened. The ugly image soon faded away, and the natural world came into its place.
"Where do you want me to search?" Slippy mumbled, unsure of where Fox's family would most likely be situated at.
"We'll start at this place, then we'll move on to the outer planets," Peppy answered. "By the way, is the communications link with all other Star Fox vehicles functional?"
"Yes; in fact, I'll try to contact Falco now."
But, unbeknownst to the duo, the flight was not left unnoticed. The elderly man, now in charge of a mighty group of Lords, was nearby when the Arwing zipped out of the city's boundaries.
"Someone else has been in the city besides us," he croaked. "If he is searching for the staff piece, then he must be eliminated. We must call upon our air vehicles to hunt him down."
While the rest of the group patiently waited outside of the building, Falco retreated to the Great Fox to retrieve his personal Arwing. Once inside the vehicle, he activated the ignition sequence and was immediately hit with a message from Slippy.
"-alco? Hello?" the high-pitched voice squeaked.
"What is it this time, Slip?" Falco spat.
"Hey, Peppy and I forgot to mention this while you were on Corneria, but we're searching for Fox's family members: Marcus and Krystal. I was wonder if you've seen them yet."
"No, I haven't seen those two, at least not yet; I don't know why you'd think that they're anywhere on this planet. What I am seeing is a strange place that was recently built, possibly by the Lords."
"Hmm… A newer building… Did you see what was inside?"
"We tried to, but the proprietors though it was a good idea to keep all the doors shut. I'm gonna look for an alternate pathway that isn't blocked off. If I'm lucky, I just might get my team inside within a few minutes."
"Okay. Now, Peppy's been telling me that there's a chance that the enemy's holding Krystal and her son captive. If they're inside the building, let me know as soon as possible."
"What will you do afterwards?"
"I'll try to-"
BANG!
A sudden, overwhelmingly loud sound tore through the communications channel like it was composed of paper; Falco nearly leaped backwards as this unexpected event unraveled. After taking a moment to regain his composure, his mind was immediately filled with the thought of Slippy's Arwing colliding with an obstacle, most likely due to the pilot's clumsiness. Recalling the memories of all previous adventures, the pheasant was fully observant of Slippy's below-average piloting skills, especially during the Lylat Wars. Most of the time, when the frog was stuck in a tight situation, a fellow Star Fox member would have to bail him out through constant assistance. This case would probably be no different; Peppy would have to assist him and everything would be fine again.
That was what he believed until another loud bang ripped through the channel, followed by Peppy's distant voice shouting, "We got bogeys on our tail! We have to… Wait, what are these ships?!"
"Shit!" Falco grunted. "Slippy, what the hell is going on?"
"Falco, there's a group of black ships following us!" Slippy squealed. "They don't look like the ones we see here in this world, but that's beside the point; they're gonna kill us for sure!"
The former gang member allowed the frog's comment to sink into his mind before staring at the dark building ahead of him. If the ships had black coloring and did not resemble the ones here in Lylat, then they must be associated with the same group that constructed the new structure. Right now, there was only one group that could possibly conjure any of the foreign objects.
"It's the Orm's Lords," he finally muttered. "They're the ones tailing you."
"I'm gonna head to Macbeth," Slippy shrieked. "Hopefully, you guys can do something to help us out!"
"Wait! How many of them are there? If it's a larger group, then you're gonna get us-"
Bzz…
The channel was abruptly closed before Falco could finish his statement. Remaining immobile for a single minute, his frustration levels were very close to reaching the very peak; if the enemy armada was of a massive size, that foolish frog was likely going to get the entire group slaughtered! Should that dreaded scenario come to pass, there would be little to no chance of retrieving the staff piece on Venom. With an angered grunt, he guided his vehicle out of the Great Fox. Meanwhile, all others remained silent as they waited for his return.
"What is Falco up to?" Ness asked, but no one had the time to answer before a swift vehicle landed right in front of the group.
"Guys," Falco puffed as he emerged, "We got Lords coming to this place because a certain SOMEONE though it was a great idea to bring them to our location. I want you all to get back into the ship and stay there. I'll show you how to handle the cannons and whatnot once we're in."
"Oh, boy," Sonic sighed sarcastically. "This adventure has just gotten better."
As the group reentered the mother ship of Star Fox, an Arwing suddenly appeared, followed by dozens of blackened ships with a similar appearance to the new building…
When I think back to all of Doctor Eggman's schemes, I rarely see murder on his mind; in fact, the only people he truly wants to get rid of are me, Tails, and the rest of my buddies. I really don't see him marking innocents for death. But the Lords, they're a different matter altogether. From everything I've seen so far, they're definitely not the same as that robot lover. I mean, for cryin' out loud, they vaporized a city filled with citizens that are not capable of posing a real threat.
Speaking of which, I wonder how they would react to Eggman. Would they form an alliance…?
Maybe? Probably not.
-Sonic the Hedgehog
Things are spiraling out of control far too quickly.
I forgot to mention this in the A/N above, but I'll state this here; for the sake of SF64-related continuity, I will make the hard path in that game the canon route that Fox and his buddies took. Also, Falco's theatre generally won't be as bloody as Mario's, but that doesn't mean the violence will be completely toned down from here.
R&R, if you feel like doing so.