Rogue Fox Dark Dreams
Chapter III
Berserkers
~SyxxFox

One week earlier…

A place all too familiar to the lot of them. A dark room, illuminated only by a glowing table surface, casted a blue hue on all the walls, while the chairs around the table casted their own shadows back on the silver walls of the briefing room. An old man, a hare, leaned over the table. One of his tall ears flopped down just to below his eye level, while his eyes darted across the display. The blue light accented his already grayed fur a quick-silver. His body though aging, his eyes were full of energy and wisdom. The badges and gold accents across his black tunic sparkled in the dim blue lighting, as each of his medals, and commendations were accented by the low angle lighting.

"We're here to talk about Fox McCloud. We're here to talk about Project Slayer. We've given information to the Cornerian Army on a need to know basis. We needed to give our forces the information they needed to be able to fight a Slayer. We've all seen firsthand what a Slayer is capable of. We thought that if the army knew what they were up against, at least they would stand a chance." Peppy's voice was deep, and filled with the wisdom of the Great Lylatian Wars. His eyes searched the faces around the table, as his paws laid on the surface, and his body hunched over it.

A beaked man leaned back in one of the chairs. His boots were propped up onto the table with his wings behind his head. His legs were crossed and one boot bounced as he rocked it over the other leg, in apathy and impatience. Dark blue jeans clad his legs as he wore a white v-neck shirt, which was mostly covered by his black leather aviator jacket. Of course, all of this was very hard to make out in such dim lighting. His wing played with his sunglasses as they were propped over his head. "So what's the story Pep?" Falco Lombardi asked casually.

There were a few other faces in the room too. A green toad, in a white lab coat, sat at one end of the table, with his hands crossed over the surface. He twiddled his thumbs together in discomfort for the situation. It was still a sensitive issue. It was still a controversial issue. The disappearance and resurrection of Fox McCloud was still on all of their minds. How could it not be? Lylat's greatest hero, turned into the greatest villain of all time, and now, they were to trust him to save them all? It wasn't easy to get over.

Next to Slippy Toad sat a pink feline in black jeans, with a white tank-top shirt, which was half covered by her pink vest. The pink of the vest matched her fur. Katt Monroe had been a member of StarFalco from the beginning, and had a lot of history with Falco as well. She had befriended the latest member of StarFalco, Krystal.

Krystal was the reason that they were all here. She had convinced herself that she was the cause of this whole mess, but none of that mattered now. She wore almost the same outfit at Katt, except with a black vest that contrasted her luminous blue fur. She rested her snout down on her two paws with her elbows on the table. She lifted a paw to brush some of the hair from her eye, as her blue ear flickered. Her eyes gazed upon the room as her bushy blue tail wrapped up around her own leg in her seat. Her mind and sixth sense drifted from one to another, gathering all their feelings and thoughts. She was a born telepath. She could read thoughts, and sense distress, power, and fear. Lately she had been focusing her powers even more to become mildly telekinetic. It was something limited to her though. She could only imagine what her forefathers could have done, before her home planet was destroyed so many years ago. And before StarFox had taken her in.

Even though she could read everyone's thoughts in the room, and even though she knew what Peppy was about to say, the truth was she was nervous. The little blue vixen cleared her throat. But before she could say anything, Falco piped up.

"I think for us to know what Fox is, we need to know exactly what Slayer is."

Peppy nodded slowly as he rested his head over the table. "That's why we're here." He lifted his elbows from the table and tapped a few buttons next to him. The hologram came to life as what seemed liked hundreds of small flies filled the airspace above the table. They danced in the darkness of the meeting room. The room got twice as bright as the fireflies all compressed down into one. The hologram flashed, and suddenly a video started to play in the air above them. It was like it had been taken from a helmet camera. Long jumps, farther than any warrior could even imagine, and strength beyond comparison as a gloved hand would appear from time to time from below the frame of the screen, to aide in climbing or vaulting over a wall or obstacle. They were running an obstacle course with the strength and speed of a god.

Peppy spoke as the video played. "After the Anglian war… after StarFox disavowed, the Military took the initiative to create a new force. A force that was off the books. Off the record. Candidates were chosen from top ranking soldiers in the Cornerian Army, and from Corneria City Prisons."

"Prisons?" Falco asked.

"Candidates from prisons often didn't have family, and were already dangerous. They had nothing to live for. We had to carefully select them. That's where we found Fox McCloud. Of course, at that point no one knew it was Fox. Everything was kept off book to the public. Even the records we kept are scarce, and most were destroyed along with the surface of Corneria."

"Why though Peppy?" Katt asked. "DNA profiles, hair samples, retinal scans. You could have caught him right away."

"Yes we could have, Katt. Slayer was an off the record program. No paper trail. Project Slayer was an illegal Military program. Mortality rates for Project Slayer were projected to be fifty-percent. They were higher than that."

The video of the obstacle course faded out, and a new one faded in. It was another helmet-cam looking video. This one was different though. A weapon lifted up and starting flashing bright plasma. Heavy metal gloves gripped the weapon, as the soldier ran. Krystal or any of the other members of StarFalco couldn't even see the targets that soldier was locking onto with the sights of the plasma rifle, but just as fast as the rifle fired, men were knocked down. She could hear their cries from the darkness. The Slayer kept pushing forward, easily able to vault up onto single story roofs, and leap down to the other side. The weapon disappeared into the thin air, leaving a waving, and magnifying effect on the air as the Thermal-Optic camouflage was engaged. The Slayer leaped off the roof and down onto the ground landing just behind a soldier. There was an explosion of blood on the screen, when out of thin air a knife appeared in the man's neck while a hand of pure steel was wrapped around the handle, pulling it out. The steel paws, wrapped around the shoulder of the man, and tossed him through the air into the body of another figure that had his weapon raised, knocking them both over. The Slayer swiftly pushed on, like an unstoppable force.

Peppy continued. "A Slayer was designed to be an army of one. And that's what they were. They were issued special weapons, amour, and even aircraft. We made them too powerful. Physical enhancements, bone density increase, muscle enhancements, eye sight increase and neural augmentations to cut reaction time in half. Everything we did was illegal. But it was effective."

"Until you lost control of them." Falco sneered.

The video flashed and the hologram faded, before growing brighter again. Three dimensional blue prints spun in the air, one of a rifle, one of a suit of armour and another of a silver and black fighter, with four wings.

Peppy took a long sigh. "We gave them everything they needed. Weapons. Armour. Shuttles. Training. Since you'll be working hand in hand with the 'Metal Assets'. I'm sure you are aware of most their abilities, and gear. But just in case, Slippy will catch you guys up with their tech."

The toad slowly stood at the edge of the table. "Thanks Peppy." He pointed a hand to the table. "What you see here is old tech. None of this is operational anymore. We can't even locate an F1 Hook Echo. These are the Vortec M1s. Obsolete to the Assets. Each Slayer was issued a Mapaw side arm. One of the most versatile weapons in modern weaponry, this pistol had a forward-grip, and with a few add-ons, could be a full on assault rifle, Light Machine gun, battle rifle and so on. But, The Slayers often found themselves modifying a weapon to their likings and making no changes. For them it was a set and forget thing. Often Slayers had their own combat preference. Assault, sniper, so on… That and their disregard for gear often brought back the Mapaws broken, or with parts missing. It became too expensive to maintain."

Slippy took his paw and slid it across the holo-pad on the table. The holograms shifted. Another suit of armour was displayed. This one was perfect black, with a reflective black visor. This suite was larger. The amour looked thicker, and more modern. The chest was heavily armoured, same with the arms, shoulders, groin, legs, and feet. It made the wearer look like machine; so tall and mighty. The hologram next to the suit was another black object, a squared off rifle. The mounting rail went all the way to muzzle –break on the barrel. The stalk, trigger guard, barrel, optic sights, were all square.

The toad went on. "Their new suits are a Mark II Vortec. You've seen firsthand the capability of these. Nanobots repair the armour during combat. These things are near built to survive re-entry into an atmosphere. They have their own G-diffuser system too. They can take direct weapon fire, without the user being fatally woundened. Their rifle is an ACX Special. It's a full on battle rifle. It fires hardened plasma. Best medium to long range weapon, but if you're a Slayer it doesn't matter. Their side-arms are just a standard issue Blaster. Keep in mind, none of you can use pick up this gear and use it."

Falco huffed. "So if I need their rifle, I can't use it?"

Slippy shrugged. "You could try. An ACX kicks like a bronco though. It's not something you'll be able to easily control. But in a pinch, yeah, you could use it. To you and I, it would be more effective as a sniper rifle. The Vortec is another story. Slayers have physical enchantments that allow them to control the armour better. Without them, it's possible the Vortec could be lethal to the user." He took a long pause. "The Slayers also had special fighters built for them. As far as we know, none of these ships are still operational though. So, let's talk a little bit about their biological makeup."

Krystal watched the hologram fade in the air above the table, and before long another blue lit image came to life. A figure slowly rotated above the table, standing in place. It was the outline of a Lylatian body, not wearing any clothes, yet free of any of the private parts of the male's body. A long bushy tail swung back and forth slowly side to side, looking like a wolf tail, yet the makeup of the body was clearly a tall and broad shouldered Siberian Husky, with a lock of hair covering one of his eyes. It was like he was truly alive. His chest moved in and out with each breath, as he stood in place. An expressionless yet, somehow agitated look crept his expression. He would occasionally shift side to side or spin in place, acting impatient, and crossing his arms over his chest, while his eyes darted around. The hologram acted alive as small text appeared around different places of his body. It labeled his shoulders, legs, eyes, ears, and a few other parts.

Krystal chewed on the inside of her lip a little bit. "What do you mean?"

Slippy pointed at each of the labels on the hologram. "Every Slayers biological makeup was changed during training. They're all genetically altered with things to give them an edge in combat. We'll start with the eyes. Every Slayer has an enhanced amount of rods in their eyes. This increases their scotopic vision greatly. Slayers can see in dark places where you and I cannot. It didn't come without a cost though. This enhancement negatively affected the eye's iris to contract as well as cone development. You may find that a Slayer's eyes are sensitive in extremely high lit areas as well as lack of color depth."

Katt cleared her throat. "So Slayers are colorblind?"

"No. They're not color blind. They can see colors just like you and I, but their world isn't as saturated. They miss out on some color, but they get it back in the dark." The toad took a long pause. "Moving on to the brain. Not much has changed here. The Slayers reaction time to events is cut in half due to some boosters they've received. For example. Average reaction time is two hundred-seventy milliseconds. A Slayer's reaction time is closer to the one-hundred millisecond rate. Which for you means, by the time you realize what is going on, they've already pulled the trigger. Muscle enhancers increase their muscle strength without increasing overall muscle size. They have the strength of a body builder without the muscle profile. It's a Slayer's reaction time and physical strength profile that allow them to operate a Vortec without the suit literally ripping their arm off. Of course this isn't all the modification their body has undergone, but it should give you all an idea of why they act the way they do in situations. You know, since we'll be working so close with them."

The old hare nodded. He took a long pause. "I don't want any of you confusing Fox, with a Lylatian."

"What are you getting at Pep?" Asked the avian.

"Fox did die years ago during re-entry in the atmosphere of Corneria. And maybe we should all feel a little responsible for that. Don't get fooled by this one, 'cause he isn't Fox. A Slayer will play tricks on you. They know how to get what they want. We're still not sure if we can trust him. If the worst is to happen show him no mercy as you will be shown none." The General took a long pause. "I'm not going to lie to you all. Times are looking grim these days. You're all dismissed. We'll meet again tomorrow for preliminary briefing on The Hive. The Metal Assets will be heading the briefing. I know it's going to be tough for you all. Especially you Falco. But you have to listen to them. Apex is the sharpest mind we've got."

Falco huffed out an impatient laugh. "Yeah. Yeah. I got you, Peppy."

X

The sounds of air tools, grinders, and torches filled the air around the raccoon's ears. They flickered and slid back as the rough sounds of the shop got louder. He stood on a cat-walk that hung above the shop, with his arms rested over the railing. He tilted his head back and let out a long exhale, sending a stream of smoke into the air above him from between his lips before his paw lifted again, placing a cigarette back into the corner of his mouth. He took another long drag, and breathed out through his nose. The blue smoke –stench stained his tight black tank-top shirt. His black boots tapped at the railing, knocking the metal with the toe of the boot.

He lifted one arm, and ran his paw back through his short dark hair, until his paw reached the back of his neck, feeling a scar there, in the shape of a small square, dead center between his shoulders. His ringed tail swayed behind him, grazing over the metal trusses. The raccoon's arms were strong. He was built fairly well for his lean size. There was something else though. On his upper arm, at the shoulder was the tattoo of a star. It was a nautical star, which was missing the edges of each arm, making each one look more like a bladed. The Black-Blade star, and the mark of the Slayer.

His eyes watched over the sight before him. Technicians worked below him. All of them were in hazmat suits. There were six techs working at once, while others had a desk with multiple computers set up, but they all worked toward one common goal.

A massive figure was hung from the ceiling from its arms. Heavy winch line supported its metal frame upright. It stood over twice the height of any man who was working on it. The limbs flashed sparks as torches and grinders attempted to cut through the metal of the heavy amour. Atop the armour, between the shoulders was the head of a vixen. Small darts of black dashed beneath her eyes, while her mid-length hair covered one of her closed eyes. There was a respirator over her mouth, strapped around the back of her head, while the face-piece covered her maw. The clear mask sat over her snout, filling with condensation with each of her exhales, and disappearing between them. The long and mutated fangs that protruded from her mouth extended down past her jaw, rubbed against the mask with each breath. There were other wires, and clear tubs connected to her head, and her neck, as this so far was the only parts of her that were exposed. The rest of her body was still covered in thick Aparoidian armour. Plates of silver, purple, orange, blank and blue covered her. Her boots were the size of car tires, while one of her arms had a wide shield attached right to it; the size of a transport truck grill.

Pyro took another long drag of the cig, and closed his eyes, as he shifted his head back, letting a jet of blue smoke stream from his lips into the air above his head. He looked through the thick smoke, observing all the armed guards that patrolled the area. Some were stationed lower, on the floor next to the technicians, but some were on other catwalks and railings above. His brain was honed in to size each one of them up. Their weapons, their position, and even lines of sight all came into play. Of course he knew that he was in no danger of being attacked by any of the patrol men and women, but it was his sharpened combative skill set that automatically analyzed the situation.

"Pyro."

The man's ears perked as he heard his name being called. He was familiar with the voice already. "Krystal." He replied without looking at her. While his muzzle pointed at the ceiling, his eyes watched the technicians at work. His paw curled up into a knuckle. His thumb, flicked the butt of the cigarette over the railing, having complete disregard for where it landed, below. "I figured you'd be in debriefing for quite a while. Especially after what happened."

The raccoon's ears perked as something was laid over his shoulders. It was a black leather jacket. The voice of the vixen grew to a hiss in his ear. "Keep that thing covered!"

The raccoon rolled his eyes. "Everyone knows that a Slayer can be identified by this tattoo. You just wait. Soon it's going to be a part of the culture. Guys will be doing it just to look cool."

"Keep it under wraps around here. You know the deal. You're a Metal Asset now, so forget all the Slayer stuff." Krystal stood near the edge of the railing a few feet away from the raccoon. Her tail flowed idly behind her, hovering just off the metal grating.

Pyro smiled as he shut his eyes. "Ahhh yes. Metal Asset. Just the way of the Army to cover us up. Just to make everyone else think that we're just robots, or AIs. That code name suits me and The Dark One, don't you think? But you don't care about us, right? Especially him. Lucky for you, Syxx can't be killed."

She would be lying if she said that Pyro wasn't getting on her nerves. He had a way of doing that. The way he acted around Syxx was so much different than the way he acted toward her. Krystal let out a long sigh as she changed the subject. "How is she doing?" She asked, but she couldn't tell if she genuinely cared or not, and that worried her. The vixen rested her arms down on the railing as she watched.

Pyro shrugged. "Stable. For now. PET imaging shows her body is intact under all that, and look," He pointed his paw forward. "RAM plating. This isn't just Aparoid armour. That's the plating they used on her old suit! This is a mutated Vortec. It all makes sense. Her speed. Her cunning. Her absolute raw power. You guys were fighting a berserker of a Slayer!"

"All Slayers are berserkers."

He huffed, and shook his head slowly. The raccoon managed to grin. "You guys are lucky Syxx and I were here. She could have ripped this entire base apart."

Krystal snapped back. "We would have bombed it."

Pyro's reply came just as fast. "You and your team would have been in the meat grinder! See that blade?!" He pressed his tongue to backs of his fangs, as his mouth hung open a little bit. He looked at the weapon in awe. "Just imagine how many lives that sword has taken. Nothing but a Slayer could bring another Slayer to complete stop. You lucked out!"

"Why are you being so hostile?!"

Pyro bit on the bottom of his lip and let out a long sigh. "Sorry. Sorry. This is just a lot to handle right now. This whole thing has just got me on edge. One of my best friends is in surgery with plasma cutters and grinding wheels, while we're prepping for an assault on the heart of the Aparoids."

Krystal examined the armour from head to toe. She stared at the face of the red vixen. Krystal tried to enter her mind, but there was nothing there. There was nothing for her to see, read, or feel. The fox's mind was empty. "What's going to happen when she regains consciousness?"

"That all depends. Her mind is still active. Won't really know until her eyes open if she's as sharp as ever or… a grapefruit."

"Why would you put it like that?!"

"Hey, I thought that was a considerate way to put it. I had another word in mind that I could have used."

Krystal's voice trailed off in frustration. "What about Fox?"

"Syxx." Pyro reached into his pocket, and opened a small metal case as he corrected her. He pulled out a small white dart, and placed the brown end of it into his mouth. He tucked the case back into his pocket, and pulled out an old scratched up lighter with the same paw. He flicked the cover open with his thumb, which then rolled the striker over the flint. He spoke with the cig hanging from the corner of his mouth. It threatened to fall out with every word he said, but it never did. "Syxx, is the same place he's been the last two days. Combat Training."

The vixen growled. "Why isn't he here?"

"Because Syxx had to watch her die once already. He's not going to be able to handle that again if she takes a turn for the worse." The raccoon lit his cigarette, and let out a quick puff of blue smoke toward the blue vixen.

Krystal coughed a few times as a cloud of smoke washed over her face. She gave the man a look of disgust. "What happened?"

"When the Cornerian Army sent for us on Sauria, and we mounted our counter offensive, she piloted the ship to drop Syxx off on the Great Fox. She wanted to wave off, but Syxx kept telling her to get him closer. Syxx jumped and made it to your flag-ship, but she couldn't wave off in time. One of your team mates shot her down and by the time we reassembled her ship was just sheet metal. Her transponder was nonresponsive. We were sure she was dead. But I guess she wasn't. The Aparoids took her." Pyro took a long drag from his smoke. The tip flared bright orange. "The point is, Syxx doesn't have the patience for sensitive issues. Let him vent. Let him shoot it out. He'll come back. And as long as she's fine, he will be too. Until then, don't bring it up."

"He would rather do that, than be here?!"

"Look, you might know Fox. That's fine. I know Syxx." He sighed impatiently. "You know what? Why don't you tell me? You're a telepath, right? Tell me what he's thinking right now."

The vixen growled back at him. She knew she couldn't. She had been having a hard time reading Syxx's thoughts. She could detect him. She could sense him. But she couldn't read his mind, not like everyone else's. Krystal's tail flicked with impatience.

Pyro smirked back at her, knowingly. "I know you can read my mind, but I know you can't read his. The reason he isn't here, is because he refuses to believe that she is back, yet. If she makes a full recovery, he should come around."

The vixen raised an eyebrow. "Should?"

"Should." Pyro replied simply.

Krystal took a long sigh as she looked over the railing at the face of the mutated and now sabre-toothed fox. She could feel her heart wrenching. "He loves her." She wasn't sure if she was asking a question or making a statement.

Pyro just let out a shrug, while his paws opened. He struggled to find an answer. "Uhhh, I… uhhh… sure. I don't know."

The vixen didn't like how the answers that she received made her feel a little better. Krystal closed her eyes, hanging her shoulders over the railing a little.

Pyro closed his eyes as he spoke. His head leaned over, as he hunched his back. "I know you don't like it. I know you have history together, but her," He pointed his paw at the red vixen encased in the metal prison of amour. "You need her."

"I haven't seen either of you two get a wink of rest since we got here. Do you even sleep?!"

Pyro smirked as he looked over the workshop. "We don't need the seven to nine hours per night that you do. We're fully charged on three. You won't see us sleep. But, if you have something go tell Syxx, go tell him. Just don't talk to him through me."

They both stood there silently for a long while. Pyro took long drags of the smoke, as the air around them filled with the sounds of power tools. Again, carelessly, the raccoon flicked the butt of the cigarette away onto the workshop floor below. He rolled his eyes and grinned. "Come on 'girly.' Let's go find dark-fox."

"I couldn't imagine you in a room with Falco…"