Chapter Five: The Remnant.
Krystal just stared into the face of her brother. Her heart felt like it was going to burst from her chest. How could this be? She had seen the massive missiles strike the surface of her homeworld. She had seen its surface scoured clean of life and turned into a barren wasteland. She had imagined the horrified screams of her family, friends, neighbors and fellow Cerinians as their lives were snuffed out in the instant the green wave touched them. She had imagined the last moments of her brother's life, valiantly fighting off the soldiers so she could escape and survive the holocaust.
And now, here he was standing before her, alive and unharmed.
Krystal became lightheaded. She nearly collapsed into the fire, but for the timely intervention of her husband. Fox caught her as she fell and put her down on a nearby log. Ja'kan, ever concerned, was instantly at her side.
"Sister, are you alright?" He asked in the Cerinian tongue. Krystal looked up at him, fresh tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Brother?" She said. Ja'kan nodded.
"Yes, it's me sister." He said. "And yes, I am well." Krystal burst into tears and embraced him. Ja'kan returned the gesture with brotherly love. Fox stood by, simply overwhelmed by it all. After what seemed like an eternity, Krystal and Ja'kan let go of each other, and Fox was the first to speak.
"You're Ja'kan." He said. Ja'kan looked up at him.
"Who is this man?" He asked. His tone was one of curiosity, rather than concern or fear. Krystal turned to fox, her eyes sparkling and a wide smile on her face.
"He is my husband." Krystal said. "Fox McCloud of Corneria and leader of the Star Fox team." Ja'kan's expression turned to surprise.
My sister is married to an alien? He thought to himself. Blood and ashes, what is she thinking! Aliens wiped out our people and destroyed our civilization! Aliens killed our… He stopped midway through his thoughts when he noticed the look on his sister's face. It was one of horror and sadness. Indeed, Krystal could scarcely believe what she had heard in his mind. She thought of all people, her own brother would be there to support her. He frowned.
Now look what you've done. He thought. Bloody gul'gana Ja'kan, you're supposed to be against this type of madness! He scolded himself. He then took another look at the vulpine male. He concentrated, and began to sense something. He felt familiar thoughts coursing through the vulpine's mind. Somehow, this alien, or aliens, as he began to see, were no threat to him or his people. Course, seeing as how they rescued his daughter, he should have thought that to begin with.
He extended a hand towards Fox's head. The others reacted defensively to protect their leader, but Krystal stopped them.
"It's alright." She said. "No harm will be done." Miyu still held her blaster tightly.
"How do you know?" Krystal smiled.
"He's reading Fox's mind." She answered. Fox understood. Ja'kan placed his hand on Fox's head, in the manner that a bishop back home on Corneria would when ordaining a new priest. Fox felt a surge of energy course through his head, causing it to tingle. Fox assumed this was the psionic energy probing his thoughts. After a little bit, Ja'kan took his hand away. His face now bore a smile.
"That was weird." Miyu said. The others were silent. Ja'kan continued to smile. He signaled for the others to lower their weapons. He bowed to Fox, which surprised the vulpine.
"I apologize, Fox McCloud, for my suspicion." He said, in perfect Lylat Standard. "My people have suffered much, and it appears that the irrational fear of my leaders has rubbed off on me more than I expected." The others mouths were agape. How did he know their language?
"How did he learn how to speak to us?" Faye asked, amazed. Wolf likewise pondered it.
"He sucked it from my brain." Fox said. And that wasn't too far off. Cerinians had the ability to instantly learn a language from reading a person's mind. Krystal had used the same ability when she first encountered Fox on Sauria, enabling her to communicate with him when she boarded the Great Fox.
"My sister has probably already told you about me." Ja'kan continued. "But if any of you don't know, I am Ja'kan, Son of Kel'mar." He said. Krystal smiled.
"Uh, hi." Faye said. "I'm Faye Spaniel, uh, Daughter of Tommy Spaniel." She said sheepishly, not familiar with such a formal way of naming, but not wanting to offend the Cerinian. Krystal giggled at her sheepishness.
The others introduced themselves in less formal terms, which Ja'kan seemed to understand. These people didn't seem like the formal type to begin with, judging by the clothing they wore and the thoughts that were going through their heads (he even picked up a thought that he made a note to inquire the meaning of; the cat woman identified him as "hot"). The other Cerinians just stood back, apparently waiting for their leader to finish.
Krystal had a difficult time keeping the tears out of her eyes. A flood of happy memories had returned to her mind. She could see herself as a little child, playing games with her older brother. She could see herself standing next to her mother as she cooked their evening meal, singing a traditional song as she did so. She could see herself sitting on her father's lap, listening to him tell her stories of valiant heroes of old defeating evil villains. She could see her brother courting Kelia, beginning his quest to become a warrior, his tapping ceremony, his wedding, all the joyous moments of her life on Cerinia.
She smiled, a smile that only came when the wound of a broken heart, the scars of loss, are healed by healing touch of joy. Fox noticed this smile, and he couldn't help but smile back at her. The moment was just too good to be true. Each moment, Krystal expected to wake up in their tent, the dream ended. It was a few moments before she realized that it all wasn't a dream, and her brother was really alive. The whole realization settled over her like a warm, comforting blanket, so much that she forgot completely why they were there. That is, until her PAD began to beep. She wiped her eyes and fur and picked up her PAD.
"Krys, what's going on down there?" Falco asked. "You guys haven't moved in a while now." Krystal smiled.
"It's ok Falco." She said. "We were just about to head off." As she spoke, her brother came over, curious as to what she was doing. Slippy spotted him.
"Uh, Krys?" He asked. "Who's that guy?" He asked. Krystal was about to answer when Ja'kan interrupted.
"Why is that strange colored bird talking?" He asked. Being a Cerinian, he had never encountered avians before. Falco was visibly miffed.
"Who are you calling strange there twinkle toes!" He shouted. Krystal laughed and told them they would start looking for the Talaron. Falco huffed and closed communications.
"Talaron?" Ja'kan inquired.
"Do you have a place we can go?" Fox asked. "We'll explain everything when we get there." Ja'kan nodded.
"Yes, we have a settlement." He said. "It is a four hour journey from here." He said. Fox nodded. The others were not thrilled with another long hike, but they packed up their tents and gear and got ready.
"Zebac!" Ja'kan called to the other Cerinians. They slung their rifles over their shoulders and signaled for the Lylatians to follow them. Fox leading the way, they did.
---
The Spartan corridor of the utilitarian starship echoed with the sound of heavy footsteps. The sound was coming from the two booted feet of a tall lupine officer. He was dressed in the standard black dress uniform of the old Venomian Army, complete with knee high black boots. His uniform jacket bore the single gold braid of a field army commander, and he listed to port under an array of medals, ribbons and badges. The jacket also bore gold epaulettes. His uniform pants bore red piping down the side of each leg; infantry. His uniform cap was solid black and bore the insignia of the Venomian Army; an armored fist clutching a sword emblazoned on a shield with cross rifles behind it.
The officer bore five arrow points like insignia on a gold circle background pinned to his collar: the insignia of a Venomian field marshal. On his hip he bore an officers scimitar embossed with his name upon the gold hilt.
FIELD MARSHAL TIMOTHY MATTICK, COMMANDING OFFICER THIRD IMPERIAL ARMY
Field Marshal Mattick was a career soldier in the Venomian Army, having started out as a lowly private in the 345th Infantry Regiment during the waning days of the first democratic government of Venom. He became seduced by the preaching of the fascist exiles from Corneria, railing against the weak government and the men who lead it. He was instrumental in the rebellion which eventually brought Andross and his fascists into power and began the massive military buildup in preparation for the Lylat War. For his part, Mattick was given an officers commission in the new army and was given command of the 345th Regiment (though he wasn't promoted to Colonel until the beginning of the war), which was assigned into space to cooperate with the fleet to conquer new systems.
Later in his career, Mattick led his regiment in operations during the Katina campaign. His regiment was one of the Venomian regiments that charged up the Jovan Heights during the battle that made the Lylatian Iron Brigade famous. The 345th nearly broke the center of the line, held by the Lylatian 278th and 39th Infantry Regiments, before the reserves charged in to drive them back. Although the Venomians failed to take the heights and capture Katina's capital, several of the regimental commanders were promoted, and Mattick was among them, being given the rank of brigadier general and given command of the entire brigade, which took part in the defense of Venom. Now, he had promoted himself to command of the entire army, bypassing division and corps command along the way.
The Venomian insurgent forces were on the ropes throughout the outer rim, despite what the Lylatians suspected. Lylatian interdiction of their supply convoys, the information generously supplied by "informants", had rendered many of their units immobile and unable to be utilized. Many sectors were reporting mass desertion and starvation which more than halved their units. In addition, many of the leftover officers were either corrupt or incompetent, and the men refused to serve under them, leading to mass execution which further decimated the ranks. Units were being harassed by pro-Lylat partisans in the outer rim who destroyed supply bases and other important elements.
It was enough to make a commander pull his hair out, Mattick said to himself.
He smiled, despite that thought. Things had begun to look up for them recently. Earlier that month, Mattick was able to covertly insert spies into the military of Venom's provisional government, which had been in place since the end of the war, working to repair the damage wrought by Andross' fascist government. The spies managed to steal some information from the old Venomian databanks, which help all of the former government's darkest secrets, and found something that made Mattick smile with malicious glee.
The spies had uncovered the location of a hidden cache of deadly Talaron, Andross' deadliest secret weapon.
During the final days of the war, while Lylatian forces were closing their noose around the Venomian capital of Kurehn, Field Marshal Markus Schatzinger, Supreme Commander of Venomian Forces, arranged for SSB agents to smuggle several hundred containers of the weapon away from Venom and conceal them on a remote planet. He had the location concealed and intended to flee Venom with the information, along with the rest of the officers who would make up the core of the insurgency. A laser bolt from some Lylatian soldier put an end to those plans. Mattick cursed him. Schatzinger was never the kind of leader anyone could rally around. He was abrasive, cruel, and tended to keep order by mass executing men. Not the best way to get the soldiers to like you.
But it didn't matter now. The location of the weapon had been found, and now it was time to seize it before the blasted Lylatians could find it and destroy it.
Mattick rapped a control panel with his Marshal's baton, which opened the hatch to the ship's equally Spartan bridge. Not upholstery, nothing. Just solid gray metal adorning every part of the bridge. There were no seats at the consoles; the crew was forced to stand at their posts, even in battle. Countless Venomian Navy personnel were killed as a result of head injuries sustained during intense combat. Right now, the ship was on course for the planet identified as the hiding spot for the Talaron cache, the colorful realm of hyperspace surrounding the ship like a blanket.
"Carlton." Mattick said to the man standing at the helm. The helmsman turned around and stood at attention. "How much longer until we arrive?" He asked.
"Four more hours, Marshal Sir, then we'll be able to deploy the rest of your army." He said. Mattick smiled.
"Alert the men." He said. "Tell them to be ready to deploy in four hours." He said. Another officer approached him.
"Will all four of our remaining corps be ready to deploy by then?" He asked.
"If not," Mattick said, "we'll just have to make sure they comply next time. I've got a few ways to… motivate them." He said. The officer shuddered, knowing what they meant.
"Lieutenant Carlton." He said. "You heard the Marshal." Carlton saluted and went off to inform the corps commanders.
Mattick grinned evilly. Not much longer now, and they would have their hands on the key to the rebirth of the great Venomian Empire. If only the Emperor were still alive to see them.
---
Ja'kan grunted as he chopped aside some particularly tough jungle plants with one of his swords. The others followed him through the path he had cut ahead of them. The Cerinians threw the larger pieces of vegetation aside to further clear the path. Ja'kan would pause every now and then and close his eyes, as though he were meditating, and then would continue along the path, sometimes adjusting his direction.
"What is he doing?" Faye asked. Krystal turned to her.
"Hmm?" She said.
"Your brother," she said, "he keeps stopping and doing something, like he's thinking about something." Krystal smiled.
"It's a trick my people developed." She said. "We have large crystals that react to our psionic energy, and amplify signals. We use them as beacons to help people find their way back and around." Faye was mystified, but she nodded. Fox smiled and followed Ja'kan as he continued to hack through the jungle.
"Ah ha, found it." He said, as they came upon a path that had been previously cut. Fox assumed that Ja'kan had cut it when they were looking for his daughter. "We are almost there, another couple of hours and we will be at our settlement." He said.
"Thank goodness." Faye said. Ja'kan chuckled as he wiped the plant juices off the blade of his sword
---
"General Sir." A raccoon private said, approaching Caruso. Caruso looked up from his breakfast.
"Yes private?" He asked.
"Sorry to interrupt sir, but there's a message waiting for you." He said. "It's from the high command." Caruso's expression turned to surprise.
"What would the high command want?" He wondered. He got up and followed the private to the brigade's communications tent. He pulled the canvas flap aside and sat down on the communications terminal. Sure enough, there was a message waiting for him from General Casey himself. "Casey himself? Must be hella important." He pressed the receive button on the control panel, and a link was opened to the General's office. Casey's visage materialized from the holoprojector.
"Good day General Caruso." Casey greeted.
"Likewise sir." Caruso said. "We have new orders?" He asked
"Straight to the point, as always," Casey said, "much like my old commander. Yes, I do have orders for you." Caruso nodded. "I'm ordering you to ready your entire brigade for immediate deployment."
"What the hell?" Caruso asked. "What's going on?"
"I'm not at liberty to discuss it right now." Casey said. "But I will say this, something is brewing in Sector P, and your men are the closest to area." Caruso didn't have a good feeling having heard that. He didn't like the idea of the high command giving him vague orders. No point in arguing though; once Casey had made up his mind about something and ordered it, it was to be carried out with no objections.
"Yes sir, understood." Caruso said. "I'll have the brigade ready to move out on the double." Casey nodded before cutting the com link. Caruso got up and went to have the bugler sound the assembly.
At the sound of the assembly, 4,500 men all assembled in the middle of the camp. General Caruso stood before them to relay the orders.
"Alright men, we've got new orders, straight from the top. There was murmuring amongst the assembled soldiers. "We're to be ready to move out at a moment's notice. The entire brigade is now on alert level yellow."
"Are the insurgents causing more trouble?" A soldier asked.
"Command wasn't specific." He said. "But if they're ordering us to be ready, we can bet they're on to something big. I want your gear packed and ready. Not wasting time." He said. The soldiers all saluted and were dismissed.
---
"We have arrived." Ja'kan said. The team was wiping the moisture that had collected on their fur and clothes off. One of the downsides to the jungle, the moisture and humidity got everywhere. "Welcome to our settlement." Ja'kan said.
"It looks like caves." Fox said. Ja'kan whistled, and almost immediately, a host of other Cerinians emerged from the caves. One caught Krystal's attention. She was wearing a lovely white dress, and sported wave pattern markings on her arms, as opposed to Krystal's and Jakan's. She also wore a ruby pendant, and a lovely earring bearing Ja'kan's family mark. It was Kelia, her sister in law.
Kelia ran forward and embraced her husband and daughter. There were tears flowing down her face. She had obviously been worried sick about her missing daughter, saying something in Cerinian. Ja'kan then whispered something into her ear, and held his hand on her head as he had done with Fox, transferring his thoughts to her. When her eyes had opened, she turned to see her long lost sister in law.
"Krystal." She said. Krystal smiled and nodded. "This, is your husband?" Kelia asked.
"Yes, he is." She said. She then said something in Cerinian that made Kelia giggle. Fox smirked. Ja'kan explained to the others what had happened. There were murmurs of suspicion, but everyone seemed to accept what they had been told. Ja'kan then gestured for everyone to follow him inside the cave. Fox looked to the rest of the team.
"I don't like the idea of anymore caves." Miyu said. But, they all followed their leader into the cave after the Cerinians.
The Cerinians of the remnant.
---
Fox whistled when he saw what the Cerinians had been able to build in the days since they fled their shattered homeworld. They had turned the massive cave complex into a thriving city, complete with everything that a civilization would need. There were places of healing for the sick and injured, libraries which preserved every piece of written knowledge that they had salvaged shrines and temples for worship, and schools to teach the next generation. There were shops and other places of commerce, places of recreation to ease the monotony of life, storage areas for the food produced by the above ground farms, and a large building decked out in ornate carvings and a great dome supported by columns, which Ja'kan indentified as the place where their leaders met. Light was provided by both fire and energy crystals that hung from the ceiling and bathed the cave in a gently light.
The rest of the team was equally in awe, especially Krystal. The thing that amazed her most was the number of apparent survivors. She looked out across the underground city and saw it rippling with a sea of blue vulpines. There had to be thousands of them down there.
"Brother, how many of you have survived?" She asked.
"Just over seven hundred thousand of us made it off the planet." He said. "In the years that followed, our numbers have grown to almost a million." Krystal smiled. It seemed so incredible that not only did some people survive the holocaust, but that hundreds of thousands had, and they had managed to rebuild the civilization that had been destroyed in this cave on this tiny and isolated planet, so far from home.
Ja'kan led them into the area of the cave that had been converted into residential space. Numerous quaint stone houses had been constructed for the families that lived in this area, and several warm lights glowed within them, almost beckoning the tired Lylatians to knock and ask for shelter.
"My family lives here." Ja'kan said, pointing to a house at the end of the block they were on. "We don't have much in the way of refreshment, but we will manage." He said.
"Thank you." Fox said. Ja'kan's home was larger than the others, and was carved with more elaborate decorations indicating his status as a warrior. They entered the home, which was cozy and warm, with a fire blazing in a nearby fireplace. The furniture was simple, a display of Ja'kan's notorious modesty. The chairs and bed were made of local wood, and were set with blue cushions and white blankets on the bed. Traditional Cerinian artworks, religious scenes as well as pictures of his family, decorated the walls. Ja'kan's spare swords and well made armor were set on the wall. Some local flowering plants were planted in unusually shaped pots at various points. The team was set at ease by the surroundings. Ja'kan had them all sit down on the chairs while Kelia poured drinks and served them.
"You mentioned something about Talaron back in the clearing." Ja'kan said. Krystal smiled. Straight to the point, as always, was he.
"Yes." Fox said. "First, I should tell you about the Venomians."
"The beasts who murdered my people," Ja'kan said, "the butchers in black who dropped those horrible weapons on us. Yes, we are familiar with them. What exactly do they have to do with this Talaron?" He asked. He must not have read everything in Fox's mind.
"Talaron is a weapon developed by the Venomians to fight my own people." Fox said. "It's a radiological energy weapon that gets its power from other energy sources. Explosions are particularly effective in doing this." Ja'kan winced.
"Would this weapon happen to be green in color?" He asked. Fox nodded. Ja'kan sighed. "Now I know what hit us." He said.
"We have reason to believe that a secret cache of it hidden on this planet." Wolf said. "Over the past few weeks, our intelligence agencies have been picking up signs of increased Venomian insurgent activity in this sector."
"If fact," Fox said, "our military sent a ship to help investigate a strange signal that was coming from this planet, and it was attacked by Venomian attack ships."
"Strange signal?" Ja'kan asked. "What sort of signal."
"A really bizarre one; intel says it resembled a brainwave." Miyu replied. Ja'kan thought for a moment.
A brainwave eh? He thought to himself. I wonder…
"Where was this signal detected?" Ja'kan said. Fox showed Ja'kan the coordinates. Ja'kan realized just then what they were talking about. "Ah, the temple, that's what you detected." He said.
"Temple?" They asked. Krystal, Ja'kan and Fox, who knew about it, all laughed.
"Shall I tell them?" Ja'kan said. The others nodded. "You see, one of our young warrior initiates was undergoing his koshmekara." The others dropped their jaws.
"A ceremony were a warrior must find his way home in six days." Fox said. He also explained that the initiate was led home by a psionic signal projected by the local clergy and magnified by a large temple crystal. It all made sense now.
"I assume your leaders afterward sent you when this ship was attacked." Ja'kan said. "And that you believe that the increased presence of these Venomians around this planet means they think it's here."
"We also have this." Fox said, showing him the document that Wolf had shown him. Ja'kan was stunned.
"By the gods," he said, "if they discover us here, they'll kill us all." He said. "And then, Cerinia's last sons will cease to exist." Fox nodded. The Venomians had no qualms about killing the majority of them off, what's the say they would they wouldn't try again?
"We can help you." Fox said. "We've fought the Venomians before, and for all we know, we have a head start on them." He explained. Krystal and the others nodded.
"No fascist punks are going to take anyone out while I have a clear shot at them." Faye said. Miyu just smiled and nodded.
"These guys have hurt to many innocent people, including my own family." Wolf said. "I'm not about to let them do that here, again." He said. "I won't be able to live with myself otherwise." Ja'kan began to smile.
"I'll have to speak to the ruling council." He said, speaking of the government that had been set up with the death of the entire royal family. "But I'm sure they'll be able to understand." He said. The others agreed. "In the meantime, there's a feast scheduled to celebrate our newest warrior's accomplishment. Would you accompany me?" He asked.
"We'd be glad to." Fox said. The others smirked, being hungry and anxious for a good meal.
---
The smells that invaded their nostrils made their mouths overflow like a burst dam. The food smelled absolutely incredible. The farmers who labored in secret above ground had provided an abundance of tasty food for the preparation of the dishes.
The most prominently featured menu items were fish dishes, and Krystal immediately recognized some of them. They had peshtri, a tasty dish made from filets of a flounder like fish cooked in spices and served with slices made from a tasty melon like fruit; castan, tasty spiced fish strips cut from a type of Cerinian catfish and topped with shredded kitat roots and nuts; troshtrat, which was a soup made with a clam like creature and cooked in a creamy yellow broth made from a vegetable similar to squash; and her absolute favorite, koshran ku, a dish made from the steaks of a tuna-like fish, marinated in a Cerinian berry wine and topped with a tangy sauce.
Krystal smiled. She soon felt famished and couldn't wait to eat. But first, a prayer had to be said to bless the meal and the people that provided it for them. This being a public gathering, the prayer was given by the priest of the temple, and was dedicated to the Cerinian god of grain and the goddess of plenty, Kemat and Jutalia, respectively. The priest, dressed in traditional Cerinian religious wear consisting of a flowing robe, white cincher and purple sash across the right shoulder decorated with gold religious symbols, stood up and blessed the feasters before beginning his prayer.
"Ki zet faron es sutras." He said. "Kemat ek Jutalia, hasas ui ek zet zafras je kutuk ga ui. He na gurante ui tuyat et oforantat. Ki zet faron es sutras." The congretation replied. The prayer, in Standard, read "In the name of the gods. Kemat and Jutalia, bless us and the food that sits before us. May it give us health and nourishment." Short and simple and to the point.
Fox, suddenly ravenous, helped himself to a little bit of everything, and sat down next to his wife to eat. He didn't seem to notice, or care, that some folks in very official looking robes were looking at him with suspicion in their eyes. Ja'kan did notice them, however, and he gave them a hard glare, as though warning them to cease their staring. The men obliged and turned away, returning their concentration to their food and to the conversation they were having with the priest. Ja'kan frowned. Apparently, convincing the ruling council that the Lylatians were no threat and intended to help them was going to take more work than he had anticipated.
Fox and Krystal ate their food and snuck the occasional kiss and nuzzle. They did this at almost every official function, and though it drove Peppy absolutely batty, they enjoyed each other's company as much as possible. The Cerinians, despite that odd coupling they saw, smiled at the sight of them. They realized that the two were obviously in love, and they could apparently sense that Fox was as good a man as any Cerinian male.
Fox felt something tap his arm. He looked down to see little Tala looking at him. He smiled at her, the niece he never knew he had.
"Hello." She said mentally. Fox smiled.
"Hi." He said back.
"Papa says he senses you're a hero." She said. "Is that true?" Fox pat her head.
"Well, I don't like to blow my own horn." He replied. "I have done my fair share of heroics though." She seemed confused by his expression.
"I don't see a horn." She said. Fox chuckled.
"It's just an expression from my planet." He said. "It means I don't like to brag." She seemed to understand. They conversed mentally like this for a couple of minutes, Fox telling her all about Lylat and Corneria. She smiled, and so did Fox. He was enjoying talking to a long lost family member.
The tapping of a table indicated that someone was about to make a speech. Fox turned his attention to a man in official looking robes, who he presumed to be a community leader, standing with a glass of Cerinian wine in his hands. He said something in Cerinian, and the rest of the celebrants raised their glasses. Fox did likewise, realizing it was a toast to someone, probably the new young warrior. Fox took a drink of his sweet wine.
"Good stuff." He said. Krystal smiled. Ja'kan then stood up.
"If I may humble myself, I would also like to propose a toast." He said. Fox and the others turned to him. "To our humble guests, Fox McCloud and my beloved sister Krystal… McCloud." He said with a mischievious grin. Fox and Krystal couldn't help but smile back.
"Hey!" Faye said. They turned to look at her. She was grinning, as were Wolf and Miyu.
"Oh yes." Ja'kan said. "And they're friends and team mates." He said. The others offered their toast. Fox grinned, Krystal said "thank you" in Cerinian to everyone sitting next to them. The officials, however, did not toast them. They both glared at Ja'kan, as though he had broken some sort of social taboo. Ja'kan glared back and mouthed something to them, which some who saw him thought was a swear word.
Ja'kan frowned. He knew that these men were the force behind the anti-alien, isolationist sentiment that was currently infecting the council. Convincing the council was going to be much harder than he had thought.
---
Later that evening, following the feast, Fox was sitting on small cliff outside the underground lair of the Cerinian Remnant. His face was plain, and his eyes betrayed a sense of deep concentration, reflecting of the state of deep thought he was in. His chin was resting on his hands, in the classic pose of pondering.
Their mission had just gotten much more complicated. They were supposed to find a hidden cache of weapons and destroy it to keep the Venomians from getting it. Now, they had uncovered the last remnants of a once great civilization, one that the Venomians had tried to destroy a long time ago. One that managed to survive and now eke out a life here on the planet, he thought with a smile.
Fox's smile then turned to a frown. He harbored no doubts in his mind that the Venomians would try again. That was the way they were; if a person or group of people didn't match their definition of purity, they were simply eliminated, all part of their psychotic quest to purge society of "undesirable elements". They no longer were simply looking for a weapon; they were fighting to protect the last vestiges of a proud people. It was a lot of responsibility for a man to take on, even one like Fox McCloud, who was used to having the weight of responsibility thrust upon his shoulders.
"Fox," Ja'kan's accented voice sounded behind him, "may I join you?" He asked. Fox nodded.
"Pop a squat." He said. Ja'kan assumed he told him to sit down and did so.
"I can tell something is on your mind." Ja'kan said. Fox chuckled.
"Is it that easy?" He asked. Ja'kan smiled.
"You're mind is like a dam built by the village idiot." He said. "It looks sound, but in reality is bursting with leaks." Fox rolled his eyes. "I sense trouble in your mind."
"My mission was to look for hidden Talaron." Fox said. "Now I have to protect you guys." Ja'kan looked at him. "I know it sounds weird."
"You feel obligated due your marriage to my sister." He said. Fox nodded.
"Partially, but I also feel so because of my war experience." He said. "You probably already know this from picking my brain, but I was a mercenary during the Lylat War." He said.
"The great conflict between your home system and Venomian Empire," Ja'kan said, "yes, I am familiar with it."
"I usually don't give stock to rumors," Fox said, "but I heard horrible things about the Venomians and they're treatment of the 'impure'." He said the word "impure" with finger quotes. "I've heard rumors of mass executions, illegal experiments, and all sorts of other horrors." He said. "And then I heard about the Cerinian Genocide. I kept thinking, that the Venomians would have no qualms about trying it again." He got a determined look on his face. "And I can't let that happen again, not if I want to live with myself." He said. Ja'kan put a hand on his shoulder.
"I understand, and I assure you, my people sense that as well and are most grateful for it." He said. "I also sense something else, something about someone close to you." He said. Fox shook his head, a smile on his muzzle. He really couldn't hide anything from this guy.
"It's my own father." He said. Ja'kan listened with rapt attention. "He was a mercenary like me. He could be tough as nails, but he was one of the kindest souls you could ever meet."
"You must have held him in very high regard." Ja'kan said. Fox nodded.
"He was my idol, my hero really." Fox said. "He was the source of everything I believed in, and represented everything that I wanted to be." He smiled. "Besides that, he was just a really cool guy and probably the best father you could ask for."
"He sounds a great deal like my own father." Ja'kan said. "You say 'was'. What happened to him?"
"A while ago, when I was just a kid, the High Command asked him to fly out to Venom. They had been getting odd readings from the surface and wanted him to check it out." Fox said. "They discovered not only had the planet become heavily industrialized, but that Andross had taken over and was building and army to attack Lylat. To make a long story short, they had to gather their intel and get the hell out of there pretty quickly."
"But something prevented your father from escaping." Ja'kan said.
"They were trying to escape some of Andross' fighters, when one of his wingman, Pigma Dengar, began firing at them." He said, recounting the story that Peppy had told him. "It was a pretty intense dogfight, and from what Peppy Hare told me, they were at a loss to explain where his sudden skill came from."
"I think I can guess what happened next." Ja'kan said. "This Pigma managed to best your father and kill him." He said. Fox nodded.
"I took me a long time to move on." He said. "By Heaven's grace, I did, and went on to become what I am today." He said. He smiled with love. He missed his father, but he knew that if he could see the man he had become today, he would be proud, a sentiment Ja'kan agreed with.
"You really think so?" Fox asked. Ja'kan nodded.
"Fox, we have not know each other for very long," he said, "but, it is an honor to have you as part of my family." He smiled. Fox did as well.
"Likewise." He said. "Krystal has told me all about you." Ja'kan just smiled.
"I suggest we get some sleep." He said. "But before we do, there is something that must be done." Fox was confused. Ja'kan summoned him up and then took him deep into a grove of trees, were what appeared to be a small shrine consisting of a pedestal with a stone bowl on the top sat in the middle of a clearing, lit by the light of the full moon which hovered around the planet. Ja'kan went up to the pedestal, poured some liquid into it from a small vessel on the pedestal, and then took an object from his pocket and placed it in the bowl. He then beckoned Fox to approach. He did so, confused and a little bit apprehensive. He became even more so when Ja'kan withdrew his dagger from its sheath. To Fox's astonishment, Ja'kan held his free hand over the bowl and began to cut his hand, allowing the blood to mix with the liquid in the bowl and reciting the Oath of Brotherhood in Cerinian.
"Il Ja'kan, metko jo ketchurai sutak ze feras te huitanamatarak kaz mil lan Fox McCloud, bestu ze morat." He then handed the dagger to Fox, who despite his apprehension, cut his own hand and mixed his blood into the bowl, reciting the same oath. Ja'kan then took a burning ember from a nearby torch and dropped it into the bowl, igniting the liquid. It burned off quickly, and he extracted a gold pin in the shape of Krystal's hip tattoo design. Ja'kan then pinned it to Fox's vest.
"Welcome to the House of Kel'mar Fox McCloud, son of James McCloud." He said. Fox now understood what this was all about, and felt very good about it. He bandaged their cuts, smiling.
"Thanks." He said.
"Now," Ja'kan said, "to convince the ruling council to help us and you." He said. "I only pray that we are not too late."
Shortest chapter in the entire story, I bet. I promise, the next one will be longer to make up for it. And it will be up sooner than this one was, definitely.
As usual, please read and review.