Starfox Evil

Chapter Eight: Hit'em Hard!

Up on the Great Fox…

Slippy and Samantha were pacing nervously. Suddenly Fox's voice came over the COM, "Slippy! We need extraction now! Multiple casualties!"

Slippy slapped the command node for the holo-screen but nothing popped up, "Fox what's going on? Why can't I see you?"

Fox's voice came back, "My helmet was scrapped. Slippy. Extraction?!"

The amphibian slapped his forehead, "Right, right. Uh…Lemming just got back with Falco and Trident . He can be down there in ten minutes."

Suddenly the sound of repeated automatic weapons fire was heard, "Dammit here they come", Fox shouted, "Slippy we don't have ten fucking minutes! Ahh ahhhhh!"

Then the link cut out, "Fox? Fox!"

The frog activated the inter com and shouted, "Falco! Trident! Gear up you're going back down now! Lemming! Get your ass moving! They're dieing down there!"

Slippy deactivated the COM and flopped down in Fox's captain's chair, nervously rubbing his hands together. He looked at Samantha, "I hope we're not too late."

Down on the surface…

Fox shouted into his mike, "Slippy we don't have ten fucking minutes", then suddenly a zombie jumped down on top of him from the rocks above them, "Ahh ahhhh!"

The thing tried to bite him but he tucked and rolled onto his back, using the momentum from the short fall to rollback over onto his feet. Then he stomped his boot down on it's face and put it down for good. He reached up to reopen the COM-link but his earpiece was gone. Fox swore and flipped his shotgun up. He set the stock in his shoulder and fired at one of the infected that had managed to sneak up on Corporal Mayson. The double ought buck sprayed out, blowing messy holes in the zombie and spattering the rock behind it with decaying flesh. While it didn't kill the zombie, it did stun it long enough for the other armored fox to yank out his Glock and put a bullet in it's head.

Mayson returned to his task coolly. Fox smirked and shouted, "We must hold this position until Lemming get's here! I need four men on me for sniper duty!"

After the marines, Patricia, Joanna, and Alena, along with a leopard male named John, had run to his side Fox shouted, "Follow me and watch out above us, these buggers are learning to climb."

Then the five of them tore off around the pile of rocks that used to be tunnel mouth. As soon as they had peaked the jumble of stones Fox spun around and set his shotgun on the rocks beside him. He pulled the rifle from his back and wracked a round into the chamber. Setting the bipod on a reasonably flat rock he looked through the high powered scope. The other marines did the same, sighting down their carbines. Fox set his sights on a target and fired. The large amounts of adrenaline pumping through his system caused his already fast reflexes to kick into overdrive. Because of this he just barely catch the sight of the air rapidly moving away from the boxed end of the barrel just before the bullet came tearing out with a roar. At the same moment the rifle kicked back with such force that it rocked his shoulder back. His old LR-7 never did that.

As he watched the undead's head and shoulders disappear in a splattering of red goop Fox laughed, "HOT DAMN! I love this thing already!"

The marines around him had removed their own helmets so they could see down their scopes properly, and they peppered the swarm of targets with 5.56mm rounds, causing heads to explode and bodies to drop by the dozen. Fox took his eyes from the scope for a second to look at the battlefield. Up close the undead were the simple amblers, they were slow and unsteady on their feet. But out in the distance Fox saw something moving faster. Fox looked through his scope and saw something that looked vaguely like a feral dog, with a ridiculously long tongue thrashing around in the air as it ran. Following that were a number of the blue suited sprinters that he had encountered on the Angel, "Crap! Things just got more complicated."

Fox got the others attention and said, "High priority targets are approaching at one o'clock", he pointed at the fast approaching dots, "I'm going to eliminate as many as I can but you have to start picking them off at my mark."

"Aye."

"Yes sir."

"Understood."

"Acknowledged."

Fox turned back to the targets and sighted on the nearest one. Correcting for distance he took a breath, then squeezed the trigger. The bullet launched from the gun and hit the four legged beast in the chest, blowing it apart. But Fox didn't see that, he had already shifted targets. After firing his remaining rounds he ejected the magazine and grabbed another. As soon as he slammed it home he pulled back on the charging hammer and sighted on another target. Suddenly he heard a shuffling from behind them and he spun around, grabbing the M3 in one hand and blew an undead in half with it. He pumped the slide and put another round in it's head.

However another zombie had come up and fell on top of John. The cheetah screamed as it bit through the fabric neck of his BPF, "Oh Gods! Get it off me!!"

Fox fired another round and took out the zombie. But he looked at Johnson and saw the blood spreading over his armor, "I'm sorry", Fox said.

John just nodded, "I understand Sir."

Fox closed his eyes and pulled the trigger, saving the leopard from a fate worse than death.

He grabbed his tags and turned back to his rifle, his face a sheet of ice. After adjusting for distance and time lost with the close encounter, he fired, hitting a sprinter in the throat and destroying it's upper body. Then they were nearing the cluster of rocks that the marines were defending.

Fox's eyes never left the scope as he sighted on another target, "Alright they should be entering your range of fire in three", he squeezed off another shot, "two, one. Mark!"

The marines shifted their aim and started firing single shots on the running targets. Fox looked over the edge and shouted, "HEADS UP MARINES! HIGH RISK TARGETS! ONE O'CLOCK!"

He didn't wait for a confirmation before looking down the scope and nailing another target. Then they were too close and the fifty caliber rifle lost a lot of it's usefulness. So Fox slung the rifle, "Keep it up marines. Jackson", Fox said pointing at the tigress, "Watch their backs."

"Yes Captain", she said as she rolled over and stood up, looking out for any more undead that might be sneaking up on them.

Fox scrambled down the mountainside and ran over to Mayson's side, "Corporal give me your earpiece."

The corporal snagged the device from his belt and tossed it to Fox, who fitted it to his ear, "Slippy I need that extraction now!"

Suddenly out of the rocks stepped one of the sprinters, and in his hand was the handle of an axe. Problem was, the blade was still attached. Fox flipped up his shotgun but he wasn't fast enough. The zombie swung the weapon in a viscous upward swing that struck right between the plate of armor surrounding Mayson's forearm and the back of his armored hand. The rusty blade cleaved his right hand clean off. The corporal roared in pain and dropped his launcher as blood sprayed from the stump.

Fox pulled the trigger and blew the zombie away. Then he clamped the weapon and pulled a first aid kit from his belt. Flipping it open he grabbed a packet of charcoal and tore it open. Pouring some into his palm he grabbed the bleeding stump of arm and rubbed the black powder into the wound, stopping the bleeding. Then he grabbed a small box of matches from the box and struck one.

He gave the corporal a dubious look before touching the flame to the black powder, lighting it up and cauterizing the wound, making the male scream in agony. Then he handed Mayson his severed limb and drug him out into the center of the circle, where Doc, Geek, Krystal, Buckinson and the two human soldiers were. As soon as the medics took the injured male Fox keyed open an all frequency COM link, "Be warned", he said, "Some of these bastards are armed, blunt and bladed weapons from the look of it. These are priority targets."

He got a round of Ayes and Yessirs before he killed that link and opened one to Slippy, "Gods dammit Slip! Get me that damn ship! I don't care if you have to fly it yourself! Just get it the fuck down here now!!"

Slippy's voice came back, "Fox, ETA is less than thirty seconds!"

Suddenly there was a massive rush of air as the drop-ship flew by over them. Lemming's voice came over the COM, "Sorry I'm late folks. Listen, I can't land there. But I've spotted a cliff about a hundred feet above you. If you can get on top of that then I can pick you up."

Fox turned and looked up the mountain, quickly spotting the precipice, "Affirmative. On our way. Be ready when we get there."

Fox reopened the team COM, "Time to leave boys an girls, we gotta move up the mountain", he looked at the humans, "You two get Buckinson", Fox knelt next to Krystal and picked her up again. The marines made it up the mountainside fairly easily, though a couple of times they had to pass the wounded up to someone due to a steep spot. Alice was the first one to reach the cliff and she watched the drop-ship settle down, it's rear doors wide open to accept it's cargo.

Waiting in the open doors were Falco and Trident, who jumped when they saw Alice. Falco tried to raise his blaster but the woman grabbed it and ripped it from his hands, "I'm not a zombie bird boy", she handed the weapon back to him and turned around shouting, "Come on!"

Alice looked up the mountain and saw a lot of undead scrambling down the hillside. She drew her pistols and started firing at them. At that range her chance of hitting a target was low, but she tried anyway. When the other humans came scrambling up the hill they tried to run straight into the hovering craft but Falco and Trident stopped them. Falco looked at their belts and saw they still had their side-arms, "You've got guns. Cover the others!"

The two humans drew their pistols and obeyed without thought, turning around and firing at any target they saw. As the marines came scrambling up onto the rock face they went straight into the back of the ship, sitting down and locking themselves into their seats. When the last ones came aboard carrying the wounded they first strapped them into the beds before taking their own seats.

Falco counted heads and said, "Wait. Where are Fox and Krystal?"

He turned back just as Fox came up onto the flat stone, bearing Krystal in his arms. Fox ran into the troop bay and strapped Krystal into a bed and shouted, "Michael! Take off!"

He turned back to the open doors just as several sprinters jumped up onto the cliff top. Fox, Falco, and Trident all fired at them, sending both bolts and bullets tearing through the air. Several of them dropped as the craft started to lift off, but one jumped and grabbed the edge of the door. Fox walked over to the edge and stared into the zombie's black eyes.

"Get - off", he growled as he aimed his shotgun at the creatures face and squeezed the trigger, sending his last round into his target and blowing it's head apart. The body fell several hundred feet to the ground below as the doors hissed shut.

Fox sighed and walked over to Krystal's side, kneeling down and taking her hand. He said, "I'm so sorry Krystal."

One of the humans leaned over and whispered to Sergeant McClain, "What the hell? People get hurt in combat all the time."

McClain turned towards the human and growled, "That's his girlfriend you idiot. Of course he's going to be more upset if she gets hurt."

The human shut up and leaned back into his own seat.

After ten minutes there was a metallic clank and the marines all stood up. The humans just sat in their seats. When the doors opened the marines all filed out. Alena and Patricia hugged and laughed, "We're free", the feline said as they spun around.

McClain scooped Buckinson up again and the whitetail deer said, "God I hope this security footage doesn't get out. I'll never hear the end of this."

McClain chuckled, "Yeah right. You should be proud. It's not often I sweep someone off their feet."

Mayson picked up his hand and walked out of the ship. Fox waited until Doc and Geek came in to get Krystal before he stood up. As the two medics carried her out on a stretcher he turned to the humans, who were waiting in their seats. Fox walked up to them, "Okay introduction time. I'm Captain Fox McCloud", he pointed at himself, "And this is Alice. Now who are you?"

The thinner one raised his hand, "I'm Danial Fields."

The other looked at Fox, "I'm Chris Peterson", he looked over at Alice, "Not to be rude but your name is Alice. As in Project Alice?"

The human woman nodded and Chris rubbed his forehead, "Doctor Isaacs made us try so hard to get you and here you are not three feet away from us."

Alice shifted so her hand rested on one of her pistols.

"You don't have to worry about us", Danial said, "We're done with Umbrella. If you guys are going after them, we will gladly help you."

Fox gestured to the three of them, "Follow me."

He led them out of the drop-ship and through the docking bay towards the turbo-lift. They stepped in, the lift rotated, and they stepped out the doors into the barracks, "This, lady and gentlemen, is your new home", he pointed at a pile of extra cots, "You can put together a bed or sleep on the deck plates, doesn't matter to me. Just know this", he leaned in towards them, "This is my ship, so you follow my orders."

Fox turned to leave, ignoring the two voices of protest from the human males. Fox turned back to the room at the door. He raised his voice and shouted, "You all have until the frigate gets here to rest. Once it's here we go back down."

The vulpine entered the lift and headed up. When he reached the appropriate deck he stepped out into the corridor and towards the medical bay's recovery room. Inside he saw Buckinson, his uniform gone, propped up in his bed with music buds in his ears, "Oh, Captain sir", the buck said , popping one of the small speakers from his ear, "These humans made some great music. Listen to this", he held out the freed bud to his captain.

Fox raised his hand, "No thank you John. Maybe later", the captain stepped over to the wounded male, "How are you anyway?"

The white-tailed deer shrugged, "I've been better sir. But then again I've also been worse", the deer pulled the blanket tighter to his bare chest, "I do admit though. I think you guys have the best hospital beds."

Fox laughed, "Yeah, well, enjoy them while you can. Because as soon as the nano-bots are done fixing you up you're going back to the barracks."

The deer settled down into the white covers and sighed, putting the ear-buds back and bobbing his head to the music. Fox smiled and walked over to the next bed, which had Corporal Mayson in it, his uniform also gone, "Hey there Sam. How you doin'?"

The rust colored fox smiled and raised his hand, which was held to his stump by a ring of metal that was filled with a green biogel, "Pretty good Cap'n. This itches like a mother though."

Fox nodded, "Good to hear soldier", he slapped the marines foot and stepped over to Krystal's bed.

He pulled up a chair and sat by her head, "Hi there", he said as he brushed a stray lock of hair from her face.

Her eyes fluttered open and she smiled weakly, "Hey I know you", she tried to sit up but winced and laid back down, "Gods my head hurts!"

Fox smiled and took her hand, "Do you know what happened?"

Krystal nodded slowly, "I tried to read a mind that wasn't there", Fox raised an eyebrow and Krystal said, "Those things, those zombies. They have no mind. They run on pure instinct and need. What was a soul is now just a black pit."

Fox squeezed her hand, "Well Doc says that you're probably going to stay laid up like this for a while."

Again Krystal tried to sit up, and again she gave up when a lance of pain shot through her, "No Fox. I want to make sure you'll be okay."

Fox smiled, "Trust me. I'll be fine. I've got Falco and over thirty of the best soldiers ever to come out of the academy at my back", Fox kissed her forehead and whispered, "I've got to go, but I'll be back later. Love you."

As he walked towards the door Krystal weakly waved a hand to him. As the door slid shut her hand flopped down and she sighed, pulling the white blanket tighter to her bare chest. She closed her eyes and tried to meditate, but was snapped out of it by a hand on her shoulder. Her eyes opened and she saw John standing over her, "Yes Private? What can I do for you", she asked as she crossed her arms over her chest to hide her bust.

The nude buck smiled and gently lowered himself down into the chair Fox had used, "Oh you don't have to worry about that ma'am, I'm about as straight as a corner", he looked over at the door, "You got yourself a fine piece of tail there."

Krystal blushed and finally decided that she couldn't lay down anymore. So she grabbed the bed controls and tilted up the back half of her bed so she was propped up into a general sitting position. She kept on hand across her chest to keep the blanket up as she gave the deer's shoulder a shove, "I know you didn't violate Doc's orders and limp over here just to tell me that. What do you want?"

The deer nodded his head and looked down at the floor past the edge of his seat, "Heh no. I limped over here to tell you that you have my personal guarantee that Fox will come back from this in one piece. I'll watch his back."

Krystal let out a small laugh, "I'm sure you will. And that better be all you're watching."

The deer laughed, "I can't promise you that. Fox has a nice ass", looking over his shoulder he winked at Mayson, "And I've got a thing for foxes."

Then the soldier got up and limped back over to his own bed. He flopped down and sighed, "Ahh much better", then he covered himself up and fell asleep.

Mayson rolled onto his side, facing away from the deer and blushing fiercely, "Great, now I know who's been setting up those netcam's in my shower stall."

Krystal laughed and lowered her bed back down before falling to sleep.

Fox stepped onto the bridge, "Diana", he said. When the bearess appeared on the holo-display Fox leaned onto the railing and said, "Have you picked up a transponder from a transport frigate yet?"

The holographic bear nodded, "Yes Fox. I was just about to call you. There is a Commander Smith on the line for you."

Fox hopped the railing and sat in his chair, "Put them on", the image shifted to a view of the bridge of another vessel, "Commander Smith?"

A young female lynx stepped up to the screen, "This is the frigate Tranquility. I was told you needed a transport Captain?"

Fox nodded, "You were told correctly Commander. What is your maximum capacity?"

The lynx brushed her claws against the front of her red uniform, "We can carry four thousand people sir. Exactly how many are you planning on extracting?"

Fox shook his head, "Anywhere from a few hundred to almost five thousand. We aren't sure how many of them will want to leave."

The lynx thought for a second, "Well my ship is at your command", the lynx looked at her science officer, who gave her a thumbs up, "Using the temporal distortion we should be at your position in about an hour."

Fox jumped up and shouted, "No don't!"

The lynx jumped back from the hologram of Fox, "Why not sir?"

Fox paced , "Inside that slipstream is a powerful distortion that blends matter and energy together. It twists reality around you. That distortion almost killed me and I don't want to see you or your crew put through any more danger than necessary", Fox clasped his hands behind his back, "Commander Smith, I highly recommend that you take the five days to travel here by conventional methods."

The lynx nodded, "Very well sir. See you in a few days."

The hologram cut out and was again replaced by the glowing bearess. Fox sighed and sat back in his chair. He simply sat there and thought for a while before looking at the hologram, "Diana?"

The bear looked at her captain, "Yes Fox?"

The vulpine stood up and paced around the empty bridge, "Run some numbers for me. What are the odds that two civilizations would develop on opposite sides of the galaxy, and yet be almost identical, speaking the same language, using the same systems of measurement, have compatible technologies, and have the same basic atmospheric requirements for survival?"

The holographic bear tilted her head back and her eyes glowed as she ran the numbers. They dimmed back down and she looked at Fox, "Astronomically remote. The numbers read at about eighty-three billion to the fifteenth power, to one."

Fox stepped up to one of the massive windows and looked at the stars, "I thought so", Fox turned around and paced back towards his chair, "Diana I want you to start looking through the military and scientific databases for anything that might explain this… anomaly, as it is."

Again the bear's head tilted back. As her eyes glowed she said to Fox, "What makes you think there will be anything there that will explain this Boss?"

The vulpine captain looked over his shoulder at the hologram, "Call it a hunch", Fox walked back over to his chair and sat down. He reached for his laptop and his PAD caught his eye, "Ah crap, I forgot."

He hopped up from his chair and ran into the elevator, "Crew quarters."

The lift dropped down to the appropriate deck and the vulpine stepped out into the hallway, heading to Slippy's workshop. He stepped in to find the frog tinkering with something on his desk, "Slippy do you mind if I use that empty husk?"

Slippy looked at the android next to him, "I don't, but she might. Red, meet Fox."

The android stuck out it's left hand, it's right being disassembled on Slippy's work bench, "Pleasure to meet you sir", it said in a childlike feminine voice.

Fox quirked an eyebrow and shook it's hand, "Where did you come from?"

The android said, "I am the artificial intelligence for the Raccoon City facility."

When Fox just shook his head, still confused, Slippy piped up, "She's the human AI that I told you about."

Fox groaned, "Oh great. Now I don't have anywhere to put this one", he said tapping his PAD.

Slippy said, "You found another AI?"

Fox nodded his head, "Yeah this one was came from the facility we just left. She calls herself the Silver Queen."

Slippy thought for a second then snapped his fingers, "I don't have another husk, but I do have that mobile holo-plate."

Fox shrugged, "I guess that'll have to do."

Slippy walked over to his closet and opened the door. A veritable cascade of gizmos and doodads came tumbling out, burying his sneakered feet, "Heh heh, I've been meaning to clean that out", he dug around in the pile for a second then pulled out a half circle object roughly a foot across, that was flat and shiny on the top and kind of dull and lifeless on the rounded bottom. The amphibian typed in a command on the small control panel and the bottom half lit up, suspending the device about eight inches off the ground.

"Good to go Fox, just plug in and give the download command. It'll take care of the rest", Slippy said as he returned to repairing Red's hand.

The vulpine knelt next to the object and plugged his PAD into a data port. Then he typed in the command and a download progress bar flashed on. It only took a few minutes and then the child in the white dress popped up, standing about a foot and a half tall on the small holo-display, "Hello gentlemen."

Fox knelt down next to the device, "I'll lay down some ground rules, the same ones that I'm sure Slippy gave your sister over there. You are powered by a wireless connection to the ship's power grid. You have free range of motion on board with a few exceptions. Crew quarters, the armory, engineering, and the docking bay are all off limits. You are only allowed on the bridge when one of my crew is with you. Is that clear?"

The small child nodded, "Perfectly Captain."

Fox smiled and stood up, "Very good."

Fox left and the small holo-display floated behind him, "Captain, may I ask you a question?"

Fox looked at her, "Sure. But float up here, either in front of or beside me."

The holo-plate shot forward and ran into Fox's leg, "Sorry Captain", she drifted to the left and leveled off beside Fox, "I've noticed that your marines look at you as some sort of hero figure. More so than any of their other superiors. Why is that?"

Fox smirked, "Oh I saved our home system a couple of times. People keep forgetting though that I've never done any of this stuff alone. I've always had my team to back me up. They're heroes just as much as I am. And several times we've "saved the day" on nothing but pure luck."

The hologram nodded, "I understand", there was a pause followed by another question, "Sir may I have access to some of your historical records? I'd like to know my new people's past."

Fox nodded his head, "Sure, I don't see why not."

Fox lead the AI to the bridge where he plugged her into a terminal. He pressed a series of icons on the touch-panel and said, "General history", when the screen finished flashing Fox turned to the hologram, "You have access to most of our history through here. There is a lot of information for you to look through so I'll leave you to it. I've got some work to do at my station so just shout when you're done."

Fox had only been sitting in his chair for ten minutes before the AI said, "Sir, I'm finished here."

Fox sighed, "Really? I guess that's okay. This paperwork isn't going anywhere", Fox locked his terminal and walked over to the AI and unplugged her after locking the station, "Why don't you go back to Slippy's lab and see if you can give him a hand with something. I've got some place to be."

The two left the bridge and stepped onto the lift. Fox got off first on the medical level and walked down to the recovery room. He entered and saw that everyone was asleep. Fox walked over and picked up the music player that Buckinson had been listening to. Placing the studs in his ears he hit play and heavy metal music began blaring in his ears.

Fox scrambled to turn the volume down while he sat down on an unoccupied bed. He flicked the node on the side which popped up the holographic controls and screen, "Let's see. What do we have here", Fox started scrolling through the bands, as he had decided to stay in the metal genre. Fox skipped several bands before one piqued his interest, "Disturbed, huh", then he started scrolling through their songs and, not finding one that looked too interesting, he scrolled back up to the top and pressed Play All.

Fox tilted the bed up and leaned back against it. The first song title popped up, Avarice. Fox started to bob his head as the fast paced song started to go.

Polotics and eviiil,

All one in the saaame,

Satan hides behind a different naaame,

Take these chains awaaay,

Free my hands from bondage,

Can't explain awaaay,

Avarice will kill you in tiiime,

Violent upheavaaal,

Cities drenched in flaaame,

Wickedness we know we can contaaain,

Take these chains awaaay,

Free my hands from bondage,

Can't explain awaaay,

Avarice will kill you in tiiime,

Who will we murder nowww,

See what we are becoming,

An onyx veil that filters out the light,

I'll savoor, this angerrr,

My hate maakes, me stroongerrr,

Take these chains awaaay,

Free my hands from bondage,

Can't explain awaaay,

Avarice will kill you in tiiime,

Kill you in tiiime!

Fox blinked and looked down at the player, "Damn. Buckinson was right", Fox smiled and closed his eyes as the next song came up, "Believe? This should be interesting."

As he fell asleep something was nagging at the back of his mind, this music seemed familiar…

End Chapter Eight