so this is kinda a weird chapter for me, given it is almost entirely one veiwpoint. anyway, please enjoy, and above all, review!
Asteroid Field, Sauria Orbit
Fox easily slipped through the asteroids, occasionally firing a burst of plasma at a small asteroid blocking his path. Although not as skilled as Fox, the pilot behind him still had considerable skills as a pilot, managing to duck and weave through the dense and active asteroid field with him. After several minutes and more close calls than Fox could care to admit. Their two fighters were ripping through the atmosphere, flame ripping past the magnetic shielding the Arwings were equipped with. After a few seconds, the flame died out, leaving them in clear blue sky. Fox easily guided them toward the set of structures they had seen from orbit, finding them over some very hilly terrain with a few streams and rivers flowing through it. the most level landing spot was near a stream that dropped off a small ridge, making a short water fall before the stream. There were ruins both on the ridge that the stream flowed through, and up against the ridge that the stream fell down. Fox could see several paths winding around, one even headed up to the snow capped mountains in the distance. Once he was closer, he killed his thrust and raised the collective beside his seat. A quick switch later and his landing gear deployed, letting him gently set down on the ground. The other fighter set down a few meters away as fox powered the craft down and opened the cockpit, sliding out. His hand instinctively dropped to his blaster at the sight of the massive, four legged, spike covered creatures. They seemed to watch as Wander climbed out of his own fighter, his assault rifle loosely balanced in his hands.
"Relax McCloud, any five year old could tell you those are not hostile." Fox raised an eyebrow at the human, the visor on the man's helmet clear. The helmet covered the entirety of his face and was clearly designed to be sealable. Most of the helmet was smooth, with a semi angular visor. His armor mimicked this, with a mix of smooth surfaces and angular lines. He had on a small assault pack and several pouches, along with a thigh holster connected to the equipment belt, and on the other side, a knife and some sort of short weapon, strapped in place. The rifle in his hands was also strange to look at for Fox, a sort of bull-pup ballistic weapon with a cowl raised above the barrel, a simple grey color. There was a thin scar like cut on the top of the cowl that a small amount of carbon could still be seen in the lightweight aluminum. The only break in the black and greys of his armor was his fingers, half exposed by fingerless gloves.
"And how would you know that?" he lazily pointed at one off in the distance, munching on a clump of grass.
"Most Herbivores are not openly aggressive. They'll attack if provoked, but not spontaneously." Suddenly, before Fox could respond to the human, his communicator blared to life, the audio filled with static. A grainy hologram of General Pepper's face floated above his wrist.
"Fox, I made some calls and got some new intel. One ship did make landfall and returned, a science vessel. I'm forwarding the data they brought back now." Small holo's of different creatures appeared next to Peppers head, names above each. Above the names was a hostility level, and another word. Sentient. Meaning, the majority of the creatures that passed by had language and the ability form complex thoughts or ideas. Most of the creatures were labeled harmless, until a massive, tri-horned creature appeared, labeled as moderately hostile. Next after that, was a bipedal creature, matching the rough build of a Cornerian, but bulkier, taller, and lizard like. The one displayed was toting a sword and shield, and wearing plate armor. it was labeled as hostile.
"How old is this data, sir?" Fox started spinning the micro images through, investigating each species as he spoke.
"Only about thirty years Fox." His attention flicked back to the holo of Pepper, shocked.
"Thirty?! This area of the system has been a forbidden zone for nearly three centuries!" Pepper nodded, the sound of metal on metal drawing Fox's attention. Wander had slipped a magazine into his weapon and charged it, slinging the weapon before doing the same with his handgun and the other weapon.
"Yes, thirty. We gave a ship the absolute best shielding and most robust systems and armored it for a crash. The crew survived and it took three years to bring the ship back online, but while the crew brought the ship online, the scientists explored the planet and gathered data. There were several casualties, but they came home with a ton of data. I've compiled and compressed the relevant data and sent it to Peppy, he said he would have Slippy build you translator software, but for now, link with the ship and have him translate for you." Fox stopped scrolling through the races when a new one popped up, a massive creature known as a red eye. The hostility marker on it said it was extremely hostile and to kill it on sight.
"That looks like a T-Rex." Fox glanced over at Wander as he spoke, the visor on his helmet no longer clear, but a dark silver, hiding his face.
"My recommendation to the two of you is to find the rulers of the Earth Walker dinosaur tribe. They will be the most likely to be able to help you figure out what is going on. We're counting on you Star Fox, Pepper out." His hologram winked away, just before Fox closed off the intel list. He looked up to speak to Wander, but he had already moved away, seeming to speak with one of the dinosaurs as the rest slowly dispersed. Fox could hear bits of his voice, and not one word of it made sense to Fox, after the creature responded, he waved and trotted back to Fox.
"These Thorntails say that the Queen earthwalker is being held in that structure. Some sort of coup occurred a few weeks ago, and movement is dead at the moment, they have no idea where the King Earthwalker is. If I were you, I would go check out that structure, I've got another lead I'm going to follow. Deal?" Fox nodded and started trotting away. there were several bunches of small flowers littering the ground, as well as several small copses of palm trees. As Fox passed one of those small thickets, he noticed a strange flash of blue, almost like a flame. As he moved closer, he noticed something sticking up out of the ground it was a long purple staff with intricate gold inlaid across the entire shaft. Another blue spark slipped away from a golden seed like bulb on the end of the weapon, a small turquoise gem visible at the center of the bulb. He stopped at the weapon, grabbing it firmly before yanking it free of the ground. The opposite end of the weapon was a spear point, a strange smooth turquoise gem edged in gold. The second he picked the weapon up, energy jolted through him, blue flame erupting from either end of the staff. The bulbous end split open, revealing the gem below. A voice seemed to fill every corner of his mind, speaking in a language Fox didn't know, but he somehow knew what she was saying.
"If you are hearing this message, then I am either in grave danger, or I have passed. The weapon you now hold is a powerful tool with many uses and abilities. It will take time for you to master it, but once you have, you will find it is as useful as a companion. I hope it protect you as well as it did me. Please take care of it." Fox gave the weapon a gentle twirl, albeit a clumsy one. After a few more twirls and swings, his form with the weapon seemed to correct on it's own, moving the weapon faster and faster. After a few minutes, he was panting, but the weapon felt as familiar as a friend. He smirked, and was thinking of how to store it when is suddenly collapsed down to barely a foot long. His eyes widened, but he couldn't complain, sliding the staff under his back pack and making sure it got snagged on the handle so it wouldn't slip out. A quick roll of his shoulders and he was moving again. His destination was a small stone entryway with a short fenced courtyard, the entire building looking ill maintained with vines and moss growing on it. it was built into a hill side, making the entrance the only visible structure. Now that he was closer, he noticed the four brown and tan Sharp Claw soldiers guarding the sealed door. Two held wooden maces and bucklers, while two held long, large bore rifles. The simple design and lack of any visible magazine made Fox guess that they were some form of primitive muzzle loading powder rifles. But the caliber alone would likely tear Fox's arm off should they hit him. All four were wearing simple leather armor, studded with small bits of metal to add at least some protection. He reached back and drew the weapon as the two rifle armed 'Claws aimed at him, shouting in their language. Time seemed to freeze as the female voice returned.
"I have embedded in this weapon some basic teachings as to how to use it. They shall only activate when the proper situation for their use arises. The fire blast is the most basic and useful of all of the powers this staff possesses, able to fire a super heated bolt of energy at the target." As the voice cut off, he felt how to do it, as if the staff was forcing his body through it. suddenly, time unfroze and he gripped the staff in two hands, pointing the bulbous end roughly at one of the gunmen. In his mind, he pictured where he wanted to hit and a red bolt ripped away from the staff, slamming into his target's chest. Although it clearly burned away most of the creature's dermis in a roughly four inch circle, it did no more than make the Sharp Claw cry out in pain. Fox let himself fall onto his side, the two rifles firing with resounding booms. He had no idea where the shots went, and he almost couldn't see the four dinosaurs through the billowing white smoke left by the weapons discharging. Fox launched to his feet, sprinting at the four enemies. Both of the shield bearers positioned themselves between Fox and the marksmen, the marksmen pouring powder from canisters down their barrels. Fox leapt into the air as soon as he was close enough, swinging the bulbous end of the staff at one shield bearers head, and attempting a double footed kick at the others. The firs never saw the blow coming, staggering away as it likely saw stars. The second saw Fox's feet whipping towards him and moved his shield to block, giving Fox the perfect spring board past. He sent himself spinning off the shield, twirling the staff at the same time to slam the bladed end into the back of one marksmen's knee, cleaving through. The creature screamed as it slumped over clutching the bleeding wound. Meanwhile, Fox landed and continued to spin, slamming the bulbous end of the staff into the other marksmen's head and firing another fire blast into it. the creature slumped to the ground, Fox feeling drained from just two fire blasts. Thinking quickly, he spun the staff behind his back and switched which hand was using the staff just before slamming it into one of the shield bearer's weapon wrist as the creature swung at him. In the same movement, Fox drew his blaster and fired a pair of bolts into the creature's chest. It slumped to the ground without a sound as he aimed and fired at the dazed bearer and the legless gunman, silencing both.
"Hmm, not actually that bad of a weapon, but man I feel tired." He tried to shake his head clear after he spoke, slipping the blaster away as the voice spoke again.
"The shockwave is another useful power, allowing the user to release blasts of kinetic energy at a target, or in a blast around them. But, in comparison to the Fire Blast, it can be extremely taxing on the user." Fox just shrugged, aimed at the solid stone door, and sent a shockwave at it. the door was blasted inward, sending dust everywhere. But Fox lost sight of the dust as he fell to one knee, his eyes closed as he clutched his head. After a few seconds, he felt obliged to look up, seeing a shadowy figure, faintly blue in color. For a second, he thought it was his imagination, but then the voice returned.
"I was unable to leave anymore teachings in the staff, due to the same thing you are experiencing now. A lack of life force. Although you feel exhausted, sleep would not cure it, for it is merely an effect of your draining life force. Push yourself too hard, and it will be your end. As time passes, you will learn to use the staff's power more efficiently, and the power of your life force will grow. As those occur, you will be able to do more with the staff, both in terms of power and quantity." As the voice spoke, the woman's Vulpine head formed into a more solid appearance, her face fur being primarily white, edged in deep blue, with shoulder length blue hair. She had a braid on the right side of her face, dropping beside her right eye, and she was wearing a flat blue gem on her forehead, held in place by a length of gold chain running under her hair. "And this is my final goodbye. Should you desire to find me, my name is Krystal. Always endeavor to use this staff for good, and it will be ever faithful to you. I bid you good luck, and farewell." With the end of the message, the phantom faded from his vision, leaving him with nothing but his thoughts.
Captain Samantha Robles sipped on her coffee as her ship ripped through slipspace, only minutes away from their destination. Although the crew around her were almost entirely replacements, the ship still felt like home. Her mind drifted off to her husband back on earth, now retired and alone in their beach front him. She hated it, but her contract wouldn't be up for another two years, leaving them separated for a while. When the count down timer hit two minutes, she let her voice ring out across the command bridge.
"All hands, prepare for deceleration. Conners, make sure our stealth systems are engaged, Smith, prepare to move us away from the rad spike, Harrison, bring shields and weapons online." Her crew all acknowledged as one. In the last ten seconds of the countdown, the ship groaned and vibrated, just before a planet and star field appeared. The planet looked to be tearing itself apart. The view quickly shifted as the pilot moved them away from their exit point. Her sensor specialist suddenly spoke up.
"Ma-am, got a positive contact, placing it on your board now. The ship looked run down and damaged, but was in their database. It was a thousand meter long vessel, with four long wings on the back of the hull and a shorter wing jutting straight up from the hull. three massive engines were it's main propulsion. Above the engines was a hanger bay, as well as a fighter bay under the main cannons, located on the lower half of the front end of the vessel. Above the cannons was a long thin corridor that lead to the command bridge. The ships name was the Great Fox, and was surprisingly one of the largest ships in Cornerian space. Although it was technically a mercenary vessel, it was flagged that it routinely did work for the Cornerian government.
"Alright, stay undetected and survey the planet. I want that slipspace anomaly found, identified, and catalogued so we can get the hell out of here." She glanced at the diagram of the ship again, rubbing her chin thoughtfully. In his last message, he did say he was going private contractor in the Lylat system. I wonder…..