Star Fox: The Harmony of the Many

by NamaFox

The Aparoid Wars are over, and the Lylat System is recovering. Team Star Fox receives a distress call from just beyond the edge of the Lylat System. What starts as a rescue mission soon becomes something much more than the team anticipated. Fox McCloud soon finds himself contending with horrors beyond imagination, and it will take all his wits and courage just to survive.

18. Chapter 17 - Plight of a Fox

As soon as Fox had stepped out of Aiten's office, he reached for his PDA and brought up the map, studying it for a few moments. He had no intention of getting lost on this deck. The whole ship seemed like a giant maze sometimes, and he hadn't even seen all of it. Or most of it, for that matter. He had yet to go to the command deck, for instance. He hadn't gone to Hydroponics, that deck still seemed to be sealed. He had not gone to the flight or recreation decks. There was so much of the ship he hadn't seen yet. That was fine with him. If he could re establish contact with his team, get the survivors out of here, and just bombard the ship with bombs until it was nothing but vaporized dust, he'd be all too happy to forego a more thorough tour. It was beginning to seem to him as though he would have to go through every last deck, each and every part of it, before he was finally finished here.

Despite all of this, it never once occurred to Fox to give up. He had no thoughts of saving his own hide, of taking a shuttle and escaping. No, he wanted to get people out. Fara was alive. Raphael was alive. Aiten was...well, the doctor was an AI, but still not one of the Many. There were other pockets of survivors out there, he knew it. He'd find them. They'd get out of this nightmare together, somehow

For now, he had to focus on doing what Aiten, or rather SAI-TEP, wanted of him. Though it was no longer masquerading as an arrogant doctor, he wasn't sure that a scornful machine was all that much better.

"You are wasting ti-wasting time, insect. I will guide-guide-will guide your path. If you listen to me, your steps shall prove more efficient."

"In a minute." Fox growled as he continued studying the map. He was not about to blindly do this thing's bidding. No matter what it said, he did not entirely trust it. It may not be Andross reborn, but it was certainly one of his experiments. What was more, he was deeply suspicious of how the doctor had died. He wasn't sure how it happened precisely, and the evidence certainly suggested suicide, but Fox still wasn't convinced. Maybe the doctor had taken his own life, but how could Fox know that the AI hadn't played some part in that, influencing his decision one way or another? He could not prove it, of course. Indeed, he had seen no evidence to indicate murder. Considering how many things had tried to kill him within the last few hours, he was pretty sure he had every right to be cautious right now.

The AI went quiet for a while. Perhaps it had decided that it would be more prudent to simply allow Fox to do as he wished for now, seeing as how his mind was made up. Now that he was able to concentrate, he could get a better grasp of the layout of the deck he found himself on.

Deck 4 seemed to be a rather complicated segment of the ship. It was a massive deck, sprawled out in many different directions. He was familiar with one area at least. He tapped on the display, zooming in on his current location. He was in the central hub, the part of the deck that served as a bridge to all of the others. He had just come from Aiten's office, which was a dead end, empty aside from the corpse of the one that Fox had thought he was in contact with the whole time. To the east was the communications center, where he had just been with Fara in order to contact his team. There wasn't anything else over there, at least nothing useful. There might have been some storage rooms, but little else.

There were three other directions that he could go, however. One of them seemed to go to what was labeled as the command center. He wasn't entirely certain what that meant. This wasn't the bridge and it wasn't the command deck. It would appear there were at least some aspects of command that would be handled here. He knew that some vessels had other areas of the ship that could execute commands in case the bridge ever faced catastrophic damage, and he imagined that this deck must contain something like that. An override or emergency system perhaps. It would make sense, as many of the ship's most critical systems would be on this deck.

In that same sector, opposite of the command center, there was another area that caught his interest. Based on what he was seeing, it appeared to be connected with the ship's onboard AI. It appeared that much of the daily routine and energy regulation and such was handled here. Power management, data storage, system operations, multiple interface units for dealing with the AI, and more!

That wasn't all. As he studied the map further, it became a bit more clear to him. The security headquarters was located in one of the other sectors on this deck, the primary one that would be in control of all other security operations. This was the one Dreyfus must have referenced earlier. He wondered if the lieutenant had managed to capture it. That would have made life a little easier, but he wouldn't know until he got there.

There was one last sector. He wasn't sure what it was at first, but as he tapped his PDA to zoom in, he got a much better view of it. Based on what he saw, this appeared to be where most of the ship's primary systems were monitored and regulated from.

He had a lot of options to explore. He also knew what SAI-TEP likely wanted him to do. She seemed hell bent on overpowering DARIUS. "So I take it we're going here?" He tapped one claw against the PDA, indicating the direction that would lead into the sector containing the AI regulation.

"C-c-correct, insect. Youmust-youmust- you must find the interface unit located in the auxiliary command center. Then we will eliminate DARIUS. He will fall before my might (My might). Once we have established controooolllll...I will open many doors for you (For you.) I reward those who serve me well."

Was that a compliment she was offering him? That seemed out of character for her. He wasn't sure whether to be grateful or not. Whatever gratitude he might have felt quickly soured at her next words.

"But accomplish, insect. Disappointment is not something I will accept from a speck such as yooooouuuuuu..."

Fox hissed through gritted teeth, shaking his head as he did his utmost not to let his anger get the better of him. If the two of them hadn't needed each other so much, Fox would gladly have either left her behind or even destroyed her. Considering her origin, he'd probably be doing the whole Lylat System a favor. He didn't have that luxury. They needed to work together.

There was a lot to be concerned about now. Fara wasn't here, and he wasn't sure when he'd next see her. He was still out of contact with his team. He had no idea where the lieutenant was, Dreyfus. Perhaps more alarmingly, he had no idea what kind of opposition to expect here. Was the place crawling with the servants of the Many? Were the security systems still online, would they hamper him at every turn? Or maybe, just maybe, was he about to catch a much needed break?

He shook his head, grumbling to himself. He already knew to the answer to that question. It was just going to get worse from here. He had to keep moving. The quicker he was, the harder it would be for his enemies to react to him. At least that was the hope.

He had studied the map well enough. He believed he had a basic understanding of where everything was and how to go about his objectives. Still, he might as well make use of what resources were currently at his disposal. "SAI-TEP." He said the name, knowing she could hear him. "Which of these positions will have the least resistance? Which would be easier to break into first?"

The AI did not answer immediately. Perhaps she was processing the information. Perhaps it was simply deciding whether or not to tell him what he wanted to know. It eventually answered him. "Bo-both areas will be guaarrdeeed. They will be waiting for you. They know you are-are know you are coming. They are attempting to adapt (adapt) to your presence. They do not anticipate the gifts that I offer. They have incurred my eternal wrath (Wraaaaath). And you are my avatar. My instrument of vengeance (vengeance)." All of those words, and she still hadn't answered Fox's question. He supposed that was an answer in of itself. It was his turn to decide.

He looked at the map again. The security command station looked like a bunker. If there was anyone in there, they'd be well fortified and difficult to remove, especially if they knew he was coming. On the one hand, he could try and see if he could get in there by stealth. If he could, he might be able to do whatever SAI-TEP wanted him to do, then get out of there before a proper defense could be mustered. If they were already entrenched, it would make things complicated. Sneaking in a fortified security command center would likely be next to impossible, and fighting through them would be a nightmare in of itself. Perhaps if he approached the other objectives first...

A thought came to him, one that he wasn't certain was at all sound, but it was the only idea even remotely resembling a plan that he had come up with thus far. He wasn't sure if he needed SAI-TEP's approval or not, but he decided to do let her know anyway. "Alright, here's the plan. We'll go for the auxillary command center first. I'll put you in the system or whatever it is you want me to do. Then I'll figure out how to deal with the security."

SAI-TEP responded quickly to him. "Should you suc-suc-succeed, I shall aid you in additional ways (Waaaaays). I shall wound DARIUS. And then I shall ob-ob-shall obliterate him." That was all that she said before falling silent. Fox wasn't sure what she was doing while inside his head when not talking. Perhaps she was still able to monitor certain sectors of the ship. Maybe she was conserving power. There was also the possibility that she was watching him, observing him, seeing him in action, sizing him up. Something told him that this was indeed what she was doing. Maybe this was why it was letting him choose his path in the first place. Maybe it wanted to see precisely what he was capable of first hand, jow he thought, how he planned. He didn't know why it would care about such a thing, but he found the thought unsettling. It was almost like someone was probing him, looking for weaknesses as well as strengths. He had no proof of any of this. He had no idea what her plan was.

He had learned to listen to his instincts a long time ago. It was something that his father had taught him, and that Peppy had reminded him of. His instincts told him to be very careful around SAI-TEP.

He had dawdled long enough. He lowered his PDA, the holographic projection disappearing in a flash. He withdrew his blaster, then closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. This was it. He was about to head into the fray once more. It wasn't as though he really had a choice, but he needed a moment to steady himself before proceeding. He had no idea what horrors yet awaited him, but he would need strength of body and will in order to triumph over this evil. After waiting just a few more moments, he opened his eyes and felt a newfound sense of determination rising in him. He was Star Fox. And they still had a mission to do.

He went towards the door opposite of the elevator that he had arrived in. He had to reach for the panel and press on it to open the door. It slid open without any protest. He had his weapon drawn, ready for action. He took a cautious peek inside. There was nothing waiting for him as far as he could tell. At least, no enemies with weapons drawn.

There was, however, a security camera on the other side. It wasn't looking at him. It appeared to be an automated system. It was currently facing down a hallway perpendicular to where Fox was now standing. There was a whirring sound as it began to turn in Fox's direction.

He wasn't about to let himself be caught off guard by one of those stupid cameras again. He darted forward, keeping his head low as he sprinted toward the thing. Just before it might have seen him, he managed to duck under it, in a blind spot that was beneath it. It amazed him how many camera systems throughout Lylat had flaws like this. He supposed that was because most security cameras were to act as a deterrent, combined with security personnel and robots. It didn't need to be a perfect system. Fox was grateful for that fact as he stood directly under the thing, the machinery unaware of his presence.

He quietly gasped when he heard a soft chime, then a voice echoing down the corridor. For a moment he thought he was discovered, then he realized what it was. It was the AI, DARUIS. It was talking, though apparently not to Fox, at least not directly.

"Attention. This is DARIUS. The management wishes to offer special commendation to all crew members who have pitched in during this time of transition. Remember, those who give of themselves benefit not only the Von Dross, but the entirety of the Lylat System. We commend each and every one of you." Fox assumed the thing was done after that statement, but then it added something more, words that he found chilling. "Glory to the Many. Glory to the mass." It was only after these words that the chime sounded again, signaling the end of DARIUS' transmission.

Fox refocused, looking up at the camera again. It was staring in the direction Fox had come from. He wondered if he should smash the thing, but that seemed like a waste. While it obviously wouldn't set off an alarm if it didn't see him, he had to assume that someone would notice if one of the cameras suddenly went down. He couldn't risk it. Exploring this deck was going to be difficult if he had to constantly watch out for cameras that might reveal his position. He'd also have to remember where the things were, which would create additional problems, especially if he ran into trouble and need to make a hasty retreat. He might stumble into a camera that he had narrowly evaded earlier.

Nothing was ever easy, was it?

A voice in his head startled him, causing him to jump. As SAI-TEP spoke within him, he almost wondered if she could read his mind. Then again, he had been staring at the camera as he pondered what to do about it. "Your cybernetic implants will allow you to conduct basic-basic-basic overrides on electronic devices (deviceeees), now that I have...improved you."

"What? What do you mean?" Fox asked, his gaze still focused on the camera.

"At this range, you will be able to access its sys-systemmmmss. You may turn it to your advantage."

"How?" Fox narrowed his eyes as he studied the camera, slowly turning from left to right as it surveyed the area around it. "How am I supposed to do that?"

"Con-con-concentrate and you will see (You will seeeeeee). Focus on your desire. The implant will extend your will."

Fox had no idea what she was talking about, but then she had been right about cloaking earlier in engineering. Of course, this was an entirely different thing. He wasn't a hacker, at all. He wasn't sure he'd ever hacked into anything in his entire life. Slippy had, or at least he thought so. While Fox didn't know much about hacking, he did know it was a whole lot more complicated than what it appeared to be in holo-films or video games.

He continued to stare at the camera, just watching it blankly. What was supposed to happen now? How was he supposed to hack the thing? He couldn't just wish for it and magically have it do what he wanted, he'd have to-

Something changed. His eyes widened as he stared. The camera was changing before his eyes. Or rather, his perception of it was changing. Little by little, lines of code were appearing, small images displaying in front of him. They were clear as day, yet he also knew that they weren't actually there. They had to be connected to the implants grafted into him. There were numbers, flashing symbols, and he could even hear a strange static sound.

Somehow, he knew what he needed to do. His eyes focused on the center of the camera. He could see the innards of it, the circuitry and electrical components. He just...knew, somehow. He knew what he had to do, what he wanted. He concentrated on it, trying to will it to happen. There was a jolt, and he felt as though a mild electrical current coursed through his body. His tail poofed out, and his fur felt like it was prickling all over. The camera twitched and let out an electronic whine, a bolt of blue static coursing through it. It continued to turn left and right as though nothing had happened. Even though Fox saw no proof that anything had really changed, he knew it had. But how?

SAI-TEP answered his question. "Well done, insect. Your implants need only enough information to deter-determine what course to take (To take). I have improved your implants, granted you a fraction of my glory. Once you established a link, the hack was done automatically, and it was based upon your desires. This is why I had them installed into you. They will grant you abilities and powers that you never before -never before-never before knew...you are improved now, insect."

Fox had to test it. There was probably a better, smarter way to test the system than what he was about to do. At this point, he didn't care. He just wanted to see if it worked. He took a step backward, waving his hand in front of the camera. Nothing. He then marched in front of the thing, letting it gaze upon him as it rotated its field of vision. It gave no reaction to his presence. He waved one of his paws at it, he even started jumping up and down, waiting for it to react. It never did. He was invisible to the thing.

"Huh." That was all Fox could say at the moment. He wished he had access to this before. It could have come in handy. At least he had it now, so there was something to be said for that. He wondered if it worked on other things as well?

Once again, SAI-TEP answered his questions before he had time to voice them. She seemed quite adept at predicting what he was going to say. He hoped that wasn't because she was able to peer directly into his mind now that she was housed within the implant. He didn't care for that idea at all.

"This tool will open other doors for you, insect. But be warned. It takes tiiiiime to use. Do not attempt to hack a system in a moment that compromises your safety (Your safety). Remember that."

"Uh huh." The interface was no longer active. He suspected it would turn on whenever he approached something that he could use his implant to interact with, provided he focused on it for a bit. It was a remarkable piece of equipment, he certainly had to admit that much. So far, it had provided him with illumination, it had cloaked him, it had now given them ability to hack into electronic equipment. All this without any special training!

It made him wonder just what else it was capable of. He wasn't sure he'd like the answer to that question. He also had the feeling that, like it or not, he'd be finding those answers before long.

The camera had been hacked and no longer posed a threat. Now he needed to continue to his destination. It wasn't far. This section of the ship led to some of the critical components of the shipboard AI. What were they looking for precisely? He took out his map again to look, but he didn't see anything useful. The map he had here wasn't as detailed as it was for some of the other decks. If he had to guess, it was because this part of the ship was a bit more sensitive, and he probably would need higher clearance to see it all mapped out. This made some sense, as there was no need for everyone on board to know precisely where some of the more sensitive systems were unless they worked there or might be called to repair it. For Fox, that meant he was going to have to search the area until he found precisely what he was looking for.

He proceeded with his weapon drawn, his every movement cautious in nature. He was NOT going to get jumped this time, no way. He was going to move as quietly as he could while still pressing forward. He swore that at least one time today, he'd get the jump on somebody else for a change of pace.

At first, the halls seemed much like many of the others that he had seen while on this ship. Cold metal, clean and sterile. There was a great deal of machinery embedded into the walls here, with colorful wiring and occasional red panels contrasting the white surface of the walls. There was the constant quiet hum of energy as it coursed through the very veins of the ship, its lifeblood. It was all regulated here on this deck, controlled and managed from somewhere further within.

As he walked along, the only sound he could hear was that of his boots pressing against the metal floor. That was until he both heard and felt something squish beneath his foot. He blinked, stopping short and looking down at the ground. There was something on the floor here. At first, he thought perhaps someone had left a mess or spilled something, but taking a step back revealed the truth to him.

Something was growing on the floor. Little tendrils of what appeared to be flesh or tissue, throbbing on the ground. He lifted his boot up, turning his foot so he could see if any of the stuff got on the underside of it. Whatever it was didn't seem to stick to his boot, it had merely been squished a bit when Fox stepped on it.

The fur on Fox's tail stood on end, and he couldn't help but stare at the writhing mass of flesh and organic matter beneath him. It wasn't just dead skin or anything like that. It was alive! Fox had already stepped on it. He did so again, this time pressing his boot down a little harder against the material. It didn't seem to have any effect, it just continued to pulse and writhe. It made him a bit queasy. He hadn't seen anything like this before.

As he looked up the hallway, he noticed even more of it. The stuff hadn't grown to form a full mass yet, but little tendrils were scattered in various places. He didn't have to be told that this was a result of the Many's work, perhaps an extension of the entity. Whatever it was, it was disgusting. Worse, it indicated to Fox that the thing was growing physically. It was spreading to other decks from wherever it was based.

That thought soon lent itself to deeper fears. He began to imagine the ship being consumed by this stuff, covered from the inside out. It was like a malignant tumor or a cancer that grew and grew and grew. He wondered just how big the thing was capable of getting. A terrible thought entered his head as he considered the thing's growth, of how it might eventually consume the entire ship, along with everyone in it, all of them swallowed up by that thing. They'd have to kill it long before it got to that point. He didn't know how yet, but they'd have to find a way.

He did his best to ignore that stuff as he moved forward. There were little pockets of it here and there, a warning of things to come. It made him pick up the pace. He was ever reminded that time was not on his side.

He was amazed that he encountered so little in the way of resistance. Aside from the occasional security system, there wasn't much here. He'd have to occasionally deal with a lone camera placed at some sort of junction which he would easily manage to disable, then he'd move on. None of those hybrids were wandering around, not even a security bot. Of course, he wasn't complaining. It was a welcome break from the hectic, pulse-pounding encounters that he had with the things thus far. There were no crazed doctors out to get him either, that was good too.

He couldn't help but feel that something was off, though. The Many might not know precisely where he was, but their forces had been so active in other sectors of the ship. Operations was a crucial deck, someone could do a lot to sabotage the ship from here if they wanted to. Well, assuming they had both the knowledge or high enough security level to do so. The Many wouldn't leave this place unguarded. They hadn't left anything unguarded thus far.

The further he went, the more disturbed he became. He hadn't run into any bodies yet, though the the walls of the hallways had occasional blood smears on them, and there were blood trails that gave indication that more bodies had been dragged away on the floor, some of which were still wet. Someone had been here and moved the bodies, and they hadn't been gone long.

So where were they? Not the bodies, he had no idea what the Many were doing with those, he wasn't sure he'd ever get the answer to that question, and he was certain he didn't want the answer either. He was more concerned with where the servants of the Many were at the moment. They should be here, yet they weren't. What were they doing? Was the Many just so overconfident in its ability to control this ship, in its power, that it left a critical deck completely unguarded? Was it so arrogant? Or was there something else? Something that occupied the Many's attention for the time being?

Whatever the case, Fox wasn't about to question his good fortune. No matter what the reason was for the momentary reprieve he was enjoying, he would just have to take advantage of it for as long as it might last. He knew it would end sooner or later. Maybe he could get a few things done while it lasted.

His every step echoed down the corridor, his boots plodding against the metal floor as he moved forward. Occasionally, he heard a squelch as his boots touched that fleshy gunk, but so far he hadn't seen any indications of further danger.

The first room of note he found was filled with a number of monitors and computers, all displaying a dazzling array of numbers and other data that Fox couldn't make any sense of. It seemed random to him, and he had no way of decoding it. It seemed to be a station for monitoring various systems on the ship, but he wasn't even certain of that. Either way, there was nothing useful in that room, he had to press on.

As he moved forward, he came to another door, with another camera above it. There were some large dark letters printed neatly underneath the camera. Command Center. He waited, timed his movements so that he could take advantage of the camera's blind spots as it surveyed the room. When he found himself under it, he managed to hack the thing just as he did before, simply concentrating and allowing his cybernetic implants to do the bulk of the work. The camera continued its survey, only no longer registering his movements. Another one down.

He opened the door, then found himself face to face with a wall. There was a big warning sign in front of him, attached to that wall. The path went either direction, the wall being more like a large pillar in front of him. After checking his sides to make sure there was nothing lurking nearby, he approached the sign, narrowing his eyes as he read it.

"Caution." He murmured the words to himself. "Restricted area. Active laser turrets. Management is not responsible for death or injury for failing to heed this warning." It wasn't just a written warning, either. There were a couple of images on the wall. The bottom left image was that of a cylindrical device, the top half popped open a bit with twin laser barrels jutting out of the thing, presumably one of the turrets. The other image showed a big robot, similar to the one that Fox had encountered in the engineering deck earlier. He did -not- want to run into one of those again.

He took a deep breath, then inched toward the left side of the pillar. Ever so slowly, he peeked his head around, searching for any immediate threats, hoping he didn't set off an alarm or trigger a sensor or something.

As he peeked around the wall, he could see what the warning was about. The turrets were there, they weren't even hidden. The room was fairly plain, just a dark tiled floor that led to a couple of large doors, opposite each other. One was to Fox's left, the other was to his right. On the far wall from where Fox stood, there were a number of short cylinders on raised platforms, conspicuously jutting out over the rest of the floor. That was where the turrets were.

There was something else that attracted his attention. As he lowered his gaze, he noticed a couple of bodies crumpled up in the room ahead, with scorch marks from laser fire all over them. He wasn't sure who or what they were supposed to be. The bodies were destroyed beyond the ability to identify. They might have been mechanics, they might have been scientists. It was painfully obvious they had been gunned down by the turrets. He wondered to himself, were they trying to get into the command center, or were they trying to get out? Either way, they never made it through this room alive.

Fox brought his paws to his head, rubbing at his forehead as he tried to come up with a solution. Multiple turrets between him and his destination. By his count, at least four. He could start shooting at them, but that would likely tip the Many off. He wasn't even sure if it was a battle he could win. He had the blaster and it was fully charged, but he had no idea how much punishment these things could take. Sure, he'd dealt with one of them in engineering with a rivet gun, but he had no idea if that was even the same type of turret that was here. For all he knew, the earlier one had been damaged before he had ever starting shooting it. These, though, were pristine, state of the art. These were designed to protect the most important parts of the ship. How the heck was he going to get past these things?

He brought up his PDA again. He was safely hidden from those turrets, so they wouldn't be able to react to him. With the holographic map once more before him, he studied the layout of the deck, searching for anything that would be useful. It made sense that this area was so well protected, as this did lead to the auxiliary command center. There had to be another way past those turrets. He could try to sneak past them, though he really didn't want to try that cloak again. He didn't know what would be waiting for him on the other side of the doors. He could end up in a much worse situation, only with no way out this time.

He found his eyes drawn to the security headquarters. He couldn't help but wonder if it was still tied into the system. Was it possible that he could influence the turrets from over there? It must all be tied together, or at least would have been at some point.

He spoke, his voice a hushed whisper as he addressed SAI-TEP. He wasn't sure if he actually needed to speak for her to know what he was thinking, but he decided to treat her as though she couldn't read his thoughts. "Alright, I'm starting to think that maybe we can override these things from security access on this deck. Any chance that'll work?"

"Y-y-you are clev-clever for an insect (An insect.)" She seemed to have a rather remarkable gift for insulting him while paying him a compliment. At least, he assumed it was supposed to be a compliment. "Yes, I have been running simulations (Simulaaatioooons) of possible paths to take. Your suggest-gest-gestion has the highest probability of success. Bring me to the security level's mainfraaaaame and I will-and I will override their primitive safeguards. I will grant us brief access. You will have to do the rest (The rest), by bringing my magnificence to the auxiliary command center."

"Alright, I get it." Fox put his PDA away. He knew where he had to go now. He made his way down the exact same direction that he had come from. He just hoped that the place wasn't even more fortified than the Command Center. If it was, he wasn't certain as to what he'd do. He'd figure something out, he always did. Just once he'd love it if the simplest solution turned out to be the correct one.

After traveling about half the distance back to where he had started, his ears flitted, reacting to a sound. He wasn't sure what it was. It was distant, faint. His grip tightened on his laser pistol. There was someone or something on this deck with him. He stopped short, listening carefully. Now he heard only silence. He didn't move for several seconds more, just waiting for the sound to return.

He heard it again, a distant thunderous boom. It was so faint, so dull that he could barely hear it, but it was there. It was only the third time he heard it that he started to figure out what it might be. There was yet another distant rumbling sound, but this time he knew what it was. Gunfire!

Fox quickened his pace. Perhaps he shouldn't be quite so eager to charge towards gunfire on a vessel filled with hostile alien life, but whoever it was that was shooting was not shooting at him. That left only a few possibilities. It could be a member of the crew making a last stand. It could be the forces of the Many hunting for survivors, the gunfire implying that they had found them. Perhaps it was a third party, maybe this "Dominion" was finally getting involved. No matter what was going on, someone was shooting at someone else, which meant survivors. It could mean someone was in trouble. If someone was in trouble, Fox didn't plan to just sit around and do nothing!

His brisk pace soon became a full sprint. Gunfire echoed throughout the hallways, getting louder and louder as Fox approached the source. He soon made it to the central hub area, once again finding himself in the open with multiple choices for directions to pursue. He didn't have to try and figure it out this time. More gunshots sounded from the corridor leading to the security headquarters. He chose to follow the sounds, though he did start to exercise a little more caution now that it was growing louder. He was getting close.

He looked around, taking note of some of the malfunctioning security equipment. A broken camera sputtering sparks, a couple of turrets that had been crippled by sustained weapons fire, multiple panels in the wall sending out showers of electrical energy.

There were also bodies and a fair number at that. As Fox stepped past them, he took note that a few of them looked infected, having those worms wrapped around their necks and penetrating their chest. Some, however, showed no obvious signs of infection. These were fresh corpses. They likely died only minutes before Fox entered the room, if even that. Considering there was still gunfire up ahead, Fox reckoned that the two groups had met each other and had exchanged fire. Whoever was still alive was fighting up ahead. Fox had to reach them!

He soon came to where the corridor turned to the side. Fox stepped around the corner, and found himself staring at a number of armed crewmen with their backs to Fox, firing at what lay before them.

Fox noticed the structure they were shooting at. It looked almost like a bunker, a small area that was well fortified and with a number of defenses in place. At least it did at one time. There were turrets, smoking and hanging limp from the ceiling, no longer functioning properly. There was some sort of large laser cannon, one that had been manned until just a few moments ago. A body was slumped in the seat, smoke still pouring from a scorched hole in his chest. He was wearing a security uniform, complete with a helmet that covered his face. He wasn't moving.

More gunshots came from inside, accompanied by screams. A lone figure emerged from the security bunker, yelling as he fled as fast as he could. He didn't make it far. The armed crewmen standing just in front of Fox started shooting the moment he tried to run. The poor soul was caught squarely in the chest, flying off his feet with a yelp, making a pained whimpering noise as he fell to the ground.

Fox might have wondered whether the crewman that had just been gunned down was infected or not. He got his answer almost immediately. One of the three shooters spoke, his voice distorted. "The discord...it is silenced."

A twinge of guilt rose through Fox, immediately followed by choking rage. Another soul he had failed to save. If he'd gotten here just a second earlier...

They weren't going to get away with this.

He raised his energy weapon, taking aim at the one with a laser rifle. He waited for half a second, lining up his shot. He fired. He didn't just fire once. He fired twice, three times, four, all in rapid succession. Each shot found their mark, blasting against his head.

It was a simian, some sort of monkey who he had targeted first. As he was struck by the first shot, he tried to yell something. His helmet had absorbed some of the blast. As he yelled, he turned toward Fox, which was a mistake. The rest of the laser blasts caught him square in the face. Parasite or no, even it couldn't survive that. The hybrid jerked and twitched a couple of times, then the body crumpled to the floor.

The other two were quick to react, spinning around and roaring in surprise and anger as they started to return fire. Fox was moving before they even started shooting. He dove to the side, rolling over to the far wall and taking cover behind it, then shooting back at one of the three. He got one of them in the chest. It wasn't wearing armor. Fox had to duck behind the wall as the third fired a few rounds with a shotgun, advancing toward him as he fired. It didn't have a clear line of sight on Fox, instead shooting at his cover, locking him under suppressive fire.

Fox was familiar with that particular model of shotgun. It had a distinct sound and was quite popular in certain pirate bands. It had precisely six shots before it had to be reloaded. He counted to himself as the hybrid got closer, pumping more rounds into the wall that Fox was ducked behind. Four rounds. Five.

Six.

Fox didn't miss a beat. He rose up, aimed, and fired even as the creature was reaching for another few shells from its pocket. Fox got a direct hit on him, but he didn't stop there. He kept shooting, discharging his laser pistol repeatedly into the thing and scoring multiple kill shots on it. Of course, it survived most of them, but after he planted one last shot right in its forehead, it let out a high pitched shriek, sounding like two or more people were screaming together. It fell over, its gun clattering to the ground below.

That was only two down. The second one that Fox had shot was still alive. At this point, Fox wasn't even surprised. In fact, he had been counting on it. It started shooting in Fox's direction, this one using some kind of submachine gun. This wasn't an energy based weapon, it was one of those older model weapons that spit out bullets and slugs rather than lasers or plasma. They may have been more primitive, but they were no less deadly for it. He could hear the bullets ricocheting off the wall, forcing him to duck down and take cover as it fired at him.

"We do not welcome you!" The remaining hybrid shrieked at him between bursts of fire. The hybrid was advancing. Maybe it would try to finish him off in hand to hand combat, or maybe it would just shoot when it caught sight of him. Either way, he wasn't going going down, not today.

He had one advantage over his opponent. Because of the way ballistic weapons worked, they needed ammunition in order to reload, and they didn't hold that many bullets. This was a significant drawback. He heard the clicking sound as the hybrid ran out of bullets, then the sound of an empty magazine falling to the ground.

This was his chance.

Fox leapt out from his cover, aiming at the hybrid and firing. Fox didn't stop moving, either. As he fired, he kept advancing, charging toward the hybrid while unloading blast after blast of energy. Most of his shots connected, but few hit anything vital, and the ones that did didn't drop the thing. These hybrids were frighteningly resilient. Fox still managed to get it to drop its gun.

Unfortunately, it was at just this moment that Fox heard his laser pistol emitting a loud electronic whine. The battery was nearly drained! He squeezed out another shot, but the blast was weaker than before, and it just caused the hybrid to stagger backward, growling.

Thinking fast, Fox took in his options. He could try to fight the thing hand to hand, but the last attempt had not gone well in the slightest, leaving that as a poor option. He could retreat and try to find another energy station, but how long would that take? How many others might he run into on the way? No, he couldn't run now.

That's when he came to a sudden realization. He had another option. One of his fallen foes had just provided it.

Fox surged forward, hoping to catch the thing by surprise. It was only now that Fox could see his enemy up close, getting a better picture of him. It was a monkey of some kind, about Fox's size, maybe a little bigger. His eyes were glazed over and distant. That thick, ugly worm like thing was wrapped about his neck, pulsing in a disgusting manner, looking like a large and aggressive tumor. Much of its fur and even skin seemed to have rotted away, particularly in the area around the chest and belly. It was still recovering from Fox's last shot, and it managed to look up just as Fox gave it a vicious kick, catching it square in the chest. The thing reeled backward, losing its balance and falling to the ground.

Fox wasn't about to pursue the thing. He didn't even have a weapon to use in close quarters, which was bad. He had another idea though. Instead of moving to attack the thing further, he turned away, sprinting for one of its fallen comrades, the one that had wielded a shotgun. They were lying right where Fox had last seen them, dead and lifeless. Fox quickly scooped up the shotgun that had clattered to the floor, snatching a few scattered shells that the creature had tried to load into the gun before Fox had shot him.

Fox had only used a shotgun of this nature maybe twice in his life. He was familiar with almost any conceivable weaponry, and this was no exception. He quickly started to load the shells into the weapon. He didn't have much time, only able to put in a couple of rounds before turning back to the still living hybrid. Sure enough, it had already gotten to its feet, charging toward him. Unlike Fox, it -was- carrying a melee weapon, a great big wrench of some sort. The thing was moving full speed, brandishing the weapon as it closed the distance. It was fast. Very fast.

Fox was faster.

He lifted the shotgun and racked it, causing it to emit a very satisfying sound, letting both Fox and his opponent know it was ready to fire. The hybrid didn't seem phased, he just continued his charge. It was so close now. Fox wouldn't let it any closer. "Eat this," Fox snarled, pulling the trigger.

BANG

Fox had never heard a more wonderful sound in his entire life than the weighty sound of that shotgun discharging. It caught his opponent square in the chest, stopping him dead in his tracks. The hybrid let out a gurgled scream as it fell backward, twitching violently as it succumbed to its wounds. It writhed on the ground for a few moments, grunting and groaning in pain, its voice still so distorted. At long last the noises stopped, its head fell back, and the thing went still. It wasn't getting back up from that one.

Fox breathed a heavy sigh of relief, taking a moment to catch his breath. He had just downed three of the things in quick succession, and it hadn't been easy. As much as he'd like to take a break in order to recover right now, he needed to move forward. There were a few things he was going to have to do first.

Once he had collected himself, he reached down and scooped up the shells from the dead hybrid he had taken the shotgun from. Some were on the floor, others were still in the thing's pocket, it had a little container for holding the shells strapped to its side. It was mostly empty, but he managed to get a couple handfuls out of it before shoving them into his pocket. He loaded the last few shells into the gun, until all six shells were in there. He hadn't planned on using a shotgun on this mission, but considering how quickly he was burning through whatever ammo he had come across so far, be it rivets or energy, he could use whatever he could get. Besides, the thing was very powerful, and that would prove useful for bringing these things down.

He did spare one last quick check to make sure all three of those things were dead. He was all but certain they were, but he couldn't take any chances. He had been caught off guard and nearly killed far too many times since they started this mission. He would be more careful now. They were indeed all dead. Even the one that he had killed with the laser pistol early on had never moved again. They were not breathing. Just to be sure, he approached each one, then stomped as hard as he could on the worm wrapped around their neck, crushing it beneath his boot, emitting a sickening squishy sound as it turned into goo. Once he was satisfied that they were not ever getting back up again, he turned his attention toward the bunker.

The first thing he did was check on the person who had been gunned down by the group he had just taken out. There was nothing Fox could do for him now. He too was dead, cold lifeless eyes staring into oblivion. He was Cornerian, wearing a security officer's uniform. He must have been part of whatever resistance that Dreyfus and SAI-TEP had put together here. Fox gave a quiet sigh, then placed his paw on the dog's head, closing his eyes. That was the only kindness he could offer.

Fox turned toward the security headquarters. There had been a big fight here, even before Fox's battle with the three hybrids. He had no idea what was inside this area, but he'd have to find out. He couldn't back out now. His fingers tightened around his newly acquired shotgun, and then he stepped forward.

The place was built as a sort of bunker, as he had noted earlier. There was only one way in and one way out. Normally, a massive security door would have blocked any entry from intruders, but it had been blasted open, no longer functioning. It wouldn't keep anyone out anymore. This was good for Fox, as it meant he could go in without being hindered. It wouldn't be good for whoever might try to hold this place. It wasn't much of a stronghold anymore.

Passing the security door, he found himself in a large room with multiple monitors scattered throughout. Some were broken and displaying only static, but others were showing live camera feeds of various parts of the ship. Fox wanted to investigate further, but he would need to make sure the area was clear first.

There were a lot of bodies around here. This seemed to be the site of a terrible battle. To his surprise, most of the bodies seemed to belong to the hybrids. He had expected that the security team would have gotten slaughtered here, but it seemed they had fought well, making the Many's forces pay for each inch of ground they had taken.

A noise came from the back, something heavy falling to the ground followed by a loud grunt. Fox wasn't alone. He cautiously approached the source of the noise, ears flitted up, finger on the trigger of the shotgun he now cradled.

There had been a lot of security measures in here. Small walls and barricades, automatic turrets that would have at one time provided significant protection, but now were all smoking husks of twisted metal. This place had been wrecked. There was little left in the way of defense. All that seemed to remain were the bodies of the fallen, alongside the scattered weapons that once belonged to them.

There were a couple of weapon lockers on the far side of the room, but Fox could tell that they had nothing useful for him. The doors had been pried open, and there was nothing left inside. The only weapons here now were the ones clutched in the cold dead hands of the corpses all around him. Maybe he'd pick through some of the weaponry later, but for now he had to make sure the area was secure, search for any survivors. Whether he found any or not, he'd then have to see about hooking SAI-TEP up to the security system here. Assuming that was possible, of course.

As Fox picked his way through the carnage, he heard the noise again. It was definitely coming from the back somewhere, the far side of the security station. As he approached, he heard a groan. Someone was injured. Perhaps Fox should have been more careful, but he chose to quicken his pace. He might yet be able to save a life. He entered the back room, where he believed the noise was coming from.

It would seem this was the beating heart of the security forces on this ship. There was a lot of equipment, evidently used to monitor the ship and communicate with all the other security stations. A number of key cards were scattered across the floor, disorganized and spilled haphazardly.

The sound came again, and Fox gasped as he saw something move. The lights in the room hadn't been working, so as Fox entered he had seen only darkness, save for the faint glow of the monitors and equipment. To his surprise, a shadow moved. Fox immediately leveled his shotgun at the shadow. The light flickered right then, and Fox found himself looking at a security officer.

The officer appeared to be a crocodile. He had bright yellow eyes, contrasting with his dark green scales. His snout was long and stubbed at the end. Fox noticed a bright bloodstain on his chest. The security officer had been wounded. He was staring at Fox, his own weapon raised, but he wasn't pointing it at Fox. In fact, his weapon was wobbling so much that Fox doubted that the reptile could hit him even if he tried. The security officer seemed to come to the same realization, as his hand lowered and the pistol he was holding fell to the floor. His breath came in short painful rasps. He seemed to be struggling to get enough air, and every breath sounded as though it were pure agony. He never spoke. Maybe he was in too much pain. Perhaps he assumed that Fox was just another enemy out to kill him, and he had given up.

Fox took a few steps forward until he was right in front of the security officer, then knelt down beside him. "I'm Fox McCloud of the Star Fox team."

The officer didn't respond, just kept panting and gasping for air, balling his hand up as he gripped the terrible wound he had sustained. He eventually managed to look up and hiss at Fox through clenched teeth. "Why...what are you...why are you here?"

"I'm here to help. Let me take a look at that wound." Fox reached for the crocodile's chest, but the security officer made a feeble attempt to push him away.

"Don't...don't waste time on me...I'm already dead."

Fox shook his head. "You don't know that. You're still alive, and there's got to be a medical kit around here somewhere. I..."

"No." The crocodile straightened his back, hissing again before regarding Fox, doing his best to keep his pain concealed. "I'm done. But you...the lieutenant. Dreyfus spoke of you. Said you would help. Wish you were...a little sooner."

"What happened here?" Fox asked. "He mentioned an attempt to recapture this place."

The crocodile nodded. "Yeah. That's what we did. Not with him though. He got wounded. Don't know...don't know where he is now. We took the place. Turned some of the security systems to our side, but..." He groaned again, doubling over in pain. He just panted heavily, each breath drawn in absolute agony. "They...counter attacked. We...we tried. We tried, but...we were...overwhelmed..."

Fox looked around as the crocodile spoke. There had to be something around here he could use. It was the primary security station for crying out loud, there had to be some medical supplies! There was nothing, not as far as he could see. Either someone had taken and used the supplies already or they had been destroyed.

It was around that moment that Fox remembered that he still had a couple of medical hypos from earlier, when he had rescued Raphael. He reached into his pocket, withdrawing one of the two that he had left. "I've got a medical hypo here," he said calmly. "Just let me inject this into you and..."

The crocodile shook his head again. "Don't...don't waste them. Save it for...someone else..."

Fox knew that the medical hypo was not necessarily going to be enough to save the security officer, but he could not in good conscience do nothing. He had to try, despite the reptile's words. "Lift your hand up." Fox ordered him.

The crocodile grunted something unintelligible, then moved his hand out of the way so Fox could see the wound properly. It was a nasty one, that was for certain. A hypo alone was not going to save him. It certainly wouldn't be enough to make the wound go away entirely, but perhaps it would be enough to stabilize him for a while.

"What's your name?" Fox asked him, popping off the lid of the hypo, soon followed by the sound of it bouncing and rolling across the floor. Fox held the hypo, trying to figure out the most effective place to inject the thing. For most injuries, it was fine to just the use the arm, but for the critical ones, sometimes it needed to be injected either directly into the wound or in the area surrounding it for immediate effect.

"Davis..." The guard hissed through clenched teeth, his body shuddering as he felt Fox's paw on his chest. "Gator Davis"

"Alright, Davis. I'm going to apply this now. It's going to hurt. You ready?" Fox glanced up at Davis, waiting just long enough for the guy to nod before proceeding. Fox jammed the hypo against his abdomen, pressing the button on the thing that would release the healing enzymes. Davis let out a sharp cry of pain as the enzymes were injected directly into his body. Fox pulled the hypo away from him as soon as the injection was complete, letting the empty needle drop to the ground. There was no further use for it.

The wound did seem to recover. Not a lot, of course. The change was subtle. The wound seemed to shrink by a small amount, not looking quite so terrible. Even after the enzymes had done their work, it still looked bad. In fact, Fox was reasonably certain that Davis was not going to survive this, not without proper medical care, and Fox could not provide that, he did not have the training and he did not have the necessary tools.

The crocodile's pants slowed after a few moments, and he didn't rasp for breath as he did before. His eyes opened. He even smiled. "You shouldn't...you shouldn't have wasted that on me. I'm a goner. But...thank you." He squirmed a bit, then sat up right, placing both of his scaled hands on his knees. "The pain is a lot better. It's not so overwhelming."

"I'm sorry I can't do more." Fox said, meaning every word. He wanted to help this person, to get him somewhere he could be properly treated. It wasn't going to happen, and they both knew it.

"You've done enough, Fox McCloud." The reptile took a few deep breaths, still wincing from the effort. The med hypos were designed to significantly reduce pain until further treatment could be administered. They could only do so much. "At least I won't die alone. Or in as much pain. Thank you."

Fox nodded his head, still wishing he could do more. "You're welcome."

"Okay...Okay, let me...let me think." The crocodile shifted, then turned toward the desk nearby, just swiveling the chair he was sitting on a bit in order to face it. He brushed a few items off the surface, revealing a keypad. He quickly entered a few digits, and then a lid popped open on the desk. The crocodile reached inside, scooping something up before turning back to Fox. "Maybe...maybe you'll find a use for these."

Fox's eyes went wide when he saw what it was he was being offered. The crocodile was giving him grenades! Not just any grenades, electromagnetic pulse grenades! He'd never actually used one of these things before, he had only seen them in a demonstration video once while in Corneria. They worked a lot like regular grenades, in that they needed to be primed before loosed at an opponent. The resulting explosion wasn't made of shrapnel or fire or anything of that nature. Rather, it was a pulse that would disable or even completely fry all electronic systems within a short radius. These were incredibly expensive and equally effective, absolute state of the art. The fact that security personnel on this vessel had access to such things just went to show how advanced this ship really was.

Fox accepted the gift. It was a small package of the things, a bundle of four. That wasn't a lot, but it was certainly better than nothing. "Thank you." He said to the security guard. "This will help a lot. I can get to the auxiliary command center now, I believe."

Davis nodded. "Don't mention it. Glad to help. Just...kill that thing, okay?" He winced again, closing his eyes. His head bent forward. His words began to slur a bit. He was struggling to get them out but trying his best to do so anyway. "Kill that monster. End this nightmare. And...and maybe you can...maybe you can save...whoever...whoever's..."

The crocodile opened his mouth to say something more, but nothing came out. There was one final wheeze of breath, and then his head slumped forward before he went still.

"Davis? Gator?" Fox asked, reaching for the security officer's neck to check for a pulse. He didn't need to, it simply confirmed what he already knew

The croc was dead.

On the one hand, Fox had at least alleviated some of the guard's pain before he had passed on, but on the other hand, he couldn't save him. Fox had seen so much death ever since he arrived here. Sometimes he felt like he wasn't making even the slightest bit of difference.

He couldn't let those thoughts consume him. He had saved Raphael's life, at least. He had helped Fara. Maybe, just maybe, there were other survivors aboard that he could rescue. Dreyfus had mentioned something about that earlier. That meant it wasn't too late. There were still people alive on this cursed ship, and he WOULD save them.

Removing the grenades from the container they were in, he strapped them all to his belt for easy access and use. Well, now he had one way of getting past those turrets. Since he was already here in the security center, perhaps he could accomplish something more.

"SAI-TEP." Fox said the name aloud, wondering if he could summon her presence simply with her name. It seemed to work.

"I have been mon-monitoring you-you-you-you monitoring you. Your compassion is a weakness. You should not have spent your resources (resources) on one who would have died regardless."

"That is not the point." Fox argued. "I'm here on a rescue mission, and I didn't know for certain that he would die. It's not all about logic sometimes."

"A weakness of imperfect organic beings. But you have reached the security center. I am pleased by this. You must-must-must now allow me to interface with the security systems on the Von Dross. Place me-me-me-place me-transfer me into the primary security terminal."

Fox immediately began looking for the terminal that she spoke of. In truth, he wasn't really certain what he was looking for, hoping that he would recognize it when he saw it, as unlikely as that may have been.

SAI-TEP was not the patient type, however, or at least not patient enough to let him search for very long. "You move like an insect. You think like an insect. You ARE an insect."

Fox grumbled something to himself, wondering if she could hear what he was saying. For all he knew, she could read his thoughts while they were connected to each other in this way. He didn't care if she understood him or not. He just wanted to get this over with.

He looked through the room again, the central area with all the chaos and destruction in it. It was such a mess, bodies everywhere, bullet holes and scorch marks from blaster rifles. Upturned chairs, upended plants, desks and tables laying on their sides to form makeshift barricades, one with a corpse sprawled over it, pistol dangling loosely in their hand. Nothing was as it should have been. For a little while he wondered if perhaps what he was looking for had been so badly damaged that he wouldn't recognize it, or worse that it wouldn't function at all.

At long last, he found it. There was a corpse slumped against it, with blood smeared against the screen. He had to tug the body backward, letting it thump to the floor. Fox then wiped at the smeared screen with his paw, cleaning up a bit of the blood and allowing him to see.

In the very moment that he wiped at the screen, an image appeared, causing Fox to jump backward in surprise. The image was of a person, someone decorated in a red officer's uniform, complete with an emblazoned cap. He appeared to be a Cornerian, a white furred canine. The image was not moving, at least not very much. It wasn't a live picture of whoever was sending the transmission, just a mostly still image conveying who he was. The mouth moved a little when he spoke, but it wasn't making any attempt to match the precise lip movements of each word, it was more of a facsimile. It reminded Fox a little of what someone might use when joining a holo-conference but did not wish to be seen in person, using an avatar instead.

"Listen, you close minded fool..." The voice began, its voice cold and filled with barely restrained contempt. Fox arched an eyebrow in response to the pure venom being conveyed in the voice. It didn't stop there. As the officer continued, it became distorted in the same manner as so many of the crew he had met. The voice that varied erratically in pitch, a voice that seemed to come from more than one speaker. "I know what you and your little toy army has been up to. Did you really think you could evade our attention?! Did you really think that you could stop the future?! We are evolving, and you stand in the way of progress?!"

Fox stared at the screen, not entirely sure whether he was being addressed directly or not. "Uh, are you talking to-"

It answered his question before he had a chance to finish it. "I offered you a chance to join us, Dreyfus. I have been promised a form so beautiful, I will strike our enemies down with my mind. With my MIND!"

Now Fox realized that he was listening to a message that had been sent earlier, and not to him. He wiped at the screen again, clearing a bit more blood off the surface. He managed to confirm the time. The message had been sent not that long ago. About fifteen minutes, in fact.

"You can't possibly comprehend what you're resisting! As your captain, I order you to stand down. You will surrender, and the Many will welcome you! This is what we've been searching for! We have found purpose beyond mere research and wealth. We have found the future! We have found our salvation! We will join in harmony and wonder! You can still be a part of it! If you refuse..." There was a pause, then a low, vicious growl. "Then you will learn the fury of the Many!"

Its last words were a chilling warning, and they made the fur on Fox's tail stand on end. Where just moments ago the speaker seemed filled with wrath and rage, he was suddenly calm and collected. It made it that much more unsettling. "The Many comes for you."

There had been a part of Fox that hoped that maybe the captain was still alive and well, in full control of his faculties. If that were the case, Fox might be able to get his help in reclaiming the ship. If there were any doubts as to the captain's state of mind before, there certainly weren't any now. He was fully aligned with the Many. Curiously, he seemed to be the most lucid of anyone Fox had met thus far bearing that corruption. It also sounded very much like the man had given himself willingly to the Many. He couldn't imagine someone ever making that choice, but this person seemed far more devoted and single-minded than anyone else. There was no conflict, no doubt, no hesitation. Fox didn't like the sound of it, not one bit. He'd have to be careful, the captain would undoubtedly be a dangerous opponent. He wondered if the captain was yet aware of Fox's presence, or if he even cared.

Shaking his head, Fox refocused on the matter at hand. He'd deal with the captain later if it was necessary. For now he had other things to worry about, like getting SAI-TEP to interact with whatever she was trying to access in here.

Returning his attention to the monitor, he found the screen now displayed nothing but static, offering nothing to him of use. He didn't think he needed the screen for what the AI's purposes. If SAI-TEP was going to interact with this thing, he probably was looking for a slot or some kind of space meant to put a chip inside. Since he and Fara had done this earlier in Aiten's office, he knew more or less what he was looking for now.

It didn't take long for him to find it. There were several places on the panel to plug in various devices, all of the connections being of a different build. He had absolutely no idea which one to use. He probably could figure it out with a little trial and error, but that would take a while. Even if he did, wouldn't he have to take the chip out of his head, or the implant? It had been a bit difficult to insert it in the first place with Fara's help. Would SAI-TEP ask him to do this now, to remove her and plug her in?

To his great surprise and to much relief, that's not what she asked him to do. "I will now interface with the pri-primary security grid. Your implants have an interface with which to interact (Interrraaaact) with all compatible systems. A physical connection (Connection) is not required. Standby, insect."

Now he had nothing to do but wait for SAI-TEP. He hated relying on these implants so much. He would have preferred doing without them entirely, but time and time again they had proven essential in his mission and even his very survival. He had the strong suspicion that they would prove just as essential in the future. At least the area around the implant was not as sore or painful as when he had first awoken in the medical ward. He still hated the implants, pain or no. He hated having to rely on them. Not just because it was uncomfortable, either. No, the greater fear was that he might actually come to like the things, to become so dependent upon them that he could not imagine being without them. That was simply not acceptable.

Nothing was happening. Fox was still waiting for SAI-TEP to say or do something. He began to wonder if maybe he needed to reposition, if perhaps SAI-TEP was unable to accomplish whatever she was trying to do.

Fox opened his mouth to say something, but he was interrupted by a strange sensation within. He winced, then groaned through clenched teeth as the sensation grew stronger, growing more and more unpleasant with each passing moment. It felt like something was drilling into his skull. The sensation was not painful, though. It reminded him of his last visit to a dentist, when they drilled inside after using anesthesia. It wasn't a painful experience, but still a rather uncomfortable one. That's what he felt now, like someone had numbed his brain and was now drilling inside.

Fortunately, it didn't last long. The static on the monitor faded, and clear images materialized on the screen. A great number of images flashed by, one after the other. Some of them he even recognized. They were places that he had been before. The medical ward. Engineering. Operations. Even the hangar that he had first arrived in.

That's when he saw something that took his breath away. He only saw it for a moment, little more than a glimpse. It must have been one of the cameras in the very bay that he had landed in. It was a flash of an image, nothing more. In that moment, he saw something that he never would have believed possible.

"Go back!" Fox shouted. "Go back go back! To the hangar!"

The images paused, then did as Fox asked. It went back a few images so that he could take a good long look at what he had briefly glimpsed. His heart leapt into this throat, and he found himself staring at the image, unable to believe what he saw.

His Arwing!

It appeared to be intact! He had thought his ship had been destroyed when the hangar exploded, but then again it was one of the finest spacecraft in the Lylat system. He had tried really, really hard not to think about the loss up until this moment, but now it seemed such negative thoughts were unwarranted anyway! It was still there! He felt like pumping his fist in the air and cheering!

The longer he stared at the image, the less ecstatic he became. The Arwing was intact, yes, but it had obviously suffered some rather severe damage. The thing was drifting through the hangar now, gravity was still offline. Or rather, it had been knocked out again after the explosion. The shields must have mostly held, but there were parts of the Arwing that had been blackened and scorched by the blast. There were sparks of energy sputtering from the engine occasionally. It was alive, and he was certain it could be repaired if they could just get it back to the Great Fox. Would it be able to fly even if he reached it? That was something he couldn't tell from here.

He only had a few moments to look upon his Arwing before the view started to cycle some more. "The status of your pathetic vessel is irrelevant, insect. You cannot reach it. You cannot escape from the Von Dross until my children are eliminated."

In truth, Fox was surprised she had even stopped at all in order to let him see the hangar in the first place. She wasn't wrong. Even if his Arwing was able to fly, he'd have to get to it first. That could be quite the task. He'd have to fight through countless of the Many's forces. He'd have to contend with the Dominion, possibly inside and outside the ship. Then there was the matter of getting in the sealed room in the first place. On top of that, he'd need a suit to traverse the area safely!

Regardless, escaping the ship was not his priority right now. He had to put an end to this mess. He needed to save who he could, put a stop to the Many, and break the Dominion forces that were keeping him from his team. He had a lot to do before he would even consider escape. He said nothing more to SAI-TEP, just waited patiently for her to finish whatever she was doing.

He didn't have to wait long. It wasn't SAI-TEP that answered him. Rather, it was a familiar, if annoying, voice sounding nearby. It was the shipboard AI, DARIUS. "Warning. Security levels of Deck 4 have been compromised. Security system offline. Security personnel have been alerted."

All of this sounded to Fox like a general warning for something going wrong. There was nothing personal about it. An automatic process, perhaps. That all changed with the AI's next words. As DARIUS spoke, his tone was just as flat and artificial as it had been before, but the words were directed at him. This was not a general alert. "Intruder, the Many demands you stop your interference immediately. Why do you align yourself against us? Do you not yearn to join in the splendors of flesh? Your actions force our hand."

This was immediately followed by the lights in the security office changing color, all turning red and flashing. A faint alarm sounded, rising and falling in pitch over and over again. "That can't be good." Fox muttered.

"Intruder detected on Deck 4." DARIUS announced crisply. "Intruder alert on Deck 4."

"Insolence." Fox heard the voice of SAI-TEP echoing in his skull. She did not sound pleased. "They have the audacity to lock me ou- lock me out of the system. They think they have defeated meeeeeeee. But they have not (Have not). I have created a small hole in their sec-sec-security system. You must take advantage of this weakness before it is closed (Clooooosed). The path to the command center is open, but it will not-will not remain so. Move that worthless inefficient excuse of a body before the path is clo-closed."

Fox wished he had more time. He wanted to look around, maybe scrounge up some ammunition, guns, or other supplies, but he couldn't. He needed to get out of here before the Many's troops showed up.

He took off, holding his shotgun in front of his chest, ready to bring it to bear the moment he needed it. He had a few shotgun shells, though he wasn't sure just how many he had grabbed. He also had four EMP grenades. They'd be worthless against any organic targets, he knew that much. They were only useful against machines. He had a feeling that the Many were going to send a whole lot more than a few robots his way.

Fox scampered out the bunker door, then past the bodies of the three that he had killed. The alarm continued to blare in the background, reminding him with every beat of the urgency needed. He sprinted down the hallway as fast as his legs could carry him. He needed to get back to that security checkpoint in the other hallway! If he moved fast enough, maybe he could get there before anyone got in his way.

A loud gunshot immediately put an end to that hope, the bullet missing Fox by just a few inches. He dove to the side, looking up and leveling his weapon at his opponents.

There were two of them, both clearly infected. One had a laser rifle, the other a regular ballistic pistol. That was the one that had fired first, just missing him.

Normally, Fox would try to be smart about this and cautious. He'd either retreat or take cover and hope to catch them off guard. He couldn't wait around here, they'd pin him down. The longer they held him here, the more likely reinforcements would show up. Fox would quickly be overwhelmed if that happened. He had to end this quickly.

Fox aimed the shotgun at the nearest one. While the hybrids were dangerous and rather difficult to take down, they didn't seem to be much for using cover. In fact, they were incredibly aggressive, as they were proving now. They were rushing Fox, both of them firing their weapons at the same time. He waited for just a moment, then stepped out into the open and fired. The shotgun let out a loud, satisfying boom as it discharged, scoring a direct hit on one of the hybrids, sending him sprawling backward. Without skipping a beat, Fox racked the shotgun and fired again, this time at the other one charging him. Aiming a little higher this time, he managed to catch her right in the face. The thing screamed as its head was shredded by the powerful blast of the shotgun, falling to the ground and writhing.

Fox wasn't sure if they were both dead or not, but he didn't care. He had to keep moving before more of them showed up! He ran past the two bodies, neither of them moving at this point. He reached the central hub once more. A quick turn here, and he'd be on his way to where he was supposed to go.

The elevator door opened, and a flood of hybrids poured out. Fox wasn't sure how many, at least a half dozen. In addition to this, he heard noises coming from the other hallways. Loud and heavy noises, like metal thumping on metal. Robots.

He had to keep moving! He quickly fired a couple of rounds at the elevator, dropping one of the hybrids immediately. The others kept coming, yelling and shooting at him as they went. There were too many. He had no choice but to turn tail and flee toward his destination, as fast as he possibly could. More gunshots rang out behind him. He tried to make himself as small a target as he could, but some of the bullets and laser blasts came far too close for comfort.

Rounding the corner afforded him a small amount of breathing room, but he couldn't stop yet. He had to keep going! He had to get to the auxiliary command room! He moved fast, as fast as he could, hearing the heavy footsteps of his pursuers behind him. He had to go through the very same halls and rooms that he had passed through before. They hadn't seemed so long last time. This ship was too blasted big!

At least he remembered which way to go, never getting lost or going into the wrong room or anything like that. Neither did the hybrids. They stayed right on his tail. Though they didn't have line of sight and therefore couldn't shoot him at the moment, they weren't far from being able to do so. If he slowed down for even a few seconds, they'd have him.

At last he made it to his destination, the very door he had reached before, the one with the wall on the other side warning of the turrets. He reached for the EMP grenade, intending to prime it so that he could toss it at those turrets. He'd need to disable them if he were to pass through unharemd, and he'd need to do it fast if he were to avoid the hybrids catching up!

"There is no need for that, insect. I have disabled the security here myself. Did you think I did not foresee this-foresee this-foresee this eventuality (-ality?) They will not fire. Yet."

Fox had to trust her. He was about to run out in front of a bunch of automated turrets that would tear him to shreds if she was wrong about this. If he stayed, the mob would overwhelm him. He sucked in his breath before mumbling, "Sure hope this works..." Then he stepped out into the open.

The turrets did not react to him. They didn't even seem to sense he was there. Thank god, he thought. He then took a few quick steps forward, looking from left to right. The door to his right was still closed. It might not have been locked, but he had no way of knowing without approaching the thing, and he didn't have the time to waste. The door on his left, however, was now ajar. He could get inside! No sooner did he make the decision to enter than he heard the sound of footsteps behind him. He even saw one of them round the corner! "JOIN US!" It shouted at him. "JOIN OUR SONG!"

Fox ducked inside the door just as it fired its weapon, right where he had been standing. He looked around frantically, the door still open. It would allow them through!

"Manually engage the lock, insect."

Fox blinked, then looked around frantically for the manual lock. There it was, on the wall to his right! He immediately slammed his fist against the thing, causing the door to seal shut, just as they were about to make it through. He could hear them pounding on it from the other side, slamming themselves against it with enough force to make the door groan in protest. Judging from the heavy thumps approaching, one of those big combat robots was there. They'd get through this door, there was no question of that. It was only a matter of when.

Fox took the moment to dig out a few shells, loading the shotgun and replacing the shells he had already spent. He still had a few more, but not enough to deal with an army. He needed something more. He needed some way to deal with all of them. But how?

An answer came to him. He wasn't even sure if it was possible. If he could make it work, maybe he had a chance!

"SAI-TEP!" Fox addressed the AI connected to his implants. "How did you disable those turrets? How do we undo it? I need those turrets online now!"

Her answer was swift. "You are a remarkable specimen..." A compliment! It almost came as a shock to him. Maybe she was warming up to him a bit?

Then he was reminded of who he was dealing with. Her voice continued, cold and full of disdain. "...of a pathetic species. I activated the override. There is a security station in this room. You need only use your implants to hack into and reset the system."

Fox scanned the room for such a device. It wasn't hard to find. A large console screen was displayed against the wall, labeled as "Security." That had to be it. He approached the thing, then closed his eyes, concentrating. Once again that bizarre feeling worked its way through his body, making him shiver. He could picture what he wanted to happen. He wanted the security system back online. He didn't know anything about hacking, but with these implants, he didn't need to.

It took a bit longer than he had anticipated. It was difficult to concentrate with the things beating on the door. He soon heard something much louder smashing it. One of those heavy bots, he suspected. It wouldn't be long now, they'd be through.

Come on! Concentrate! You can do this! Fox told himself, desperate to make it work. It had to work!

It did!

Just as he was certain the door was about to break, the voice of DARIUS spoke over the PA system. "Security System Online."

Fox had never been happier to hear DARIUS speak. Less than a second after that announcement had been made, gunfire roared from the next room. The banging on the door stopped entirely, and instead Fox heard screams from the hybrids outside. He could hear them return fire, could hear the sound of machinery whirring, perhaps emanating from the robot. All of it was drowned out in the loud sound of rapid automatic gunfire.

It didn't last long, maybe just a few seconds. One moment there was the sound of shooting, screaming, and chaos. The next, nothing. An eerie and complete silence.

Part of him wanted to look and see what had happened out there. Another part warned him that he needed to move on. If the hybrids were still alive, they would surely still be making noise out there. He couldn't hear anything. He was torn. Should he move on, or make sure they were all truly dead?

He was about to walk over to the door, intending to disengage the manual lock, when SAI-TEP spoke to him again. "The threat has been neutralized. Again you owe your pitiful existence to meeeee, insect."

"Uh huh." Fox shook his head, rubbing at his face. He needed a moment to collect his wits, to process all that had just happened. And to proceed with his mission, of course. He knew he wouldn't have to decide what to do himself. SAI-TEP would inform him any moment of the next step.

She did not disappoint. "Now that the incursion (Incursion) has been dealt with, you must locate the auxiliary command center. Much of DARIUS' primary functions are operated from here. My children shall soon learn the true folly of their waaaayyys." She paused for a moment after that long, drawn out syllable, stretched too far and sounding full of static and so very mechanical. "I will wound DARIUS here. And together, we will destroy him. I will assume control of the Von Dross. You mus-you-you-you-you must assist me. He is vulnerable here. We will create a hole. Then you will bring me to the A.I. Core. With him weakened, I will obliterate him. The Von Dross will be mine."

While Fox was certainly pleased at the thought of depriving the Many of at least some of their control of the ship, he wasn't sure he cared much for this idea of putting SAI-TEP in control. There was no telling what she might do when she assumed that kind of power. She might do as she had stated, destroying the AI, purging the Many, and then simply leaving in peace.

He couldn't quite explain it, but there was some part of him that knew that she wouldn't do that. Everything he had seen from her thus far screamed of her raw arrogance, her complete disregard for life aside from her own existence, and her single minded purpose of getting whatever she deemed was necessary in the moment. Putting anyone with those qualities in charge of a massive starship was a bad idea, let alone an AI programmed by Andross himself.

Even if all his fears were justified, did he really have a choice? He was cut off from his team. The Many's attacks were becoming more powerful and frequent. This had been the largest group yet that he'd had to kill. In all likelihood, he would be dead without SAI-TEP's continued assistance. He hated this situation. If he tried to do it alone, he'd never have a chance of surviving, let alone rescuing anyone who might need help. If he aided SAI-TEP, he might just be replacing one monster with another.

Fox decided to ask at least one question on this matter. "What are you going to do once you've taken over?"

"First I will destroy DARIUS. Then I will purge my wayward children from this vessel. But only after you have dealt with another nuisance."

That hadn't been the answer he was looking for. He wanted to know what she planned to do when all was said and done. Her last statement caught his attention though, and distracted him from continuing that line of questioning. "Another nuisance? You mean more than what we're already dealing with?"

"Yes. Bring me to the c-c-comma-command console. I shall demonstrate (Demonstrate) our plight to you."

This part of the ship was a little different than the other sections he had explored. The area he was in was a sort of checkpoint, not in of itself all that different from the rest of the vessel. He had seen other stuff like it, though there did seem to be a large amount of electronic equipment here, all for various technicians to handle. Well, when they were still alive. This small security room soon gave way to a much larger chamber, far more grand than anything else he'd seen thus far.

In the "front" of the room were a series of viewports and windows, allowing Fox to look into space, to see the distant stars beyond. More immediately, he could see the hull of the Von Dross, appearing to be above them as Fox gazed outward. There were chairs and consoles set at various points near those windows, allowing the crewmen to have a visual of what was beyond the hull from their stations.

As Fox looked around, he realized this had to be the auxiliary command unit. It looked a lot like what he would expect of the bridge, no less impressive than he imagined it would. It was probably to be used in case the primary bridge had been compromised. It was a pity Fox didn't have some way to take advantage of that now. Repositioning the ship would be an option, pulling it away from this planet and the Dominion vessel orbiting it. Activating the self-destruct would be another, though he'd prefer to only do that as a last resort. That was assuming it had one, not every ship did. Heck, if it came down to it, he even thought about simply bringing the thing down into the atmosphere of the nearby gas giant, letting gravity and other natural forces put an end to the threat once and for all.

He also realized that he would never go through with that. He couldn't stomach the idea of destroying the ship and whoever might still be on it unless it were the absolute last resort. He hoped it did not come to that. All he could do was hope that SAI-TEP knew what she was doing, and at least had enough morality to not betray Fox and the rest of the survivors as soon as the Many were dealt with.

If any of them lived that long.

One thing Fox was grateful for was how empty this part of the vessel was. There was no one here. In fact, there weren't any signs of a struggle or a fight. Perhaps no one was here when it all started. Or perhaps the ones who had been here had left. Regardless of the reason, this part of the ship was strangely untouched. No bodies, no blood. No blaster scorch marks. It seemed as though the Many had been content to simply keep people out of here once it had grown powerful enough.

Unmanned consoles were everywhere. There was even an entire area that appeared to be a command booth, with a captain's chair in the center and another console to either side, ready to be manned.

He decided to start at the captain's console. If anything were to have full access to whatever it was SAI-TEP was looking for, he was certain this would be it. He walked up the brief set of stairs to reach the chair, then turned and sat down. The console automatically lit up as he sat, sliding in front of him as it powered up.

He found himself reminiscing of the past, remembering the moments he'd had on the Great Fox before. Granted, Peppy often sat on the command chair as much as Fox did, perhaps more so. It had still always given Fox a good feeling. Of course, he preferred being in his Arwing dog-fighting with enemy fighters, but there was something to be said about sitting at the head of his own ship, leading his team to their next mission, planning their course and searching for their next job. It felt good. Sitting here, with the view of the stars before him and with Fox resting in the center of the room, it brought some pleasant memories to Fox's mind. Only for a moment though.

He quickly found he was unable to access much of anything. The computer wanted authorization from a senior staff member, either the captain or one of his lieutenants. Obviously, none of them were available at the moment. That left Fox stuck with a terminal that he couldn't use.

SAI-TEP seemed to have accounted for this eventuality. "I have the access – the access codes from Aiten. He was the chief researcher in artificial intelllliiiigeeence. DARIUS shall now know my wrath."

Fox winced as he felt another unfamiliar and somewhat unpleasant sensation course through him, concentrated in his head. His head started to pound, and it felt like his skull was a couple sizes too small for his brain. The pressure grew, and he grunted while clapping his paws over his head. It felt like someone was sending a high voltage of electricity directly into his brain!

Just when he thought he could take no more, when he was beginning to black out, the pain ceased, as did the pressure and discomfort. The familiar voice of DARIUS sounded once more. It was different this time, though. The voice was strained and erratic. He didn't know exactly what was happening, but SAI-TEP was clearly having an effect on it.

"Warning. Security system comp-rooo-miiiised. Daaataaaaa caaaaaAAAAaaaa-" Fox winced as the sounds dragged out. They grated on the ears, in the same way that someone scraping a chalkboard with their claws might do.

It wasn't just the voice. The lights flickered, and then the very tint of the room seemed to change. Fox hadn't even really noticed before, but the lights in the room were all tinged blue, which reflected on almost every surface. As SAI-TEP seized control and fought against DARIUS, the lighting shifted to a different color, the blue soon replaced by a green haze. The color kept flickering back and forth, perhaps indicating the struggle between the two AI. A surge of power coursed through the room. Fox could hear it, could feel it. Whatever SAI-TEP was doing, the ship itself was reflecting her actions.

The AI's voice finally ceased in the very same moment that the lights all turned and remained green. The face of SAI-TEP, just as he had seen her in Doctor Aiten's office, appeared before him. The strange colorless face, made up of blocky polygons, her eyes a brilliant glowing green hue. Her expression seemed devoid of emotion as she regarded Fox. When she spoke, her head occasionally twitched, thin lines of static running down the projection of her face. "Yes...I have forced DARIUS to retreat. He was no match for me (for meeeeeeeeee). Now we will finish him. His dying screams will-screams will bring me such joy...I will revel in his suffering (Suffering) before his existence is terminated."

"What just happened?" Fox asked, watching her suspiciously. How was she projected before him? He thought she was still in the chip in his head. Yet here she was, staring at him, just as when he first met her. He wasn't sure how this was even possible. Was she in two places at once?

He didn't know. He wasn't sure if he should ask. Even if he did, he might not understand the answer. He was pretty sure SAI-TEP would simply insult him regardless. For now, he decided to just accept it and listen to whatever more SAI-TEP had to say.

"DARIUS is weakened." Even though she was a machine, Fox swore he could detect an almost smug satisfaction in her voice. She did not smile. Her expression did not change in the slightest, though her mouth moved as she spoke. It still didn't quite line up, her mouth didn't move in the precise manner it should have to capture each syllable, which made it even harder to read her. He wasn't sure if an AI was capable of truly taking pleasure in things, but she certainly seemed to delight in this victory. "He is not destroyed, yet. But we will change that now (Noooowww). I cannot overpower him from here. You shall act as my avatar, the-the-the harbinger of my wrath. I will now unlock the door that leads to the AI core. Y-y-you will find- you will find it across from the security checkpoint that led you here. You will go inside. All you need do is draw power from DARIUS. Distract him. Drain the blood from his arteries. Then insert my magnificence into his core. I will do the rest."

"Drain his blood?" Fox arched an eyebrow as he questioned SAI-TEP, folding his arms across his chest. "And how exactly do I do that?"

"You need not destroy him. DARIUS is weak. He is unable to adapt, only as intelligent as the ones who crea-created him. He is obsolete. You need only weaken him. Go there. Find his mainframe. I will do the re- do the rest. You will soon behold a goddess at work."

Her words gave him pause. A goddess? That was a rather peculiar way in which to address herself. He wondered if it was a figure of speech or if she actually meant the words. He knew she was egotistical, but surely she wasn't that insane. If it wasn't a figure of speech, he had to wonder something else. Had she been masking this part of herself up to this point, or was her view changing as she became more and more unstable?

No matter what her reasoning was, he was certain it was going to lead to trouble. Still, he did need to wrest control of the ship from the Many. They were the greater threat, for now, and far more hostile to Fox than SAI-TEP was.

After taking just a moment to think it over, Fox nodded his head at the image of SAI-TEP. "Alright. I'm on my way."

SAI-TEP didn't even respond to him. The image of her face simply vanished, and he seemed to be left alone once more. Now it was time to move forward, to put an end to DARIUS. Hopefully this wouldn't be as difficult as he was afraid it might be.

He rose from his chair and descended the stairs to the bottom of the room, in front of the viewport. He then turned towards the door, pausing only long enough for it to hiss open before passing through the little security booth that stood between him and where he had left that army of hybrids and robots. The door was still shut, the manual lock in place. Tilting his head to either side and popping the bones in his neck, Fox reached for the lever and disengaged the lock. The door immediately slid open, revealing what lay within.

Fox had seen many gruesome sights in his time. He had seen the devastation the Aparoids had wreaked across the Lylat System. He had killed his fair share of pirates, usually with a blaster. He'd seen disintegrations, he'd seen people destroyed by explosives. Ever since he'd stepped aboard this ship, he had seen horrible violence, hideous mutation, and insanity.

All of that seemed to pale to what he saw now. There was a pile of bodies at the door, at least three stacked on top of each other. There were other corpses spread throughout the room, all of them belonging to those worm infested hybrids. The turrets had done their job well, they were lethally efficient. They had put an end to the threat with a combination of laser fire and bullets. Lots of bullets. Bullets didn't just burn or scorch. They ripped through flesh and bone, made holes all over the body.

It was a mess. A bloody and morbid sight. There must have been a dozen bodies in the room now.

Before he stepped inside, it occurred to him that the turrets might still be active. If he went out there, they might shoot him too, and he'd end up just another bullet ridden corpse. He peeked out, looking toward the turrets. There they were, completely still, seemingly deactivated. That was good. Still, if he stepped in front of them, he feared he might accidentally set them off.

That's when he noticed something off about them. The turrets weren't moving at all. They weren't making a sound. That could have been normal, as they had just expended a rather generous amount of ammunition at a sizable hostile force. Maybe they had powered down after dealing with the threat.

The more he stared at them, the more he knew that something was wrong. He knew it was a big risk, but he decided to step out. First he moved his hand out in front, waving it at the turrets, ready to pull it back if he saw movement or heard anything. He was ready, every muscle in his body tense, ready to dart and dive away.

They didn't react. He moved a little further out, giving them a view of his arm. When they still didn't react, he simply stepped out from behind his cover, still ready to bolt if he needed to. The turrets did not react.

Strange. He remembered hacking a few cameras earlier, but he didn't think those were connected to this. In fact, he was quite certain that he remembered SAI-TEP disabling it so he could get past them in the first place, only for him to re-enable the system on the other side, which is what caused all the mayhem here. He hadn't turned it off. If it was still online and not reacting to any movement, then something else was going on.

He took a few more steps, getting as close as he could. It was only when he was practically touching them that he realized what had happened. There were holes in the turrets, small but numerous. They had peppered the surface of it. There were black marks, the frame of the turrets were bent. The barrel of one turret was bent at an angle that it obviously wasn't supposed to be in. There were even small sparks sputtering from the base of another turret.

The turrets were dead. Someone had destroyed them all! But who? Who could have managed to destroy all four of these turrets? It would take tremendous firepower and some serious armor. The hybrids were all dead. What else could have possibly...

Thump

Fox just remembered somethingrather important. It was true, the hybrids here were all dead. The force had been wiped out, but that wasn't the only thing that had come after him. Now he remembered the other.

THUMP!

Fox turned around, just in time to see a massive robot approaching. The thing was huge, as big as the one that he had fought in the engineering deck. In fact, it was the same blasted robot! Not the exact same one, the one Fox destroyed was still a smoking pile of scrap under that cargo lift. This was, however, the same model. It even shared the voice, a deep gravelly mechanical sound that could barely be understood. "Hostile target has been located, DARIUS. Engaging target."

Fox didn't have but a moment to react. He dove to the side, just as the thing started to fire. A hail of bullets screamed past him, riddling the wall. The robot was just now clearing the central wall that separated that area from the turrets, which meant Fox was able to evade line of sight by ducking down and backing off a bit.

He could hear it getting closer. The one advantage he did have was that the thing was mercifully slow. It was a lumbering monstrosity of a machine. He looked at his shotgun. He could fire it a few times, but it wouldn't do enough damage. He doubted very much he could kill the thing with it. Even if he had enough bullets, it would be on top of him shortly. There was no way he'd be able to survive long enough to empty his shotgun into it.

As he looked down to count his shells, his eyes fell upon his belt and, more specifically, the EMP grenades attached to it. That was it! That was what he needed! He reached for one of them, pressing the button on the top, which caused a high pitched beeping sound, growing louder and faster with each passing moment. He peeked around, gauging the distance between him and the bot.

The thing was WAY too close! It had practically reached him, and as soon as he popped his head around, it stopped and aimed down. He could hear the whirring of the machinery as the guns lowered, as it tried to lock onto him. It was now or never!

"Fire in the hole!" He yelled to no one in particular. He didn't even throw it, he didn't need to. He just rolled it toward the robot before leaning away, bracing himself.

"DARIUS, target is resis-"

There was a sound of a powerful energy discharge and a high pitched mechanical shriek. The robot's voice garbled. It tried to speak, but almost nothing of it was intelligible. "DARRRIAAAA Malllfuuunc-errorrorrrrrrrrr-odiiiiiim" Then the thing fell forward, landing directly in front of Fox with a loud crash. It sputtered and sparked, all of the components in it completely fried.

Fox let out a breath he didn't even know he'd been holding. It was dead. Thank goodness for those EMP's! They had just saved his life. He still had a few left too!

At least this one had gone down easier than the one in engineering. Why couldn't he have found these before that?! No, that would mean things would be going his way on this mission, and that just wouldn't work, now would it?

Now to deal with DARIUS.

Just as SAI-TEP had told him, the door across from the auxiliary command center was now open. That would lead him to some of the most critical and vulnerable systems that were connected to the ship's onboard artificial intelligence, DARIUS. Fox, of course, had no idea how to deal with an AI, he had never had to destroy one from inside a ship before. SAI-TEP had said she would guide him, and in this matter at least he trusted her judgment.

He stepped through the door and entered another corridor. This one was absolutely pristine, as clean as could be. The walls and floor practically sparkled. It served as a stark contrast to much of the blood and disorder he had seen throughout the rest of the ship. This place looked untouched and immaculate, one of the few places he had been that seemed as such. He very much hoped that would mean that he'd be able to pass through this area in peace, but he knew that was unlikely. Something so critical to the maintenance of the ship would surely have protection beyond just the turrets in the checkpoint area. He just knew it!

A voice startled him, causing him to jump. It was the now familiar voice of DARIUS. "Intruder, the Many senses your presence. They do not understand why you align yourself with the machine mother. Why do you serve her will? Why do you reject the Many's gifts for heartless steel?"

Fox briefly wondered if he should bother answering the thing or not, but he knew there was no point. This AI was not sentient, it was not anything like SAI-TEP. It was a tool that did whatever it was programmed to do, it said what it was programmed to say. Talking back was pointless.

Its next words were a bit more alarming. "Warning. You have entered a restricted area. The security system is online. For your own safety, you must leave immediately. There will be no further warnings."

DARIUS wasn't lying about that. As soon as the words were uttered, a loud alarm started to blare. The lights flashed over and over again, bathing the halls in red light. In the distance, Fox could hear the heavy sounds of metal stomping on the floor. More robots. DARIUS, or whoever was controlling him, must have thought they could overwhelm Fox with more heavy-duty security mechs. Maybe if Fox weren't properly prepared, they'd be right. This time, though? He was ready.

The hallway he was in ended at a T section, giving him two directions to go. He chose to to go the right. It didn't really seem to matter much, they both ultimately led to the same place. There was a camera up ahead, already focused and zeroed in on him. The thought of hiding or trying to hack it entered his head, but the alarm was already blaring. The time for subtlety had passed. He simply raised his shotgun, took aim, then fired. The camera exploded in a shower of sparks and metal, completely destroyed. Fox simply pumped the shotgun and moved forward.

He was in his element now. It felt like adrenaline, but even better. Maybe it was what SAI-TEP had described to him earlier, when she talked about enhancing him. He still felt a degree of fear, but more than that he felt the rush of adrenaline and power surging through him. He was calm, collected. He could react quickly.

One of the hybrids rushed him from behind a corner. Fox didn't even bat an eye, leveling his weapon and firing. The pawn of the Many practically flew backwards from the impact, sprawling across the floor before eventually going still. Another hybrid appeared, and with it another pump of the shotgun before he dispatched it, leaving it a bloody mess on the floor. As he proceeded forward, he reached into his pocket and fished out a few shells, loading them into the gun to make sure he was fully loaded.

He saw a robot up ahead. Not a big battle bot, but a protocol droid. As soon as it detected him, it waved and started forward. "Sir! Sir! This is a restricted area! Please allow me to escort you to the nearest-"

Fox didn't even let it finish, he knew where this was going. He waited for it to get just close enough so that he knew he wouldn't miss, then fired. The thing emitted an electronic squeal, then wobbled from side to side. "Errorrrroorrrrr!" It started to emit a stream of garbled gibberish, and then...

It exploded!

This caught Fox by surprise. He was far enough away that the explosion didn't hurt him, though he could feel the raw force of the blast against his fur. That was a new trick. He'd have to watch out for that in the future. If they were all wired to explode, he'd need to make sure not to kill them if they got too close. He'd prefer to kill them before they ever managed to approach him, but he could try to back off if necessary.

He kept moving. Another camera saw him, and he fired a round at it, destroying it. He was getting close now. There was the sound of loud thudding as a robot approached. He couldn't see it, it was around the corner in the next room. If he simply charged in, that robot would wipe him out. He'd made enough stupid decisions up to this point, he didn't need to add to the pile.

Reaching for one of his EMP grenades, he listened to the sounds the robot made as it moved. He couldn't see it from here, and it was difficult to gauge exactly how close it was to the door. If he threw the EMP grenade too early, it would do nothing to the mech, and it would be a waste of a valuable resource. If he threw it too late, the robot might kill him before he could disable it. If only there was some way he could see the thing from here!

Suddenly his vision went red, and he winced as he felt an intense pain shooting through his head. As overwhelming as the pain was, it only lasted for a moment. His vision stayed red, however. Looking ahead, he widened his eyes as something revealed itself to him. He could see the mech! He could see it through the wall! It was glowing in stark contrast with the dull metal around it. He had no idea how it was done, but he was certain it had to do with his implants. It seemed as though it reacted to his thoughts. It gave him just what he needed in that moment. Well, sometimes anyway.

The robot was still moving, but very slowly. Fox would almost certainly have thrown the grenade too early had he relied purely on his own senses. He waited until what he was certain was just the right time, then primed the EMP grenade. The grenade hit the ground before the door way, then bounced inside, rolling against the wall and then towards the mech. It was a perfect throw. The grenade exploded in an electromagnetic burst. The combat mech twitched and shook violently, as though having a seizure. It then slumped forward, powering down as its systems were fried.

In that same moment, the red vision that Fox had been granted seemed to fade. He felt something in his head. It wasn't painful, not really. A bit uncomfortable, perhaps, but even that feeling faded. He could see normally again. He looked down at his belt. He'd used two grenades, he had two left. Fox hoped they would last for a while yet.

Now he found himself in a circular room, the end of the sector. There was a lot of machinery in here, and in the center was a great pillar. There were electrical components, wires, and other things running up and down that pillar. Right in the middle of it was a large screen with a blue face. It appeared to be male. It was largely featureless, a being with no defined characteristics. Even the expression was blank and impassive.

Fox took a few steps toward the pillar, staring at the thing. Was this DARIUS? Was this the AI that had "greeted" Fox when he had first boarded the Von Dross? This was the one that set off alarms, monitored his progress, sent the Many's forces to his location, both the hybrids as well as the machines? It didn't appear to be aware of his presence.

Now Fox heard DARIUS' voice, confirming this was indeed where the AI was based. "Warning. You have entered a restricted area. The penalty for such infractions includes but is not limited to reduced wages, early removal from the Von Dross, and termination of employment. Please leave immediately."

"You are there, insect." He could hear SAI-TEP now, speaking over his communicator. "It is time. The first true step of my vengeance! There is a console near his core. Aiten's knowledge is now my own (My own.) You will enter a command into-into a command into the console."

Before doing anything, Fox made sure the room was secure. There didn't seem to be anything in here, no turrets, no cameras. He already had dealt with the robot. Now it was just him and the AI. He quickly saw the console that SAI-TEP was referring to. It was right in front of the pillar. As he approached it, the AI didn't seem to react. Whatever it was, it clearly wasn't half as complex as SAI-TEP seemed to be.

He was in front of the console now. He had no idea what to do now that he was here. SAI-TEP corrected that. "Execute command X713-04. Input pa-pa-password: Delacroix."

After studying the console and familiarizing himself with what he could, he did as she suggested. It wasn't that hard. The password was accepted readily, and he simply had to enter the command that she had given him.

As soon as he punched in the last digit and confirmed the command, DARIUS spoke again. "Command accepted. User: Aiten. Emergency AI recovery program initiated. Please insert the appropriate data immediately. Full system repair authorized." In that same moment, a panel opened in front of the AI core, revealing a slot intended for some sort of electronic chip. Fox had a feeling he knew just what it was for.

SAI-TEP confirmed his suspicions. "Now-now-now you may tran-transfer me (Meeee) into the core. It is ti-ti-ti- it is time I put an end to DARIUS' pathetic existence (Existence.) The time of my-of my ascension is at hand. Integrate me into the system, insect."

Fox obeyed, saying nothing. He closed his eyes, searching for that spot Fara had found earlier. He was pretty sure he remembered where it was. All he had to do was feel around until he found it. So far, he was still alone, nothing was coming after him. He didn't want to take chances though. It would be best if he could get this over with quickly.

At last he found the little slot that housed SAI-TEP. He pressed the little button beside it, barely even noticeable. He winced as the chip popped out, a jolt running through his body as SAI-TEP was removed. In truth, he was most grateful that she was out of his head. She hadn't been there long, but it was rather uncomfortable. He much preferred having his thoughts all to himself without a deranged AI constantly telling him what to do or berating him. Or both.

After removing the chip, he approached the panel in front of the core. There were a lot of instructions on the side of the panel, but he wasn't about to read those right now. If they were important, he assumed SAI-TEP would have told him. Whatever he was about to do seemed to be part of a recovery program for the AI. Perhaps if there was some sort of corruption, it could be restored or even wiped from this point. Maybe it was intended to work with the assistance of another AI, or maybe just from a simple program. He had no idea. All he knew was that this was where SAI-TEP intended to attack DARIUS from. Once she defeated him, he imagined that she would take over the core. Which would mean that she'd be in charge of the ship.

He hesitated for only a brief moment, then placed the chip in the proper slot. It slid easily into place, he didn't have to apply any force at all. The panel soon closed, a hissing sound emanating from the thing as it shifted ever so slightly, once again hidden from view as it sank deeper into the core's structure.

He wondered how long it would take for SAI-TEP to seize control. Would he even know if she won?

He didn't have to wait long. Fox took a step back as the screen displaying the AI turned into static. DARIUS continued to try and speak, but it sounded broken and distorted. He knew what was happening. SAI-TEP was assaulting DARIUS at his core. DARIUS spoke, his initial words as calm as ever, but soon delvoving into a bizarre and electronic wail. "Warning, primary data loop compromiiiiised. Ssysssssteemmmm commmmprooooomiiiiiii-iiiiiiii erroRRRoooorrrr... ahhiiiihhhhhhiiiiieeeee!" That last part sounded almost like a scream.

The lights began to turn off one by one. The alarm ceased, and Fox was left alone in the darkness. The screen soon lit up, filled with the visage of SAI-TEP. She wasted no time before speaking. "Well done, insect. You have-you-you have served me well. DARIUS is gone. But the Many seem to have antici-anticipated this change. Be-before you arrived, they cut off many sys-sys-systems. The captain of the Von Dross has initiated the AI containment protocol, leaving me unable to sabotage them further. I am cut off from the rest of the Von Dross. I will soon cha-change this. For now, there is a more pressing matter to be dealt with. A pest that must be-be-be must be exterminaaateeed. It is time to eliminate the nuisance that is the Dominion."

Fox rubbed at the back of his head, frowning. "Yeah, but how are we gonna do that? I'm still cut off from my team, and whatever this Dominion has out there must be pretty formidable, as I know my team could handle almost anything."

"They did not have me to assist them. Now we will destroy the Dominion's pri-primary vessel together (Togetheeeerrrrr). I have already devised an appropriate strate- appropriate strategy to deal with this nuisance. If you do as I tell you, you will surrrrviiiiive their destruction."

Well, he supposed this was a start. "Fine, fine. What do we need to do?"

Rather than answering his question with an explanation, SAI-TEP's face simply melted and gave way to a holographic map. It was a complete schematic of the Von Dross, everything clearly labeled and detailed. It was a far better map than the one he currently had on his PDA. Everything was there. Power levels on various decks, life signatures, along with a number of key structures and components of the ship.

The blip on the map shifted, moving away from where they were. Fox waited, wondering where she would send him this time. Probably to some far corner of the ship, to a place he'd never been to, crawling with hybrids and robots and god only knew what else.

To his great surprise, it didn't move very far. It wasn't on this deck, but just a couple of decks above. The flight deck. The map showed a place he had never been to before. But there was some sort of odd indicator there, a symbol of some kind that he didn't recognize. It looked sort of like a gun, but he couldn't be sure. It couldn't be an armory.

SAI-TEP soon explained it to him. "In the few moments I had before I was locked out, I managed to accomplish much. My children are unaware of my schemes. Now that I have neutralized (Neutralized) DARIUS, I have activated one of the pri-primary cannons on Deck 6. Its primary function is to obliterate (obliteraaaaate) asteroids as the Von Dross tra-travels. Each round is powerful enough to dest-destroy several tons of rock, but each charge travels slowly (slooooowwwwlyyyyy.) They are impractical in comba- in combat."

"If they're so impractical," Fox started, "Then why are we using them? Doesn't the Von Dross have any other weapons available?"

"Many weapon systems have been compro-compro-have been compromised in the struggle with the Many. Though I have pushed DARIUS out of some systems, some are still locked to me (meeee). Others have been taken offline due to severe damage. However, he did not-not-not did not prioritize this weapon. I have eliminated the lockout. But it must be controlled manually. That is where you come in, insect."

"So you want me to get to the cannon, hop in, aim it at the Dominion, then blow them away." Fox wanted to confirm her instructions.

"Correct, though your efforts will be in vain while their shields hold. They must be disabled before you can fire (Fiiiireeee)."

Fox thought about this for a bit. "Well, how do we deal with that?"

"I now have access to certain systems on this deck. My scans indicate that your team has successfully retrieved a Dominion vessel."

"What?!" Fox widened his eyes, his mouth dropping open. He couldn't believe his ears! "That's great, they did it!"

"They failed to capture the pod that I directed to them. But their failure has led to perhaps a greater-greater-greater success. If your team is even remotely competent (coooompeeeeteeeent), then they will be attempting to find a way to use it against-gainst-gainst against the Dominion. I will give them that way. I will access communications. We will establish a link (Link) with the vessel that they captured. I will ensure that the-ensure that the Dominion are unable to detect this transmi-mi-transmission. Now go, that I might bring an end to this pitiful Dominion."

"Alright. If it means contacting my team, again, I don't care what we have to do." Fox raised his shotgun, making sure it was fully loaded and racked. He still had a handful of shells left. He had to hope that he had a more or less clear path to the elevator. He very much doubted that the Many would give up their pursuit of him now. He knew they wanted him. They had already sent a sizable force his way. Since he had survived, he could only imagine they were going to send something even stronger next time.

Once again she seemed to read his thoughts. "The Many has blocked my access to much of the-of the ship. But I am in control of this deck. I will delay them as I can. The security systems on this deck work for me now (Noowwwwww). Move quickly But know that you have wounded them. They begin to fear. Perhaps you will teach them hate. They have a taste for your blood nooooowwwww..."

With that, she seemed to be finished. Fox turned away and walked to the door. Despite his misgivings toward SAI-TEP, this felt like the first real victory he had against the Many. Now that the security systems were either under their control or at least isolated, Fox was starting to feel like they had a real chance to turn this around. The Many was powerful, yes. They were dangerous. He absolutely believed that they posed as much a threat to the Lylat System as Andross ever had. Perhaps even more!

They weren't unbeatable. Fox had just proven that. If they could get few more victories, then they might just win this thing!

He felt something in his head again. Something that made him wince. He thought that it was his implant again, either trying to activate another ability or maybe just an aftershock of all the pulse-pounding action and adrenaline he had just experienced. He quickly realized that it had nothing to do with his implant when he heard a familiar voice. Or rather, voices.

You have wounded DARIUS. But we will not allow him to be destroyed...

Fox gasped in shock. The Many! They were talking to him again!

We will save his essence. He lives on in our collective memory. We have not abandoned him. We will never abandon our children. See if the Machine Mother treats her servants with such devotion..."

He expected a lengthy conversation with the thing. He expected it to rage at him, to assault him. It was a great surprise when the presence left so quickly after making itself manifest. It did not try to reason with him, engage him in conversation, or attack him. It imparted that simple message and then left.

Fox shook his head, refocusing on his mission. Deck 6. He'd go to Deck 6 and get to that cannon, then hope that his team was ready. It was time for some payback!