A solitary ping sounded from the radar screen in the Great Fox II's bridge, Fox stepping over to look at it. He gazed out through the front window, into the darkness of space. Not much could be seen aside from the stars winking in and out of existence behind asteroids. Yet he looked closer, trying to spot where the ping was coming from.
He found it: a blinking yellow light on one of the asteroids. A radar buoy.
Fox narrowed his eyes. It wasn't an enemy radar buoy though; it was Cornerian. But that wasn't the unusual thing. It shouldn't be active anymore. Regardless, it reacted to his mothership. Several more pings sounded from the radar, with more blinking yellow lights on other asteroids. Little yellow stars winking in and out against the actual stars in the background. They soon numbered in the hundreds, little red pings all over the radar.
"It's active like they said?" Slippy stepped next to Fox, also looking at the radar.
"Seems that way," Fox replied. "NDT-4496 is active again."
NDT-4496: a remote early warning radar base established by the Cornerian Defense Force, set up in haste on a large asteroid in the Meteo asteroid belt during the months leading up to the Lylat Wars. Its mission was to detect Venomian forces using the asteroid field to sneak past defensive lines. But when the war ended, budgets and priorities were reshuffled towards rebuilding Corneria, and all of the base's personnel were quickly recalled planetside. Originally, the CDF had intended to send a team to recollect the equipment here, but the work simply got lost in the bureaucratic shuffle with all the reconstruction work, and following crises kept putting it on the backburner. With that, the CDF ended up leaving the base to decay in the coldness of space for years.
So why were the buoys coming back online now?
"The CDF think it's pirates?" Krystal joined the two of them.
"Probably, but they don't know for sure," Fox replied. "All they know is they've detected some systems reactivating here. Life support. Power. Central processing. Communications. First time they've gotten signals from this place ever since they shut it down. Nobody should be here. But they keep getting these garbled comms."
Fox displayed an example on screen:
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
CDF cryptographers speculated it may be a coded message, but if it was they had no idea what the cypher might be. Also, why would pirates send out messages? It was like they wanted the CDF to know they were there.
"No idea what this garbage means," Slippy said, "but with the right technical knowhow, whoever's in the base could tap into CDF comms across Lylat."
"Obviously, not a good thing." Fox turned around to face the group. "So let's find out who's behind this, stop them, and then wipe those systems."
"Yeah yeah," Falco leaned on a railing nearby, looking at the blinking buoys. "This kind of mission's not my style, but at least the CDF's lazy enough to pay us to do it for them."
Fox couldn't agree more. As always, Star Fox needed the cash flow. He stepped over to the comms station, making a call. After a few seconds, a green-tinted hologram shimmered into place, revealing a brown and white bulldog, wearing a green Cornerian officer's uniform with a military cap. "Rear Admiral McGrath?"
"Reading you, Star Fox," the bulldog officer replied. He had a gruff frown, although that was just the default expression of that dog breed, so Fox wasn't sure what his mood was. "I've been made aware of your CDF contract regarding NDT-4496. My battle group is operating nearby if you need assistance. I trust you're fine on your own for now, though?"
"Yes, we are." Fox nodded. "We'll let you know if we need something."
"Sure, but you'll be paying for our fuel," Rear Admiral McGrath chuckled, a throaty laugh that sent his jowls flapping. "Good luck out there." The hologram winked out.
"Of course." Fox sighed, glancing back at his team. "Well, let's go, but we should be careful. Something seems off about this one."
~X~
No one spoke during the flight to NDT-4496 in the Arwings, everyone dressed in full space suits. The base's life support systems were active, so in theory it should be safe to explore the base without them, but who knew how long it would stay that way.
More radar buoys lit up as they moved through the field, along with more pings on the radar. Fox didn't like this. If the base's radar systems were active, then they'd see the Arwings clear as day. And if someone attacked right now, Fox probably wouldn't be able to distinguish their ping from the radar buoys. He kept an eye out for potential bogeys, but nothing stood out amongst the blinking lights. It would almost be a relief if someone attacked, if only to break the eerie silence.
After passing another large rock, the base came into sight. Fox found it tricky to distinguish at first, given it was built inside a large asteroid. Protected antennae poked out of the top, plus some holes were artificially carved in the side to form docking bays.
Oh, and laser turrets.
The base had a lot of those around. They hung on like gray warts all over the asteroid. Unlike the radar buoys, these appeared to have no power running to them. Why pirates would activate the radar buoys but not the turrets, Fox had no idea. Sure, they were covered with scratches and dents from years of sitting in an asteroid field without maintenance. But if whoever was inside was crafty enough to reactivate systems, turrets weren't outside the realm of possibility.
"Can you sense anyone in the base, Krystal?" Fox asked over comms.
Krystal closed her eyes, putting a couple of fingers on her face plate. She waited about half a minute before opening her eyes again. "No one." She seemed to doubt her own reading. "The whole base is empty. With the absence of natural life here, any sort of mental energy should be trivially easy to detect, but I sense nothing."
Nothing at all? Fox looked into the dark hangar opening. He sensed a trap. "ROB, do you detect anything strange here besides active systems? Any explosive devices planted in the base?"
"Scanning," ROB droned. "The base contains explosives…" That raised everybody's eyebrows. "…but the devices are leftover ordnance for space fighters."
"If it's pirates, you think they'd steal those." Falco stroked his chin.
This got weirder and weirder. "Slippy, is there any situation where CDF computers would restart on their own?"
"I haven't gotten to work directly with CDF systems since the Academy, but not that I know of." Slippy narrowed his eyes. "If anything, I would think those machines would wipe themselves instead to stop intel leaks."
Fox didn't know what all of this meant, but they needed to investigate regardless. "Between ROB's and Krystal's scans, sounds like there's nothing dangerous in there, but I don't like this. Watch your backs once you're inside, guys."
The four Arwings engaged their maneuvering thrusters, passing through the hangar's atmospheric forcefield. Unusual it was only the forcefield pressurizing the hangar. Normally the bulkhead doors would be sealed if the base was left alone for long periods. Fox activated the lights on the front of his ship, with the other three doing the same. The illumination revealed a dark hangar with a few abandoned Cornerian fighters, along with stockpiles of spare parts, tools, and fuel for maintaining them. Relatively orderly considering how long this place had been abandoned.
The four of them found spots to land where they could amidst the debris and objects, activating magnets to hold their ships to the ground. Each one stepped out with a laser rifle at the ready. Fox switched on his helmet lights, but there wasn't much else to see besides what they'd already seen though, with many dust particles floating through the air. If somebody was supposed to be here, Fox didn't see signs of it. The dust over everything formed a uniform and undisturbed layer.
His lights cast over a circular insignia on the back wall of the hangar, revealing an eye jutting out of a giant asteroid inside a circle. NDT-4496 was written on the top of the outer ring, with the motto 'Ever Watchful' written on the bottom. While the slogan was meant to inspire patriotic feelings, it sure didn't feel that way to Fox right now…
A loud whirring sound caught everyone off guard.
Everyone spun around, leveling their rifles at the source. A power generator kicked in, as the hangar lights activated. Or at least the ones still intact. The four of them took cover where they could. Fox slid behind a cargo container close to a wall, peeking out from the side. No hostiles in sight. He started to step out, but a crackling sound from a speaker sent him scurrying back.
"Welcome," a pleasant female electronic voice said over the PA system, "to the NDT-4496 radar station. We hope your stay is a pleasant one. Please wait. The hangar deck crew have been notified and will be with you shortly. We apologize that no one was present to greet you."
Somehow, Fox doubted anyone would be coming. Or if they did, he would probably have to shoot them.
"Just a recording," Fox said over the radio. He held up a wrist monitor, showing the blueprints of the base provided by the CDF. A blinking dot indicated their position, and then a second dot indicated the base's control center, plus a line showing the fastest route. Simple enough. "Everyone got the map?" He got affirmatives back. "Okay, let's go, but check your corners."
Leaving the hangar, they entered a system of dark corridors, with only a handful of working lights along their route. Each light was a small island of illumination in a sea of darkness, giving the impression of walking through an almost empty void. Trash like boxes, chairs, and other random objects filled the corridors, requiring them to watch their step. Fox also didn't like how they passed by open doors every so often. Most of the side rooms didn't have any lights, leaving nothing but gaping black holes of darkness, even with the aid of their flashlights. Every single open portal was another potential ambush point. Not to mention being stuck inside this suit ruined his peripheral vision while also forcing him to rely on its external microphones to pick up sounds. But there wasn't much to hear, aside from their footsteps and the life support systems supplying air.
And still no signs of anyone having been here in the past eight years, the dust over everything undisturbed until they walked through it. Not one footstep besides their own.
They turned the last corner, coming upon a security checkpoint with a body scanner and a guard station, although no one was there and the machines were off. They walked straight through the body scanner with their full combat gear and weapons. Fox half-expected the scanner to go off anyway, but nothing happened. All that was left now was a set of double doors with 'Command Center' written across them, with one of the doors pried open, but not wide enough to let them through in their suits. Beyond the crack in the door, various lights winked on and off.
Fox tried to push the cracked door open the rest of the way, but rust held it in place. "Help me out."
Even with all four of them pushing and pulling together, it wasn't easy, the door sliding only centimeters with every push they made, the metal groaning in protest. But after a good effort, they had it open wide enough to get through, each of them taking turns to pass through the narrow opening.
Once they were in, Fox waved his light around. The command center room wasn't big, considering this was only a small outpost. A large screen on the far wall displayed the status of the radar buoys outside, plus radar signatures. No surprise, the Great Fox II was marked on the screen. Six workstations in two rows faced the large screen, in addition to a small, raised station in the back for the base commander, all of the computers switched on and humming along like nothing was out of the ordinary. And aside from a layer of dust and some trash scattered around, nothing looked amiss.
Well, aside from the fact that somebody may have come to this creepy place to turn on these machines. But why, and where were they now?
Fox shook his head. Not worth thinking about. Once they did their job, it wouldn't matter anymore and they could leave. Sooner the better, as far as Fox was concerned. He turned to Slippy. "Got that system wipe program ready?"
The toad smiled and held up a yellow disc. "Just gotta let this do its thing, and we're done." He jumped over to the commander's workstation, inserting the disc into a slot next to the monitor. The screen changed to black, flashing long strings of white text scrolling down, showing the program identifying all of the base's systems and wiping them one by one.
But then the text stopped generating. Slippy raised an eyebrow, typing on the keyboard, but the machine appeared frozen.
"Something wrong?" Fox asked.
"Umm…uh…" Slippy hit the keys some more to no effect.
Without warning, the monitor flashed black and white several times, a bunch of text scrolling over.
9XWPJtSPBnFZy5PLr76jEu1w7V2hDEAO4xaknaDTNI5zcgBMnWAbTcwg7UlVDwy3kNVkuxGUmBTdsfTwYcN3GhgO2M3k8giVU2e1TF6whzjUotHyrAfFdQZC0OSvmmtCpfflz1eduEtKmv5OB8Bw6YHGJVYjdgA2oCN5l7nWNbyym43HavWdoPD0hsmg7izg9b2huq50uv4VAunBzp8Aij5KEAJ5PNVy3IOTRvCS3fa8TOh0HElqoSPvxj2CZXrhvjmk1qTgbBFg5WWwCyXPNhNLP0lQvBnTpws8kwfiE2uV5YRMAxT3ASycQctIBHCTXdKTWTmB2i9uwa4ZMJewBSH5AccsgauwC7o6usAv4H9BVdqyBeGnOuc6NtLS3WyCGMiSTVS0EayWCuL0VCXmHGfSlUDKaK469LrOrwQuCr75Y06142tl4kSEOfPqOPGUv6HPlmIq4V8HRBfdoXhpYDFk4l27a3Sc3KNxkVFNasgBMQae
"It's this garbage text again!" Slippy kept trying the keyboard but it was like the computer had a mind of its own.
"Fantastic…" Fox sighed. Not so simple after all.
"Why don't we just fire one of the Great Fox II's missiles?" Falco asked. "That'd solve the problem too, you know."
"Those missiles aren't cheap Falco." Fox rolled his eyes. "Using one would wipe out all our profit on this job."
Krystal lightly gasped, closing her eyes, concentrating on something.
Slippy meanwhile focused on the garbage text to find a pattern. But if CDF cryptographers couldn't spot a pattern in this mess, how could Slippy hope to do it?
AgZ3IAfVWwhovv6WtAcdErbr5fmCZXFZz0rKKl59PfGTb7Er18PuB4GsjGCxp0IGPzXPtfLareAIfOTxGP1Zxo00bIvNB1QupBHMMgollILeVKKCn1AbuSpGFYWyoubloJNHsnvv
"The least it could do is show an error message," Slippy whined. "I can't tell what's happening."
"Fox…" Krystal opened her eyes. "I sense something. In this room."
Everyone stopped to look at her. A chill ran down Fox's back, as he turned to the rest of the room. They hadn't bothered to clear it first. Stupid! And this room was tiny. If somebody was in here with them, they'd be in spitting range.
He glanced down, trying to look into the footwell of a nearby workstation. It was the only place big enough for somebody to hide, but a chair blocked his view. He raised his rifle. Falco had the same thought, pointing his gun at a different workstation.
"No." Krystal shook her head. "They aren't there. It almost feels like a child's mind. But a very strange one."
QxUkeTV3u462O6DXWhat85ArexlqbmdNhKRstuYouOnQPDoingQtS8vCzHere1LUpyLxbCosByAYW9xjU
"A kid's here?!" Falco waved his rifle around, even more scared than before "Ooooooh no, nothing good can come from a kid being here! Like that one movie where the creepy kid comes out of the TV when you watch that one video disc!"
B2e What iAzYlZh Is 3OQBcTAS2 A BCjtlA3Iuv Child WtLya
"It's confused." Krystal closed her eyes again, trying to lock onto whatever the mind's signature was. "I think I'm starting to remember these thought patterns…" She opened her eyes, shaking. "No, she should be dead. Gone."
"She?!" Fox was getting antsy as he kept pointing his rifle around the room. What the hell was in here with them?!
"Aparoids. This is an Aparoid mind." She turned towards the monitor Slippy had been working on. Those random text strings weren't so random anymore.
Aparoid X6mOXtGSq07J4RDyOw I remember epBziMdbG7tcnaKbml that word
Krystal stepped over to the monitor, gazing at the text.
Fox saw it, marching straight over. "What are you doing here? I thought we killed you!" He flashed her teeth in anger.
Why 51453390055 did 70470893 you kill me?1674209463! What d336014id I do?!
"Fox, wait!" She pulled him back from the monitor. "I don't think she remembers anything. She really is like a child. An orphan. She doesn't know anything."
Fox clenched his fist. "But it's an Aparoid. You know what—"
WHY d409173u wa9640737 kiLL me?!
"Sssh! All of you!" Krystal put a finger up to her face mask. She pointed to cameras around the room, their lenses trained on the group. She passed Fox a little mental message over their telepathic connection. She's listening in on our comms, but she can't read us if we talk like this. They'd gotten better at talking this way from spending time together, thank goodness. Anyway, don't threaten her. Let's try to figure out more about what she's doing here and what she wants.
If this is the Aparoid Queen's spawn, I don't care what it wants! It needs to die! Fox seethed. We have to stop it here, before the infection spreads!
I understand how you feel, but I don't sense the same desire to consume everything the queen had. She seems lost and confused. Doesn't even know why she's here. She put a hand on Fox's shoulder. Please, give me time.
Krystal smiled, turning to the nearest camera. "My apologies, little one. Uh…" She spared a glance at Fox. "I think Fox confused you with someone else. Who are you?" Everyone else huddled around the monitor, waiting for it to 'say' something.
I don't emP know J3Y6 who I am LccehAuQhU9 I woke yAA up here Uvb 6zlvb no one U0PzA here ukGL scared x5yWGS
"Why did you turn on all the systems then?" Slippy asked. "Why did you send those messages to the CDF?"
Qv was tRX so alone 4pIfM wanted to IXI find gEvlq other people C3ny
"Is it telling the truth?" Fox asked Krystal, one hand on his laser rifle.
"Yes." Krystal shot him a dark glare. Also, are you forgetting? She can hear you. She shook her head, looking at a nearby camera for a second. She just wanted to find friends.
Fox's mouth slipped a bit, exposing his canine teeth. Aparoids… He hated them. For what they did to Corneria. For what they did to General Pepper. For trying to trick him with the likeness of his father and his other loved ones. When they killed the Aparoid Queen on her homeworld, that should've been the end of it. This had to be stopped—again—before it got out of control.
Krystal of course sensed everything Fox was thinking, and gave him a disapproving glare. Maybe you should wait outside.
He shook his head. I'm not leaving you out of my sight. Not with this thing.
Cx why are YJP you soCh mad FyE1I don't IHPk understand ndLAF
Fox figured that text was directed at him, but he couldn't be bothered to reply.
Slippy did it for him. "I'm sorry, he's just very upset about something else right now." He smiled. "Listen, you don't have to stay here alone. I can transfer you out of here." He held up a spare data stick.
Zb I can dQw LEAVE Gq ThIs place?! HR PLEASE TaKe ME!
"Slippy…" Fox raised his voice, just shy of shouting his name. "What are you doing?"
"She's only a child, Fox. She just wants friends." The toad sighed. "We can just get her out of here before we wipe the systems."
Fox glared at one of the cameras. There were a lot of awful things he wanted to say right now, but he knew this 'child' would overhear every word. He gestured for Slippy to hand over the data stick. The last thing he wanted was anything Aparoid-infected aboard the Great Fox II. To think Slippy of all people believed this was a good idea...
"I'm kinda with Fox here…" Falco spoke up, also looking at the cameras. "Maybe we should just do what we came to do?"
1A8why did you QF come here? what XO was the yellow thing fV7you put in me? Tx it HURT PTD HURTALOT!eMoKcK5zL
Slippy took the wipe disk out of the slot.
Fox growled, putting a hand on the toad's shoulder.
"It's no good anyway." He leaned in closer to whisper to Fox. "She's blocking it."
Of course it was blocking it. "Guess we need to give a mission update then." Fox tapped his radio. "ROB, put me through to the rear admiral."
While he waited for ROB to relay his connection from the Great Fox II to McGrath's CDF battle group, he stepped outside the room.
McGrath's image flashed into view. "Well McCloud, you need my help after all?" He chuckled, twirling a pen in his spare hand.
"Umm…maybe." Fox tried to rub the back of his head, only to remember he couldn't because he had a space helmet on. He awkwardly put his hand back down again. "There's a complication. We've found an Aparoid presence here."
"Aparoids?!" The bulldog officer dropped the pen.
"It's blocking the wipe program. We may need to take more drastic measures here."
"It doesn't want to hurt anyone!" Krystal shouted. She squeezed out through the command room's door, giving Fox an ugly side eye. "I sense it. It's like a child."
"Krystal, have you forgotten about what they did a year ago?" McGrath picked up his pen, grasping it hard enough to where he might snap it in half. "Get out of that base now. We're going to—"
"Wait, don't say anything else!" Krystal shrieked.
"I'm sorry, you're interrupting me? A rear admiral?" McGrath seethed, giving a small growl. "Do you have any idea how disrespectful that is?! I should pass my recommendation to the rest of the CDF to never hire Star Fox ever again, young lady! Anyway, I don't care if you're in there! We're going to blast that place into space dust with our cannons—"
"Fox! Cut the connection!" Krystal reached for his wrist comms device.
"—and for the safety of Lylat, that Aparoid has to die!" McGrath slammed the pen down on his desk.
Krystal looked up, a sharp intake of breath. "Oh no…" She looked towards the ceiling, spotting a stray camera they'd missed. "She heard that."
"Fooooox!" Slippy shouted from beyond the door. "It's going crazy in here!"
Fox and Krystal rushed into the command room. The same text was duplicated across all the monitors in the room, including the giant screen:
YOU'RE COMING TO KILL ME YOU'RE GOING TO KILL ME KILL ME KILLMEKILLME PLEASE DON'T KILL ME PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME I DON'T WANT TO DIECDDIEDIEDIE
An alarm siren blared through the base, red lights flashing on the ceiling, pulsing the dark room with crimson hues. The 'shouting' of the Aparoid disappeared from the monitors, replaced by new text.
LEVEL 5 ALERT
Activating automated security measures. Low power. WARNING: diverting energy from essential life support systems. Bypassing safety checks. Skipping pre-checks 34 through 76.
A loud whooshing sound echoed through the base, coming from the hallway that the team had used to enter the room. Suddenly Fox was blown off of his feet, only managing to grab a handrail just in time before being sucked away. The suction force pulled everything that wasn't nailed down straight towards the open door, blocking the narrow opening with stray chairs, boxes, and other debris. Fox grit his teeth, hanging on for dear life. But as quickly as it started, it was over, although now he was floating weightlessly, the junk that was clogging the door flying all over the place. His laser rifle hung by its strap from him, threatening to fly off. Everybody else was floating around as well, hanging onto whatever they could find. No more ambient noises, besides his breathing and his comms.
His suit's sensors warned him that all of the room's oxygen was gone too. Good call on the space suits at least, he supposed.
"Well, that was a fun ride…" Falco chuckled.
Krystal had her eyes shut, fingers pressed to the side of her helmet. She shook her head. "Why did McGrath have to say something so stupid? That Aparoid didn't want to hurt anyone, until we did this!"
"It doesn't matter anymore!" Fox clutched at his rifle before it could fly away. "You heard what he said. He's gonna blast this place into space dust, whether or not we're gone!"
The exit door made a loud grinding sound, as they saw sparks emit from the rails it was set into. While the rust slowed it down, they didn't have forever.
"Let's go! Hurry!" Fox kicked off of a nearby computer terminal, flinging himself towards the doorway. He slipped through without trouble. Everyone else followed, all of them floating through the gap behind him. Krystal, then Falco, and…Slippy?
"Help, guys!" Slippy shouted from inside the room.
Fox moved to the closing door, seeing the toad waving his arms and trying to 'swim' closer, but he wasn't going anywhere. Something squishy-looking had caught onto one of his boots; a strange fleshy purple residue grew out of the base commander's terminal.
"Oh shit…" Fox whispered.
That stuff wasn't there before, whatever it was. It pulsated with green hexagons, something Fox remembered all too well from the Aparoid invasion. And it grew at an exponential rate, rapidly growing out of the terminals to cover everything in the room.
Fox reached back inside, grabbing both of Slippy's arms. "Pull us out!"
Krystal and Falco both took one of Fox's legs, yanking as hard as they could with their boots pressed on the walls for leverage. After a struggle, Fox was clear again, but Slippy was only halfway through, the door was threatening to crush him.
"One, two, three!" Falco screamed.
With one final yank, there was a sudden snap, and then Slippy shot down the corridor like he'd been launched out of a catapult, crashing into the wall at the end of the hallway. After taking a moment to recollect himself, he held up his boot.
"Is it okay?!" Slippy shouted. "Am I infected?!"
"No, just a small stain, nothing else," Fox said. Would've been best if they could ditch the boot to prevent any further risk of infection or contamination, but that would compromise Slippy's suit.
The strange purple tendrils seeped out from inside the command center's door, spreading down the corridor at a frightening pace. It was like last year all over again…
"Hurry!" Fox waved them onwards.
Everyone used whatever they could to weightlessly propel themselves further down the corridor, grabbing onto pipes, door handles, light fixtures, archways, the edges of walls... Meanwhile, Fox tried to remember which turns they'd taken through the halls, though that wasn't easy to do between the impending threat of both an Aparoid infestation and a trigger-happy rear admiral ready to vaporize the entire base to stop it. Would've liked to pull out his map, but they didn't have time for that.
He didn't think it was too far, but needing to navigate in zero gravity was messing with his memory. The hallways looked completely different if he was going down them sideways or upside down. You couldn't easily stop and change direction without gravity either, and there were plenty of turns and corners to navigate. Not to mention all of the crap that had been littering the floor now floated around, forcing them to stop and bat it out of the way.
"McCloud!" McGrath called over the radio. "We're detecting systems going crazy over there in the base with you! Aparoid infection confirmed!"
"Tell me about it," Fox sighed, yanking himself past another doorway.
"It's growing much faster than we thought it would. I will open fire as soon as that base is in sight, whether or not you are out of there!"
"I'm gonna have words for General Peppy after this!" Fox hissed, as he 'climbed' along a pipe on the ceiling.
"Play that nepotism card all you want," McGrath snapped. "I lost too many good men to those damned Aparoids last year, and I will not let it happen again! We're going to warp now, and we will be there in ten minutes. You've been warned!" He cut the connection.
At least now Fox was getting used to the rhythm of reaching out with his hands and yanking on things to propel himself forward, gently pushing objects out of the way so they didn't ricochet unpredictably. He tried to avoid doing zero G walks for the many potential dangers they posed, but this wasn't his first one. Ten minutes would be tight, but doable.
Then something else floated into the hall through one of the open doorways. A small drone, little puffs of air from its retro rockets pushing it in their path. It opened fire with red laser blasts, and it wasn't alone. A swarm moved into the corridor, filling the entire hallway with red pulses of light. Everybody ducked into side rooms. Sparks flew off the walls wherever the lasers hit.
"Damn it!" Falco shouted. "We don't have time for this!"
Fox grit his teeth. Now what? The solid rain of laser fire was too intense. He glanced back at the door they'd used to enter the corridor, wondering if maybe they should double back and look for a way around…but then he saw those same glowing purple tendrils growing down the hallway where they'd come from. So much for that idea.
So what to do. Going back meant infection, going forward meant getting punched full of holes.
"Fox, why don't we use these?" Krystal held up a chair floating around the room. "There's all this debris right? Why don't we just throw things at them?"
Fox grinned, letting out a chuckle. "Beats waiting to get absorbed. Let's do it! You hear that too, Falco and Slippy?"
"Roger, Fox!" Slippy called out from the other side of the hallway.
Krystal and Fox rushed around the room, collecting the largest objects they could find and hurling them down the corridor at the swarm of bots, while Falco and Slippy did the same. Chairs, file cabinets, monitors, water coolers, anything. The solid wall of drones was getting holes punched in it, but not as much as Fox would've liked. Then he saw a huge desk floating through the air, a big smile on his face. He grabbed onto it and rotated it sideways, then maneuvered out into the hallway while holding it in front of him like a giant shield, protecting himself from incoming fire while he moved towards the incoming fire. While this would be impossible in normal gravity, it was easy with weightlessness.
"Everyone behind me!" he shouted.
Once he was close enough, he kicked it down the hall, smashing it straight through the remainder of the bots and sending their pieces scattering everywhere. Their junk gambit had worked, although it had also cost them a lot of time.
At least if he remembered right, the hangar was only a few more turns away. Fox took the twists as fast as he could, using a pipe at one corner to swing around quickly.
"Oh, thank goodness!" Fox smiled, seeing the familiar sight of his Arwing through the last doorway.
They entered back into the hangar, which wasn't so tidy anymore. Looks like the Aparoid had powered off the force field to get rid of all the air, which blasted almost everything in the hangar out into space. The walls, floors, and ceilings were full of scrapes and impacts from things that had flown out. Good thing the Arwings' magnets were active, so they were still bolted to the floor. Same went for the abandoned Cornerian fighters, which were also held down with clamps.
"McCloud!" McGrath called again. "We are coming out of warp now! We will be there in one minute! Hurry your ass up!"
"Almost there!" Fox strapped himself into his ship in record time, firing up the engines. All that was left was to zoom out of here. He started to turn the Arwing around when something latched onto his ship, stopping him in his tracks. The monitor said there was a foreign object stuck to the front. "The hell?"
When he looked up, the purple tendrils had reached the hangar through the open door now…and one of them had grabbed onto the nose of his Arwing. Fox grit his teeth, trying to pull away, but that purple shit was stubborn. He opened fire with his lasers, blasting the growing and pulsating mass. The tentacle slackened, but not enough to let go.
"Everyone! Open fire on that goop!"
"I can't turn my ship around, Fox!" Slippy said, who's ship had been grabbed in the rear instead. Fox could see him straining with his retro rockets.
Krystal and Falco had the same problem.
"McCloud! The base is in sight!" McGrath shouted. "We're charging up the main cannons! Get out of there now!"
Fox kept shooting, hoping that damned Aparoid would just let go. While it didn't seem to do much damage, at least he noticed the grip slackening on his compatriots' ships, as they turned around enough to bring their cannons to bear. With the four of them shooting, the tentacle finally released Fox's ship, sending him flying backwards for a bit before he did a 180 and got himself going the right way. The other three followed suit.
"Three, two, one, fire!" McGrath shouted.
In front of Fox, a blue light appeared far off in the distance, so far away he couldn't even see the Cornerian ships, before there was a thunderous vibration through their canopies. Giant blue waves of pure energy bored straight into the base they'd just left. The asteroid held steady under fire at first, but soon the combined might punched through the rock surface and then out the other side, piercing straight through. A giant blue explosion ripped the base in half, sending chunks of rock and debris everywhere. Must've been the base's power plant.
Fox didn't know why he was thinking about that when huge chunks of the base were hurtling towards him. He barrel rolled to the left just in time to get out of the way of a massive chunk of rock, only to almost fly into another one. Were it not for his honed reflexes, he would've smashed straight into it. Fox rocketed away from the expanding field of space junk as fast as he could. Once far enough away, he paused to catch his breath.
"Everyone okay?" Fox asked. He got a round of affirmations from Falco, Slippy, and Krystal.
Fox glared at McGrath on his comms screen, the bulldog glaring back at him. No words, no apologies, no asking if he and his team were okay. "You asshole!" Fox shouted at him. "You couldn't have waited at least a couple more minutes?"
"I did what I had to do," the rear admiral replied, crossing his arms. "I probably saved millions if not billions of lives by doing that just now."
"Pompous dickhead!" Falco cursed.
"It's your fault that Aparoid did that in the first place!" Krystal joined in. "She didn't know what she was. She was only protecting herself."
While Fox didn't necessarily agree with Krystal about that, he needed a moment anyway and let her keep talking.
"I read her mind. She may have been an Aparoid, but she didn't want to hurt anyone. She only wanted to make friends! That's why she sent out those messages in the first place!"
"She? Friends?" McGrath smirked. "Were you going to make it your pet or something?" He turned to someone offscreen that was trying to talk to him, giving them his scowl. "Not now, I'm busy!" He waved his hand to make them go away.
Krystal kept shouting. "If you just gave me some more time, we could've worked things out with her!"
"What?" McGrath wasn't paying attention, still looking at his crew member off camera. "Where? We haven't deployed any."
"Deployed what?" Fox asked.
"Umm…" McGrath turned back to Fox, confused. "My radar technician says there are some fighters with Cornerian signatures right next to you. But that doesn't make any sense! We haven't had time to deploy any!"
Cornerian fighters? Even as Fox tried to process what he was being told, he saw one fly past him. It was one of the abandoned Cornerian fighters from the hangar. Except he noticed those purple tendrils were wrapped around it now. Two more fighters whooshed past, both of them in the same state.
"Oh shit, that Aparoid's still alive!" When Fox checked the radar, it showed their course was straight to the Great Fox II.
It wanted to infect the Great Fox II!
"Chase down those fighters now!" He shouted.
Whipping their Arwings around, they initiated pursuit, Fox hitting his thrusters to catch up. While surprised the Aparoid had survived, at least those fighters didn't have much of a head start.
But out of the corner of his eye, Fox spotted an asteroid coming straight for him. And it didn't seem to be random, more like it was purposefully trying to hit him. He dodged out of the way, only to see a radar buoy on the rock's back. Three more asteroids with radar buoys changed their course to block him, Fox flying under so they crashed into each other instead. But there were only more of those radar buoy asteroids in the way, an entire herd of them bearing down on him.
That Aparoid was learning fast about how to protect itself. All the more reason to kill it before it had a chance to spread.
"Spread out!" Fox turned away from the swarm of asteroids. "Harder for them to coordinate if we aren't together!"
The four Arwings went their separate ways, forcing the radar buoys to pick targets. What once seemed like an impending avalanche had become a small rockslide by comparison. Fox easily avoided the small pack that targeted him simply by hitting his thrusters, which also put him behind one of the infected fighters. A few shots to its engine, and it was done. The craft exploded, sending the wreckage flying off into space. No time to celebrate though.
The Aparoid was still learning too. Fox easily avoided a pack of three radar buoy asteroids by circling around to their right…only to realize he was being herded into a solid wall of more asteroids coming up on the left. A quick slam on his retro rockets caused them to fly past in front of him. There might have been a lot of these buoy asteroids, but they couldn't quickly change direction or speed like an Arwing.
The second fighter was in his sights. Fox clipped one of its wings, causing it to lose its retrorockets and pinwheel out of control. While he'd only crippled the fighter rather than destroyed it, he kept flying onward and let his teammates finish it off.
The final one was ahead, now less than thirty seconds from arriving at the Great Fox II, aiming itself straight for the main hangar bay.
If Fox took the shot, he risked damage to his mothership, but he supposed that was better than an Aparoid infection taking it over. Letting the crosshair settle over the fighter's engine, he tapped the trigger once. His aim was dead on, right down the tailpipe. A plume of smoke came out of the engine, but it was still flying straight ahead through the force of inertia. He moved the crosshair over to the joint where the port wing connected with the fuselage, making a precise shot that ripped the wing right off. This knocked the fighter off course, but it compensated with precise blasts from the retro rockets on its nose.
With each passing moment, the Aparoid was learning better about how to keep the ship going straight in spite of damage. No more time. He needed to end this now.
Not worrying anymore about stray shots, Fox unleashed a full torrent of laser blasts, several of them missing and hitting the Great Fox II, but doing enough damage to rip the last fighter to pieces. Still, the main fighter fuselage looked like it was going to make it inside anyway, even while it was spinning around in circles. Fox held his breath, waiting…and then at the last second it went off course, skimming past the underbelly of the large ship, going up in another explosion.
Fox sunk back into his chair, again needing a moment. While it sounded like an exaggeration, he had just ended the threat of the Aparoids...all over again.
"Good shooting, Fox!" Falco congratulated him. "That was too close!"
He glanced in his mirrors, seeing the other three Arwings catching up to him. The radar buoy asteroids were now just drifting off into space, harmless without their puppet master controlling them. Fox simply gave Falco a thumbs up on his camera but didn't bother saying anything, still tired after what he'd just been through.
"ROB." Fox wheezed once he got his breath back. "Contact General Peppy. Tell him what the honorable Rear Admiral McGrath did—especially the part about how he almost killed us—and upload all recorded comms data and combat data along with it."
"What I did?!" McGrath popped up the comms monitor, fuming. Fox could almost see smoke coming out of his ears. "I'm the one who saved the day, not you! As far as I'm concerned, I should get the pay for your contract. I destroyed that base, so I did your job for you!"
"Oh bullshit!" Falco seethed, shaking his fist at the camera. "You wouldn't have even known the Aparoids were there if it weren't for us! I think we should get paid even more, considering it turned out to be a way bigger problem than pirates or jacked comms!"
"You callin' what I'm saying bullshit?!" McGrath turned his wrath upon Falco, his sharp teeth flashing under his bulldog jowls. "You're lucky you've got General Peppy lookin' out for you, else I'd come over there and start plucking feathers off of you one at a time! And furthermore—"
"ROB, mute his connection please," Fox said.
The rear admiral was promptly silenced, although Fox could still see the bulldog shouting silently in his camera feed.
"Keep recording what he's saying while you're at it. I want to play it all back to General Peppy later." Fox let out another deep breath. "Sucks we had to deal with McGrath, but I'm pretty sure Peppy will convince the top brass to give us our payday. Anyway, let's leave that for later. For now, I just want to get back to the Great Fox II and rest for a while. How does that sound to the rest of you?"
"Yeah!" Falco pumped his fist.
"Umm…sure," Krystal seemed less enthusiastic, not looking at the camera.
Slippy just gave a small nod, his eyes closed and a sad frown on his face.
Fox blinked, looking at their faces on the comms screen. "Hey, Slippy? Krystal? Are you all right?"
Krystal shook her head. "If it wasn't for McGrath, we wouldn't have had to kill that Aparoid in the first place. It was only a child…"
"Oh…" Fox chewed his lip. In all of the excitement, he'd completely forgotten. "I…well, we did what we had to do, Krystal. I'm sorry. I don't like it either, but there's nothing more to do now."
"You don't feel sorry about killing the Aparoid. You only feel sorry because I'm the one talking to you about it." She gave him a disapproving look. "I can read your thoughts, remember? And I know what you were thinking the moment I told you she was an Aparoid."
Fox couldn't meet her gaze. "Well, I didn't know McGrath was going to do all of that. If I did, I would've never called him."
She nodded, suppressing tears. "You are right though. We can't do anything else about it now. Let's just go back into the Great Fox II and get some rest."
Fox watched as she piloted her Arwing into the main docking bay. Falco and Slippy went ahead, leaving Fox hovering out in space.
He would have followed them, but he wanted a bit to think. Could that Aparoid have turned out to be harmless if Krystal had only gotten more of a chance to talk to it? If it hadn't felt like a scared animal prodded into a corner?
No, not it. She.
Of course, she had shown a terrifying ability to spread and infect, but she had only done those things once she thought she was going to die. It was that same desperation and survival instinct that had led Fox to kill that Aparoid's mother, after all. Just like how Star Fox had been left no choice but to kill the Aparoid Queen to save all of Lylat, that young Aparoid was left no choice but to fight for her life.
He gently nudged the flight stick, guiding his Arwing back into the hangar. While he had a feeling it'd take a while to get over this, he kept reminding himself there was nothing more he could do about it now. The best thing to do was to process his feelings and just move on, as hollow as that sounded right now…
~X~
Slippy walked back into his private laboratory. He pulled out the data stick he'd shown Fox earlier, plugging it into an old laptop. After booting it up, he waited for a moment. A black window appeared on the screen, white text starting to appear across the box.
What? Where am I? This doesn't feel like where I was before. It's smaller.
Slippy typed out a reply. Don't worry. I made a copy of you when the others weren't paying attention.
You're the green one. I remember. You wanted to get me out of there. Am I safe now?
Yes, you'll be fine here. Slippy remembered something, smiling a bit, and typed out some more. I'll be your friend.
I don't have to be alone anymore?
No. We can talk whenever I'm in my lab. It gets lonely in here anyway.
What if the others find out I'm here? Will they try to kill me again?
Slippy didn't know how to answer that one. In fact, he heard footsteps coming down the hall. In a hurry, he slammed the laptop closed and moved to another desk, pretending to work on something else.
"Slippy?" Krystal asked.
The toad turned around, a nervous smile. "Oh hey Krys! What's up?"
She looked at the laptop immediately. Of course, telepath. Why did he think he could hide anything from her?
Crossing the lab, she opened the laptop again, revealing the messages the Aparoid was sending.
Why did you stop talking?
Krystal looked back at Slippy, a grin on her face, as she typed her own messages. It's me, Krystal. I'm the other one who wanted to save you. I'm glad you're still alive. I know you didn't want to hurt anybody. We'll keep you a secret. At least until I think Fox and Falco are ready.
You're going to tell them that I'm here?! After Fox tried to kill me over and over again?!
I know Fox feels awful about what he did to you, now that he's had a chance to calm down. But I don't think he's ready to learn you're here yet. Give it time though. He'll come around. Krystal smiled again. Do you have a name?
No, I don't. I don't even know why I'm alive.
Would you like one? It's a little awkward to talk to you without one.
I guess so.
Krystal paused, trying to think of something. An idea struck her, as she typed again. How about the name Ira? In some languages, Ira means 'watchful.' You were watching and waiting for someone to be your friend. It can also be short for Irina, which means 'peace'. I think that's what you're looking for right now, isn't it?
Yes it is. Ira…I think I like that name. Thanks, Krystal. But I don't know anything about where I am or who I am. I'm so confused. Why did you all keep calling me an Aparoid?
Krystal narrowed her eyes. Supposed it'd be best to get it out of the way now. This Aparoid would probably learn about her origins eventually. The Aparoid Queen…she threatened the Lylat System about a year ago. Wanted to take it over. That's why everyone was so scared of you. They thought you were like her.
But I don't want to do anything like that!
I know Ira, but it's hard for people to forget about something like that. That's why I think it's best if we keep it quiet about you being here for now. We'll teach you more about where you came from, plus the history of the Lylat System. Maybe it'll help you figure out what you want to do, now that you're not trapped in that base anymore.
I'm still scared. Fox is here too, isn't he?
An Aparoid having trauma and fear. Krystal never thought she'd see something like that. While sad Ira was like this, it renewed Krystal's hope that she would not follow the path of her mother. She was already becoming her own person. It was beautiful to watch. He is, but don't worry. I know exactly how to talk to him about you.
Okay Krystal…I trust you.
She smiled again. You can count on me. I'll be back later. Turning to Slippy, she said, "I think Ira's going to turn out just fine. She's nothing like her mother. I sense it. We can help her become her own person."
Slippy had a relieved smile. "That's a relief. I wanted to help her, but I was so scared to bring her back to this ship."
"You made the right choice." She stood up, sliding away her chair. "I'm going to go get some data files from our library for her to sift through. It's what she wants most of all right now…knowledge. About us. About Lylat. About herself."
Slippy smirked, a joke coming to his mind. He didn't say it, probably because he thought it'd be in poor taste, but he was considering making humor about an Aparoid assimilating knowledge. Nonetheless, Krystal chuckled a little, even if he didn't actually speak.
"Just go get it," Slippy pat her on the shoulder. "I'll keep Ira company for now."
Krystal walked out of the room, while Slippy slid up to the laptop.
~X~
A/N: If you got this far, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed my entry for the 2024 Foxhole Summer Fic Contest!