Please note that upcoming Evangelion and Nikke crossover event will have no impact whatsoever on this story. This story will continue as planned without anything from that event affecting it.
At this point, I don't really expect people to review this story often anymore, if at all. It seems clear by now that people are only interested in reviewing if there are teases and reveals of the next world. So yeah, review if you want, and if you don't want, I don't care too… It's good enough to know that there are people reading it one way or the other, even if they aren't saying anything...
Chapter 15
Mission Briefing
As per James's suggestion, the good guys were invited aboard the Great Fox. The Nikke looked around with impressed looks, as they had never been on board something like this. "Wow! This place looks awesome! It must use a lot of electricity or whatever power source in order to take flight and do other stuff!" said Elegg.
"The Great Fox is a lot more efficient in using energy than you think! This baby's sturdy as heck! You won't find a better spaceship anywhere else!" boasted Slippy.
"I saw a pair of cannons at the front part outside. I bet if must have awesome firepower!" said Neon.
"Oh yeah, its laser cannons definitely do pack a lot of firepower!" boasted Slippy again. "A single shot is pretty much all you need to destroy anything!"
They went deeper into the spaceship and arrived at a room that could be considered the living room due to the presence of a flat TV screen attached to a wall and a sofa, among others. Fox observed every part of the room and said, "Everything is exactly the same as I remember it!"
Falco stared at him with narrowed eyes and said, "You're not making yourself sound like someone who can be trusted… I have my eyes on you, so you better not be doing anything weird!"
"Let's head over to the medical bay if you want to see your friend," James told the Nikke, so they all followed him there.
Arriving at the medical bay, they saw Jackal lying on a bed, wearing a medical gown and covered by a white blanket. The Nikke ran up to her in concern, and Neon asked, "Is she all right?"
The hare from before came forward and said to them, "Your friend is fine. Fortunately, we have spare bodies suitable for her. All we had to do was make adjustments to the body so that it matches exactly her body before transplanting her head over to it.. We've also used a 3D printer to create a new set of the same clothes for her! Either way, she's all right now. We'll just have to wait for her to wake up. Cyborgs usually stay in a sleeping mode for some time after repairs."
Privaty turned to him and bowed down as she thanked him. "Thank you for saving our friend's life!"
"Saving lives is what we do best! It's fortunate and also a surprise that your friend is the same type of cyborg as Delta and Brid!" the hare told her. "My name is Peppy Hare, by the way."
"Peppy Hare… Because you're a hare," noted Neon with one hand underneath her chin.
When Peppy mentioned a person named Brid, Diesel's eyes widened in surprise. "Brid?! Did you say Brid?"
Peppy turned to her and replied with a nod, "Why yes. Brid. Do you know her?"
"She's someone I know! Can I please meet her?" Diesel asked her, sounding rather impatient.
"She should be in the navigation room," James told her. "She's mostly in charge of piloting the Great Fox. Come, I'll take you there."
James led the group over to the navigation room. Inside, they saw the same robot that communicated with Krystal, and then there was a silver-haired woman with a long ponytail seated in one of the chairs. Turning to them, she said, "Captain, is anything the matter?"
"Brid!" said Diesel in surprise. She went up to her and asked her, "Brid! What are you doing here?!"
"I'm sorry, but have we met before? I do not recall seeing you anywhere," Brid asked her in confusion.
"I'm Diesel! You, I, and Soline are part of the Infinity Rail squad, in charge of dealing with the Ark's railway system!" Diesel told her desperately
"I have never heard of you or any of the things you told me. I'm sorry; you may have mistook me for someone else," said Brid.
The other Nikke were confused about how someone they knew didn't recognize any of them. Fox himself was also confused by the whole thing, as his team members didn't recognize him, and his father is alive and well, standing right in front of him.
"Well then… How about we find a place to sit down and then begin discussing things?" suggested James. "I'm sure we'll be able to clear up any misunderstandings this way."
The group headed over to the living room and took their seats, while Krystal said she was going to get drinks for everyone. Looking at Fox, James asked him, "So you're saying that you're supposed to my son? And that you're also the leader of Star Fox?"
Fox nodded. "Yes. Everything was exactly like I said, until a bright flash of light enveloped me, and then I found myself outside Corneria City. Next thing I knew, the Venomian army attacked the place, and then you all showed up. But none of you recognize me…"
Wolf, Samus, and the Nikke also shared their part of the story, and they were similar to Fox's, about them minding their own businesses in different locations when suddenly they were surrounded by bright light and ended up here. Krystal eventually came back with drinks for everyone.
"Weird… Never have I heard of such an odd tale in all my life…" commented Peppy before drinking from his cup.
"I'm still not convinced about everything you said," said a skeptic Falco. "For all we know, you're spies sent by Andross to take us down!"
Wolf glared at him and said, "You're starting to sound annoying, you know that? If you're not going to believe any of this, what will convince you? Maybe a bit of force?"
Falco glared back at him and said, "You want to get violent? Maybe you can convince me with that, but as if that will happen so easily!"
"No need to fight over something like this!" James told them both, while Fox told Wolf to calm down. "Regardless of whether or not they are spies or telling the truth, we'll just have to keep an eye on them to make sure nothing goes wrong."
"I can assure you that we are telling the truth and that you do not need to worry about us betraying you," Fox assured him.
Meanwhile, Neon had her armed crossed and was seemingly in deep thought about something. Eventually, she said, "I think I have an idea on what is happening, but what I'm about to say is supposed to be government secret…"
Everyone turned to her, and Privaty asked her, "What do you mean? You're saying the Central Government has something to do with this?"
"I'm not one to spill secrets, since I am a spy after all, but seeing how things are now, I guess I'll have to cut loose and tell you what I know, though you may have a hard time believing it," said Neon.
For the next several minutes, Neon explained to everyone about Gatekeeper. She first explained to them about the kind of Rapture it was and the number of times it showed up in the Nikke's world, and how it was likely responsible for what was happening currently.
"And that concludes my theory about our current situation," said Neon while adjusting her glasses.
Everyone was silent after hearing all that she said and took his or her time to digest all those information. James broke the silence and said, "So you're saying you're from another world, and this Gatekeeper entity brought you all here?"
"That sounds like the most plausible explanation," said Neon with a nod.
"I can't believe a Rapture like this exists… And it's kept a secret from everyone…!" said Privaty in disbelief.
"Hmph! That is such a Central Government thing to do, hiding such an incredible Rapture's existence from everyone else!" said Elegg.
"So… I'm not actually in my world, but transported to a different universe that is very similar to the mine…?" said Fox. "This explains the differences I've seen so far."
"And somehow, this world has elements from my world as well as you girls' world as well…" said Samus.
"That part strikes me as the strangest and most unbelievable," said Adam through her helmet. "The chances of their being a universe that is a mixture of three unrelated universe has to be astronomically low."
"Hmph! I have a hard time imagining this…" said Falco, still a bit skeptical.
Fox then turned to James and said, "Not only are you my father back in my world, you are also… also..."
"You're a corpse six feet under," said Wolf straightforwardly.
"You mean our captain is dead in your world?!" gasped Slippy.
"Wolf!" Fox said to him angrily.
James, however, wasn't shocked to hear this. He remained calm and said, "I see…" Looking at Fox, he said, "It must be shocking for you, seeing a splitting image of your father alive and well."
Fox nodded and said, "Indeed. While it seems that you are not actually my father, seeing you alive and well still fills me with a sense of happiness and makes me want to cry!"
James chuckle a bit and said, "I never really thought of myself who would settle down and hook up with someone!"
Suddenly, Jackal came jumping into the room, still wearing the hospital gown. Spinning around on one foot, she said happily with arms spread out, "Hey everyone! I feel better already! And I'm so hungry right now I feel like I can eat a whole year's worth of food!"
"Good to see you're up!" Privaty said to her.
"Told you our tech is reliable and great!" said Slippy.
Delta placed her hand on Jackal's shoulder and began leading her away. "Come, I'll get you dressed up in your clothes. We can get something to eat after that."
"I can't wait!" said Jackal as she walked away with her.
"Your friend is back to normal and very energetic. Congratulations!" James said to the Nikke.
"Thank you for helping her! We wouldn't have known what to do in unfamiliar place without you!" Diesel thanked him.
James then looked at a clock in the room and said, "I think it's about time we head over to General Pepper's place. I promised to meet with him to discuss our next step of action in taking down Andross." He then looked at the "otherworlders" and said, "You come with us as well. In fact, you should tell him everything about what we said here."
"Are you sure that's all right?" asked Elegg.
"General Pepper is a good friend of mine and an honorable man. I trust him with everything I have, so I can guarantee you that it is all right to tell him your secrets," James assured her.
"The General Pepper I know is the same, an honorable man who can be trusted with everything!" said Fox.
After coming out of a portal which then closed up, Ridley found himself in a hangar of sorts, as evident of a large amount of aircraft and weapons of war around the place. There were several other people as well, some apes in military clothing and flight suits and some Space Pirates.
The Space Pirates greeted Ridley when they saw their captain returning. Ridley went over to a particular person, an elderly ape covered mostly in a dark blue cloak. "Welcome back!" the elderly ape—Andross—said to him.
"I could've gotten them all if you had let me stay there a little longer!" Ridley angrily said to him.
"You're too full of yourself. Your recklessness will be the end of you one day," Andross told him. "You're supposed to fight smarter, not harder."
Ridley stomped the floor as he put his face closer to Andross, who remained undaunted. "And you look down on me too much! And had your army be of any more use, this battle would've been over before you know it!" Ridley angrily said to him. "It's only because of my crew providing you with our support that you are able to last this long, otherwise Star Fox would've wiped the floor with you already!"
"I will admit that taking over the universe is harder than I thought it would be, but it's all about trial and error," Andross told him. "I learn from every failure and mistake, and the chances of success increases after each time. Soon, we will be able to develop a powerful enough army and also weapons that nobody can stop us!"
"That's going to take forever! We should just whip out all the big guns already and get it done with!" suggested Ridley. "We Space Pirates always never hold back right off the bat and go all out with everything we have! That is how we have managed to plundered every planet we came across and strip them of their valuables!"
"And how has that helped you in taking down Star Fox? Last I checked, all your encounters with them ended in favor of them!" Andross told him. Hearing this, Ridley growled in anger, knowing that he was right about his crew losing to Star Fox constantly. ""See? Brute force will not always work. You have to learn and adapt to every mistake you come across until you evolve into something more powerful. I have been learning from past mistakes and failures to gradually reach this level. You need patience, and it will prove to be the key to your success!"
"Then this better be worth the wait!" Ridley told him.
"It will always be worth the wait!" Andross assured him with an evil grin. He then turned to a large black cube with green lines on it placed on a machine. "Unfortunately, the Harmony Cube has run out of power and cannot be used to open up another portal to Corneria or anywhere. We will need a new one."
"And where do we get one?" Ridley asked him.
Andross smiled as he said, "Don't worry; the goods will be coming to us very soon from a good friend on a certain planet!"
After the good guys went over to the military HQ, the folks went ahead and told General Pepper about what was discussed in the Great Fox. After listening to them all and digesting the information, General Pepper said with an overwhelmed expression, "Incredible! I've been through a lot in my time as an army, but this has to take the cake for the most bizarre!"
James chuckled and then said, "I know, right? The universe really is a lot more bizarre than we thought!"
"Though there are a number of theories from scientists regarding different universes and whatnot, and it seems like they are right on mark!" said General Pepper. "Regardless, this is interesting information that may perhaps play a crucial role in help defeating Andross." Looking at the Nikke, he asked them, "So you're saying that Raptures also exist in your world?"
Privaty nodded and replied, "Yes, and humanity has been fighting them ever since they invaded the world, but to this day, nobody knows where they come from, though the prevailing theory is that they come from space, thus making them alien invaders."
"I read that humans of the past even attempted to travel to space to find their supposed queen, but the operation failed, thus forcing humanity to flee underground and live in a large city known as the Ark," added Diesel.
"I see… I'm sorry to hear about the state of your world…" said General Pepper, sounding bad for them. "In any case, Raptures in our world are creations of Andross. He is a brilliant scientist praised by many to be the best of the best, but unfortunately, he chose to use his intellect for evil and committed acts of horror that led to him being exiled to the planet Venom. Never would we thought that he would turn Venom into his base of operations and thus began his plot to take over the universe, and as if that isn't enough, he's teamed up with those dastardly Space Pirates!"
Samus stepped forward and said, "Space Pirates also exist in my world, so I can tell you anything you want to know about them!"
"That would be very helpful!" General Pepper told her. "If everything you said is true, then would it be too much to ask for your support in bringing down Andross and the Space Pirates?"
"You can count on us! In my world, Andross was also a threat, but my team managed to defeat him once and for all!" Fox told him with confidence. "This may be a different Andross, but I will take him down all the same!"
"Huh! You have the kind of attitude I like!" James said to him with a smile. "Looks like you really are my son in another world!"
"Yeah yeah… Don't get too ahead of yourself, fox boy," Falco said to Fox in an unimpressed tone. "To us, you're still a newcomer, so maybe you should sit back and watch how we do things first!"
"We will offer you our support," Privaty told General Pepper. "As Raptures are our enemies, we know a lot about them, so I believe we Nikke will be of help in taking down them."
General Pepper nodded. "I fully expect your cooperation! You have my gratitude in willing to help! In return, our scientists will see if there is a way to get you back to your own worlds."
"That's nice of you!" commented Neon.
General Pepper then stood up from his seat and said, "All right, let me share with you some info that we've managed to gather. Star Fox, I want you to take note of things and then begin the mission I am about to give you."
"Will do, general!" James said to him.
General Pepper told them to turn to a white screen at the other side of the room, and then a projector showed them an image of Corneria City's skyline. It also showed the same portal the Venomian army and the Raptures came out from. "As you have witnessed already, the enemies came out of that portal. Our intel tells us that Andross had to use a huge energy source to create portals that allow him to travel across space instantly," explained General Pepper. "The energy source that he used is most likely a Harmony Cube."
When the Nikke heard this, they were surprised. "Harmony Cube?! Those things exist here too?!" Elegg said in shock.
"So you have Harmony Cubes where you come from?" General Pepper asked her.
Elegg nodded. "Yeah! We don't know everything about Harmony Cubes yet, but we do know they contain a large amount of energy that can be used to power up cities and upgrade machines. In fact, some Nikke actually get charged up by those cubes to become stronger in combat! It shouldn't be a surprise that Harmony Cubes can be used to power up machines for creating portals."
"Our intel agrees that it is most definitely a Harmony Cube. Harmony Cubes will run out of energy, and assuming the one Andross used for opening up his portals ran out of energy, he will want a new one. I know the most likely place he can get a new one currently," said General Pepper, and then he changed the screen to a new picture. It showed the picture of a purple planet. "This is Planet ZDR."
Samus was surprised to see this planet and hear its name. "ZDR?! That's a planet from my world! It used to be inhabited by Chozo!"
"In our world, Chozo still inhabit that planet," said General Pepper. "The Chozo are peaceful beings, and we have established peaceful contact with them and also traded resources with them. According to some of our soldiers who are currently stationed on that planet, Andross's army has touched down there."
"So they're after the Harmony Cube there for real?" asked James. "I though the Chozo would be able to protect it more easily..."
General Pepper nodded. "Normally that is true, but there seems to be a traitor among the Chozo who made it easy for the villains to invade the planet. His name is Raven Beak."
"What?!" said Samus loudly in shock, causing everyone to look at her.
"Friend of yours?" Wolf asked her.
"Raven Beak… Even in my world, he's a traitor among the Chozo, choosing to live a life of a violent warrior rather than a peaceful one!" replied Samus in anger as he fist trembled. "He tried to take over the universe using creatures known as Metroids, but I was able to defeat him."
"In either case, Raven Beak has betrayed his own kind and helped Andross's army round them up, including our soldiers, though the latter was able to send us this news before they got compromised," continued General Pepper. "Star Fox, your next mission is to head over to ZDR and save the Chozo and our men there, as well as preventing Andross's army from getting their hands on the Harmony Cube."
"Will do, general!" James and Fox said to him.
With their mission objective clear, the folks returned to the Great Fox, which took off into the air and eventually left Corneria, taking off into space.
Fox was in the navigation room with James, watching the pilots of the spaceship, ROB 64 and Brid, taking control of things. "We're ready to activate warp speed travel," Brid told James. "Do we have the permission now?"
James nodded. "Go ahead. Head to ZDR."
"Affirmative. Warp speed activate," said ROB 64 before pressing some buttons on the control panel.
From the outside, one could see the Star Fox glowing brightly, and then in a blink of an eye, the entire thing disappeared, while something resembling a beam of light was seen shooting across space incredibly fast.
A few seconds later, the Great Fox reappeared in a whole new area, and a purple planet could be seen in the distance. "Planet ZDR spotted," said ROB 64.
"Good, now get closer to it without being spotted," commanded James.
On Planet ZDR, inside a specific building, a black and blue Harmony Cube was seen being transported to a train using an anti-gravity carriage, being guided their by apes. Watching over this was Raven Beak, a tall Chozo warrior dressed in armor, and around him were more apes.
Another Chozo, an elderly-looking one, came up to Raven Beak, but the apes threatened him with their weapons. "Raven Beak! You must rethink what you are doing!" the Chozo angrily said to the traitorous Chozo. "What you're doing is against the code of all Chozo! By providing Andross with our technology, resources, and the Harmony Cube, you will allow him to take over the universe! You're one of us, so you're supposed to be fighting against him!"
"We had this conversation several times already, and it will always be the same!" Raven Beak said to him in response. "Our kind has grown weak! We used to be warriors who fought battles for glory, but now we have become too softhearted! If this goes on, we will all become weak beings one day who can't lift even a finger in the face of danger! I am giving us all the chance to once again step into the battlefield and prevent our skills from deteriorating! Would you rather just sit on your chairs quietly and peacefully until you rot to death?"
"Combat has never been the priority of our kind! We did what was necessary to make the universe safer. Back then, we were the most advanced species that fought to protect others, so we had to be in our top condition, but now that other species have also became advanced and can defend themselves, we no longer have to burden ourselves with everything all the time," the elderly Chozo told him. "Should you not be happy for the rest of the universe that they can defend themselves?"
"And diminish ourselves to being a footnote down the line? I will not let that happen! We were once the most powerful species, and I will see to it that our past reputation never disappears!" Raven Beak told him.
"In that case, you should be fighting against Andross, not siding with him!" the elder Chozo told him. "Defeating him will allow our name to be spread throughout the galaxy once again!"
"Andross's ideal world will allow us the chance to always fight and be in our top condition! You are too dumb to see that, while I am smart enough see this as the chance to restore our former glory!" Raven Beak said to him. "I'm being patient and merciful to you, so don't get on my bad side!"
"Sir! The Harmony Cube has been properly loaded onto the Atleisen!" an ape soldier told him.
Raven Beak turned to him and said, "Are there are still anything else that needs to be taken aboard?"
"A few more resources, and then we can take off for the launch site to transport everything into space. It shouldn't take too long now," the ape told him.
Raven Beak nodded. "Good! See to it that everything goes smoothly!"
The Great Fox was now having high above ZDR's atmosphere, and so far, the enemies on the planet had yet to detect any intruder.
Aboard the ship, Adam was given access to the Great Fox's computer, and from there, he was able to enter ZDR's server to obtain information and even footage on what was going on. The others were watching a large computer screen that showed information those the A.I. managed to gather. It showed the footage of resources, including the Harmony Cube, being loaded onto a heavily weaponized train.
"The resources are currently being loaded onto the train known as Alteisen Mark IV," explained Adam. "I estimate that they will be taking off in about ten minutes."
"Alteisen?! What is that doing here…?" said Diesel in surprise.
"Something from your world?" Krystal asked her.
Diesel nodded. "Alteisen was originally a train capable of traveling off rails designed by terrorists, but after the government seized it and abandoned it on the surface, Raptures took it for themselves and made it their weapon."
"And here, it's being used by Andross and his men," said Privaty. "Either way, our priority is to prevent that train from taking off, right? Then we should act fast!"
"Since we are short on time, sneaking in and taking it slowly is out of the question," said James. "We'll have to attack up front."
"That's more of my style! I'll just fly down there on my Arwing and blow it up!" said Falco.
"I would not recommend destroying the Altseisen while the Harmony Cube is aboard," said Elegg. "Harmony Cubes contain a large amount of energy, and it will likely explode and cause mass destruction if it gets destroyed. Furthermore, they are also very valuable. If we can get our hands on it, we can surely increase our fighting power by a whole lot!"
"We have another problem," said Slipper. "How are our new friends going to help? We do not have enough Arwings to accommodate them all, and chances are likely not all of them have piloting skills."
"You have a point…" said Neon. "I've never piloted a jet or anything that moves at all…"
"I can't say any of us Nikke have piloting skills, since we never had the need to pilot jets to combat aerial Raptures," said Privaty.
"Fortunately, our Arwings are designed to sit two people, so those who can't pilot can ride in the backseat," said James.
"Huh, that's new," commented Fox. "Arwings back in my world aren't like that. I can pilot Arwings though, but I'm not sure if you have enough of them…"
"Not interested in joining this mission," said Wolf. "You lot go ahead. I'll just sit back and watch the show."
"Well, if you say so," James said to Wolf with a shrug. He then turned to Delta. "Mind if you let Fox pilot your Arwing? You can use the Landmaster for this mission. I get the feeling that we may need to take our fight to the land as well."
"If you say so, I will," replied Delta with a nod.
"By the way, there's another thing we would like to talk about," said Privaty. "Our weapons have limited ammo, and if we have to use them, we can't use them for too long if have limited ammo. Back in our world, we always bring with us spare ammo to reload."
"Fortunately for me, my Boomstick doesn't use bullets, but energy!" said Elegg. "I don't have ammo issues, other than having to let it cool down and recharge for a few seconds after using it for too long…"
"Hmmm… Let me see one of your weapons," Slippy said to the girls. Privaty handed him her gun. He inspected it for a few seconds and then said, "No offense, but this is a bit primitive by our standards, but not so much that modifications can't be made to it to make it up to date and get rid of your ammo issue!"
"What do you plan to do?" Privaty asked him.
"Rather than using normal bullets, I'll make it use energy-based ammo that will never run out!" Slippy told her. "You girls give me your weapons, and I'll make them brand new! It won't take long."
"We have limited time, so hurry with what you plan to do, Slippy," James told him.
"On it! You girls follow me!" Slippy told the Nikke as he led the way to another room.
Back on ZDR, the villains had finished loading everything they wanted onto the train known as Alteisen. "We're all done and ready to leave, sir," an ape said to Raven Beak.
The latter nodded. "Good, prepare for takeoff to the launch site. I will be accompanying you."
The elderly Chozo from before stepped forward angrily and said, "You won't get away with this! Nothing good will come from working with Andross! You will…" He was interrupted by Raven Beak shooting him in the chest using the latter's arm cannon that was part of his armor.
"I'll be the one to decide whether or not an alliance with him is good, not you!" Raven Beak said to him. He was going to board the train when he another ape ran up to him with a pair of binoculars in his hand.
"Sir! There are jet fighters approaching us!" he said in panic.
Raven Beak took the binoculars from him and looked through it into the air. He saw the Arwings approaching and said, "Star Fox… How did they know…?" He then said to the apes, "Get moving, quick! Also prepare the train for combat and self defense! Take out anyone who tries to stop us!"
"Yes sir!" said all the apes present. They immediately got busy to what they had to do, while Raven Beak boarded the train.
The Arwings descended towards the planet and gradually approached the train station in the distance. "Our target is over there," said James. As said before, their Arwings can sit two people, and Privaty is currently sitting behind him.
"Got target on my sight! Ready to engage when you say so," said Falco from his Arwing. Elegg was sitting with him.
Slippy was sharing his Arwing with Jackal, who had her hands and face planted against the cockpit glass like an excited dog on a trip. "I would appreciate it if you sit down, Miss Jackal…" Slippy said to her.
"Everything looks so small outside! It's like I can eat them up in a single bite!" she said with excitement.
Krystal and Samus shared an Arwing, while Fox piloted alongside Neon.
It wasn't only the Arwings that were dispatched. Star Fox's tank, Landmaster, was deployed as well. The Great Fox entered the planet's atmosphere and flew close enough to the ground to deploy the Landmaster so that it could land safely with the help of its hover engines underneath its body. Delta and Diesel were riding the Landmaster.
Delta contacted James and said, "I can see the train from here, and it's starting to move. What are your orders, captain?"
"Isn't it obvious?" replied James. "Let's cut off its tracks!"
TO BE CONTINUED