FSE

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Shattered: Redux

Chapter X: First Steps

The first step is always the hardest...

-Anonymous

One month prior....

A small salvage ship floated through space in the uncharted regions of the Lylat System, scouting for materials to harvest. Inside the tiny ship was a pair of individuals, an ape and a gecko. Both of them had spent the last year and a half searching for space junk to sell to recycling centers. Since they started, they had made a descent profit off of their exploits and were content with what they had going for them.

But, that day they would find something that would change the face of the System forever.

Rico, the ape, was staring at the sensors, yawning every few seconds. The job paid decently, but it was a mind numbingly boring task. It was hard to stay focused when your job entailed staring out into empty space for hours on end. Not only that, but the present company wasn't exactly the most intellectually stimulating.

Darwin, the green gecko, was sitting in the co-pilot's chair, claw dug up his nose as he searched for a chunk of green gold. Rico sighed and looked away from the gecko.

Space was a better venue.

So far they had not discovered anything in the past three days and the cramped ship was starting to get on his nerves. If they didn't find something soon, he would call it quits and head back home to relax before coming back out. IF he didn't get a break every now and then he was bound to lose his mind.

Eventually, he lost it. "Grah, there's nothing out here!" The ape slammed a fist onto the sensor console, sending a wave of static dancing across.

Darwin lazily looked over from his spot. "Relax Rico, we'll find something. We always do."

"Yeah, but at this pace I'm bound to go crazy first!" He snarled.

Darwin shrugged easily. "Maybe, but at least try and keep it to yourself. I don't want to have to deal with it."

Rico emitted a growl in response. But it eventually faded off into a groan and the simian slammed his head into the console with a defeated sigh.

Seconds afterwards the instruments went haywire, beeping erratically and lighting up the cabin in a plethora of lights. Rico jolted his head back up and looked at the console confusedly. "What in the hell is this?"

Darwin flicked away a booger and leaned towards the consoles. "It looks like there is a small object just inside sensor range, and it is emitting an unbelievable amount of energy. It's off the charts!"

Rico grinned and rubbed his palms together. "Well Darwin, it looks like our luck is about to change." The simian smiled as he clutched the control sticks for their small craft and gunned the engines, speeding towards the mysterious object.

In moments they arrived at the source of the signal. It was hard to see at first, but Darwin spotted a small shape floating in space that shone a deep shade of red. For all intents and purposes it looked like a chunk of rock, perhaps a piece of a meteor that chipped off. Whatever it was, it was shooting out an ungodly amount of energy. "Hey Rico, snatch that thing up."

The ape nodded eagerly and used the smaller set of controls to maneuver a pair of claws tucked under the ship's nose. He used the left one to grasp it and pulled the chunk of stone into the small receptacle built into the bottom.

With it secured, both salvagers scrambled out of their seats and scurried down the small stairs to the cargo hold. Rico grabbed the handle at the front of the hold and pulled it out to expose a little bin, where the chunk of glowing red stone sat.

He hesitantly touched it and recoiled when a burst of energy coursed through his mind. He stumbled backwards and clutched his head as it was assaulted with a thousand whispering voices, like nails on a chalkboard.

"Hey Rico, are you alright there buddy?" Darwin asked worriedly as he moved over to his friend.

Eventually, the voices faded to a dull mutter and the ape regained his senses. "Yeah, I'm fine." He replied quietly. He could still hear the voices in the back of his head, behind his eyes. They were whispering things that made his stomach twist. But he dismissed them as a flight of fancy and waved it off. But he could not shake the sudden urge to get this hunk of rock back to his home. "Let's get this thing back to Titania. I think that the researchers there would like to see it."

Are you sure about that Rico? I mean you touched it and it didn't look like you had fun. Perhaps we should just dump it back into space." Darwin suggested, looking to the now menacingly glowing rock with unease.

Rico felt a sudden surge of anger and whirled on his friend. "DON'T QUESTION ME! JUST DO IT!"

Darwin backed away fearfully from his friend, terrified at his sudden and strange transformation. "Sure things Rico, no problem, I'll get the ship going." The gecko swiftly turned away from his friend and scampered up the ladder to the cockpit, setting the course.

Once his friend was gone, Rico walked over to the bin and hefted the chunk of stone, staring at the strange glowing runes etched into it, he felt as if his soul was being sucked inside the porous rock. As he held it, the voices in his head grew in volume and number, causing the ape to grin savagely. It spoke to him, and he listened.

The small salvage ship turned away from its previous mission and increased its speed to blaze through space back to its point of origin. As it shifted, the insignia painted onto its hull became visible, an intimidating apes head with a large red V superimposed behind it.

**********

Alex woke up groaning and clutching his head. It felt as if a blacksmith was viciously using his skull as an anvil. "Uggh, okay no more heavy drinking." He lectured himself as he tried to sit up. But something was holding him down, something warm and fuzzy. Alex opened his eyes and looked down.

"Aw shit." He muttered.

Fox was sprawled out next to him, and had an arm draped across his stomach. It looked like they had stumbled into their room and just collapsed in front of the beds in a jumbled heap. "Hey fuzzball, wake up!" Alex pushed Fox and the vulpine slid off of him tiredly, waking up.

"Uggh, I had too many drinks." Fox moaned groggily, clutching his muzzle in his paws and shaking it back and forth.

"You think so?" Alex mocked as he tried to stand up and failing horribly.

Fox slugged him on the arm and made the human fall back down. "I know so."

"It was your idea fur for brains." Alex retorted as he finally managed to get himself up and sitting on his unused bed. "You were the one who took us there. I was just along for the damn ride."

"That may be so, but you can't blame it all on me. I didn't force you to drink so much." Fox defended himself as he unsteadily stood on his paws and walked over to the table in the room, where a bottle of pills sat. He twisted the cap off and rolled out a quartet of blue tablets. Fox damned two of them dry and walked over to Alex with the remainders. "Here, take these. They should cancel out the hangover."

Alex quickly snatched them out of the vulpine's paw and swallowed without hesitation. "They better work on me Fox."

"They should, you have the same inner workings as us. Or...it just might kill you." Fox chuckled.

"That would be an improvement." Alex snapped with a groan as he massaged his temples.

Fox shook his head in amusement and looked down at his comms bracer. "I doubt it." He flicked open the cover and used a furred finger to scroll its contents.

Alex sat on his bed and watched as the vulpine worked, waiting for his headache to recede. At one point, Fox frowned and grunted.

"What?"

"I got a message from Peppy; it is a few hours old though. I wonder what it's about." He clacked a claw against the screen and his eyes swiveled as he read the message's contents. The longer he read, the deeper his frown became. Fox finished reading and slowly closed the cover for his bracer. "Pack up." He ordered suddenly as he walked over to his bag and stuffed his things in it.

Alex did as the vulpine instructed, but was not thrilled with his friend's tone. "Is it bad?"

Fox nodded as he swung his bag onto his shoulder. "Yeah, it looks like something huge is happening near Venom. He wants us to head back to Corneria on the double. It looks like vacation time is over."

Alex sighed. He was starting to enjoy his free time and now it looked like he would have to take a rain check on it. But he supposed that was what happened when you belonged to the best mercenary group in the system. You tended to be put on call. "Alright Fox, let's go get the others."

It went without saying that no one was pleased with this new development. "Aw jeez Fox, we just got here!" Falco muttered as they walked out of the hotel.

"Yeah well, after we solve this problem, I promise we'll get a whole month to goof off." Fox assured as they walked towards the hover car. The walk was longer than usual, considering that he and Alex had left it at the club.

But in no time they were all cramped back in and speeding towards the spaceport.

"Did the old hare mention anything in particular about what was going on?" Miyu asked from her seat besides Alex and Krystal.

Fox shook his head as he drove. "No, he just declared that it was critical that we all be back as soon as possible."

"I hope it isn't anything too bad." Slippy said nervously, wringing his webbed hands.

"I hope so too." Fay added with a whine.

"It might be though, he did allude that Venom was somehow involved." Fox explained.

"That could mean nothing but trouble." Krystal said undoubtedly.

"Yeah, those guys are always up to no good." Falco grumbled.

Alex had heard of Venom. They had instigated the past war that plunged the system into chaos and were the ones responsible for the destruction of Krystal's homeworld. That immediately put them on the human's shit list. "If they are, then they are in for a world of hurt." Alex vowed darkly. "They still have much to answer for."

Krystal and Miyu frowned at his tone. It was not pleasant for them to see him so angry. It didn't fit with the man they had gotten to know. Krystal placed a comforting paw on his shoulder.

At the touch of her pads, his grimace faded and he looked to her with a small smile. She smiled back; happy that he was down from whatever it was that had caused him to change.

The rest of the ride went smoothly and they returned the rental before boarding there carrier and plotting a course back to Corneria. It would take a day and a half to get back without the Beltino Orbital Gate System. It was still in disrepair after the aparoid war and would not be back to pre-war strength for some time to come. It still needed a great deal of funds before reconstruction could be finished.

Alex split off from the group as soon as they entered the ship and made his way to his cabin, intent on taking the rest of the day to relax in solitude. He wanted to use that time to try and resolve his grandstanding issue.

The human slipped into his small room and sat on the bed, turning off the lights. Almost immediately that same heart stopping despair flooded his system and the shadows in his room took on familiar monstrous shapes. As he sat in the dark, a faint whispering trickled through his mind and his muscles began to lock up. Alex wasted no time in slamming the lights back on.

He sighed in frustration and collapsed onto his bed, squeezing his pillow as hard as he could. Once his anger dissipated he let go off the cushion and sat up. It was beyond maddening that he was afflicted in such a way. He felt as if he was becoming a hindrance to the team and himself. How would he be able to function, if for some reason he was forced to fight in the dark? It made him a liability, and that was unacceptable. He swore to himself that he would beat this, taming his fears. The only preventative measure they had for the effects of the marker was conditioning. Soldiers who began to show symptoms were sent to a facility where they were 'exposed' to what it was that afflicted them. They had called the place 'The Gulag'. The methods used were completely questionable but the results kept the facility running. Sometimes, soldiers who went there didn't come back. But those who did were returned to some semblance of normalcy.

Alex didn't have a facility to face his fears, so he would just have to do it the old fashioned way, by himself.

And so with a hard-pressed sigh, he flicked the light back off.

Krystal sat with Miyu in the feline's room. The walls were decorated with posters of famous metal bands, guns, and of kittens, it was an odd collaboration of pictures, and yet it suited the cat perfectly.

"So, how are we going to go about this?" Miyu inquired as she looked to her friend.

They had decided to head to a private room so they could discuss how they were going to handle their love situation. It was something that had to be addressed soon. It could not wait forever.

Krystal sat with her tail and paws folded in her lap as she looked to Miyu. "I can only see one solution that would not endanger our friendship and yet we would still get what we want."

"The pack law." Miyu nodded her muzzle in understanding.

"Correct, if we decide to go down that road, we will both get what we desire." Krystal agreed.

Miyu shook her muzzle ruefully. "Huh, never thought I would be in a pack."

"I can promise you I did not think that either." Krystal added with a smirk. "But, I think that he is worth it."

Miyu granted the vixen that. "So, if we are rolling with this, how do we broach it with the big man? He probably wouldn't understand it. I don't think they had that where he came from."

"We will just have to wait for the right time, although I am not sure when that will be." Krystal replied uncertainly. "This is not exactly something we can get help with. There aren't that many packs left."

"That's true." Miyu established. "I suppose we will have to make our own way, won't we?"

"You do always go on about adventure, and this certainly qualifies as one." Krystal sat up a little straighter and fidgeted with her bushy tail. "It will undoubtedly be weird and a little rough at first, but I think that in the long run, the benefits will outweigh the negatives. We just have to persevere."

Miyu nodded, and they spent the rest of the day trying to oil everything out and get it nailed down.

**********

The Great Fox touched down at the main starport at the Cornerian capital. Fox and the rest of the team filed out and were surprised to see that a car was already waiting for them, and the two drivers were heavily armed. It did not exactly send a positive message. Whatever Peppy was worried about must indeed be serious.

The climbed into the car and were ushered towards the CDF HQ. With the car parked out front, they entered the building and made their way to Peppy's office on the top floor. Stepping inside, they noticed that Peppy was not alone, and that Major General Leers was standing beside the seated hare.

"Welcome my friends." Peppy greeted warmly and gestured for them to sit down at the row of chairs before his large oaken desk. "Please sit. Alex, I trust you are acclimatizing well?"

The human took a seat near the middle next to Fox and responded. "Yes sir, I am doing well."

Peppy's muzzle tilted up. "Good to hear that son, I had a feeling that you would be fine." Leers coughed and Peppy frowned. "Yes, well I suppose that we should get down to business."

"Yeah..." Falco muttered. "What's the deal Pep, we were on vacation."

Peppy sighed. "I am afraid, Falco, that the deal as you put it, is dire." Peppy gestured and Leers fiddled with something in his hand. Moments later the top of the General's desk was filled with the holographic image of a desolate and desert strewn world. "No doubt, you are aware of what planet this is?"

Slippy groaned. "Yeah, that's Titania." If anyone knew it was the toad, he had been captured by the Goras and was rescued thanks to Fox's efforts. It did not have a positive connotation for the team and especially not for the young toad.

"Yes indeed Slip, this is Titania. And what you may not know was that it remains to this day, one of the most heavily guarded Venomian research bases in Lylat."

"What does that have to do with us?" Fay inquired.

At this point Leers entered the conversation. "It is relevant because we received an unencrypted distress beacon from the research base situated underneath the desert planet's surface. That in itself is cause for worry. Never before has a Venomian base broadcasted its location, and we want to know what happened."

Miyu shook her head. "That sounds ominous."

"Indeed, that is why we want you to investigate and discover the reason for the bases unguarded beacon." Leers explained.

This made Falco Scoff. "You want us, to go down on that death world and recon the most heavily guarded venomian base, which just so happened to send a distress beacon for no discernable reason. That screams trap to me."

Peppy nodded grimly. "Believe me Falco, that was one of our first conclusions. But even with that very real possibility, we can't ignore this development. And your team is the most experienced with that world, no one else had ever been there and comeback alive."

"Don't worry, you will have support. I will donate a squad of commandos from the 48th division; they are the best I have." Leers added.

"What kind of pay are we talking about?" Fox inquired.

"It's a standard large contractor fee of 50,000 credits and an additional 5,000 credits per gigabyte of any research you can steal while you are down there." Peppy answered. "So...will you take the job?"

Fox nodded. It was a pretty solid chunk of cash. "Alright Pep, we'll take it."

Peppy sighed in relief. "Excellent, that's a weight off my shoulders. Thank you."

They all nodded and Leers laid out the plan. "You will head to Titania immediately and rendezvous with the squad of commandos in orbit. I have already sent them and they are waiting for you. From there, you will head down to the base and enter it, your method of entry is not important, just find a way in. The rest will be relatively simple, discover the purpose of the beacon and snatch any research you can get your paws on."

Peppy dismissed them and they all quickly left the building, heading back to their ship. "Here we go again, another crazy mission." Falco sighed along the way.

**********

The travel time to Titania was swift, as Alex and Slippy managed to boost the engines. But it would still take 15 hours before they arrived. So until then they all sat around the ship and relaxed.

Alex was in the armory, testing his weapons and making sure that they would be ready for whatever it was they might find down there. He was curious to see what this was all about. It would also be the first mission that he and the others would do together and he wanted to ensure that he wouldn't let them down.

He stood on the range and loaded his handgun and as he brought up the simulator and keyed it to run at the hardest difficulty. Seconds after he pressed the start key, targets began to pop up in rapid succession from a dozen different angles in a hundred different sizes.

His pistol barked loudly and shells jumped out of the gun as he kept up with the range's grueling pace. In less than a minute his gun ran dry and he emptied it, swiftly slapping another mag into the grip and racking the slide, continuing uninterrupted. His eyes swiveled back and forth from the targets as he filled them full of holes as fast and accurately as he could.

Soon, the last target was perforated and the range beeped. Alex took off the earmuffs and placed them down on the ledge of his booth. A small screen on the wall lit up and showed his score.

Thirty/Thirty targets eliminated

57 Hits

3 Misses

95% Accuracy

Grade A

Alex nodded in satisfaction, glad that his skills had not faded completely. He pressed a button on the wall and the thirty targets were rolled out for inspection. He examined them and chuckled amusedly. Most of the hits were centered on the target's limbs, elbows, knees, throats, places where they would have been dismembered if they had been living creatures.

"Impressive scoring, although most people usually go for the head."

Alex looked over his shoulder to see Miyu standing there with her paws on her hips and smiling in the way that made his heart begin to pound. She was wearing a snug fitting blue shirt that hugged her chest tightly, a pair of slim grey pants, and thick black boots. Holstered on her hip, was the handgun he had given her. As he looked at her, he began to recall what happened on the beach and it set him on edge.

He didn't want something like that to happen again....or rather he did, but he knew that it would only make things more painful in the end.

"Yeah, well you could say that it was a force of habit." He answered, turning back to his booth. He knew that the longer he looked at her, the more tempted he would be to pursue her.

The lynx frowned at his dismissive air. She had been hoping to talk to him and perhaps explain their decision. But it seemed that he was still wary of her after the beach incident. And for that she had no one to blame but herself.

With a sigh, she entered the booth beside him and started it up. She tried to focus on shooting but couldn't concentrate on it. She was too distracted by Alex to do as well as she normally did, plus the weapon was still new to her and threw the cat off a little.

After her first round, the range beeped and shut down, shortly followed by the screen on the wall rolling out her score.

Ten/Thirty targets hit

15 Hits

45 Misses

25% Accuracy

Grade F

Miyu hissed in frustration and slammed a paw onto the screen.

"Need a little help there?"

The Feline looked to see Alex behind her, smiling softly.

Alex had looked over to Miyu and saw that she obviously needed his help. That sparked an internal debate as he tried to puzzle out if he should be the one to help her or not. He decided that helping her was the right thing to do and so he had stepped away from his booth and walked over to her.

Miyu nodded gently and so he moved to stand behind her. "Your biggest problem is that your grip on the gun is too loose. It was meant to be held firmly and confidently." Alex placed his hands on her paws and moved them so that they had a better hold on the gun.

As his fingers ran across her furred paws, a tingling feeling traveled up her arms and towards her heart. A shallow purr began to run in her chest and she was tempted to lean back against his chest. But she held herself back and instead nodded at what he was telling her.

"Okay, now you are going to want to keep your arms loose so that they will be ready for the recoil." Alex ran his palms down her arms slowly and made it so that she was not tensed up. "If you tense up, it'll throw off your aim."

Miyu shivered as he rolled his fingers across her fur and massaged her muscles in order to slacken them. Her ears flicked as she felt his warm breath tickle their tips as he leaned in close. Occasionally his chest would brush against her back and she could feel his firm muscles glide across. At this point if she wanted to talk, she would be unable to; all that would come out would be a soft ecstatic moan.

"The rest is easy." He continued, unaware of the effect he was having on her and started the next simulation. "All you have to do is take a deep breath and...squeeze." She went through the entire simulation with him behind her and at the end the results were plastered across the screen.

Twenty-Five/Thirty targets hit

50 Hits

10 Misses

85% Accuracy

Grade B

Miyu could hear the smile in his tone. "There, see? You did a lot better this time." He patted her on the shoulder and squeezed gently, almost making her moan loudly.

She heard him turn to walk back to his booth and at that moment she decided to hell with the consequences. At the moment she wanted him, and she was going to do her best to get him.

Alex turned to head back to his booth, glad that he had been able to help her. Before he could complete his turn, he felt a warm furry body force itself onto him and slammed the human into the wall of the booth.

Miyu wrapped her furred arms under his shoulders and coiled her tail around his waist. Before he could get a word in edgewise, she snatched his lips in her muzzle and filled his mouth with her tongue, delving into the exceedingly familiar environment.

She slid her paws down and up, slipping into his shirt to caress his bare skin. She lifted her left leg and brought it around his. The dampness between her legs needed relief and so she pressed her covered mound against his hardening bulge in a dry-hump.

By this time, Alex's mind was slowly booting back up from its sudden shutdown and he placed his hands on her chest and pushed her back in alarm. "What the hell, Miyu?!" He demanded; face flushed with denied arousal.

The feline's back collided with the other side of the booth and she panted, catching her breath. She looked back at him hesitantly and saw his angry expression, immediately causing her ears to fold back. Once more she realized that she had tried again and that made her tear up. "I'm sorry." She whispered hoarsely.

At the sound of her voice, the anger fled his face and he sighed. "It's fine."

"No it's not!" Miyu yowled. "I did it again!"

Alex stared at her pained face quietly, unsure as to how to deal with this development. After a moment he decided that it would be best to deal with this now. "I..." He exhaled weightily. "Miyu look, I do like you, I really do. You are an amazing woman. You're full of enthusiasm and life and you're not afraid to speak your mind. That's one of the reasons that I do like you. But...I can't do _this_with you." He gestured back and forth, indicating what she had tried to do minutes before.

"Why the hell not?" She demanded angrily.

"It's just not that simple. I....god I feel like an asshole." He covered his face with his hands and sighed deeply. "I like you Miyu, hell I even love you. But you aren't the only girl I love. I love Krystal too." Alex shook his head and wiped a hand across his face. "God...I definitely sound like an asshole." He muttered derisively at himself. "What I am trying to say is that it would not be right. You two would be better off with guys who aren't like me. You don't need some love addled moron who wants two girls to himself."

"Well what if I do?" She growled, amber eyes flashing with irritation. "Last time I checked buster," She prodded his chest with a claw. "I get to choose who I want!"

"So why would you choose me?" He demanded, rounding on her. "I have feelings for two different women, I'm an alien, and I'm not even the same fucking man I used to be!" He shouted, making the feline flinch.

Alex slid down the side of the booth and down to the floor, cradling his head in his hands and continuing in a softer tone. "I am not the same man I used to be, Miyu. I...there's things I can't tell you, or even the others, only Fox has a small idea. There's too many things wrong with me...too many broken parts that can't be fixed. And it will only get worse."

Miyu looked down at the defeated man and crouched down beside him, placing a paw on his knee. "I don't care. I made my choice a long time ago. And I'm not going to change it." She told him with a warm smile.

He looked up to her, at her smiling feline muzzle, and he frowned. "You should, you'll be happier and life will be easier without me in the picture."

Miyu shook her muzzle and chuckled dryly. "Life isn't about making easy choices, Alex. It's about making the right ones. And I think you're wrong about that, I'll be happier with what I decide."

The human's frown faded. "What about the other problem?"

"What, Krystal?" Miyu replied, sitting down beside him. "I think you'll find that it won't be a problem. I'm guessing that you've never heard of the pack law?"

He shook his head in confusion.

"Well than, allow me to elaborate. The pack law states that any male or female can establish a pack. This ancient bylaw hails down from the early ages of our society, long before governments were established; back when the only law was oneself. It means that as long as you can care for, protect, feed, and nurture them, you can have more than one mate, up to but not acceding four. It was created after the old clan wars that reduced the male population by more than half. Although that is no longer an issue, the law remains unchanged. "

Alex had definitely never heard of this law before. "It is still in use then?" He asked, baffled at the thought.

Miyu nodded. "Yeah, there are a few packs left, most are actually pretty famous. But you wouldn't know that."

"So...this is normal?"

She shrugged. "It's not normal, but it is an accepted practice."

He nodded slowly. "And....you're fine with being in one of these packs, as you call it?"

"It definitely was not on my wants list." She giggled. "But I can roll with it."

"I...need some time to think." He told her, standing up.

She stood up with him and nodded. "I understand, it is probably confusing for you." Miyu slid her muzzle over to his left ear and dragged her tongue across the nape of his neck, sending shivers down his spine at the warm wet caress. "But don't take too long." She whispered huskily before turning around and strutting away, flicking her tail across his cheek. "I might take matters into my own hand."

Alex watched as she exited the armory, and sighed. As if his life wasn't complicated enough. He chuckled. "I think I'll like this complication." He said to himself as he walked over to his empty suit.

**********

Fox sat on the bridge in the captain's chair, watching as the light trails from the warp that the carrier traveled through. He was worried about the mission. They had no idea what they would be up against and despite the addition of a team of commandos, he was still nervous. This was his team, his family, and it they got hurt or god forbid, were killed...

He didn't want to even think about it.

The vulpine sighed and prayed that it would all work out. As he watched the stellar lights, the door to the bridge hissed open and in stepped Alex, fully decked out in his strange armor. Fox had to admit that he looked pretty intimidating in the heavy suit of black and blue, and the strange slanted visor was interesting in an alien way.

Alex walked over to where Fox was and stood by the chair, plated arms folded. "Hey Fox."

"Sup Alex, I'm glad to see that you're ready to go." Fox turned to look at his friend. "I hope you will be up for another bout with the forces of Venom."

"I'll be ready when you need me Fox. I won't let you down." The human assured with a kindly tone to his synthesized voice.

Fox grinned. "I know you won't. Otherwise I wouldn't let you forget it."

The both of them chuckled and Alex sighed. "It never gets easy, does it?"

"What?" Fox asked, tilting his head in confusion.

"Life...." Alex responded. "It just seems to get infinitely more complicated."

Fox had no idea what the human was going on about, so Alex told him what he had Miyu had discussed. That made the vulpine chuckle. "You know, most guys would be thrilled to be in that situation."

"I'm not most guys Fox." Alex replied with an annoyed growl.

"Wow, temper dude." Fox chided.

The human exhaled heavily. "Sorry Fox, it's particularly bad today." He replied, alluding to his mental dilemma. "I'm a little jumbled up at the moment."

"Oh...no need to apologize then, I understand....will you be ready for the mission?" Fox asked quietly.

Alex's helmet bobbed up and down in confirmation. "Don't worry about it Fox, it won't affect my combat capabilities, I've gotten used to fighting with it."

"Alright..." Fox replied. "But if you need a breather don't try to be a Falco, just take it."

"What do you mean, being a Falco?" They heard the avian demand as he sauntered into the room with his customary flare.

"Oh you know how you are Falco. You won't admit anything until it's too late." Fox explained with a laugh.

"I'm just not much of a baby as you guys." Falco retorted with a snort as he took a seat to the side.

"Uh huh, yeah whatever." Fox rolled his eyes.

"So, why would fleshy here need a break?" Falco inquired as he planted his boots onto the console near his chair.

Fox looked to Alex, and the human gave a swift denial. He trusted Falco, but he only wanted one of his friends to hold the burden of that knowledge. "He's just feeling a little ill today that's all." He replied.

"Huh, that's pretty weak." Falco muttered.

Fox was about to scold Falco, but Alex placed a gauntlet on his furred shoulder and shook his head. "It's alright, He doesn't know." The human said quietly.

A few minutes later, the side of Fox's chair beeped and the scenery on the outside changed, showing a large tan planet with a huge ship orbiting overhead. "It looks like we're here." Falco announced, standing up from his chair and heading towards the doors of the bridge. 'I'll get the others and get them to head down to the hanger."

Fox nodded and took a closer look at the desert world and the ship above it.

The planet looked pretty much as he remembered it, although he did notice a slight tinge to the atmosphere that he could not place. He was sure that it was not there last time.

The ship in orbit was a Cornerian battlecruiser, a massive white, wedged vessel with blue trimming. On its side was the cornerian military emblem, a blue holographic planet with three red stars and a C wrapped around it, surrounded by laurels. The name of the ship was the CNDF Arcfury.

Fox had heard of the Arcfury, it served in the final year of the Lylat Wars and throughout the entire aparoid invasion. It was one of the new Defender-series vessels, featuring redundant shield generators and high yield lance batteries. Its fighter squadrons were some of the best pilots in the CNDF fighter core.

"That's a big ship, I hope it's friendly." Alex remarked as he looked at the intimidating cruiser.

"It is." Fox assured his friend and stood up from his chair. "Come on, let's head over. I'm sure the captain would like to brief us on the situation."

**********

The team took their arwings and flew to the cruiser, Alex co-piloting for Krystal. They were allowed to board the ship and landed their craft in Hanger bay B. They all stepped out and saw that the captain was already waiting for them.

She was a mid-sized raccoon in a blue and white suit, which matched her ship well. The uniformed women stood at attention, paws behind her back, to the side of where they landed. Standing behind here, were five completely armored furs. Their armor was silver and glowed with a soft blue light. As Alex climbed out of Krystal's Cloudrunner, he could not help but notice that one of the soldier's helmets covered a pair of incredibly long ears. They were at least a foot high.

He pegged his curiosity down and walked with the team to where the captain was standing.

"I...am Captain Aurora Cane. I have no love for pleasantries so we shall get down to brass tacks." She barked in a commanding tone, reminding the human of his sergeant. "You have a mission, and I have my own."

"That's correct captain." Fox nodded.

"Indeed, I was told that I would be donating my best squad of commandos for this mission, and that is not what I wanted to hear. But orders are orders, and these came from the Major General himself." Displeasure was evident in her voice.

"Yeah..." Fox smiled weakly and rubbed the back of his furred head.

"Just do what you were told to do and bring back my soldiers." The disgruntled raccoon replied before turning on her heels and marching away. "Step to it." She added as she disappeared from view. The five armored soldiers stayed behind so they assumed that these were the commandos.

"Well, looks like we're going to be working together." Fox said as he turned to the squad leader with the long ears.

"It'll be just like old times eh Fox?" The feminine voice issued out of the helmet's speakers with a chuckle.

"Huh?" Fox mumbled.

The squad leader twisted her helmet and popped it off with a hiss of air, revealing a vixen with dark red fur and long fluffy ears. She had startling bright green eyes and a smirk on her muzzle.

"F-Fara!" Fox exclaimed in shock, recoiling.

"The one and only, Fox." She replied, placing her helmet in the crook of her arm.

Alex watched this exchange with confusion. He had no idea who this woman was, but judging from Fox's reaction, and that of the surprised faces of everyone else, he concluded that she was significant in the team's dynamic.

"I-how, what happened?" Fox asked. Last he saw her, she was working as a pilot, this was a radical change.

"I switched careers after you dumped me." She replied with a hint of anger. "Flying just didn't feel the same after that."

Alex winced.

Yeah, she definitely was pretty significant. It looked like there was a lot of anger here, and so he decided to pull Fox's furry ass out of the fire. "So..." He said loudly, getting everyone's attention. "You're the team of commandos."

"And you're the alien." The female fox countered snappily a she turned to the helmetless human.

"Yes well now that introductions are done, how about we focus on the mission." Alex replied, just as curtly.

The vixen nodded grimly. "Yes, let's get this over with." She put her helmet back on and made a circular motion with her finger, making the other four unknown soldiers rally on her. "We have a shuttle we'll be taking to the surface. You can meet us down there." She turned and walked away, heading towards a large boxy craft on the other side of the hanger.

"Shit." Falco grunted. "This'll be interesting." He turned to head back to his fighter.

Alex shared a look with Miyu and Krystal before walking over to Fox, who was staring at the spot Fara had been standing on. "You okay there Fox?" The human asked, placing a gauntlet on his friend's shoulder.

"Yeah, I'll be okay." Fox sighed. "I just didn't expect to be seeing her. That makes this whole thing a little more unpleasant."

"Yeah, I could tell." Alex replied with a snort. "What happened, Fox?"

"We fell out, I figured that I didn't lover her and I would only be holding her back, and she took it hard. It was a bad time." Fox explained as he looked up to Alex. "It looks like she's still angry, can't blame her though."

'Well, all the better that we get this done as soon as possible eh Fox?" Alex asked, placing an arm on his friend and maneuvering him back to his ship.

"Absolutely, the sooner we get this done the better." Fox agreed quietly, heading back to his ship.

Alex watched him depart and shook his head before walking over to Krystal. "I think Fox is going to hate this mission."

The cerulean vixen nodded. "I could feel the anger and hurt radiating off that women, she needs help more than Fox does. Be nice to her Alex." Krystal ordered, climbing back into their ship.

"Okay, I will." He promised, sliding in the chair behind her. "But don't expect me to kiss her ass." Alex added grumpily.

"I wouldn't dream of it." Krystal giggled and closed the canopy for their ship.