FSE

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Chapter 7: Creators

Cassandra didn't want to be in sick bay. She stood rigidly and stared through her mask's one way lenses as Take Care made the final adjustments to the nanite healing chamber. It looked like a large sunken in oblong bed with a lid on a hinge, just large enough for the tallest of them to lie down in comfortably, if it had cushions.

Take Care stepped back and tapped the inside of the chamber, "Alright, mask off and get in."

"What." Cassandra's voice was flat.

Take Care narrowed her eyes, "Get. In. This is going to fix your eye."

"How is fixing my eye going to change anything?" Cassandra asked flatly.

Take Care groaned and pressed her palm into her forehead, "It's not a complete solution but it will be a big step for you, and you won't be forced to wear that mask to just to sleep at night."

"If it works."

"It will." Take Care said.

"Will it make me like I was before?" Cassandra turned her head to look at her two tails, "Will I lose my extra tail or will it fix my ear?"

"Not entirely, your ear is cauterized and I didn't have a complete genetic profile of you, so I had to plug in some of the gaps with Fara's records. It will fix your eye and any long term injuries you might have sustained in the last five years." Before Cassandra could protest Take Care gave her a stern glare, "Tenderheart told me he grounded you and your fighter is all but scrap. I convinced him to lift your grounding if you do this so unless you want to sit in your quarters for the foreseeable future then take your mask off and get in the chamber."

Cassandra stood still for a moment, then sighed and reached up to undo her mask. Even Take Care couldn't help wincing at the sight under the mask but she didn't back down and pointed to the chamber.

"Should I undress?" Cassandra asked as she stepped up to the chamber.

"If you want, but it's not needed." Take Care looked away for a moment as Cassandra undressed then stepped into the chamber. She lay back, one tail to each side as Take Care started up the chamber.

"You'll be sedated and unconscious and fed intravenously. I'll check in on you daily so just lie back and relax." As Take Care spoke the chamber inserted the IVs into both of her arms then she closed the lid. At first Cassandra just lay in darkness, listening to what sounded like static as the nanites went to work, then she started to feel sleepy. She closed her eyes and drifted off.

Take Care watched Cassandra's vitals until she was in a peaceful sleep then nodded and stepped away from the chamber. Time to let the nanites do their work.

OoOoO

Bright Heart pointed to the four blueprints on the screen, "These are the new Arwing models we're going to be building, once we get to a safe location." He touched the top left diagram which showed off an Arwing with six of the 'psi pods' mounted on its wings. "The Psiwing Mk II. With the psychonite Miyu, Faye and Peppy brought us we can build a working version of the Psi-link system, which we're calling the Psychonite System, and a total of six beam pods which should make up for the lack of a nova bomb launcher."

Slippy stepped forwards and switched the screen to the next fighter: an Awring with a bulkier main body and shorter wings. "This is the Arwing Bomber. It has stronger shields and is armored with Durabillum instead of Laminate Titanium so I increased the number and power of the G-Diffusers on the back; it won't turn as fast but it takes a lot of damage to bring down. It's armed with a single plasma laser and two beam cannons, not as strong as the Fox's but a lot stronger than the beam guns on the MK Vs. And then there's these," he touched part of the schematic and zoomed in what looked like a short stubby four-finned missile with a drill nose cone, "Nova Torpedoes. They have double the yield of a Nova Bomb and used a beam-field drill to pierce into any larger ship's hull then detonate under the surface."

"Is this really necessary?" Tenderheart folded his arms.

Slippy nodded, "We can't rely on the _Fox McCloud_to destroy every ship from the frigate class and up. We need these bombers to keep fighting the empire on even footing."

"Then there's this!" Faye edged the frog and raccoon aside and showed the next blueprint: an Arwing with its main hull split into two parallel points and its wings swept straight back. "This is the Arwing Interceptor, something I designed for both me and Miyu. It has over 148% increased acceleration and 75% greater speed compared to the Mk V and extra maneuvering thrusters so it can turn a 180 in less than a second. Then there's this," she zoomed into the bottom right of the blueprint to a picture of a six-barreled Vulcan gun. "Beam Vulcan guns. Not as powerful as the beam guns on the Mk V but much faster firing and they can out damage a plasma laser if properly tuned. I was thinking about replacing all the plasma lasers on the Arwings with this."

"That's not feasible," Bright Heart said, "The beam vulcans take too much power, we had to reduce the shields on the interceptor by half just to power them and the seeker plasma gun."

"Seeker plasma gun?" Tenderheart interjected.

"It's a weapon that we mounted on older Arwing models," Slippy said, "A charged weapon that fired a ball of plasma with limited tracking abilities and a small blast radius, though the twin hulls are lined with extra charging coils which allow the energy to focus more rapidly than the old model, and I added an extra feature to increase the ship's survivability." He watched as Faye switched to the next part of the blueprint then continued, "The overshield. A temporary defensive system that creates a barrier capable of deflecting even the Fox McCloud's beam cannons, but it can only be used once per deployment or it will burn out the interceptor's systems."

"Impressive," Tenderheart nodded and smiled in approval.

"And then there's the last item," Slippy stepped forwards again to switch to a larger blueprint. It showed both a variant Arwing with forward swept wings and lanky bipedal robot of some kind, though more crudely drawn. "I'm calling it the Mechwing and I'm taking some of the new ideas Faye brought on board. It's a transformable Arwing based on the ship Cassandra captured before we came here. It needs more refinement but I think I can get it working."

"Leave that for later, focus on the Bomber and Interceptor for now and leave the experimental ones till later." Tenderheart was interrupted by Cheer's voice over the intercom.

"One minute until arrival at Sector X. One minute until arrival at Sector X."

"I'll be on the command bridge, excuse me," Tenderheart turned and left.

Tenderheart stepped on to the command bridge right as warp space dissipated into a view of a large blue X-shaped nebula. "Anything to report?" Tenderheart turned to Soulful.

"Not much except for a debris field between us and the nebula," Soulful didn't look up from his console.

"Andross had a R&D base here during the Lylat Wars," Fara said as she kept her eyes faced forwards, "They were supposedly developing a secret weapon here but if they were it never came to anything." A large girder floated towards them and bounced off the _Fox McCloud's_shields, "Everyone wrote it off as a total loss."

"I can see that," Tenderheart stood next to Fara's command chair.

They heard the sound of the door open behind them as a new voice joined the conversation, "We can't guarantee they're going to keep thinking that, especially if they followed you here." Peppy Hare stepped onto the bridge, the cut on his head having been healed.

"Peppy!" Fara was up and out of her chair in an instant, "What are you doing up? You should be resting!"

Peppy waved her off, "It was just a bump and cut on my head, Doctor Get Well had me patched up and released in no time." He walked past Fara and stood next to her command chair, "Sector X... I remember the reports I read about Andross' secret weapon here but no one bothered to investigate, unless it was that ship that attacked us in the Venom Air Defense Zone." Both Fara and Tenderheart could sense the waves of unease emanating from Peppy as he continued, "I think something's still out there."

"We're not taking that chance. I'll get the remaining Arwings ready." Tenderheart put a hand on Peppy's shoulder, "want to join us?"

Peppy smiled then shook his head, "I appreciate the thought but I think my flying days are behind me now." He turned to Fara, "You should go with him, I'll handle things here."

Fara blinked, "Really? But Peppy my place-"

"Is in an Arwing, it has been ever since you flew those test flights with us back when we got the contract to test the Arwings." Peppy slid into the command chair then turned his head to face her, "I know it's hard but at least try."

"You should," Tenderheart put a hand on Fara's shoulder, "They're going to upgrade the Psiwing for you so you should get at least one more test flight in, if you want to join us later."

Fara took a deep breath then let it out in a long sigh, "Alright, let's go. Peppy you have the bridge."

OoOoO

Tenderheart was surprised to see most of the Mk IV Awrings already hauled back for disassembly. "They work fast," he commented as he turned to the bay, only his and Falco's Mk Vs, the Psiwing and Contrary Heart's Mk IV were still ready. "Alright. Connie, Falco, Fara and I will scout ahead into the debris. Everyone else sit tight."

Hugs sighed then turned around, "I'll be in my quarters then."

"Me too, good luck," Perfect gave them a thumbs up and left the hangar.

Fara had just finished changing into her purple flight suit. "It's been too long since I wore this." She stretched a bit then grabbed the psi-link headset and strapped it on. "Alright, Let's do this."

Tenderheart, Falco, Connie and Fara boarded their fighters and powered up. "Alright, team, this is a standard search mission," Tenderheart said, "We're only going in to make sure the place is safe. Does anyone have any information about what's in there?"

"After all this time, possibly just the automated defense systems," Peppy said over the comm, "but there might still be a few drones out there. Don't let your guard down."

"Not to mention the secret weapon, if it's still there," Fara said.

"Alright everyone, take off. The Fox will only be a minute behind us," Tenderheart hit the thrust and took off. Contrary Heart and Falco took of positions to his sides with Fara directly behind him.

They passed through a hollow cube made of girders, waiting for something to jump out at them.

"Not much to see here," Connie commented.

"I can't sense anything ahead, can you?" Tenderheart asked, Fara.

Fara clutched her necklace for a moment, "There's something faint, it doesn't feel like a Lylatian."

"The base is... ahead?" Falco's quizzical tone drew their attention forwards. "Something's not right here, it's all gone."

A massive debris field lay ahead, large shattered panels that had been torn off support structures floating in space.

"I'm not getting any readings on sensors, no fighters, no turrets, nothing," Connie sounded tense.

"I know. It's eerie," Tenderheart couldn't help but shudder. "Soulful Heart, do you have anything?"

The fox shook his head, "Not much. This debris was definitely all once part of a single structure but most of it doesn't show any evidence of heat or radiation damage." He looked at part of his screen as it tracked a rather jagged piece of debris, "If the base was destroyed then it was probably physically ripped apart, unless a psion did this."

Fara shook her head, "No. Damage on this scale would still leave some trace of psychic resonance even this many years later."

"Then what took this base out?" Falco flew up and over a spinning panel.

"We might find, WHOA!" Tenderheart was forced to roll aside as a massive metal bar flew towards them.

"Geeze louise what is that?!" Falco pulled aside and even Fara was forced to dive to avoid impact. The object turned around and flew through them again.

"Where's it going?" Connie asked.

"Follow it!" Tenderheart ordered as he hit the boost through a thick debris field, nearly colliding with a tangle of girders still fused together.

"It's gone!" Connie said, "Wait. I'm getting something on my sensors. Turrets!" A few panels popped out and turrets opened fire on the fighters. They all dodged aside and fired plasma lasers at the defenses and they were gone in seconds.

"That's it?" Connie asked.

"Probably the last of the defenses that thing didn't destroy," Fara said. "Can you sense it, Tenderheart? I can feel something."

"Me too," Tenderheart nodded, "Just ahead."

"Look, another one." Falco said as another large metal beam flew across their vision, then turned and headed away from them.

"Is it trying to lure us?" Fara asked.

"Maybe, but if it's still active we need to take it out." Tenderheart accelerated after the beam, but lost track of it.

"It keeps slipping away," Connie bit her lip.

"Keep on it. We should find it soon. Fara are the psi-pods ready?" Tenderheart asked.

"It should work this time, and it will help them to perfect the link," Fara said.

"Good," Tenderheart said as they cleared a particularly large piece of debris.

"What the heck? Tenderheart, look behind you!" Falco's shout came almost too late as what looked like a large torso flew past their formation, followed by the two large beams they had encountered earlier.

A robotic voice sounded in their comms as the two beams linked to the torso and formed into large arms, "I WILL TERMINATE ALL ENEMIES." The top of the torso turned around to reveal a head with two glowing eyes and a pair of energy guns pointing at them. "YOU ARE AN ENEMY." Bright blue bolts of energy fired from the guns, striking Tenderheart's wing.

"Aim for the eyes." Peppy's voice came over the comm.

Falco and Connie managed to fire off several shots at the eyes before the head turned away and their lasers pinged off the durable exterior.

"WHERE IS THE CREATOR?" the robot fired off its two forearms as fists, almost hitting Tenderheart and Fara's fighters.

"Falco, try the beam gun." Tenderherart ordered.

"Got'cha, say goodnight!" Falco and Tenderheart fired off their beam guns, but barely made a dent in the armor. "Damn, what's it made of?" Falco asked.

"Must be an experimental alloy they never finished testing," Tenderheart said as he dodged the returning fists.

"DESTROY. DESTROY." The robot tried to swat the Arwings away with one of it's hands.

Connie tried to fly around the robot, only to be slapped back, her shields absorbing the blow, "We can't get to the face as long as those arms are in the way!"

"Hold on, let me try to attack from behind." Fara focused through the psi-link helmet and the pods detached from her wings and flew around the floating robot.

"WHERE IS THE CREATOR?" The robot fired off its fists again right as the psi-pods circled behind it.

"Why is it saying that?" Tenderheart asked.

"Fire!" Fara's voice was followed by the psi-pods blasting the robot's eyes from the behind, striking the eyes and blowing the head off.

"Alright! Take that!" Connie grinned as the robot slumped, appearing lifeless before them, then suddenly sprang back to life, "What the hell?"

"THE VIEW IS CLEAR." The robot wagged its right finger at the fighters as Fara's psi-pods returned to the psi-wing. "DESTROY. DESTROY." The robot grabbed a passing piece of debris and hurled it at the Awrings.

"Peppy! Incoming debris!" Tenderheart shouted.

"Don't worry, I got this." Katt's voice was followed by a bright blast from the beam cannons, fragmenting the debris before it could hit the shield.

"I WILL TERMINATE ALL ENEMIES." The robot whirled its arms, trying to strike the fighters and forcing them to back off.

"Aim for the core on it's neck," Soulful's report was nearly lost in the frantic attempts to dodge the arms. "That should destroy it."

"I got this!" Falco took aim and fired his beam cannon, striking just to the left of the core, "Hold still, geeze!"

"Don't rely on the beam gun, use your lasers," Peppy said.

"Don't have one, not gonna need one," Connie dodged aside as the arms stopped flailing and rapidly fired into the core, scoring several hits.

"Almost got it," Tenderheart tried to fire, but missed as the robot hurled another chunk of nearby debris at them.

"DESTROY. DESTROY."

"Oh I'll destroy you!" Falco dove under the piece of debris and fired into the core. The robot shuddered and threw up its arms too late to defend itself.

"I MUST BE COMPLETE." Then it exploded.

Tenderheart breathed a sigh of relief, "All aircraft report."

"Hah, nailed that one!" Falco said.

"That was my kill, Falco," Connie huffed.

"At least we know the psi-pods work now." Fara sighed.

"Fox McCloud coming up behind you," Cheer's voice sounded over the comm.

"Good, we need a rest." Tenderheart said.

The Arwings turned around and flew back to the docking bay.

OoOoO

Tenderheart wasted no time in returning to the command bridge after he landed. "Alright Peppy, what's the situation report?"

"So far, no other empires ships on sensors. ROB is taking us right into the nebula." He pointed forwards as the large X-shaped blue cloud overtook the view screen.

They all felt a shudder as the ship pierced the edge of the gas cloud. It was silent for a moment before Soulful spoke. "Hull's holding up but sensors are dead now." He sighed and stepped back from his console, "Not gonna be much use up here now."

"That's fine. Fara and I need to talk to you." Tenderheart turned to Cheer, "Tell Bright Heart to close the hangar door," he paused, "have we ever closed that thing?" He shook his head, "never mind, close it." He walked over to Cheer and gave her a kiss, "I'll see you once we're both done, OK?"

Cheer giggled, "OK. I love you."

"I love you too," Tenderheart smiled then turned and left the command bridge.

OoOoO

Fara entered the forwards observation deck, which was now tinted faintly blue, and saw Tenderheart and Soulful Heart seated table. Tenderheart motioned to the empty chair next to him. "Please, join us."

Fara smiled, "Don't mind if I do."

Soulful Heart waited until Fara took her seat before he spoke, "What's this all about?"

"It's about you, and what I think you can do," Fara said. "You have an uncanny knack for picking out the perfect targets for us."

Soulful Heart folded his arms, "It's my job, as intelligence and sensor officer."

Tenderheart, "It's more than that. With the freighter raid you picked just the right target for us to get all the supplies we needed to do our upgrades when all the viable targets looked alike, and then when we rescued Peppy you knew the missile attack was coming before your sensors picked it up."

"Not to mention at least two dozen other times that I can think of that you pulled a winning answer out of your hat, but that's too many to list," Fara tapped the tabletop with a finger.

Soulful raised an eyebrow, "What are you saying?"

"I just need a moment. This won't take long." Fara took a deep breath then stared hard at Soulful. It made his skin crawl but he held still until she spoke again, "Just as I suspected. Soulful Heart Fox, you're a psion. A low level, the same level as Peppy and Miyu, but it's there."

"What?" Soulful did his best to stay calm as he processed the information, "For how long?"

"Probably your whole life." Tenderheart tapped his forehead, "I had the potential but I never knew it was a thing until Star Fox showed up on Earth, then feeling everyone die..." he shuddered.

"Without a dedicated way to check for psionic powers or even knowledge of them, most psions have their powers flare to life during traumatic events that force their senses to awaken, but in rare cases they develop naturally without the psion ever knowing." Fara said, "I believe you have limited precognition and possibly a sixth sense. They're fairly common powers and can be trained to become more effective."

"So do I have to get training now?" Soulful's tone indicated that he wasn't looking forwards to it.

Fara shook her head, "It's not required, just being aware that you have this power is enough to help it grow, even if only slightly. But I'm always available to help you practise if you're willing."

"Maybe. I don't know." Soulful stood up, "If you don't mind I'm going to my quarters."

"Not at all. Good night, Soulful." Tenderheart held back his yawn until the fox had left the deck. "I'm going too. It's been a long day and I have a lovely wife waiting for me in my room."

Fara smirked, "Go ahead, I'm going to get supper first."