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Shattered: Redux

Chapter XI: Dark Inheritance Part IV

The past is not so easily forgotten...

-Anonymous

Fox sat at one of the tables at the back of the cafeteria/shelter and impatiently tapped his claws rhythmically on the cool steel with a soft clatter. He was anxious to know if his friend was okay, or even if he was still alive. But he also had more than Alex to worry about. Those things were disturbingly familiar. He couldn't quite place it, but he felt that he had seen them before, and that worried him greatly.

There was a light scuffle in front of him and Fox looked up to see Falco slide onto the bench across from him. The avian had an indifferent look on his beak, as he always did. And Fox found a small measure of comfort in his friend's boldness. It was good to know he could count on Falco if things went south.

"I gotta say..." Falco announced as he rolled his shoulders and placed his feathered palms onto the table, gaze settling on the orange vulpine. "This is definitely at the top of the strangest damn missions we ever took. I mean here we are stuck on a venomian research base with one of your old flames. We've been chased by monsters, and we're already down a member of our team."

All Fox could do was nod in agreement.

"So Mccloud, what's the plan? I'm sure you haven't just been sitting here twiddling your paws." Falco demanded.

Fox sighed and leaned back. "I don't know what the plan is yet. I suppose we should probably ask around and see how this all happened."

Falco scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Yeah sure, because venomians sure do love to talk about their secret plans and projects."

The vulpine glared at Falco unamused.

"Alright Fox, we'll do it your way. You're the boss after all." The bird sighed and got off the bench. "So...who do you wanna ask first? Is it going to be the grumpy illiterate venomian security team leader, or the terrified faculty?"

Fox's glare intensified.

"Terrified faculty it is." Falco grumbled and turned away, walking towards a table where a few venomians in lab coats were sitting. "So...what have you all been up to lately?"

Fox watched as his friend tried to initiate conversation with the staff and chuffed quietly as he shook his muzzle. Falco was certainly a strange guy.

"Fox...can I speak with you a moment?"

The vulpine pulled his attention away from Falco's antics and turned to see Krystal standing nervously behind him. She was playing with her tail and looking to him worriedly.

"Of course, you don't have to ask Krystal." He gestured for her to take a seat in front of him, which she quickly did, folding her furry arms on the table and laying her muzzle on them. "What do you need?"

She was silent for a minute, and then huffed. "What are we going to do about Alex? He's out there, with those...things." She shuddered and her fur bristled just at the thought of those monsters.

Fox felt a heavy weight on his shoulders, there was nothing he could really do for his friend at the moment. And the thought of that, and that his disappearance put Krystal and Miyu in such a terrible state, was a burden on the vulpine's mind. "I'm sorry Krystal....there's nothing we can really do at the moment; at least until we really know what's going on here. Falco's trying to figure it out, and he always gets results. So just hang tight, I know he's alright. I'm sure of it. Alex is as tough as they get."

A soft whine slipped out of the vixen's muzzle and she buried it into her arms. That was not what she had wanted to hear. She was hoping for something reassuring, even if he had to lie to her.

Fox felt an ache in his chest at seeing his close friend's sadness, and once more he felt particularly useless. He was the damn leader of the team! He was the one who should be able to do something! But, his impotent anger would get them nowhere, and so he stowed it away. At the least he could conduct himself in a way that he knew his father would have. He needed to project himself as a strong force; otherwise his friends might lose faith in him. And that was something he didn't want.

Miyu watched as Krystal and Fox talked, and judging by her friend's reaction, it was something they she didn't want to hear. The feline sighed and turned away in disappointment. She walked over to the doors and sat down on a chair next to them. She couldn't help but think back to Alex. Her muzzle split into a soft grin as she remembered when they had first met, he was such a shy and quiet guy. As she sat there, she looked down to the holster at her hip and pulled out the bulky black handgun he had given her. That was when he had opened up to her, and where she had started to fall for him. Miyu traced her paw across the smooth obsidian finish and felt a pang of fear. She didn't know what she would do if he never came back. The feline quickly quelled that thought; it wasn't something worth thinking about. He would come back. He was a survivor if she ever saw one.

"It's our fault."

Miyu heard the saddened voice of Slippy and looked up to see both the toad and Fay sitting at a table near her.

"What do you mean?" She asked in confusion.

"We were in the room with him, if we hadn't left him alone in there. He would never have been taken." Fay replied with a miserable frown on her muzzle.

Miyu smiled sadly and shook her muzzle. "It's not your guys fault. How could you have known that was going to happen? If anyone is to blame it's him." She said with a pained chuckle. "He should have left the room with you guys. And I'll be sure to let him know that when he comes back." She added confidently, holstering the handgun she had been holding.

Fay's frown faded slightly and Slippy smiled a little, the feisty feline's confidence boosting theirs.

Alex slowly slithered down the corridor that Lupa had pointed out to him, pistol and sword raised. He briefly looked over his shoulder to check on his charges and saw them a few feet behind him. Penelope was in the middle and Lupa was bringing up the rear. Alex had given her the venomian rifle he had stored away since she would probably know how to use it better than he did.

"I've only been to the range a few times." She nervously told him when he handed it to her.

"That's a few times more than I have." He had responded with a grin.

Their small group had passed through a few corridors without incident, and Alex was beginning to hope that the necromorphs were at the other side of the facility. He stopped at the end of the softly lit corridor and turned back to the wolfess. "Which way?"

She walked up beside him and looked to the right and left, pointing to the right after a few moments of thought. "This way, the stairs should lead us to the facility's main corridor. From there it's only a few more before we arrive."

He nodded and cautiously stepped onto the path of the right corridor. 'So far so good.' He thought to himself as he crossed the mid-way point of the corridor. This particular hallway was lined with ten rooms, five on either side. It was probably offices for the staff.

Alex froze as he heard a faint rustling above him and looked back to the two girls and mimed for them to be quiet with a gloved finger.

Lupa nodded weakly and used her unarmed paw to drag her sister closer, the little wolf cub whimpering as she hid in her sister's lab coat.

Alex looked up, and saw that the ceiling had a vent every fifteen feet, all the way to the end of the corridor. Each grated slot was a prime ambush point for a necromorph looking for prey.

The trio sat in dreaded silence as the rustling faded as it went past them, back where they had come from. They Lupa and Alex sighed in relief and continued moving, albeit at a slower pace. Alex stepped ahead of them and started to check out the oncoming corridor when the door to his left beeped and flashed green. The man's heart stopped and he looked to Lupa and motioned for her to back up as the door slid open and a necromorph charged out with a howl and slammed into him, pinning the human against the wall with its bulk.

It snapped its twisted jaws at his helmet and he brought his pistol up in his uninjured hand and fired a shot into its neck. Rotten gore sprayed all over him and its head rolled of its shoulders and thudded wetly onto the floor. Lupa raised the carbine in trembling paws and aimed at the necromorph, but she couldn't get a clear shot with the two combatants so close together.

Without warning, the vent behind her clattered to the ground and she wiped around to face the new creature as it scrambled to its malformed legs. Shivering in fear, she strangled the trigger and sent a flurry of red bolts slamming into the creatures chest where the intense heat boiled the decaying flesh and caused it to stumble backwards, but she was horrified when she saw that it had not fallen and instead started to close in on her and her little sister who had been cowering behind her.

Alex managed to shove back the necromorph on him and turned to see Lupa. "The Limbs! Aim for the limbs!" He shouted as he booted the monster in front of him and activated his sword, sending the gleaming azure energy blade searing into its chest and splitting it in half.

She nodded rapidly and changed her aim, sending a burst into its legs, severing the limbs and dropping it to the ground. Yet it still crawled at them slowly and she was about to finish it off when Alex walked past her and walked towards the monster, lifting his boot up and slamming it down on its chest, grinding his heel into the steel flooring. It shuddered and stopped moving almost instantly.

For some reason, Lupa's vision was shaking, and she realized that her whole body was shaking. Adrenaline had ravaged her system and now she was suffering from its effects, the gun fell to the floor and she dropped to her knees, wrapping her little sister up in her arms and hugging her fiercely. She pulled back and looked into the cub's eyes. "Are you okay?"

Penelope nodded and squeezed her older sister tightly. "Those things are scary. I don't like them very much." The cub whispered, making her older sister laugh, tears streaming down her muzzle.

"I don't like them very much either." She replied as she nuzzled her little sister. Lupa felt a warm and firm hand gently place itself on her shoulder and she looked up to see Alex standing there, the rifle in his other bandaged hand.

"You did good, real good..." He praised her in a tender tone and held the rifle out for her. "But we can't linger here, the fight was sure to draw in more of them. We have to keep moving." He told her, firmly and kindly. Alex knew that this all must be a hell of a lot more than overwhelming, but they didn't have time to come to terms with it. Mobility was the key to survival. The sooner they reached the shelter, the better of they would be.

She nodded with more strength then she expected of herself and climbed to her paws, grabbing the rifle he held out.

Alex smiled underneath his helmet and looked over to the pup who was taking all of this better than he could have imagined. "How are you doing little one? I hope those meanies didn't scare you too much."

She shook her tiny muzzle adamantly and innocently smiled up at him in the way that only kids could. "Nope, I'm a brave pup!"

Alex chuckled and ruffled the top of her fuzzy head with his good hand. "Yes you are. Can you promise me you'll be brave for a little while longer? If you do, I'll tell you a story."

She nodded gleefully and giggled. "I promise!"

"Good, let's get going." Alex stepped over the dead necromorph and continued to lead them through the facility.

Once they were a decent enough distance from the site of their skirmish, he began to speak.

"When I was a little kid, the same age as you...." He pointed at the pup. "I decided to sneak into the refinery where my father worked. It always made such a loud noise, every day I could hear it from home, a deep bellowing rumble. I was sure that there was some giant monster inside." Alex paused and looked around the corridor before continuing. "So I followed my dad and managed to get inside after climbing a fence and crossing the yard. The closer I got, the louder the noise was. I remember how scared I felt, I was practically shaking in my shoes, but I was deadest on seeing what was inside. At that point I remained certain that my dad and his coworkers were imprisoning some giant creature from the depths of the planets core. There was a little hole in the wall, just big enough for me to slip inside, so I wormed my way in,and I saw it." He paused, for dramatic effect.

Lupa was smiling as she heard him speak. She appreciated that he was doing his best to keep her sister unafraid.

"Was there a giant monster?" The pup asked breathlessly; tail wagging as she was completely enthralled by the tale.

Alex was not really a good story teller, but he wanted to keep the little pup from dwelling on their current predicament. So he was more than willing to tell a crappy story to achieve that.

"It wasn't a monster at all, but a giant machine that growled and rumbled as it ate up the rocks that the workers fed it. I was awed by this huge machine and so I wanted to get a closer look. I climbed past the safety rails and tried to get closer." Alex chuckled softly in remembrance and shook his head. "My father saw me, hanging off the rails and leaning towards the machine and he yelled my name. And I was so surprised...I fell." Alex stopped and looked to the staircase in front of them. It looked safe enough so he started to go up, the cub trailing behind him excitedly.

"What happened then?" She demanded eagerly.

"I faced certain death. That machine would have gobbled me up in an instant, and my remains would be inside every ship in the system. But just as I started to fall, a worker grabbed me by the belt and yanked me back. My dad was so angry, the angriest I had ever seen him. He was usually a quiet and gentle man, but that day he tanned my hide so bad I couldn't sit for a week."

Penelope winced in sympathy.

"But I knew that he was just worried about me, and wanted to make sure that I wouldn't do something so stupid again." He added ruefully. Alex finished climbing the steps and sighed. "I miss my family. They were good to me, even though I was more often than not a handful."

"Where are they?" The curious pup inquired.

"They...are gone." He replied simply as they continued to move through the room and into a wide corridor which he figured must be the main one Lupa talked about.

"...Like my mom and dad?" Penelope perceptively asked.

"Yes...like your mom and dad." Alex replied softly.

The small canine nodded in understanding and seemed to be in deep thought.

Alex left her to her thinking and focused on getting to the cafeteria. "How much farther is it now?"

"We're close, just a few more minutes and we'll be there. It's just around the corner and down the hall." She replied with visible anticipation at the thought of being so close to safety.

"Good, because I'm starting to hurt again." Alex gestured to his wounded shoulder with his bandaged hand. "These ache something fierce."

They passed the corridor and entered the main hallway. "Shit, something went down here." Alex muttered as they saw five necromorph corpses spread out across the hall leading to a massive set of double doors. Judging by their wounds, they had been killed only a few hours ago, which meant that either his friends had killed them or someone else did. Either way, it was a good sign.

Alex saw that the path all the way to the doors was clear of any vents or traps, a sure-shot straight to safety so he ushered the two girls to go first. As they walked, a low moan emanated from behind them, and they could hear the shuffling of many feet. "Fuck, it was a trap!" Alex snarled as he realized that the creatures had been lying in wait to close them off in this passageway. The necromorphs would be sure to overrun them since they only had a handgun and a rifle. 'GO! I'll keep them busy!" He ordered and turned to face the figures emerging from the corridor behind them.

'No, what about you!" Lupa whined worriedly, her tail and ears flagging in distress. He had some so much for her and her sister and she didn't want him to die.

"I'll be fine. Just get your sister out of here, NOW!" He growled authoritatively. The last thing he wanted was to have the deaths of a little kid and a woman on his conscience. It was already stained with the blood of the innocent.

She blanched at his command but nodded slowly after a few seconds, grabbing her sister's paw and running to the doors. "Wait, what about Alex?" Penelope mewled in confusion as she was dragged away.

"He'll be right behind us sweetie." Lupa lied through her teeth.

Alex watched them go and smiled, glad that he had at least prevented their deaths. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he relaxed himself, getting ready to fight.

Miyu was sitting by the doors when she heard a frantic pounding that made her jump in surprise. Curious and a little worried that the creatures were trying to get in she walked over. By this time the banging had grabbed the attention of all the people in the cafeteria and sent them moving. The staff moved away from the door, but the security team rushed over, the rest of the members of Starfox and Fara's squad in tow.

"Open the doors!" She heard a faint voice cry out from behind the thick steel.

Realizing that it was a person on the other side she turned to the approaching venomians security team. "Open the doors! Someone's out there!"

The leader took a minute to consider it before gesturing for two of the guards to open the doors. "Now is when you earn your keep yes?" The ape told Fox and Fara, the leaders of their respective teams.

They nodded and took places around the doors, waiting for trouble.

The two guards input the code and keyed the doors to open. The heavy steel bulkheads slowly began to peel apart and a pair of terrified female wolves ran in. One was old, probably around twenty or so, and the other could be no older than ten. Both looked exhausted and more than a little weary. The older wolf tightly clutched a gun in her paws. Krystal and Fay rushed over and helped them, kindly leading them in.

"Close the doors." The ape officer grunted.

"Wait!" The older female wolf cried out. "There's someone else, a man." She panted tiredly.

At that, the team's collective ears perked up and Krystal turned her muzzle to the female wolf.

"Who?"

"He said his name was Alex, he found us, protected us. He told us to run, that he would by us time" She replied out of breath.

"Then he did the honorable thing." The ape rumbled and turned to his men. "Close the doors."

"No wait! You can't do this! He'll die!" Krystal exclaimed and ran to stop them from closing the doors, but she was stopped by a pair of guards who pulled her thrashing body away.

Fox surprised everyone when he whipped his blaster out and aimed it at the large ape, which his team soon followed and caused Fara's team to raise their guns as well. "Just give him a chance, please."

The ape glared at Fox, but the vulpine remained unflinching. Eventually, the ape sighed and inclines his head. "Very well, he had one minute. Then we close the doors yes?" The ape's tone of voice brooked no argument.

"Yes." Fox replied and lowered his gun, rushing to the open door to try and see his friend.

He could faintly see the glowing blue visor of his friend, surrounded by a swarm of withering shadows. His blue sword arced around him as it blazed brightly, the occasional flash of light and bark would emit from his handgun as he seemingly fought against an army of shadows. "Fara, he needs help." Fox called out desperately.

The vixen nodded and motioned for two of her soldiers who stood in the doorway and began to send accurate lances of energy towards the thing surrounding the human who was desperately fending off his attackers.

Alex ducked under a scything blade and slashed his sword, removing the razor sharp limb from its owner and aiming his sidearm to the left and emptying the last of his clip into the approaching necromorph, blasting it off its legs from the force of the rounds. He was then thrown back as a claw slammed into his breastplate, falling to the ground in heap.

Before he could get back up, a necromorph pounced on him and jabbed at his helmet with a massive mutated paw. The blow made his ears ring and cracked his visor, but he lifted his sword and lanced it through the creature's chest, sawing vertically and killing it. The corpse flopped off of him and he scrambled to his feet. Alex turned and saw a figure running at him, but a bolt of red energy collided with its head and sent it rolling to the ground howling in anger and pain.

He allowed himself a brief glance backwards and saw that the doors were open and two figures were firing at the hoard around him. Thinking quickly, he activated the stasis module on his wrist and froze the creatures in front of him, which only bought him a second or two at most as the others would push past. But by then he had grabbed a cylindrical clip from his storage and activated it, tossing the mag to the ground and taking off in a dead sprint. Seconds later, there was a deep thump as the clip exploded, sending its contents bouncing off the walls and shredding the group of monsters chasing him. As he ran, he felt a sharp pain in his side as a bullet ricocheted and hit him, making him falter. But Alex pulled through the pain and made it the last few feet and into the door, stumbling and falling to his knees.

Everything was still blurry from the concussive blow he sustained and the detonation. So he couldn't make anything out all that well. But he did feel two familiar and warm furry bodies wrap around him and he smiled in relief.

"Hey you guys." He said with a weak chuckle as the blurry brown and blue figures slowly shifted into the tearfully smiling muzzles of Krystal and Miyu. "Found ya."

"Yes you did." Krystal agreed with a sniffle as she nuzzled his neck happily.