Hello, everybody. First of all, I'd like to issue a public apology to anyone who's been following this story since its inception. I've been having issues balancing my life so I can have time for school, my current job, my art practices, and personal projects like this fanfiction. Regardless of that, I'm currently working on ideas for the next chapter.

As always, I still haven't quite nailed English yet. If you find any revealing mistakes, do tell me about it.

Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 5: The Beginning

"Eric…" a cavernous and sinister voice whispered to him inside his head. "Eric…"

Eric opened his brown eyes after a prolonged period of sleep. For some strange reason, he had passed out inside a rusty dumpster. However, hadn't he been to Nick's house a few minutes ago? He supposedly was on his way back to his own place. Sure, he already had gotten used to awkward and bizarre situations, but he quickly was able to notice one small detail that seemed to be out of place to him.

'You would usually find a container like this one on the street, right? If I'm on the street, then why is there complete absolute silence?' he thought. Effectively, he couldn't hear anything. Not even the smallest sound. The boy fixed the neck of his leather jacket and jumped out of the container. He immediately realized that he was right at Picard Avenue, which happened to be located in the financial district of Fairport, a place in which the deals businessmen hit were almost if not as big as those in Wall Street, but not on that day. All the cars, all the people. They had vanished. All the life in this busy borough was gone. The streets had sunk into a disturbingly dead state. The city was so abnormally quiet and deserted, that this only reminded Eric of dystopian post-apocalyptic fantasies he'd seen before in movies, books, and videogames. Even though there was no one to be seen anywhere, the lights inside shops and buildings were turned on. Neon signs, billboards… they were on as well. Offices, apartments… the dim lights inside them gave this eerie scenery even more of a gloomy atmosphere. Meanwhile, the sky and the clouds in the distance had different shades of gray that resembled a supercell storm cloud that looked like it would spawn tornados or torrential rains soon.

Eric felt unnerved by the aspect of the Fairport he currently stood on. It was impossible to maintain his composure with the desolate city standing tall yet dead in front of him. The boy took a step forward, expecting something to happen as he got off the sidewalk. However, nothing happened. Exhaling in relief, Eric dashed across the avenue, approaching an appliance store on the other side. Fearful, he took a quick peek inside the store. All the clocks inside seemed to be frozen in place, at precisely 2 o'clock in the afternoon. Suddenly, Eric heard something that resembled a large wild animal growling and dragging its claws on the asphalt. An alerted Eric then returned to the middle of the avenue. Then he began to hear the same noise as before, only that this time it seemed to be closer to him. Startled, Eric turned around, only to find a mirror in front less than an inch away from his face. Surprised, Eric hopped backwards. The mysterious mirror had appeared out of nowhere. Astoundingly, it was floating in place, just like a ghost. Eric was now breathing heavily, analyzing each and every detail, circling the artifact fearfully. The mirror was mounted on a shiny golden frame, which appeared to have several glyphs and inscriptions. Some more complicated than others, but they were meaningless to him. Obviously, this was a language he didn't understand. He could also see his whole body reflected on it. The mirror itself didn't seem to be very special, except for its floating capabilities and how it had gotten there. Then, unconsciously, Eric blinked for one brief instant. When he opened his eyes again, the mirror had vanished, except that it had left the frame behind. The reflective surface of the artifact and Eric's own reflection were gone now. Regardless, the frame had developed a new property now. It functioned like a window to a different place. A worse and a much more worrying place. It was a destroyed city. There were enormous piles of debris everywhere but also cars and buildings that were still burning like dying stars. The sky of that disturbing and sinister landscape was painted in shades of yellow and orange, with black smoke clouds taking over the background. Horrified by the vision, Eric raised his hand right before he tried to stick it through this window of sorts, but his fingers only touched an invisible barrier that felt as if it were made of glass. When he put his arm down again, Eric felt even more confused regarding what he was seeing but, when he got closer to the window to examine the terrible scene on the other side, he immediately felt as if he had been there before. Assessing the details more closely, Eric rapidly recognized the buildings that were still standing as those that sat in front of him intact. Eric felt a small stabbing sensation in his chest, as if someone had stuck a dagger into him. Then he walked behind the mirror. With this, the vision changed. Now he was looking at the other side of the avenue. The mirror acted like some sort of dimensional window between two different realities, his and that of his devastated city consumed by the flames.

Eric had no option but to feel speechless and dumbfounded about the vision the window was showing to him. Fairport, a prosper and peaceful city had turned to dust on the other side, but all of these things refused to make sense inside his mind. He was able to remember that he had been in a futuristic hangar in the middle of a laser shootout, and that he had gathered all his courage in an attempt to escape from it but one of the assailants had captured him only to put him on a ship and take to the skies. The last thing he remembered was the ship spiraling out of control and crash-landing in the middle of a desert.

As soon as he remembered his last moments on that ship, both the mirror and the city faded away in a split second, leaving Eric floating in a vast pitch black endless void, where a massive glowing orb hovered above him in the middle of all the darkness.

"Hold on for a second, Connors. I think he's regaining consciousness," said the voice of an old man.

"We're recovering him! He's almost out of his coma!" shouted a younger male voice. "Someone call McCloud!"

"AHHHHHH!" Eric opened his eyes in less than a second, letting loud screams and shrieks out of his chest as he began to convulse violently on the hospital bed he was lying on, scaring and surprising those present in the room, making the seated ones literally jump out of their seats. He looked at his body and realized that he was wearing nothing but his underwear.

Amongst the chaos, the room's door was kicked open, letting in a raccoon who donned a suit with a lab coat over it, and the fox Eric had met on the battle carrier ship. When he saw them, Eric tried to stand up but he felt so disoriented and dizzy, that he fell forwards, falling on a small wheeled tray that held several small containers down with him, scattering serums, pills, and other medicines all over the floor.

"What the hell did you do to him?" The fox asked while he observed the mess sporting a worried and shocked expression on his face. He wore an outfit similar to the one he had worn when Eric was kidnapped by the lynx, but now he had a white bandage covering the wound on his forearm. In fact, he wasn't wearing his wrist communicator at the time.

"He just woke up and began to act like a damn lunatic!" The raccoon said as it scratched its head in confusion and surprise. He was so dumbfounded watching the human trying to get back on his feet, that its pure glass tablet fell out of its hands and crashed into the floor, the display shattering and malfunctioning on contact.

Fox sighed in frustration and helped the boy rise by grabbing one of his shoulders. Afterwards, he asked a nurse for a pitcher full of water and two cardboard cups. After helping Eric sit down on a chair, the vulpine put the tray back into its place and requested the doctors and everyone else leave so that he could have a moment to speak to the human in an attempt to help him calm down. Once all the medical staff left, they waited for the nurse to come with the water. After she left as well, Fox sat down on the bed in front of Eric and looked him right in the eye, thinking about the right words to explain to him why he was there, and what had happened after the assault on the Great Fox.

The room was completely white. The walls, the ceiling, the floor; all were as white as ivory. In front of the bed, there was a hermetically closed window that provided a plain view of the empty hallway outside the room and the door to the room itself, which was transparent and kept in place by two metallic clamps. To the left, there was a door with a small window and a sign that seemed like it leaded to a private bathroom. Besides the tray Eric had collapsed on, there were also a few screens mounted on a metal frame with wheels. The data on the screens were common and understandable. They contained things like Eric's blood pressure, his heart rate, the levels of nutrients and toxins… One of them even kept track of his brain, mapping it and indicating his neural activity. The furnishing of the room was nothing special though. In addition to the tray Eric had collapsed upon, there also were two chairs on either side of the bed and a bedside table on its right.

"You need to drink something. You don't look so good after the all the sleep you've had," the fox said as he offered some water to Eric. His tone was firm but kind.

Eric took the cup and drank the water hurriedly, as if he had been stranded for weeks without a single drop of water. Then he licked his lips with anxiety and looked back at the vulpine who sat in front of him.

"Where am I?"

"We had to bring you to a hospital on a space station. The Beltino Orbital Gate an enhanced space station equipped with state of the art warp gate deployment technology. We're orbiting my planet; Corneria, as we speak."

"I thought that all this had been a bad dream," Eric said amidst some light sobbing as a couple of crystal clear tears rolled down his cheeks slowly. His voice cracked under his breathing and his glossy eyes screamed that their owner was not feeling well at all. He didn't know what was worse. Getting picked on at school back on Earth or this. "And yet, I'm sitting here with you."

Fox stared at the crying human in regret and denial. He actually thought about what he'd been put through. What would it feel like to be stripped from your life, your homeworld, just so that you can be brought to a new dangerous reality that doesn't fit you. Eric was a human whose life had just begun. He had a long and prosper life in front of him but Fox and his team had dragged him down into this. An armed conflict against a new threat to the Lylat system. That naïve human didn't seem to have anything special about himself. He wouldn't last two seconds in a battle. Compared to his teammates, Eric was a dumb child with no training whatsoever.

"Listen, kid," Fox rubbed his eyes for a moment after which he put his hand on the human's left shoulder, trying to comfort him and to try to build some trust between them. "I don't know why we were tasked with extracting you from your planet, but I promise I'll find out and that you'll go back home as soon as this madness is over."

"These machines…" Eric muttered as he removed Fox's hand from his shoulder. After he did this, he grabbed his head with both hands. Then he looked upwards and took a deep breath, his eyes fixed on the ceiling. "How do they know my vital signs if I'm not connected to them?"

"Nanoscanners," the vulpine answered, crossing his legs. "Engineers and scientists on Corneria managed to design fully organic probes that are injected into your body as implants. After a certain period of time, they disintegrate into nutrients or cells your body might need. Your body assimilated them in about a week and a half, so…"

"A week and a half?" Eric stood up. The shock Fox's words had caused him was so tangible, that anyone would've thought that he had gone insane. Then he grabbed the fox from the neck of his suit, and screaming his fury out on him, he asked him what he meant by a week and a half.

"You were in a comma," Fox didn't really seem unnerved in the slightest. Compliant, the vulpine stared into Eric's eyes again. With this, he intended to send him a message. He had to calm down, or else he'd get into bigger troubles unlike anything he'd ever seen before. "The crash was pretty strong and violent. You've been out for a month or so."

"But why the hell would you even try to abduct me in the first place?" Eric stomped around the room, positioning himself in front of the door. Then he firmly grabbed his hair with both hands while the torrent of rage in his mind overwhelmed him. He looked like he was about to rip his own hair out. "I was normal, I lived in peace until you lot arrived and took my world from me," He said quietly and seemingly calm as he let go off his hair. However, he exploded once again as he grasped the rack on which the screens were mounted on and brutally pushed it until the point of tipping it, destroying the sophisticated equipment before losing his cool for real, yelling at the fox like an absolute madman. "I woke up in your goddamn prison, then you took me to your goddamn ship, only to let a group of goddamn psychos kidnap me again! Tell me, what is this sad sick joke of yours about, huh? You ruined my stupid life!"

"Listen to me closely, okay?" Swiftly, Fox stood up and charged at the boy until he had him pinned against the wall, using his own weight to keep him in place. Baring his fangs at him, Fox fulminated the human with his eyes, shifting his plan to intimidating him. "You may not agree with me but you're going to have to stay with my team and I for a while. You'll see and experience what really is a living hell firsthand. Half of the system is getting torn apart by an unknown threat as multiple massacres perpetrate against the peace we've fought for after all these years. You are an important player in this game and you're going to stay."

"Says who?" The boy inquired as he choked, trying to break free from Fox's hold.

"The people above me won't tell me why exactly but we've trusted them for years. A lot of it, actually so you're going to have to have some trust in me as well. If you listen to me and do as you're told, you'll come out of it in one piece and you'll be able to go home," Fox let the boy go delicately after saying this, hoping that he wouldn't have another outburst.

Meanwhile, Eric was still leaning on the wall trying to recover as he gasped for air after the strain Fox had put on his neck.

"Okay," Fox distanced himself from the human and walked towards the exit. He opened the door by entering a code into a small keypad but before leaving, he looked back at the boy, who had returned to the bed. "Given the circumstances, I guess I'll wait for you to calm down. I'll handle all the paperwork to get you out of here. I presume that you're feeling pretty fine after all that sleep, even though no one I know has woken up as angrily as you did."

"Go to hell," Eric replied as he gave the wall an empty stare.

Fox huffed, feeling annoyed about the human before he left. However, before he forgot, he grabbed a large package he had left outside and tossed it at Eric.

"That's your uniform. I'm going to have to request that you shower and put it on. Then come out and ask for directions to the hospital's reception. We'll be waiting for you there," he mentioned with a gentler tone dominating his voice. "Just don't try anything stupid, you're being watched."

The fox closed the door behind him and left, leaving Eric behind with his own hopes and expectations. The human was still sitting on the bed and his empty stare remained lost in the void. He still couldn't get over the events of the last month or who knows how long it had been since the night of his abduction. Besides those thoughts, he still didn't trust the real Fox McCloud at all. He didn't think he'd ever be back at his homeplanet, but he really wanted to go back and resume his life with Alex, Nick, and Laura. He knew that his family had disappeared but he still didn't think it was worse than being involved in the mission of a trained mercenary squad in a foreign solar system. He sighed and stood up to look out the window of his room. He hoped that looking at his surroundings would help him calm down. The hospital didn't seem particularly busy at the time, there were few doctors and nurses walking calmly with coffee mugs in their hands and glass tablets similar to the one the raccoon doctor had under their arms. They were like a thin transparent sheet of glass, one side would act as a display and the other one was just reinforced glass. You couldn't see any sort of circuits or wiring, actually. It was funny though. Most of these anthropomorphic creatures were canines. Some of them wouldn't mind the human on the other side of the door, but others gave him curious looks, while others would look at him hesitatingly. However, after remembering that he was mostly naked, Eric retreated back to the bed and grabbed the package that McCloud had left for him.

He reached a point at which he couldn't hold back the curiosity he felt. He wanted to see what was in the plastic package. He took it and left it on his lap. Eric tore a hole into the plastic bag with his finger nails and made it larger with both of his hands. Then he examined the package's contents. Looking at his half-naked body, he finally gave in to his desire to get some fitting clothes, so he went inside the bathroom and straight into the shower. On one hand, he was familiar with everything in the bathrrom. Towels, shampoo, and to a point the system that controlled the shower's water flow. Unluckily, since there were no humans in that corner of space, he lacked a bar of soap.

"Yeah, he's on level -5. Room 132," Fox reminded the squirrel behind the reception's desk.

"I understand, Mr. McCloud. The primate will be free to go as soon as he's ready," the squirrel stopped her hurried typing on her computer and gave the fox her best smile.

"Thanks a lot, Claire."

The hospital's reception area was pretty spacious but unlike Eric's room, the theme of the reception was focused on black. The tiles on the floor were made of black marble. Interestingly enough, these tiles also covered the walls and a part of the ceiling, which happened to be dominated by a wide round dome made of Corneria's finest laser-proof glass, which allowed the visitors to look at the vastness and beauty of outer space, even though it produced echoes when someone spoke. As for entertainment, the complex had some holo-screens projected onto the walls, which happened to be receiving news broadcasts at the time. The anchor on the screen, a coyote in his early thirties, assured his audience that interplanetary trade in Lylat was falling apart due to recent pirate assaults on freighter ships. Besides the squirrel's desk, there also were many colorful vending machines here and there, each containing different items such as candy, crisps, and soda, although there were coffee makers spread across the room as well. The furniture, in contrast, was pretty standard. Nothing too fancy, just gray couches and sofas with coffee tables accommodated in front of them. There almost were no visitors, just Fox and a couple of wolves who were chatting in the background, but things were pretty much quiet and in order.

Just as Fox was about to take a seat and wait, a loud voice that sounded like a man in his mid-forties called out Fox's name.

"Hey, McCloud!"

The vulpine turned around, spotting a fierce-looking husky whose eyes were as blue and cold as ice, his coat was black as coal with some white markings, donning an impeccable red high-rank military uniform complete with golden accents and badges on the right side of its chest. Said husky was saluting Fox respectfully from the entrance to the hospital. One of his ears appeared to have been damaged in combat.

"Sorry, General Clarkson. I wasn't expecting you," Fox approached the General and returned the salute.

"For Corneria's sake, McCloud. You're the leader of one of our most skilled assets. You shouldn't need to salute me," the husky directed a dismissing gesture towards the vulpine, trying to transmit both admiration and respect to his kind and heroic fellow soldier of sorts.

"My apologies, sir."

"What happened to the Earthling?" The General inquired.

"We're leaving with him today," the fox replied as he drank some water from his canteen. "We'll begin his training once the Great Fox is ready to fly again. Beltino Toad has been updating our software, while SpaceDynamics are currently installing armor upgrades to the hull. In fact, the whole structure had to be torn down and rebuilt."

"Perfect. Here's to hoping we can bring peace to Lylat once more," Clarkson rubbed his chin seemingly having doubts about the human Star Fox had abducted from Earth, as his gaze focused on the black tiles beneath his feet. "We've been fighting the waves of invaders that come from outside the system. They never stop coming… By the way, we sent espionage probes to Earth just so that we could verify the outcome of your assignment. Luckily for you, the containment facility had a cloaking device and you disposed well of the bodies but you and your team surely caused a brief outcry by hiding your ship in the planet's subsoil."

"I beg you pardon, sir?"

"Look, McCloud," the General murmured as he reached into his duffel bag for a glass tablet.

After browsing his files for a minute, Clarkson selected a video file. The video seemed to have come from a probe's video feed. The flying surveillance device hovered at slow speeds just so that it could pick up as many details as possible on the surface. The scene the probe had recorded was slightly concerning since military personnel guarded the site which once had been a mountain with tanks and armored vehicles, while some scientists had set up camp to examine the burnt piles of rubble the Great Fox had left behind.

"I know you had to leave abruptly after the assault on your ship but they could've discovered our operation. Hell, they're setting up another research camp back at Fairport thanks to that portable warp gate system of yours."

"I'm sorry, General. But they still would be on a suicide mission if they declared war on us. I mean, we had to borrow Earth vehicles to blend in with the humans. They don't have the technology to discover the existence of our system," Fox replied as his ears drooped while he watched the images on the General's display. "With all due respect, sir… Are you going to send us back there?

"No," the dog snapped the fingers of his left hand as he remembered that he had more relevant intel for the vulpine. "By the way, Fox. Beltino got in touch with me as well yesterday. His research lab has some leads on the lynx's identity."

Fox's ears rose again almost instinctively, reflecting the vulpine's interest in the subject.

"Bringing the ship and the body back to Corneria was a good call. We might have pinpointed the identity of the lynx. We aren't a hundred percent sure yet but it seems like he used to be a rogue captain that used to be an asset of a security squad that guarded one of our research facilities on planet Fichina," the husky stopped the video and opened another file that contained a copy of the lynx's ID card. "I'll get back to you once we have more concrete data."

Fox nodded in agreement.

"Well, that's all for now," the husky cleared his throat and put his tablet away. "I have to go. There's a number of matters that have to be taken care of."

"Sorry, sir," Clarkson had begun to walk towards the hospital's exit with Fox. "Is there any chance you can explain to me why you tasked us with extracting a random human from his homeplanet? You only said that it was an important mission, but you never really told us why."

The General tried to dissimulate his nervousness and sighed as he tried to remain calm but the hair that stood up on the back of his neck gave away how uneasy he felt about the matter.

"Beltino's people took some blood samples from him while he was unconscious. The readings they got are… interesting, to say the least. They detected signatures of that new kind of energy they discovered a year ago with that new device they acquired," the husky looked somber and worried as he spoke.

"I see."

"The signature coincides with the one we found when we performed a long-range scan from one of our moons. You see, they were looking for the origin of that energy, since there was a trail of the human's signature, spread across the galaxy. Then they found him. The energy that human has inside of him is so strong that it could be tracked from our end of the galaxy. As I said, the trail led us there. All the way out to that city on that precise planet."

The General opened the door to the hospital's docking bay and scratched his neck. "The signature was even stronger than yours and your team's, you know?"

"But what does all of this mean, sir?" Fox's face now exhibited a concerned expression along with a flurry of other emotions.

"Regarding that energy I just told you about, we don't know what it does and the person who discovered it disappeared, along with all records on his identity, but we know that it's unlike anything we've seen before. As far as the kid is concerned, the readings we got from him were enough to catch to the attention of the High Cornerian Council, which means that our government has taken a special kind of interest in him. If anything, this tells me that they believe he could be a very valuable asset for our Defense Program. So, they had me send you on an extraction mission. For all I know, they probably want to turn him into a walking war machine, which would explain why they assigned him to your team."

Clarkson took a brief pause.

"You didn't hear any of this from me. I'm only telling you this because Ex-Generals Pepper and Hare requested I inform you of all developments. All of this information is classified, so try to keep it to yourself. Don't speak to anyone about it. There's a devastating storm over the horizon, and that human, as you already know, seems to be key in stopping it."

"Hold on… Are you telling me that he's some kind of biologic weapon?" Fox tried to grasp the General's jacket, but it was too late. Clarkson's shuttle was about ready to take off.

"Excuse me, Fox."

Clarkson boarded his shuttle as the safeties on the door to the docking bay became activated as the dome that covered the dock opened up, letting all previously contained oxygen out, along with Clarkson's shuttle. Fox was left alone inside the hospital. He felt paralyzed from the shock the General's words had caused him. He just didn't seem to be able to digest all of it in one go. Even the great Fox McCloud himself felt unsure about what would happen next.

Usually, his team would never be sent out on extraction missions outside the system but the sole fact that they had accepted such a mission gave him a bad feeling about the threat at hand. Could it be worse than the Lylat Wars or the Aparoid Crisis? There was something huge out there. Something so massive, that the government had authorized an armed intervention on an unknown planet with native underdeveloped life only to abduct one individual out of seven billion.

He didn't know whether to trust Clarkson's word on the subject or not. Even though he had been hand-picked by Peppy Hare himself to succeed him as General, he felt that this decision had been too radical and dangerous for their own good. As for the human, why was he so weak if he was so relevant to the mission? Did they think that this so-called energy granted some sort of super-power to its bearer? What if it didn't even exist, and they had just been bluffing to do something different with Earth instead in the future?

Thinking about Lylat's fate once more, Fox exhaled and sat down on one of the reception's coaches. As he took deep breaths, he began to search his pockets for his phone. He needed to talk about this to his team, even though Clarkson had told him not to. Soon enough, Fox pulled his clearview glass phone out of his pocket and unlocked it after inputting his password. Then he looked for an application, a private communications network built for the team by Beltino and Slippy Toad. After typing a message, faster than an average human would, he sent it out to his partners.

Fox McCloud: Team, we have a problem. I'm at the Orbital Gate's medical center. It's urgent.

Krystal Cerinia: Understood, Fox. I'm on my way.

Falco Lombardi: This had better be good. I'm coming.

Slippy Toad: I'm at the Gate as well. I'll be there in a minute.

For the next forty-five minutes, the vulpine waited for his friends to show up while watching the holoscreens on the walls and browsing the Lylatian Intranet Web on his phone. At some point, boredom almost had had the best of him, since he had considered taking his Arwing out for a ride. However, he had gotten there on a shuttle from Corneria City since all his vehicles and weaponry were being repaired and upgraded back on the surface of his planet.

As he was about to take a nap, Fox felt a pat on his back and looked upwards. His lifelong friend, Falco was giving him a smug stare from above.

"Hey, Foxie."

"What took you so long?" Fox asked as he stood up to stretch his legs, rubbing his left shoulder and giving a short yawn.

"More like, what took those two so long?"

As the falcon finished his sentence, the rest of the team were running into the lounge, right towards their team leader.

"What's with the messages, Fox?" Asked Krystal, who now wore a suit with exactly the same design as the purple one, except that it had an emerald green color scheme this time. The color complimented her so well, that it highlighted the turquoise shade of green in her eyes.

"I spoke to General Clarkson and I found out some rather concerning news."

"Hah, it's always concerning with you, isn't it?" Falco replied, half-mockingly as he scratched his head. "Come on, man. The Fox McCloud I know is fearless and doesn't even flinch at the mention of bad news."

"This is serious, Falco," Fox looked downwards and let his hands rest on his hips as he thought of a way to brief his team on the latest news. "This job is a lot bigger than we thought. The huma-"

"What about me?" Asked a voice coming from the elevators.

Team Star Fox turned their heads towards the owner of the voice. In front of a set of shining grey sliding doors, stood that alien being, wearing a short-sleeved navy blue jumpsuit, knee-high dark brown combat boots, and a pair of black fingerless gloves. He also carried a crimson flight jacket over his shoulder. The clothes fitted him so well, that it almost was as if they had been custom-made for him. He only lacked a belt and a wrist communicator to complete his outfit, but those probably wouldn't have been of any use to him at the time. His chocolate brown hair was combed towards his left, in a way that made his fringe fall over his forehead. The clothes made him look somewhat slender and fit even though the only thing he did for exercise was riding his bike to school.

"I think this conversation will have to wait," Fox declared.

"What was that all about," Eric approached the vulpine as the rest of the team slowly backed away as he got closer.

"Nothing of importance, kid," Fox began to walk towards the exit. "Our shuttle's here. Let's get out of here."

Everyone followed him, except for Eric who still felt majorly reluctant and upset. He clearly didn't give a crap about them, but much to his dismay, he still desperately needed a ride off the Orbital Gate, so he had no option but to follow Fox and the rest of his team. He caught up with them outside by the dock.

"Watch your step," the vulpine suggested as they descended a small flight of stairs that brought them down to the metallic platform that was the docking bay.

Almost unconsciously, Eric let out a quiet whistle and a loud "wow" as he unintentionally felt as if he were standing in the middle of space as he took a look at the stars above them. Outside of the dome, was a view Eric would never see in the night sky back home. Actually, he didn't know how far home was from Corneria, which ultimately killed his excitement after a brief moment of peace. However, his stargazing was interrupted when he almost walked into the bulky-looking spaceship that was waiting for them. By all means, he expected to see more of the Arwings but the shuttle would have to do for now. The team boarded the craft and took a seat on either side of the ship, facing each other and the glass windows behind them. Fox came in last, along with Eric. After greeting their pilot, Fox went inside and sat next to Krystal. Almost immediately, he told Eric to sit in front of him so he could keep an eye on him.

As the pilot started the craft, a hissing sort of noise could be heard as the engine came to life. It almost reminded Eric of the noises planes made back on his homeworld. After checking the ship's shielding systems were up and running, he notified the Gate's operators about his departure. As the ship slowly rose off the platform, the dome opened up once again, letting the craft take off into the void between the Gate and Corneria.

As they moved, Eric took off his seatbelt as he walked to the opposite window, just so that he could look at the floating space station, although the ship's speed made him stagger from time to time. The Gate was massive in size. It had the shape of a triangle, but as the ship went progressively further, he realized that it was missing a vertex. At the center of the innermost ring-like structure, there was an intricate system of rotating mechanisms, whilst some select regions of the structure possessed the needle-shaped objects that resembled those on the wings of the team's Arwings.

No one had uttered a word in the entire flight until Fox broke the silence in astonishment.

"Well, would you look at that? Our ship's finally ready," he said as the freighter in the distance got closer to them.

Approaching from Corneria, the Great Fox looked as majestic as ever, but it looked brand new after the renovations it had received at the SpaceDynamics facilities. Eric recognized its design as the one the ship had before its ultimate demise at the Aparoid Homeworld in Star Fox: Assault. After the team commented on the ship's renovated appearance, Fox joined the shuttle's pilot briefly to establish contact with his beloved mothership.

"Shuttle module A-32 to Great Fox MK III. Respond Great Fox MKIII," Fox said, keeping a professional serious tone in his voice as he sat up straight, trying to find a comfortable position on the passenger seat.

"Voice recording associated to Captain James Foxwell McCloud," answered a robotic voice on the other side of the communications channel. "The payment for the repairs and upgrades has been transferred to the account of SpaceDynamics Co. Ltd."

"Understood, ROB," Fox replied. "Requesting permission to land on the lower hangar bay."

"Permission granted, lower your speed for maximum safety."

The pilot did as he was told and let go off the ship's thrusters, allowing its momentum to carry it into the rectangular opening on the Great Fox's hull. As it did this, Eric found himself hypnotized by the striking resemblance Corneria possessed to his home planet. Its deep blue seas, its green and brown patches of land scattered across the blue orb, all beneath a bunch of white clouds spread over them. It was a beautiful sight he wanted to continue contemplating, but this sudden moment admiration for the planet's beauty was interrupted when the shuttle pulled into the Great Fox's hangar. As it landed on the metallic surface, the ship rocked so hard, that it knocked a dumbfounded Eric to the floor. Krystal couldn't help but release a short giggle after witnessing him fall on his back.

When the hangar's gate was closed shut, the whole place was refilled with oxygen once again thus making it safe to leave the shuttle. As the team left, Eric was still trying to get up after his brief mishap.

"Hey, come on. That ship's got someone else to pick up, you know," the vixen remarked from outside. "What are you waiting for?"

Eric thanked the pilot for the flight and limped his way out of the craft, still wincing from the fall as he followed Star Fox.

"Jeez, it was just a small fall," Falco huffed as he facepalmed apprehensively while Krystal massaged her temples and Slippy, the toad, rolled his bulging eyes.

Fox groaned and waited for Eric to recover from his fall.

"Good grief, Fox. Are all humans like this?" Falco protested as he stared at the human, seemingly annoyed by his clumsiness. "I mean, Slippy is a screwup and everything, but this guy…"

"Cut it out, Falco," his vulpine partner scolded Falco. "Give him a break."

"Anyways, follow us," Krystal said in a bit of a flat tone as they kept walking. "ROB says we have a missed call from General Clarkson."

Not wanting to annoy them any further, Eric let go off his aching shoulder and followed the team through the ship as the shuttle was getting to leave again. Team Star Fox just carried on quietly as they made their way to the command bridge again. After a brief elevator ride, they entered the room and took a seat behind the taller console. The human didn't know whether to sit or not, so he just remained on his feet.

"Connection successful. Live feed enabled," warned the robot below.

A blue hologram of the General appeared in front of the team. The husky stood upright, proud, and imposing; sticking his chest out as he saluted Fox and his team.

"Greetings, Star Fox."

"It's a pleasure to see you again, General."

"Likewise, McCloud," the husky cleared his throat. "I just received a report from Beltino's lab. We've got new information regarding our friend. We took some blood and dental samples from that poor bastard's carcass and we've found a match. Nikola Tracers."

"It doesn't ring any bells to me, General," Falco intervened, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Mr. Tracers never was of any relevance, at least for us. Born and raised on a Venomian military training base, he escaped to Corneria when he was twenty years old. After unsuccessfully trying to earn an honest living, he took on a fake alias and began to run a series of successful bank robberies, using covert ops tactics with hand-picked men as his accomplices. He would then come back with a new team afterwards," Clarkson said as he read more data off the sheet of paper he was holding in his hand.

"I'd bet that he killed them to take over their share of the loot," Krystal murmured as she listened.

"His tactics were impressive, to say the least. He was able to fight and escape from a few tactical teams and dozens of police elements on his last known job after stealing about ten million credits in bank notes and the contents of safety deposit boxes. After this, he went off the grid and didn't come back until now."

"His money must've run out, he backed out of the bank robbing business, and instead got paid to kidnap Gallow and take him to his employers," Fox continued, focusing on his next words. "Any idea of who those people might be?"

Startled, Eric raised an eyebrow when he heard his last name come out of Fox's mouth as he wondered.

'How the hell does he know?!'

"We don't have a name yet, Fox. All we know is that both the uniforms and the ships were reported as stolen from the Venomian militia."

"This is very suspicious, General… We seem to have the most wanted being in the system right here with us, but why? It feels like something is missing," Fox murmured as he stood up and he rested his weight on the console, staring Clarkson in the eye.

Not particularly keen on answering the vulpine's question, Clarkson carried on.

"For now, I just want you and your team to train the new recruit starting today. Once more, there are hard times ahead for us. We're still losing men across Lylat, so be prepared. From this day onwards, things probably won't be the same anymore. While we may have defeated a handful of enemy fleets, the information we've tried to retrieve is useless, which is why I'm giving you another assignment in a couple of days. In the meantime, focus on the boy. He must remain in your ship or on Corneria's surface at all times.

Godspeed, Star Fox."

The hologram disappeared, and so did the audio.

The whole bridge had sunk into a deep pool of silence and thoughtfulness. The only thing they could hear were the ship's engines maintaining the ship stable. While they tended to keep their spirits high and optimistic, Clarkson's words had evoked fear and awe in their hearts. Particularly, Krystal seemed more disturbed than the rest of the team, as she violated the privacy of the human young man who had just gotten out of the hospital. She could hear a quiet version of his voice, which couldn't stop formulating questions and complaints.

'What did I do to deserve this? I can't even believe this is even happening. How I wish that this was a bad dream… Goddammit.'

Even though her beloved Fox almost died because of Eric, she couldn't help but pity him, sort of how Fox had back when Eric woke up in his hospital room back at the Orbital Gate. On one hand, his planet was still out there but he was far away from it. The same trouble with her and Cerinia, a planet lost amidst Andross' rise to power. Feeling more empathic, she stopped using her telepathy and withdrew from inside his mind and exited the bridge.

Even though Fox just wanted to go after her and comfort her, he decided to stay with the rest of his team and the young human. The conversation he had had at the Gate with Clarkson still echoed within his mind still had his thoughts tangled in one big mess. For one, he felt regretful about not trying to quit his job as a mercenary after all the close calls he'd have with death during his biggest missions. He should've settled down with Krystal on a different planet, far from any threats. Or on Papetoon; they could have lived in the house that Fox's father, James, left to him in his will after his heroic disappearance on Venom. Probably, they would've had a child too. A boy or a girl, it didn't matter. Interestingly enough, there was one time when they had agreed on the names Marcus for a boy, and Vixy for a girl.

But no.

That would have to wait since Fox had remained in the mercenary line of work due to his inability to imagine himself with a normal job and a quiet, low profile life. If only he had quit. They were in for another job but, as always, their lives weren't supposed to be taken for granted.

Regarding the rest of the team, Slippy had (somehow) found himself a girlfriend called Amanda, a pink frog he'd met one day while working at his father's lab. They were planning to get married and settling down on Aquas, a tropical planet with beautiful beaches, a rich diversity of ocean life, and crystal-clear waters. As for Falco, well… His relationship with Katt Monroe could be summarized with one particular word; complicated. While they enjoyed each other's company, they weren't together most of the time but they had the best of times when working together. Both were into thrilling risky experiences so, most likely, they would keep taking on missions until their retirement.

Breaking out of his meditating trance, Fox regained his composure and turned to face Eric.

"You're going to need a room," the vulpine walked down the stairs to the lower level, taking his time as he kept his hand on the handrail. "I'm not in the mood to train you right away. Actually, you must be feeling the same way so just follow ROB here."

"Follow me please," the robot asked with its cold and monotone voice. "I shall take you to your sleeping quarters."

Eric walked behind the robot without questioning anything. Falco and Slippy remained in their seats as Eric and ROB left.

"Fox," Slippy stood up and looked at his friend. "Are you feeling okay?"

The Fox reached for the hidden compartment in the wall. The same compartment from which Krystal had fetched the tranquilizer the last time. The vulpine went through all the items inside and pulled out a pair of objects he hadn't had contact with in a very long time.

"No, you dumb tadpole. He isn't alright," Falco gave Slippy a reprimand, looking at the cigarette case and the laser lighter his friend had pulled out of the wall. "Remember he only smokes when he's agitated or stressed. I wouldn't blame him after all the shit Clarkson said."

"We've reached your chamber," ROB announced as he stopped by a sliding door on the aisle's wall. Beside it were some other doors, spaced out evenly as the corridor continued. The android pointed at a small opening on the wall and pushed a small button inside it. "There are two buttons. One that opens and closes the door, and one that engages the locking mechanisms using the system's print-scanning device. There's another panel like this one inside. Now excuse me. I have other tasks to complete."

The android walked away from the human, until it disappeared after it ventured into another corridor. Dying to have a moment to himself, he fiddled with the panel for a while until he figured out how it worked. When he went inside, he locked himself up and observed the place where he'd be sleeping during his indefinite stay with Star Fox. The room, however exceeded his expectations. It looked rather cozy as opposed to how he had imagined it. His unmade bed was lined up against the wall of the room's far right; it had a set of red sheets folded nicely on the grey mattress and a white pillow as well. To its right, there was a small bedside table with a desk lamp. Facing it, there was a black wardrobe. As he examined its contents, Eric found more flight suits, the fabric's color being the differing aspect between each suit. He also noticed another door next to the wardrobe. To Eric's relief, he wouldn't have to share a bathroom with the rest of the team. The last pieces of furniture in the room were a nice small desk and a chair. On the desk, Eric noticed a brand new pen, an inkwell, and a blank book. While he didn't know what these were exactly for, he figured that maybe he was supposed to write a journal as time passed, or maybe they just were there for him to screw around.

However, the best part of his accommodation, was the view. Right in front of the chair and the desk, there was a pane of antiballistic glass which offered him a view of the gigantic planet the Great Fox was orbitting at the time. Seemingly overwhelmed by the day's events, Eric plopped down on the chair. Then he crossed his right leg over the left one, wondering if he'd ever go back to his beloved Earth. However, who knew? What if this was some sort of second chance at becoming someone new? Maybe the time for him to do something remarkable with his life had finally arrived. Of course, this was only day one but training with Fox McCloud could only mean one thing. At some point, he'd be told to jump into the action and help team Star Fox save Lylat from the unknown lurking evil hidden among the stars. Even though there were people back on Earth who would kill to be in his position, Eric's mind still had a reasonable doubt about the future. Whether this was a good thing or not was beyond his own understanding, so he just hoped time would tell the outcome of this mess.

And so Eric stayed there, admiring the divine beauty of Corneria, but somewhere deep in his subconsciousness, the memory of the nightmare he'd woken up from at the hospital still haunted his thoughts regardless of the apparent tranquility the glow of the planet below provided to the young human.

Thank you all for reading this much-anticipated chapter. As of today, I consider this one to be my best chapter to date. Clocking in at nearly 8,900 words approximately, this is the chapter I've struggled with the most. Translating it took several tries, and many hours of editing. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing and translating it for you.

Comments, feedback, messages, etc are always welcome. Don't hesitate to let me know what you think about the story so far. ;3

Thanks for giving this chapter a shot. See you on the next one!