Chapter IV
Legacy Of The Precursors
Chapter IV
Starfox left the General's office and walked out of the building. Then Falco exploded. "He wants us to find that thing!"
"You heard him." Fox retorted as they headed back to The Great Fox. They passed hundreds of civilians going about their daily lives, completely oblivious to the problems out in space.
"So doesn't mean I had to believe it. What are we supposed to do if we even manage to find it huh? Or did you forget it could go in invisible!" Falco ranted for a long time before Miyu saved the day.
"Cut it out feather head! Your not helping."
"Yeah Falco don't be so mean!" Fay exclaimed.
Under the ire of the girls he folded like a tin can. "Alright okay jeez, I just wanted to get my point across."
"I'm afraid to admit but Falco is somewhat right. How are we going to find it let alone establish contact?" Peppy voiced.
"I'm sure Fox already has a plan!" Slippy said confidently before looking at the orange vulpine.
"You don't do you?" Krystal asked.
"Nope."
"Great." Falco muttered "in search of a giant scary alien vessel without a plan."
They got to the starport and swiftly boarded The Great Fox. Once they all were on the bridge Fox announced that he had come up with a plan.
"Alright we are going to head to the location where the wormhole was and see if we can pick up any trail it might have left behind."
"Well at least it's something." Fay said trying to cheer everyone up.
"Fay's right, at least we have a plan." Krystal backed her up.
"Yeah a plan that sucks." Falco muttered under his breath.
"What Falco?" Miyu said dangerously.
"Oh nothing."
Fox sighed and had ROB enter the coordinates into the drive. Sometimes his friends could be so childish.
Conner was in the gym on the recreation deck of the Spirit Of Vengeance. He was lifting over twelve hundred pounds. Because of the huge weights needed he was in the spartan specific workout area. This was one of the few times he was out of his armor. He was wearing a black tank top and cargo pants. Each having the symbol of the spartan program sewn into it. An eagle clutching arrows and a lightning bolt in its talons with a star overhead.
After a half hour he had wrapped up the rest of his workout routine. After all a spartan must always be at their physical and mental best.
He was sweating lightly so he took a shower in the locker room. He suited back up in his MJOLNIR and headed down to the mess. He walked in and made a couple steaks and mashed potatoes, a simple fair. That was another way he differed from other spartans. His hidden guilty pleasure, cooking. He enjoyed the simpleness of preparing a meal, he found it very therapeutic.
He sat at one of the many empty tables took of his helmet and mechanically ate his meal. He took note of the silence since he was the only one left aboard. It was...peaceful.
With that objective complete he went to the bridge. Epsilon was waiting for him. "Good afternoon sir, I await your command."
Conner nodded. "Set a course for where the wormhole used to be, make sure the stealth drives are active."
"Yes sir." Epsilon dematerialized to enact his orders. Conner could feel the deck vibrate as the engines warmed up and the Spirit began to move. In order to maintain stealth they would have to avoid using the slipspace drive, as it interfered with the systems that utilized the active camo.
Conner sat in the sturdy captains chair. It didn't even make a peep. He contemplated ripping it out and putting it in his cabin. Maybe then the damn chair would stop squeaking.
"Sir, why are we going back?"
"I want you to get a few scans of the area, maybe we will find something useful."
"Excellent idea sir."
An hour later they arrived at the place they had come from. It seemed as if the CDF had brought more ships. Now there was thirty, and there was a strange looking one. It was oddly proportioned. "Epsilon zoom in on the unknown."
"Right away sir." The screen next to the captains chair showed the ship in question. It was white and had a interesting logo, a four legged fox with wings. It was surprisingly big, at half the Spirit's size.
Still it wasn't the reason they had come here. "Hmmm...now run deep scans of the area. Try to find any trace of the wormhole."
"Already in progress sir."
"Good work." Conner sat in the captains chair and waited for the report. Hopefully they wouldn't be discovered.
The A.I knew Conner would never willingly reveal himself. It wasn't his nature to talk with others. Of course he talked to Epsilon, but it was only out of necessity. Knowing this he came up with a subtly plan to nudge him in the right direction.
"It looks like this was a dead end." Peppy said. "There's nothing here that would help us fine the alien craft." They has spent the better part of three hours trying to find even a shred of information that would lead them to it.
The team sighed collectively. "I don't think we will ever find it." Slippy said sadly.
"Why are you sad?" Falco asked. "Do you really want to find it?"
"Yes! Can you imagine? An alien species, think of all we could learn!"
That sparked an argument. As fox watched his friends bicker he couldn't help but frown. Sure they were an alien species. But guessing from the size and power of the ship they weren't a peaceful one.
He contacted the Admiral. "Has your fleet detected any sign of the ship?"
"No, you would think a ship of that magnitude would leave something behind."
"Yeah." Fox muttered. "I guess we're calling it for today. Maybe we'll pick up something at another time." As they started to get the ships moving a shimmering outside the bridge windows grabbed their attention.
It faded to reveal the alien vessel in all its glory. "Oh shit, we found it." Falco said fearfully.
"What happened?" Conner demanded, the ship had decloaked revealing it to the fleet ahead of them.
"I don't know sir the system malfunctioned, it was completely unavoidable.....I guess we will just have to talk." Epsilon replied.
Conner could swear he heard a smug tone in the A.I's voice. "Damn it!" Conner smashed the thick sturdy metal armrest angrily. It crumpled under the tremendous force.
"Sir I'm receiving a hail from the new ship." He highlighted the ship that was half the size of the Spirit.
Conner sighed resignedly. "What do suggest we do after this accident?" He stressed the word.
"I hypothesize that the best course of action will be to communicate." Epsilon said snidely.
"Fine. Accept the hail, voice only."
A young voice, Conner put it at around twenty, came out of the speakers. "Alien vessel this is the Starfox mercenary group. On behalf of the CDF we thank you for your assistance with the fleet of venomian ships."
Conner grunted, "great, mercenaries. I don't like mercenaries."
"Be civil please." Epsilon scolded.
"Alright fine, patch me in."
Fox finished his greeting and waited for a response. He was incredibly nervous, his tail swished along the floor haphazardly. His friends were just as twitchy, and with good reason. The same ship in front of them had destroyed twenty five venomian ones singlehandedly. If it so chose it could have wiped them all out and gone about its merry way.
"This is spartan-066 of the UNSC Spirit Of Vengeance." A gravelly male voice growled through the The Great Fox's intercom. "Your thanks has been noted."
"Uh that's good." Fox said somewhat startled. He was very abrupt and to the point. "We uh wish to welcome you to the Lylat system and convey to you a message from the leader of the CDF. He wishes to thank you and your crew in person." Fox nodded to himself, yeah that sounded like something a diplomat would say.
"Okay." The man had said simply.
Fox didn't know what to say. Did that mean he would follow them? Did it mean he had acknowledged the request but didn't want to go? There where to many variables.
"Uh...okay."
Conner looked over to Epsilon's avatar on the pedestal. "What now?"
"If you wish you could take a pelican to their ship and I could cloak and follow."
"How would that be beneficial?"
"I would be able to covertly scan their homeworld and military strength when they take you to handle all the mundane talk."
Conner smirked in his helm. "We could glean allot of intelligence off of this. This might not be so bad."
"Oh and try to be diplomatic, no killing or maiming." Epsilon said with a sarcastic tone.
"No promises."
"I will go with you and leave my ship here." The male said gruffly after a long period of silence.
"Uh great. If you have a small ship you can land it here in The Great Fox. Then we'll take you." Fox said relieved that he had an answer. "The bay doors will be open."
"Affirmative. I will be arriving shortly." The rough voice grunted before cutting the line.
Fox sighed in relief before he felt a smack upside the head. "What was that for!" He growled at Falco.
"Dude, you just invited an alien aboard the ship! What were you thinking?" Falco squawked.
"I was thinking that it was a good idea."
"How?" The rest of the team watched as they argued. Which was ended when Miyu told them to shut up.
"Shut it. The alien ship just launched a smaller craft."
All fighting was put on hold as they stared at the approaching vehicle. It seemed to be some sort of gunship. It was angular with heavy armor plating and a large infantry/cargo hold. It had missile pods on the wings and a menacing rotary cannon on the chin. As it got closer Fox ran down to the hanger along with the rest of starfox to great their new arrival.
As they rushed down they all had different questions and thoughts zooming through their minds.
'What would it look like?' Fox.
'How many limbs would it have?' Falco.
'I hope it doesn't have tentacles.' Slippy.
'What have we got ourselves into now?' Peppy.
'This is so exciting!' Fay.
'Fay looks way to happy.' Miyu
'I hope nothing bad happens.' Krystal.
They arrived to see the gunship hover into the bay through the thin shield that kept the atmosphere in and space out. It gently came to a stop alongside the Arwings. They watched intently as its engines cooled down to a soft whine and the rear ramp opened.
Conner stomped down the ramp of his pelican and stopped at the end. Standing across from him was the oddest assortment of aliens he had ever seen before.
A orange fox in some sort of flight suit, a blue and red bird in a leather jacket and pants, another fox this time blue wearing purple, a rabbit in a lab coat, a frog in a jumpsuit, a lynx in a pilot outfit, and a border collie of all things, also in a pilots outfit. It was like some strange circus of walking talking animals. He gathered himself and marched over to them.
Starfox watched in awe and wonder as a giant in massive power armor stomped down the ramp. It was easily seven feet tall and was covered in it completely. The power suit was all thick heavy plates and bulky armor. It looked muscular even through the hard defined lines of the suit.
It had a huge pistol attached to its thigh. The matte black weapon gleamed menacingly in the light. It was hard to see because the alien's suit was also black. The only other color being the small red visor where they guessed its eyes to be.
It walked up to the stunned group and growled "Spartan-066 you can call me Wrath."
"W-welcome uh wrath, to The Great Fox." Fox stuttered almost unnoticeably.
The alien's helmet swiveled and they could feel its eyes studying each and every one of them. "Thank you." He said in his signature deep voice.
"Yes well let's get this show on the road." Fox said hurriedly and gestured for the giant to follow him. "If you would, I'll show you to the bridge. The alien nodded and followed Fox. The other hung back and watched as the armored behemoth lumbered after the vulpine. They had no idea that his enhanced hearing could pick up their conversation.
"Look at the size of him!" The avian whispered loudly.
"Yeah and that armor, it's amazing." The toad muttered.
"He's pretty muscular, you can see it through the suit." The lynx added.
"I wonder what he looks like." This time it was the cerulean vixen.
"I bet he's hot." The border collie mummered.
"He's awfully rigid." The hare said. "He has allot of discipline."
Conner ignored their whispering. People always whispered about spartans, it wasn't anything new. In fact this made them seem more human, more understandable. These aliens were interesting. And although he would never admit this, he liked them. The very few memories he had of his family included his pets. A fox, and a cat. They were his only real friends that he could have remembered.
His memories faded when the orange vulpine spoke. "Here we are." The had made it to the bridge. The fox had moved to sit in the captains chair and the others had moved to the other ones. There was one chair left presumably for him. After a moment the fox was curious that he had not taken the seat. "Don't you want to sit down?"
Conner looked at the small steel chair with hesitation. He concluded that it would not withstand his weight. Considering he weighed more then three hundred pounds out of armor and the armor weighed over half a ton. "I don't think that would be wise." He said slowly.
"Why?" The toad asked.
"I don't think it can take my weight."
"That chair is made of the best steel available, I don't think you weigh that much." The avian said with a smirk.
Marginally miffed Conner walked over to the chair placed a gauntleted hand on the seat and pushed down softly. With a groan of protesting metal he flattened it without expending to much energy. Conner scoffed 'best metal huh'. The team was dumbstruck. With a small amount of satisfaction he watched the avian gulp audibly. "I think I will stand."
"Hm yes well..." The vulpine cleared his throat. "I think introductions are in order. He then listed off and pointed at each member of his crew. "This is Falco Lombardi, second best Arwing pilot around." It was the snippy avian who still had a blank look on his face and was staring at the pitiful remains of the chair.
"Slippy toad, the mechanical genius keeping this ship running." The toad was staring at Conner with a disturbing amount of interest, or to put it better, at his MJOLNIR.
"Peppy Hare, the retired pilot and communications officer." The rabbit had a seasoned look, one who had been in many fights. Conner have him a respectful nod which the old hare returned.
"We have Fay Collie, interceptor pilot and long time friend." The collie was staring at Conner's body and making him a little uncomfortable. He had faced down charging jiralhanae chieftains and bellowing renegade Mgalekgolo and didn't feel the least bit off. But for some reason she gave him a feeling of discomfort.
"Miyu lynx our other interceptor pilot and one quick to anger." The lynx was trying to appear to be uninterested but he could easily see through her charade. Her feline eyes followed his every movement like a jungle predator stalking its prey. This made Conner bristle he was no measly prey.
"And finally Krystal the teams telepath." Conner froze....telepath, mind reader. He instinctive reached for his handgun but stopped himself.
"Telepath?" Conner said quietly.
"Yeah...she is." Fox said slowly noticing the change in tone. Krystal looked at the huge armored alien and saw him ever so slightly reach for his gun. Her heart stopped. Then he moved his hand away. She decided to not read his mind.
"Interesting." Was all he said.
"Yeah... Well now that we are done introducing ourselves how about you tall dark and mysterious?" Miyu inquired.
The alien stood there for a whole minute before he responded. "I am spartan-066 you may call me wrath."
"Yeah you said that already, but what's your name?" Falco bugged him.
"I don't give my name freely." He growled.
"Okay that's fine." Fox said trying to defuse the situation.
"Why wouldn't it be?" The alien asked.
Fox had no answer. Luckily he was saved by Fay. "Hey mister alien why don't you take off your helmet?"
This seemed to have stalled him. "I don't take it off...around others." He said reluctantly.
"Why something wrong with your face." Falco grumbled. The comment didn't bother Conner much but he was surprised to see the girls give Falco a dirty look, then Krystal elbow him harshly.
For some reason he felt a little bit more open now. "No not that. It's just I have been wearing this armor for the last seven years, its like a second skin."
"Wow seven years!" Slippy exclaimed. Everyone else was also intrigued.
"Yes I was given it after I completed training at the facility." He didn't go into detail, sure he was nowhere near any UNSC assets by he still didn't feel like divulging information. His silence told them that he was done talking.
"In any case now that our introductions are over let's get going." Fox had ROB prepare the engines for the trip back to Corneria. They said there goodbyes to the fleet and watched as Conner's ship disappeared.
"Where did it go?" Peppy wondered.
"Nowhere I just had it cloak." Conner said dismissively.
Peppy nodded in understanding. The ship warped out and the invisible form of the Spirit followed.
It took an hour for The Great Fox to reach Corneria. The entire time Conner, or wrath as they knew him. Leaned against a bulkhead not saying a word. The presence of the armor clad alien put a damper on conversations, and any attempt to engage him in one ended with a series of noncommittal grunts.
"Here we are." Fox said as The Great Fox warped in over the bustling city planet below. "Corneria the capital of Lylat."
Conner looked at the green and blue marble below. It reminded him of the pictures he saw of reach, before it was glassed of course. He hoped it would not meet a similar fate. "A beautiful planet." He mumbled to himself quietly without even realizing it.
"Yes it is." A female voice agreed near him. He shifted his helmeted gaze over to the women to see Krystal the blue vixen standing next to him. Her white tribal markings glittering in the light. He hadn't even noticed her, he chastised himself for his lapse in concentration.
Then for some odd reason he found himself talking to her. "So were you born here?"
"No I was born on a planet far away from here."
"Is it as beautiful?"
"It was." She said sadly.
"Ah...I see. What happened?"
"Andross."
Conner had read up on this Andross character. And he had greatly disapproved of the way the cornerians handled that affair. If it had been a UNSC scientist he would have been executed swiftly and efficiently. Not sent on some half assed banishment.
"Family?"
"Never got off the planet."
He didn't know how to address this situation. He was always bad with interacting with civilians and even other spartans. He wasn't a people person.
"...my condolences." He said after a while.
"What about you? Family? Home?"
He wouldn't usually share his past but he felt that it would only be fair. What he didn't know was that the others where watching them talk closely, hoping to gleam some small portion of the man under the armor.
"I had a family, I don't remember them much. They died along time ago."
"What happened?"
"That is a long and painful story."
"Oh I'm sorry, you don't have to tell me."
Sure he didn't but this vixen had shared her tragic past he wouldn't do any less. "It's fine, I was five when the alien hegemony dubbed the covenant found my homeworld. My family died in the ensuing battle." He said without a hint of sorrow in his voice. The other where surprised by his coldness, but Krystal could faintly pick up the lingering sadness and rage. If must have been boiling inside of him for her to feel it without actively reading his mind. He was very good at hiding his emotions. "The rest is history."
"We've landed." Fox announced ending the conversation. Everyone groaned internally they had gotten so close to unlocking a part of the mans background.
Fox led the team and the spartan to the exit hatch. The ramp lowered and they stepped out onto the tarmac. Waiting outside the ship was General Pepper himself and two tall heavily armored bodyguards. Even they were eclipsed by the sheer size and bulk of the spartan.
As soon as Conner came into view the bodyguards had brandished their rifle and aimed at him. Conner reacted in a blink of an eye. His gun was already in his hand and he targeted one of the guards. Simultaneously he had activated some form of energy blade that must have been somewhere on his person. It was over four feet long and was shaped like a medieval longsword. He had it pointed it at the other.
"Wait!" Fox exclaimed as he went in between the two armed parties. "This is the captain of the alien ship!"
Pepper turned to his men and ordered them to stand down. Once their rifles were lowered Conner holstered his pistol and deactivated his blade and placed it back on his waist. "My apologies captain. My men weren't prepared for a being of your...dimensions."
The spartan shrugged and replied in his customary rough voice. "They are not at fault, their reaction was a just one. They should be commended for their quick thinking."
Pepper and the others were surprised that he was not angry. "Really?"
"Yes if they had not acted swiftly they would not be doing their jobs as bodyguards."
"Well in any case I welcome you to the capital of lylatian space."
The spartan nodded. "I believe you wished to speak with me on the manner of my arrival into this galaxy?" Short and to the point.
"Correct. If you would follow me." Pepper motioned them to a rectangular armored personal carrier. Conner appraised it. It was of good quality. These lylatians had better vehicles then ships. Much like the UNSC before the Great War.
They entered and the spartan was the last one in. Pepper and the guards looked in awe as the the vehicle groaned in protest under his weight. Thankfully it held. "Grow em big where you come from?" One of the guards asked.
"The biggest." The spartan replied simply.
The ride to the CDF headquarters was uneventful. Everyone was staring at the huge armored spartan in the hold with them. But he was too deep in thought to care.
Why did he say so much? In all his years he had never talked to anyone like that. He was a loner by nature. Preferring to fight, work, and live away from the other members of the UNSC. Not once had they managed to peel away the shell he had formed around himself.
Now here in this different galaxy a short conversation with a fox women and he had already divulged more then he had to anyone else. It really was puzzling. He was startled by a tap on his shoulder plate. He reached for his handgun on impulse but stopped when he remembered where he was. He had to get ahold of himself.
"Hey big guy, we're here." The collie, Fay, said softly.
"Thank you." He said surprising her with the warmth of his tone. It seemed as if they were the only ones left inside. The others had left and were waiting outside.
"Any time." She said happily and climbed out. Conner took a moment took reaffirm his grip on reality and climbed out as well.
Everyone was standing outside waiting. The women were giving him strange looks. "Took a nap?" Falco jeered. Once more being elbowed, this time by Miyu.
"No." He said coldly. Fay frowned. He sounded so nice back in the APC. She looked at Falco and made her displeasure known by kicking his shin.
"Ow what the heck!"
They all ignore his protest and Pepper signaled for them to enter the building. As Conner followed them he could not help but notice all the stares. It seems everyone in a five block radius was watching him. The ones he could see were wide eyed with muzzles gaped. It was. Nothing new so Conner tuned it out. He did notice that he had to lean forward to enter the buildings doors. Inside the crowded loud room went silent.
All eyes were on him. It feel like he had fallen into a lions den. His trigger finger itched and he subconsciously fingered his sword hilt. Seeing this Pepper disbanded the group of gawkers. Thankful he took his hands away from his weapons. Soon after that they found themselves in Pepper's office.
"Now tell me how you got here." The bloodhound said when he had taken his seat. Everyone else sat in the available chairs and perked their ears up intent on listening to everything he was about to say.
Conner cleared his throat.