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Shattered: Redux

Chapter XI: Dark Inheritance Part I

The past is not so easily forgotten...

-Anonymous

They set down in front of a colossal sand dune, at the heart of the beacon's signal. Their Arwings were left in a small cluster on a flat section of tan sands just a few meters from the dune. The commando team's shuttle set down behind them and the party stood in front of the sandy hill.

The massive dune of sand had an overhang that shaded a small area that had a set of heavy steel doors were situated. It looked like the venomians were using the dune as a means of concealing their facility from surface scans. But since the beacon was broadcasting, it was easy to find.

"Well, how do we get in?" Falco asked as they stood in front of the large intimidating doors.

"My team has explosives. We could blast a way inside." The armored fennec vixen suggested.

Fox looked to her. "If you blew the doors, the entire base would know we were here."

Fara scoffed and folded her arms. "As if they wouldn't figure that out eventually."

Alex saw that they would soon degenerate into bickering and so he walked up to the doors and looked at the pad. On the ark he had gotten pretty good at hacking and so he wanted to try his luck with it before any less subtle methods were used.

"What are you doing?" The armored vixen demanded.

"Hacking the doors." Alex replied before pulling the access panel off and taking a look at the multi-hued wiring. "I should be able to get them to open, without having to resort to making them go boom."

The vixen nodded and they waited as the human tinkered with the panel, muttering quietly to himself as he worked. As they watched Alex work, Fox kept glancing at Fara out of the corner of his eye. She stood with her four team mates, a few feet from his team. The separation and tension between them could not be more obvious. He had no idea what she was thinking because her muzzle was hidden behind her helmet. The silence between them was unsettling and so he tried to talk.

"So Fara...you're in charge of your own squad?"

The fennec tilted her helmet in Fox's direction. "Yes." She responded simply.

"Who are they?"

Fara sighed. "Do you even really want to know?"

He nodded.

"Fine." She placed her rifle in her right paw and used her left to point out her team from right to left. "Mack here," Fara pointed at the largest member of her team, holding a menacing LMG in his plated paws. "Is the team's heavy gunner, Mica is our tech specialist." She pointed at a short and slim female. "Besides her are Jake and Alice, the team's explosives and medical specialists respectively." The last two were about the same height although the male was slightly shorter. Fox could not tell which species they were under their armor.

At the sound of their names each member nodded at the vulpine and he returned them. "It's nice to meet all of you."

After that silence reined once more, at least until Fara walked over to Fox, surprising him by being the first to initiate conversation. "So what's with the alien guy, when did that happen?" She demanded gruffly.

"A few months ago, Peppy suggested that we take him on." Fox replied neutrally, not wanting to get her riled up.

"Peppy?" She asked in surprise.

"Yeah, apparently he met Pep's approval. Since then, he has done much for the team."

Fara nodded slowly. "That is certainly something." She remarked before going quiet.

As they stood together silently, Fox noticed that she seemed less hostile than before and thought that he would try his luck at an apology. "Look Fara, about what happene-"

She cut him off stiffly. "Don't worry about Fox, the past is the past. Besides, I got over it."

Fox nodded. He wouldn't try and press his luck, for now he would leave her be. But he really wanted to apologize to her for how he handled the breakup, he could have been smarter.

"Ah ha, I got it!" Alex announced; backing away from the doors and bringing his rifle up as they slowly began to shift open revealing a half lit corridor with an elevator at the far end. The hallway of steel was empty and there was no sign of any venomians, which was slightly unsettling/ But Fox did not dwell on that.

"Good job." Fox praised as he pulled out his blaster and moved towards the entrance.

Alex stood by the newly opened doors and let the others file in ahead of him, the last two entering were Krystal and Miyu, and so he fell in step with them. The elevator was large enough to take all of them in one trip and so they piled inside. There was only one button, and so Alex pressed it and the elevator doors closed with a bang.

As they traveled down, each team member went over their weapons, checking charge packs and flicking safeties off. Once the doors opened, the dangerous part of their mission would begin, searching for the reason behind the venomian base's beacon and stealing any data if they could.

Alex was at the front of the elevator and he did his best to clear his mind. His effort was largely unsuccessful; he had far too much to think about. He was still trying to figure out what to think about his situation with Krystal and Miyu. The concept of having more than one lover was something he remained unfamiliar with. In human society, something like that was not always seen favorably. There was polygamy, but that had mostly died out during the opening years of humanity's rise to the stars. Before the marker war, it was possible to find maybe one or two polygamists on a planet, so it had not disappeared completely. Either way, he never thought that he would find himself in such a situation.

He sighed quietly and tightened his grip on his pulse rifle, sneaking a peak at the two women in question. Both were standing next to him and talking softly with each other.

He knew that most guys would be more than happy to have a situation like that, but it was not something that Alex had ever wished for. He would be content to have only one woman to love, and indeed that had been the case before all of this. And that made him think of Sarah.

What would she have thought about all of this if she were watching him now? Would she see this an unbelievable betrayal, that not only had he sought love after her, but with two women? Undoubtedly she would be disgusted and outraged.

"How are ya holding up Alex?" He heard Miyu ask from his left.

He shifted his helmet to see the feline watching him with her fiery amber eyes. "I'm fine, just a little preoccupied is all."

She nodded in understanding. 'So...you're still thinking about....what we talked about?"

"Yes, it's a lot to take in, and I'll need some time to digest it."

Miyu's ear twitched and her tail slowed its waving. "Okay." She replied meekly and ducked her head, taking a small step back to stand closer to Krystal. "Sure, no problem, we'll be waiting."

Alex frowned internally.

Why did this all have to be so hard? Nothing was ever clear cut. There was always something in-between the lines, muddling what should be a simple choice to make. But then again, this was far from simple. Based on his decision, it would alter the rest of his and their lives. It would be the basis for how he planned to spend his days, alone, or with other's to share the burden.

There was also the serious problem with his mental fortitude to consider. He was not the strong minded man he used to be. His fight with the horrors of his dimension had weakened his resolve and sanity. There would always be the chance of his latent dementia awakening, and if it did, at least he had a contingency plan. Fox would do what must be done, and it was relieving to know that. He had no intention of letting the marker's return.

It bothered him though, now that they were gone, he should no longer be suffering from its ill effects. If anything, it should have manifested as a small nervous tick, not a full on phobic debilitation. The signal was gone and that was what created the symptoms, so by rights he should be back to relatively normal. But he was still plagued by the rampant terrors in his dreams and the dark.

The elevator beeped softly and opened.

"That was a long ass elevator ride." Falco muttered as they stepped out of the elevator and into the large chamber ahead of it.

Alex was the first out, and he swung his rifle back and forth, checking for targets. The huge chamber they were in was deserted. There was a closed off section to the side with a door and a wide window that peered into the chamber they currently found themselves. It looked like a guard post, filled with monitors and a single chair. But it was abandoned; no signs of life could be seen besides a single cup sitting on the desk inside.

"I don't like the looks of this....fan out." Fara muttered, signaling for her squad to check the chamber they sat inside.

There was an air of unease permeating the team and Alex motioned for Fox and the others to sit tight as he walked over to the guard room. He was mildly alarmed when the doors whooshed open on their own and took a second before entering.

The bank of monitors were all displaying static and the swivel chair in the room was placed in the center at an odd angle, as if the one who had been sitting on it had left in a hurry. Alex walked past the chair and checked the bank of monitors, but could not get anything to work. He saw a small button on the metal desk with a microphone symbol stenciled next to it. Alex pressed the button and spoke into it. "Hey Slip, Fay, get in hear."

His voice blared over the loudspeakers and started everyone; he didn't need to see the faces of Fara and her team to know that they were not pleased. The helmeted glare was more than sufficient in showing their displeasure.

Alex chuckled as he waited for Slippy and Fay to walk in.

The toad and spaniel soon made their appearance and stopped beside Alex. "What do you need?" Fay inquired in her usual helpful and excited tone.

"Come take a look at this, I need some help getting it to work." Alex gestured to the panel of monitors and the keypad below them. "We need to find out what's going on here, and this might give us the answer, or at least some clues."

"Sure thing Alex, I know we can crack it." The toad interlaced his webbed hands and cracked them. "Let's get to work."

**********

They worked over the console for a half hour before they gave up; they had done everything they thought they could. They had switched wires, checked the power running through the circuits and even tried replacing them, but for whatever reason the only thing that showed on the screens was static. And the only sound they got was white noise.

Finally, Slippy exhaled in exasperation and grabbed his tools and placed them back on his belt. "Looks like this is one we can't fix. Doesn't make sense though...." He remarked as he turned to walk out. "Everything's working, it just won't work...looks like we'll just have to find out the old fashioned way, see you outside."

"Sorry." Fay added as she followed after the toad.

Slippy and Fay left and Alex turned to the row of screens. It didn't make any sense, it was almost like they were being scrambled or jammed, which didn't add up to the human. Why would they purposely sabotage their equipment?

Alex grunted and made to leave the room when the monitors flickered, which they had not done before. Curious, he closed in on them and leaned towards the static filled screens. At first, he was looking at the same black and white scattering. But...amid the white noise, there was something that didn't belong there...whispering. It was faint, but he could hear it.

"You can't get rid of us Alex....you will make us whole." All the screens suddenly flashed red and black, brazenly displaying a marker and making him reel backwards in shock, collapsing to the floor in a loud crash of steel on steel.

"Alex!" He heard a voice shot out in alarm from the other side of the security room, but the door flashed from green to red and locked with an ominous clang. Fists slammed on the unforgiving steel, trying to get to their friend, and the pipes in the room burst, filling it with white smoke.

Alex cradled his head in his hands weakly as he was assaulted with screaming voices and red sigils flashed in his vision. With a great effort of will he crawled to his hands and knees, reaching for his discarded rifle. There was a loud repetitive banging, that could not be made by any normal hands, and the human could feel the customary and dreaded terror he knew all too well. "No...." He whispered in all consuming horror as the vent above him exploded and a veiled figure splattered to the ground and emitted a bone-chilling howl that reverberated through the walls and slipped into the minds of his friends on the other side of the doors. He could not see exactly what it was...but he knew nevertheless.

......The Necromorphs were here.

Alex grabbed his rifle and trained the blue holosight in the general direction of the beast, emptying the clip in a fusillade that was deafening in the small room. The creature weaved through the hail of pulse rounds and slammed into him with unnatural force. He tried to squirm out of its relentless grip, but instead felt a maw of sword-like teeth clamp down on his shoulder and compress with the uncompromising strength of a trash compacter.

His armor crumpled under the force and he felt searing hot lances of pain shred his shoulder as the monsters fangs tunneled deep into his vulnerable flesh. Alex roared in agony and slammed his gauntlet into its chest with as much force as he could, causing it to hack violently and stumble backwards.

He reached for his sword but never got the chance to use it as something came from the open vent and wrapped a fleshy appendage around his throat, constricting mercilessly. Alex pawed uselessly at the snake-like wrapping, spluttering and gasping as his vision began to darken. The tentacle lifted him up and out of the room, dragging his body through the vents and into the darkness.

**********

Fox watched as Slippy and fay walked out of the guard post, the look of defeat marking his and her face. "Sorry Fox, we couldn't get the machines to work." Fay sighed sullenly, tail hanging low to the ground.

"It's all right Fay." Fox placated, placing a paw on his friends back. "We'll just have to go further in and find out what's going on for ourselves. Fox turned to the guard post and saw Alex staring at the monitors inside the post closely, as if trying to make something out.

Suddenly, the human recoiled and collapsed to the floor loudly, grabbing the team and Fara's and her squad's attention.

"Alex!" Krystal whined in worry and was the first to rush to the door, but before she made it they slammed closed and the green open holo flickered red.

Fox watched as the pipes in the room blew open, shooting a white cloud of gas into the chamber, concealing the rising figure of his friend. "What's going on?" Falco demanded as he watched all of this in confusion.

Fara signaled for her squad to regroup, fearing that they had just wandered into an ambush, yet nothing happened to them. Instead, a loud reverberating thumping came from the now clouded room and after a final slam, there was a clatter of raining steel followed by a terrifying howl.

Almost immediately after, the harsh bellowing of a ballistic weapon filled the chamber with noise and Fox ran over to the closed doors with the others. "Slip, get this damn door open!" Fox growled, as he slammed a fist onto it futilely.

Slippy nodded rapidly and tried to hack into the door. But he stumbled backwards as the barrage of weapon's fire from the other side of the door was cut off and an unbearable cry of pain was forced out of Alex's lungs. "Goddamn it, hurry up Slip." Miyu hissed.

"I'm trying, I'm trying." Slippy retorted as his fingers danced across his bracer. Fay nudged her way in next to Slippy, and the duo hammered at the locked device.

The room went ominously silent and a minute later, Slippy spoke excitedly. "Got it!"

Fox and the others wasted no time, running into the clouded room as the gases slowly crawled out of the open door and dissipated, slowly unveiling the once hidden interior.

Blood was pooled across the floor in small puddles and piles of shell casings were scattered all about. The small guard post smelt of cordite and gunpowder, as well as the sickly coppery tang of freshly spilt blood. Yet, there was no sign of Alex, or his attacker(s). The only thing they had to go own was the shards of the breached vent, his fallen rifle, and the splatter pattern of his blood.

"Oh my god." Krystal moaned as she placed a paw over her muzzle, holding back tears.

Fox kneeled next to the rifle amid the blood and bullets, his vulpine eyes picking up what looked like decaying flesh intermixed with the fresh blood. It looked old, really old, in its final days of decomposition, and yet...what was it doing here? At that second he could not piece it all together. Fox picked up the rifle and used the sling to slide it onto his shoulders. He would give it back to Alex once they found him.

Fara and her team entered, standing behind Fox.

He looked up at them and sighed. "He's gone...don't know where, but he's not here."

Her helmeted head did a swift once over of the room before it centered on Fox. "We can't stay here, his attackers might come back, and we have to face the facts. He's most lik-"

"DON'T SAY THAT!" Krystal snarled. "He's still alive. We just have to find him." Miyu patted her friend on the back, calming her down.

Fara looked at the other vixen and her risen hackles. "Either way, we need to keep moving, if he is indeed alive, we won't find him here. And we still have a mission to do." She pivoted on her heels and marched out of the room with her squad.

Miyu watched as they left the room with a growl. "Bitch."

Falco walked over to Fox and helped the orange furred vulpine back to his feet. "She is right about one thing, we won't find him here. And I don't know what it is that's going on here, but if we want to find out we gotta keep moving."

Fox nodded slowly and turned to his team. "We will find Alex, alive. But until then we have to keep going. Can you and Krystal manage?" He asked Miyu.

The feline looked up from the fretting vixen. "Yeah, we'll keep going. We need to find him."

Fox let out a puff of breath. "Alright then, we keep moving. He's going to be here somewhere, and we will find him.

The team left the guard post and joined Fara's squad in front of the set of heavy doors that would take them deeper into the base, and hopefully to where Alex might be.

**********

Alex feebly pounded his plated fist on the fleshy rope coiled around his gorget, his strength fading. As he was dragged through the maze of vents' he used his other gauntlet to grasp at the hilt of his sword. Gasping, he barely managed to wrap his gloved fingers around the cross piece and tore it from his waist.

With the last vestments of his failing strength he placed the inactivated blade on the tentacle by its top and flicked the activation rune. The dark vent lit up with a blinding blue light and he felt an intense heat near his throat, but the tentacle got the worst of it. The energy sword cut through its decayed flesh and it slackened, dropping him.

Alex gasped in relief and took in big bellows of recycled air though his suit's air supply as it force fed him oxygen. A low moan filled the vent and the shadowy mass of the tentacle receded into the darkness.

Knowing that it would return, he wasted little time in shutting off his plasma sword and finding a wait out of the vents. He followed the left side and after a few minutes of crawling through a duct that only was waist high; he managed to find a vent he could use to get out.

He peered through the slits of the vent and didn't see anything on the other side. Satisfied that he was at the moment in the clear, he moved around and brought his boot up, kicking the grate and popping it open.

Alex slid out and landed in a painful pile on the floor of the empty room, clutching his right shoulder in pain. He could feel hot blood welling through the rents in his sundered plate and slipping through his gloved fingers and down his armor. "Fuck..." He groaned and tried to stand up.

Once on his feet, he took a moment for a sit-rep.

Rifle gone, serious shoulder injury that needed medical attention, stranded from friendlies, lost in a necromorph compromised facility (he checked his comms system), and no way of contacting his team. The situation was bleak.

The solution to this dilemma...

Handgun and sword as backup weaponry, search for medical supplies, find team, get a layout of facility, take out whatever it was that was jamming him and reestablish contact with Starfox.

Alex was no longer functioning as a person; he had switched into survival mode. Efficiency and gut instinct was what would see him through this. He could worry about everything else later when he could afford to. If he dwelled on it all he would lose himself in despair and subsequently die. To feel was to die in this situation, and so he would just have to take 'feeling' out of the equation.

Alex grabbed the handgun on his waist and activated his plasma sword.

It was time to get to work.