⓮ Graveless ⓮

The shroud of darkness covered all. Like a black haze, the smoke of mortality—the space between life and death, floated by. Amidst the choking darkness, sounds echoed through the void. A rapid beeping noise that increased in intensity with every second, the noise of a panicked woman screaming for help, the shouts and grunts of nameless people whom Sabre had never known.

The beeping became more and more frantic. The black mist grew darker still, obscuring the nothingness with even more malice than before. Then, the electronic beeping came to a stop, replaced by a long, flat screech. Gradually, the voices in the void grew silent. Far in the distance, a faint, white light appeared. It looked almost like a far-flung celestial body, or even the aura of an angel. It drew nearer with every passing second; and soon, the darkness turned to gray. The mist still shrouded everything, but the gleaming light devoured it as it approached. Soon, the mist vanished. The light inched closer; and for a fraction of a moment, it seemed almost like a portal to another world.

At that moment, a faint scream pierced through the void. Its words were garbled beyond comprehension, yet it continued in spite of this.

This time, the words rang clear. "Please! Wake up!"

The light shuddered, and it stopped approaching. Time came to a stop as the voice repeated itself. "Come on! Wake…up!"

The command echoed through the void, but instead of dissipating, it only became louder. In mere seconds, the echo filled the empty space with an earsplitting vibration created by nothing more than sound waves. The light shook violently, cutting in and out like an old fluorescent light bulb at the end of its service life.

Then, all went dark.

"Wake up!"

- § -

Sabre forced his eyes open and gasped, inhaling as much air as possible. He found himself tucked into a medical bed in an otherwise unmarked room. Hardly any light filled said room. Through the window behind the bed, the distant skyscrapers of the Eledardian capital stretched into the night sky. To left of his bedside, he noticed a heart rate monitor. As he took in multiple breaths, it transitioned from a panicky set of beeps to a more stable grouping of quiet chirps.

Only one other person occupied the room, and it was this sole person who attracted the entirety of his attention. Seated on her knees on the bed in front of him, Krystal looked into his eyes and wept.

Shock overtook Sabre at the sight of his blue stepsister, still dressed in the same skimpy clothing that she had been stored in. His mouth fell open, and he struggled for words as the blue vixen shuffled towards him and cried tears of joy. "Sabre…I thought I'd lost you forever," she whimpered, reaching out with her hand to stroke her stepbrother's forehead. "I was afraid that I'd never get to tell you…"

When she trailed off and seemed to choke on her own words, Sabre whispered, "Tell me what?"

"…How eternally grateful I am for you saving me," Krystal finished. "I knew how you felt about me for years, but I never knew you would be willing to sacrifice so much, just for me."

"How did you know about that?" asked Sabre.

"The white one told me."

"You mean…Mira?"

Krystal returned a confused expression and answered, "She wouldn't tell me her name. She said that she didn't have one anymore."

"Anymore? What did she mean by that?"

A sigh escaped from Krystal's lips. "She told me everything—like how she was part of the project that kept me imprisoned for fifteen years. She also told me about how she was supposed to be 'another me,' if that makes any sense. I felt terrible for her. I tried to comfort her, but she wouldn't accept anything from me. She said that now that I'm alive again, she has no purpose."

Worry in his eyes, Sabre asked, "Where is she right now?"

"I don't know exactly where, but I can feel her thought patterns. She's thinking about taking her life."

Sabre tried to sit up, but when he attempted to do this, the multiple gunshot wounds on his back flared up in protest. Letting out a fierce yelp, he reclined again and implored Krystal, "You have to help her. She has to be worth something, and you've got to get that through to her. She's not another you—it's impossible for there to be anyone like you."

Upon hearing these words, Krystal's eyes softened. She looked at her stepbrother with a faint smile on her lips and whispered, "And the same goes for you. For all these years, I underestimated how much you cared about me. I felt your cravings and desires and tried to ignore them, but I never realized that there was more to it than just those things. You threw away your entire life all for me, and because of that, I'm not going to resist you anymore."

Sabre's pulse quickened.

Sensing his racing heart and elevated thought patterns, Krystal placed a hand on his chest and continued, "Understand that I am never going back to Krazoa. Ever. The curse is real, and if I return there, I will be the scourge of history for centuries to come. If you still want me, you must promise to never go back.

Sabre paused for reflection, mulling over his memories of his home planet, which he had not seen in over five years. "I think I can accept that punishment."

Krystal breathed out a heavy draft of air, one borne out of a mixture of trepidation and ecstasy. "Very well, then."

As much as Sabre relished the extent of her words, one painful thought stood out to him. "But what about Father? I don't think he would ever agree to this."

With a reassuring pat on the shoulder, Krystal answered, "If he knew what you went through to rescue me, I know with all my heart that he would accept it." Although still riddled with unease, Krystal's expression gradually became more and more placid. That is, until a stream of thoughts entered her telepathic mind and caused the weight of worry to drop onto her once again. Her ears and tail drooped, although Sabre knew not why.

"What's wrong?" the vulpine asked, placing both hands on his stepsister's shoulders.

"It's Mira," Krystal replied. "She's thinking about doing it."

"She's here?" Sabre gasped.

"Yes. We're in the medical ward in a private military corporation's base. They're all here—including the people you worked with before you went off on your own."

"You mean…Star Fox?"

"Yes, them—I think so, at least."

Eyes narrowed in mixed anger and concern, Sabre pushed himself into a sitting position, forcing his way through the searing pain in his back. "First things first—we have to stop Mira. Help me walk."

Krystal responded with a grim nod and climbed off the bed before she pulled Sabre's bedsheets forward and helped him to his feet. While the rest of his body felt strong enough to move, the agony of his numerous gunshot wounds implored him to fall back onto the bed. Yet, he would have none of it. With Krystal unable to offer any consolation to Mira, her life depended on him alone.

Sabre took a deep breath in a futile attempt at numbing his pain, then draped his left arm around Krystal's shoulder. Together, they hobbled out of the medical room and entered a long, dark gray hallway that betrayed the cold, utilitarian purposes of Star Wolf's base. Their inability to walk quickly instilled even more fear into Sabre. He felt that he could never forgive himself if he failed to reach Mira before she killed herself.

"Please, try to move faster," he whispered to Krystal.

"I'm trying," the blue vixen panted. "You should be happy I can move at all after how long they kept me in that tank."

Every step intensified the pain in Sabre's body as he let Krystal guide him towards the source of Mira's thought patterns. Although he paid it little mind, the only clothing he had been given in the absence of his tactical gear was a pair of what appeared to be pajama pants. Every so often, the two would pass a bewildered guard left with no choice but to stare at the pair of half-dressed foxes as they stumbled through the base's hallways.

Minutes of walking led Krystal and Sabre to the edge of the base's east wing. A pair of steel doors marked the end of the hallway. Still trying to support Sabre's weight, Krystal shoved open the left of the two doors with her shoulder and shuddered when a breath of the cool evening wind whisked through her fur. The door led outside to an elevated balcony overlooking the industrial area in which the base was located. The balcony stood on its own, with no other access points apart from the double doors.

The scenery barely registered in Sabre's mind as his eyes focused on something else.

Mira.

The white vixen stood on the concrete railing, mere inches from the edge of the balcony and a fatal drop of over fifty feet. Her body trembled in fear, but her ears and tail communicated a message of lost hope in anything and everything. She held her eyes closed and seemed to lean outwards towards certain death, but her instincts prevented her from acting on her impulses. Nevertheless, even a slight gust of wind had the potential to sweep her off the ledge and end her life. Perhaps she was hoping for that to happen.

Ignoring his cascading pain, Sabre let go of Krystal's shoulder and stumbled towards Mira. He stretched out his hand, but as he moved closer to her, his knees collapsed, and he fell to the ground. He let out a sharp yip of pain, and this lone action attracted Mira's attention. Shivering, the white vixen looked over her shoulder and opened her eyes.

On his hands and knees, Sabre locked eyes with her and begged, "Mira, don't do this!"

A solitary tear dripped out of the white vixen's eye. "I told you not to call me that."

"What do you want me to call you, then?"

"I…I don't know," the vixen sniffled. "I don't even have a name. I'm not even my own person. Sabre—can't you see why I have to do this?"

"No! You don't have to!" Sabre shouted, his voice echoing off the side of the building behind him. "Your life is valuable!"

"Pfft. Yeah, valuable—to the people who want to experiment on me. I'm worthless, and you know it. All you ever wanted was for me to be her…" she pointed to Krystal with malice in her eyes. "…and now that she's alive again, you don't have a need for me anymore."

Sabre paused. He blurted out a response, but his voice lacked conviction. "That's not true! I never expected you to take her place. You may have a lot in common with her, but you're not her!"

"You're right—I'm not her, because I'm inferior to her. I can tell that's what you're thinking. Your thoughts betray you, Sabre."

"No, please! Don't do this!" Sabre begged. He wanted nothing more than to sprint towards the concrete ledge and pull Mira back to safety, but he found himself powerless to move. It seemed to him that everything he did to convince her that she had value served no purpose except to confirm her suicidal intentions.

The white vixen turned her head back towards the view of the industrial district and lamented, "No one will miss me when I'm gone. Not even you. You found what you were looking for, and now there's no meaning for me anymore."

Behind her back, Sabre whimpered, his hopes of pleading with her smashed to pieces, just like Mira would be in a matter of seconds if nothing changed.

Then, Krystal crossed her arms and took a step towards the concrete railing. "Sabre is right," she growled, her voice filled with a measure of anger that Sabre had learned to fear. "You're not me—you have so much more in your favor than I do."

Mira nearly fell off the ledge in shock. She turned around and stared into the blue vixen's eyes, only to see traces of barely contained rage in them.

Krystal continued, taking a step towards Mira with every statement. "You never had to live your childhood in isolation, being called a demon-spawn every time you went out. You never had to spend thirty-four years not knowing what love was. You never had to leave your family behind and travel to a different solar system for reasons they wouldn't understand." She paused, then lowered her hands to her sides and clenched her fists. "You never had to grapple with being the bastard daughter of the Krazoan god of death with a world-ending curse following you around wherever you go. If I had the choice, I would prefer to be you rather than me."

"I never knew," Mira whispered.

"Of course you didn't," Krystal snapped back. "Now get down from that ledge and start living instead of crying about how unfair your life is."

The white vixen sighed, lowering her head to her chest. Then, she crouched and gingerly slid off the railing. She set foot on the balcony and then approached Sabre, who still struggled to push himself off the ground. Kneeling in front of him, she whimpered, "I'm sorry for putting you through this."

"It's okay," Sabre replied. "It doesn't matter who you were designed to be. The only thing that matters is who you choose to be. There's nothing wrong with being like Krystal, either. No matter how much you have in common with her, there will always be things that set you apart."

Mira nodded, but despite her choice to continue living, she still felt purposeless. "Sabre, what are you going to do after this is over and you leave this place?"

Looking over at Krystal, Sabre answered, "I think Krystal and I are going to leave. Clearly, we don't belong here. I don't know where we'll end up, but this isn't the final destination."

"C…Can I come with you?"

A sigh escaped Sabre's mouth. "I don't think you should."

"Why not?"

"As long as Krystal is around for you to compare yourself to, you'll never be able to truly be yourself. You've got the chance to start a new life. You might as well take it. Without us around, no one will know or care where you came from."

Once again, Mira replied with a faint nod. "I understand. I just don't know where to start."

Mustering up the strength to move from sitting on his knees, Sabre crawled forwards and placed his hands on Mira's shoulders. "Don't worry—I'll help you find your way."

- § -

Meanwhile…

The air inside Wolf's boardroom held a tense, hollow feeling that everyone inside could sense. Four reflective gray walls surrounded the long table in the center of the room; and at this table, seven figures sat. Wolf himself sat at the head of the table, with Fox, Fara, Falco, Miyu, and Slippy on the right and Carmine and Lieutenant Colonel Valkyrie on the left. Not one of them smiled. The gravity of the situation prevented that.

In a moment, one of three holoprojectors in the center of the table flickered into life, revealing the waist-up image of Cornerian DIS Supervisor Xiao Ling. The grizzled panda stared at the Star Fox team; and Fara in particular. After clearing his throat, he spoke with a rumbling voice borne out of anger and frustration at the potential calamity that had barely been averted by Sabre's efforts.

"Good evening, all. I won't mince words here: I'm pissed. I'm furious at all of you for what you almost pulled. Do you realize that you were this close…" he pinched two of his fingers together. "…To starting a second Lylat War? I'm sure you do. After all, the files my subordinates managed to dig up seem to suggest that was the idea all along."

Wolf gave the holographic panda a knowing look and crossed his arms.

Ling glared at Fara and continued, "Miss McCloud, I hope you understand the extent of your crimes. Along with the former general Graves, you are scheduled to be tried in an interplanetary court for conspiracy to commit a crime against peace. If convicted—which is likely—the sentences range from lifetime imprisonment to execution."

Fara, already crippled with grief, lowered her head even farther than before and burst into tears. In the chair next to her, Fox moved to comfort his wife, but his own fury over her actions held him back. Fara seemed to realize this and in turn cried even harder.

Ling showed no signs of remorse for Fara. Keeping his arms crossed, he rotated in the direction of Wolf and said, "I think the time has come for us all to learn the truth about what's happened in the past week. For that, I would like to bring two more voices into this conversation—General Graves, and the premier of Venom, Dash Bowman."

On cue, the two other holoprojectors on the table illuminated, revealing the images of the denigrated former general—who now wore an orange jumpsuit—and a slender monkey in a tailored jacket. The simian's foul expression hinted at his disgust for the position he had been placed in.

Ling's hologram faced Graves's and suggested, "General, perhaps you would like to enlighten us on this conspiracy of yours."

Graves let out an angry huff and snapped, "I'm under no obligation to say anything. In the eyes of the law, I'm innocent until proven guilty."

"I'm afraid that you are anything but innocent," Ling growled, showing his teeth. "Your comms log showed a recent call to Mrs. McCloud. The audio content in it all but confirms your complicity in this. That information, along with the audio leak that my team dug up on you, Mrs. McCloud, and Colonel Taniguchi, will almost certainly be enough to incriminate you. If you speak up, there might be a chance for you to have your sentence reduced."

The grizzled eagle sighed. "Fine. Perhaps I can convincingly explain why we did what we did, and why I have no regrets over this." He cleared his throat and turned in the direction of Dash's hologram, then began, "As Supervisor Ling has probably figured out, the plan was to bait the Republic of Venom into a war with Corneria. At the time of the conference between me, Colonel Taniguchi, and Mrs. McCloud, the Venomian Planetary Army lacked the manpower and weapons capabilities to defeat Corneria in an extended conflict; but they were gaining rapidly on us. In both my and Colonel Taniguchi's eyes, their incredible economic growth and national pride had the potential to make them an interplanetary threat on or above the level of Andross. His grandson following in the madman's footsteps didn't help anything, either. We felt that to preserve our preeminence in the Lylat System, we needed to strike while we still had the upper hand."

Graves's incrimination of him caused Dash to fly into a rage. "Despicable coward! I have done nothing to harm you or your people! I should have expected imperialists like yourself to try to crush anyone who dared challenge your monopoly of power over this system." Seething, he turned towards Fara and clenched his fists. "I can't believe you were part of this, either. After all the time I spent idolizing Star Fox when I was younger, I never expected you to be the ones to stab me in the back. I have no respect for you anymore. I thought you stood for the common good, but it seems that you've become nothing more than lackeys for the Cornerian government. In that case, I'm glad to see you finally got your comeuppance."

Under normal circumstances, Fox would have tried to defend his team's honor. This time, however, he knew that he was not responsible for any part of Fara and Graves's plan—except perhaps playing the role of an unwitting pawn. While Fara continued to sob, he kept his arms crossed and refused to even make eye contact with her. Instead, he glared at Graves's hologram and demanded, "What's the rest of the story, General?

Looking both crushed and deflated, Graves looked downwards and replied, "Part of the plan was to convince Venom that they would have a chance if a war broke out between Venom and Corneria. To do that, Colonel Taniguchi agreed to defect to Venom, taking military secrets with him and using them to bolster Venom's military capabilities. I factored in the threat that this would cause and determined that the benefits outweighed the costs. It worked—Taniguichi earned the trust of the Venom Army and worked with them, all while communicating with me in secret. That only left one part of the plan."

"Let me guess," Fox spat, "It had something to do with getting rid of us, didn't it?"

"Yes, it did," said Graves. "Your wife made it clear to me that she wanted Star Fox to end, and that she'd begged you to disband the unit for years, all to no effect. She felt she had no choice but to take matters into her own hands." He paused, then looked at Fara and asked, "I know it's difficult, but you know your motives better than I do. Can you explain to Fox why you did this?"

Fara nodded feebly. With a whimpering voice, she sobbed, "Fox…you know how many times I asked you to end the team. The missions kept getting more and more dangerous. We weren't getting any younger, and there weren't as many jobs as there used to be. You wouldn't open your eyes to the truth, so I had to make things happen on my own."

"Explain," Fox replied, his voice gruff and harsh.

"My father's company was failing after the Aparoids and the Anglars; and if I didn't do anything, it would go bankrupt; and I'd be at fault for it. When General Graves suggested his plan to me, I didn't like it. But I didn't see another way to get Space Dynamics out of the red while ending Star Fox for good. I knew the risks, but I also knew that if everything worked out, we'd be able to retire in luxury and have the family we always wanted. Can't you see why I did this now?"

"Let me get this straight," said Fox. "You joined in on a conspiracy to start Lylat Wars II and profit from it so we could retire? You know what? You're delusional. I can't accept that."

"But Fox!" Fara yelped, crying into her hands, "I did it all for you! There was no other way!"

"Thanks for ruining us all, then," Fox huffed.

While Fara continued to sob, Falco looked uneasily at Graves's hologram and muttered, "Good to know all of this, finally. One thing, though—what was with the mission to Macbeth and that crazy fox lady we found in the base? Do you even know?"

"She was part of the contingency plan," the eagle replied, so quietly as to be almost inaudible. "To be fair, I and Taniguchi were responsible for her being part of this. Mrs. McCloud knew nothing about her. The white vixen was part of a secret Androssian research program that had been kept underground since the end of the Lylat Wars. I don't think even Mr. Bowman knew about it."

"That's true," Dash replied, suspicion in his eyes and voice. "Until the base blew up, I was never aware that it existed in the first place."

Falco glared at Dash's hologram and exclaimed, "Seriously? You're the guy in power on Venom and you didn't even know about that base or the white fox?"

"If you ever find yourself in a position of executive authority—which I doubt you will—you'll realize that you have more important things to do than investigating minute details of your intelligence network," Dash answered in the most condescending tone of voice that he possessed. "Anyway, please continue, 'General.' I too want to know about this scheme of yours."

"Stupid monkey," Graves muttered under his breath before he collected himself and explained, "The plan was to convince Star Fox to infiltrate the former Venomian base in the mountains of northern Macbeth. The base itself had been used as the test center for a secret Venomian research project called Parallax; and when the project was due to end, Colonel Taniguchi planted a bomb in the base before it was evacuated…well, mostly evacuated. We needed to give Star Fox the impression that it was operational when they arrived."

Fox bared his teeth. "Son of a…"

Graves blew off Fox and continued, "Taniguchi assigned a team of Venomian snipers with the job of escorting Star Fox to the base, which they did. Once inside the base, the plan was for Star Fox to find the subject of Project Parallax and release her. In case you hadn't figured it out earlier, she was responsible for the 'strange energy signature' coming from the base. When Star Fox left the base, Taniguchi remotely triggered the bomb and used camera footage from inside the base to implicate them for the blast.

The next step—which Mrs. McCloud insisted upon—was that Star Fox be ordered to disband after the explosion. She didn't count on Fox saying 'no,' but I and Taniguichi did. That's where the contingency plan came in. With the help of a Venomian telepath by the name of Miranda Silas, Taniguchi planted thoughts in the subject's mind to convince her to murder both Mr. and Mrs. McCloud. Unfortunately for the plan, she didn't follow through. After that point, the plan came off the rails; and now we find ourselves here. You really should have listened to your wife and ended the team when I told you to, Fox."

"Listen here, featherbrain!" Fox all but screamed while pointing a finger at Graves, "I have no regrets. If anything, it makes me happy that I had a part in ruining your conspiracy. It serves you right for trying to make pawns out of me and my team." He then stared at Ling's hologram and demanded, "What's going to happen to me, Falco, Slippy, and Miyu now because of this?"

The panda looked off to the side for a moment and replied, "It's obvious that the four of you knew nothing about the plan. In fact, I believe Fara never wanted you to find out about it, even after it was over. It might take some doing, but if Premier Bowman is willing, your names might be able to be cleared. What you do after that is up to you."

Fox looked at the surface of the table. He tried to hide it, but his rage towards Fara threatened to consume him.

Noticing Fox's angst, Ling suggested, "If it helps, we may be able to arrange for the Cornerian Army to purchase your battleship and terminate the loan on it. That is, assuming that you want to disband your team."

Fox shook his head. "I can't do that. It's all I've ever known. I have nothing else apart from it. Sure, I could probably pick up a job as a flight instructor, but I can't live the rest of my life with my name attached to a conspiracy to start another war with Venom. If Falco, Slippy, and Miyu are with me, I'm going to keep Star Fox going."

For the first time since the meeting began, Miyu spoke up. "I'm with you, Fox. I'm not sure what I'd do outside the team. How about you, Falco?"

Falco sighed and reluctantly crossed his arms. "Yeah…I'm with Fox on this one, too. I was feeling like we should be moving towards retirement, but for right now, I'd rather stick with it."

Acknowledging Falco's response, Fox nodded and then looked to his right, towards the amphibian seated next to him. "How about you, Slippy?"

Slippy hesitated for a full five seconds, giving the impression of his mind being far from made up. "I dunno, Fox. I don't want to abandon you, but I've already had job offers coming in from Corneria for over a year now. Besides, what makes you think we're going to be able to get any jobs in the Lylat System after this makes the news?"

"There's more out there than just the Lylat System," Fox replied. "If going to another system is what it takes, I'm willing to do it. Don't feel pressured to be a part of this, Slippy. Do what you want to do."

"I'm going to have to think about this for a while," Slippy mumbled. "If we don't get our names cleared, though, this isn't going to mean anything."

A pensive expression on his holographic face, Dash suggested, "If you intend to leave the Lylat System and stay out of Corneria's affairs, I may be willing to pardon you; although I can't say the same about Mrs. McCloud."

Silence fell over the boardroom—a silence broken only when Fara began sobbing again.

Once again, Falco posed a question, aimed at Dash. "You know, when we got back to the base here, I saw that white fox lady again. What's going to happen to her now?"

"Well," answered Dash, "Project Parallax has been terminated, so she is free to go wherever she chooses. The same goes for the other subject—the blue one."

On the side of the table across from Star Fox, Carmine and Valkyrie exchanged glances.

Feeling that the meeting had reached a conclusion, Wolf stood up from his seat and addressed the room, along with the three holograms. "Thanks for clearing this whole mess up. I'll let Star Fox stay here until the legal process starts to clear up. In the meantime, they can decide what they want to do next. Thanks, Supervisor."

The holographic panda shook his head. "No—thank you, Wolf. Without you, I don't think this plan would have been exposed. I've got to say that I have a lot more respect for you now."

"Ha, don't get too comfortable just yet," Wolf chuckled. "Goodbye, gentlemen."

With that, he reached for a nearby remote and powered off all three holograms. With their light diminished, the room darkened to the point that Wolf looked liked a silhouette. Then, Wolf turned to his right and eyed both Carmine and Valkyrie. "All right—Star Fox stays with me, but you've overstayed your welcome. Get out. Now. Panther and Leon will take you to the hangar."

Without a word, Carmine and Valkyrie stood up and walked through the double doors at the front of the conference room. The brief flash of light from the corridor outside revealed both Panther and Leon waiting for them outside. Then, the doors closed again, shrouding the conference room in darkness as before.

"Fox," Wolf added. "If you're really going to leave the Lylat System, I've got some job leads on Kew that you can use. I'm too tied up in business around here, so I figured I might as well give you some options."

His mind weighed down by Fara's actions and forthcoming trial as well as his own looming business decisions, Fox murmured, "Thanks, Wolf. I'll talk to you about this later."

AUTHOR'S NOTE(S):

Yikes, I really didn't plan on not adding a new chapter for an entire year. However, I didn't know how I wanted the story to end until recently; and I hadn't had any desire to work on it at all until a few weeks ago. I doubt I'll take that long to post the concluding chapters.