Nexus Effect

Ch.122

“If it passed the Harkness Test, I would fuck it.” I declared lustily as I sat in the seat of an Arwing fighter while I was plugged into the system and integrating it’s designs into my knowledge.

“I, uh, wouldn’t go that far, but the Arwings we have here are custom models redesigned by me. The sheer firepower these beauties are boasting puts the production model to shame. It has the firepower of a gunship with superior mobility, all in the hands of a single person with an area footprint only slightly larger than the standard starfighter on the market. Only Star Wolf’s Wolfen can directly compete and those things are bulky in comparison since they don’t have my skill at miniaturization.” Slippy boasted with a puff of his chest as I assimilated his ship’s data.

“I would still like to get my hands on one for cross-reference. I’m guessing Wolfens use more interchangeable parts?” I asked in interest and Slippy deflated a good bit.

“Yeah...SD, er, Space Dynamics; the company that gave us the original four prototype Arwings to use and test in the Lylat Wars, keep insisting that they can’t use my designs because the level of precision my pieces need cannot be mass-produced. Meanwhile, MWF; the Macbeth Weapons Factory which worked with Andross during the Lylat Wars, had a much more readily available and bulkier G-Diffuser system. They were arrested and had their assets folded over to other similar companies, like Space Dynamics.” Slippy informed me and I pursed my lips.

“So they’re screwing you over by settling for less-efficient, but still-effective equipment?” I asked the genius engineer, who nodded forlornly. “Well, I can guarantee that won’t happen in my universe. We have such sophisticated production means that your works of art are easily reproducible. If we had the time, which we do, I’d even suggest to everyone that Yola and I help them develop a shipyard similar to, uh, what we have.” I felt a bit nervous letting anyone here know Yola and I are portable shipyards capable of building pretty much anything given material.

“Really? Could you demonstrate at all?” Slippy asked me with hope in his voice and I bit my lip before I held up my activated omni-tool. “I’ve seen you guys using those things, what is it?” Diversion detected! Abusing!

“This is an omni-tool. It is a hardlight projection generated by a cybernetic implant, so it can literally use both manual input as well as mental commands to do just about anything. Give a master engineer one of these and they can do almost magical things. I can give you one, but you’ll have to have it implanted.”

“We don’t have a surgeon and I doubt even if you guys have one that they would be able to work with my physiology.” Slippy said in disappointment and I nervously smiled.

“You’d, uh, be surprised.” I wasn’t going to mention to him that human children still dissected frogs in primary school and that was usually the beginning of most doctor’s interest in the field. “Our doctor; Karin Chakwas, is a talented woman with experience working on all kinds of different species.” Karin impressed me. Even though she accepted Cerberus’ job offer, she was part of a program for several months before that where she learned as much as she could about xenobiology to be a better doctor for non-human patients.

“Oh, well then I guess I could give it a try. I’ll have a talk with the others and your friends.” Slippy chirped as I climbed out of the Arwing.

“I think I could improve on this design.” Tali said from her little corner, drawing our attention. “No, no Jun. That wouldn’t...yes it would look ‘cool’, but it wouldn’t be functional. Jun, I get you want to be an artist, but you can’t forsake function for form when it comes to things such as ships.”

“Pardon, improve which part? I’m always looking for ways to surpass myself.” Slippy asked as he approached my quarian wife and I smiled at how quickly we’d integrated into Star Fox’s little family. It’d only been a week and EDI in humanoid form was on the Great Fox, leaving the ship to let anyone who wanted out to do so every morning and letting them in at that time too.

“The whole thing.” Tali told him, which made Slippy gape in shock. “Don’t get me wrong, Slippy, you have an incredible ship here, but you’re focusing too much on pulling out performance for the sake of performance. Yes, it is incredible, but it is so high-impact that a single failure anywhere will cause the entire thing to fall apart. You have no room for redundancies, no recovery systems, you don’t even have an ejector seat or other safety net for the pilot because they would get in the way of your power plant right under the seat. For example.”

“I-oh.” Slippy said with a downtrodden expression, at least before he noticed the concept art that Tali had expertly drawn out in graphic detail with just a pen. “What is that?”

“A Warp Drive, a theory Jun and I are working on. My son is more talented with the arts than the sciences, so he expresses his science with art.” Tali said as her hand moved fluidly, likely being controlled by Jun without her needing to do any input due to the nature of Tali’s biomechanical brain and her digital son inhabiting it.

“Why does the ship have a heart? And an organic shell? Is that a Neural interface?” Slippy asked in interest as he watched the detailed fluid diagrams and artistic cutaways reveal the whip that Jun was crafting, Slippy’s eyes widened and I blinked in bemusement at the situation.

“Uh? Jun, why are you making this ship a living thing?” Tali grumbled before she yelped when Slippy yanked the sheet of paper from her and looked it over.

“This! I remember seeing things like this before in my dad’s notes! A fusion of organics and machines to achieve something otherwise impossible given the space limitations imposed by either on their own. It was work like this that made Andross both a terrible and brilliant mad genius. I don’t have the means to provide an organic component, but if I...yes...and…” Slippy muttered to himself as he wandered off and I glared at my wife.

“What? Don’t blame me for Jun’s behavior! I don’t believe in being a strict disciplinarian.” Tali huffed and let Jun use her hands to sign me an insincere apology, which I rolled my optics at.

“Hopefully you didn’t just create the second-coming of Andross.”

[1001100 01101001 01101110 01100101]

“This was a good idea.” Hunter relaxed in his lounge chair at the end of the pier, watching his fishing rod for any bites. Zoness was definitely a world of beauty. Everyone from around the Lylat System came here for the chance to relax, explore and have fun. It could even give Bryan’s resorts a run for their money, but his brother made them sights to behold in their own rights, even though Vinnie complained about the first one.

Although, one thing did persist: he and his sibling’s appearance attracted too much attention. While the populous left them alone, Hunter didn’t need to use his telepathic ability to hear what they thought of them at first glance. “Well, it can’t be helped.” Hunter sighed as he continued to wait for his catch of the day.

He was alone right now, Vinnie, Bryan and Selene were off on another island doing more physical activities like hiking or diving, but he just wanted to relax, get some fish-.

“Heya. Is this spot taken?” A woman’s voice asked and he skimmed her thoughts...huh. She didn’t specifically seek him out, the other piers are all just packed and she wanted a spot to fish that wasn’t overcrowded like the piers of LA or Miami. Of course, the moment she saw him more clearly she was rather flustered, but she was here to fish, not to ogle.

Gesturing that she could fish here, Hunter looked up to see the woman. She was a Siberian Husky, which meant she had the thick arctic fluff about her neck that Hunter and his siblings had gained since they became celestials. Other than that, she was rather average in body shape if athletic in tone judging by her well-fitting tank top and khaki shorts.

“Thanks. The other piers are packed.” She sighed in relief and set up her chair before she casually cast her rod, which already had bait attached. “So, your mom was a swan, huh?” She conversationally questioned with a gesture to his wings. Thankfully he could dim his halo to the point only special cameras could pick it up, otherwise he’d have been even more conspicuous. The fact only a minor spell hid his metal forearms and calves was also something to thank.

Not wanting to let her know he was telepathic, he shrugged noncommittally and she gave him a look of pity. What did she take from that? Oh. Deformed half-breeds tend to be abandoned by ashamed or otherwise heartless parents. She assumed his wings were vestigial since no known birds in the Lylat System had flight capability, not since they evolved into humanoid bipeds.

“I get ya. It would also explain why you were alone. Damn purist assholes.” She muttered angrily and cracked open her ice chest, holding up a bottle of beer. “Want one?”

He wasn’t going to say no to that. He also wasn’t going to clarify that while there were some jackasses too uncomfortable with his assumed mixed heritage to come near, there were many more who were intimidated by his intense features, strong yet athletic musculature, his size and then how excessively attractive he was to the majority of the women, who distanced themselves, figuring he was married. They were right, but he had his ring off for this trip.

“Ah~, refreshing.” She sighed after taking a few pulls of her own bottle. “So, what’s you’re name? I’m Juneau.” He gestured to his throat and pressed in on his thick neck floof to reveal the false scar of his formerly slashed vocal chords. Thank gosh for glamour magic. He still wasn’t comfortable speaking again. “That’s not an accidental injury. I just assumed you were the strong silent type. So, what’s your name? You got a text-to-speech tool or a notepad?”

Wow, she was resilient and persistent. A quick dive into her mind revealed a simple and kind young woman who was lonely and surprisingly lacking in friends despite her bold and outgoing nature. She’s actually native to northern Katina and was here simply because she had a paid-for ticket one of her few friends couldn’t go on despite initial plans. She preferred the mountains, snow, fast-flowing rivers and iced-over lakes.

She was cooking in this heat under her fur, but was hiding it well, trying to make the best of what so far has been a rather irritating getaway from her usual routine. “So, uh, are you gonna tell me?” Juneau asked nervously and he realized he’d been staring into her icy blue eyes for a while, the husky blushing and now wondering if he was interested in her in that way.

He wouldn’t deny it, she was cute and she had similar hobbies… “I’m Hunter.” He enjoyed how she yelped and silently snickered with amusement in his eyes.

[1001100 01101001 01101110 01100101]

“Lord Oikonny! We’ve found the Anglar Mrs. Feell’s data warned us about!” One of the admirals of Oikonny’s fleet announced. “They’ve assembled a massive hidden army beneath the surface of Venom’s acidic oceans!”

“Damn. Too late to prevent it then. Do we still have it?” Oikonny asked his minions, who warily looked at each other, until one tentatively nodded. “Even if it isn’t fully operational, is the planetary laser functional?”

“The Gorgon’s laser is intact. It is actually the one piece fully functioning that we found floating in the debris fields of what was once the Venom Air Defence Zone. If we rig it to a ship, the ship hosting it might be overloaded by the power demands of the laser.”

“Not this one. My flagship, the Great Ape, is of my own design with three capital ship reactors to handle it’s ultimate form. Bring the Gorgon Cannon here, let’s get it installed ASAP so we can nip this threat to the system in the bud and secure Venom once and for all.” Oikonny commanded and his soldiers moved to obey. “Just in case…”

Oikonny left the bridge for his private room and made a private call he wasn’t very comfortable with. He wasn’t deterred when the other end hung up twice, but on the third one they gave up dodging him “What do you want?” The gruff voice on the other end demanded.

“I have need of your services, Wolf.”

[1001100 01101001 01101110 01100101]

“Hello Star Fox. I wish this was a casual call, but I’m afraid the time has come for you to defend the Lylat System once again.” General Pepper declared the moment the line picked up. Fox and his team were assembled because Peppy said the General had scheduled for a mission brief and they’d already been paid because they have a long-standing agreement with the Cornerian military to accept their jobs.

“Let me guess; Oikonny? You guys have been keeping him on the ropes for years and I bet you’re tired of him.” Fox assumed as he gestured around at his team and family, who nodded in shared assumption.

“I wish. I’m afraid that our long-standing conflict with Oikonny is to be put on hold and the Nightmare Contingency is in effect.” General Pepper grimly intoned and Peppy gasped harshly.

“An invasion from beyond Lylat?! Is Oikonny even going to honor the contingency?” Peppy asked his old friend worriedly and Pepper huffed.

“He was the one to invoke it, not only declaring that the Aparoids are coming, but even going so far as to say that they corrupted Andross and drove him to madness to weaken us for invasion.” General Pepper snarled and everyone was shocked, especially since outside Slippy and Peppy, nobody even knew what an Aparoid was. “That said, for your first mission; I need to have trustworthy eyes on Fortuna. That was where they first appeared over 50 years ago and both my sources as well as Oikonny’s suggest that Fortuna may be the staging point of their invasion.”

“How can we trust Oikonny’s word? How do you know he isn’t lying to get back control of Venom while you’re chasing ghosts?” Fox asked warily and Pepper sighed out his nose.

“I’m afraid that Beltino’s censored and sealed data from the study of the Aparoid subject captured in their incursion so long ago reveals that Andross may well have been infected with the nanites the Aparoids use to convert other lifeforms and even machinery to their own ends. Andross wasn’t fully subsumed however, he possibly tried to cure himself and failed just enough that his mind was forever twisted. This does not absolve him of his crimes, but Andross was a victim too. That said, be careful Fox. The Aparoids are deceptive creatures.”

“Understood, General. Or is it President right now?” Fox asked and President Pepper glared at Fox in disapproval for pointing out his once-again unwanted position before the call ended. “Alright everyone, we’re on assignment to Fortuna. Make sure our guests know that we’re on a job and they don’t have to get involved if they don’t want to.”

“Pfft. Yeah, that’s not happening. My family and friends aren’t the sort to sit idly by.” Paretia, still an active member of Fox’s team, huffed and crossed her arms from where she was leaning against a wall, opposite Falco and Sunset’s place on the other side of the briefing room.

“Besides, I wasn’t involved in the incident, but I remember the casualty reports. A whole Cornerian Flotilla lost. Thousands dead. It was part of why initial plans to start colonizing Fortuna were abandoned. We didn’t know if the Aparoids were native to there, so all we’ve done the past five decades is poke and scan Fortuna remotely.” Peppy brought up uneasily, rubbing his thumb on his cane.

“So we’re in deep shit if Oikonny is actually on the up-and-up about this. We’d best bring our A-game.” Falco commented and everyone wordlessly agreed. “At least we’ll have some extra heavy fire support with EDI around.”

“Not to mention Nora, Yola and their battalion of transforming robot soldiers.” Sunset added on and Fox scratched his chin.

“I don’t think it’s very kosher to get them involved and not be able to pay them. Even with how generous the Cornerian government is with our contracts, I don’t think we’ll be able to make enough money go around to make it worthwhile.” Fox muttered and Paretia snorted.

“Don’t bother. Trying to pay them would almost be an insult. They do this kind of stuff practically pro-bono all the time back home. Sure, they get government paychecks and political clout to avoid red tape, but they aren’t rich beyond Nora and Yola, but that’s because of all the shit they’ve done and all the goods they’ve invented. That said, just relax. They’ll help so long as they get some action. They’re just as adventure seeking as I am.” Paretia asserted and Fox smiled at knowing his team wasn’t going to war on their own this time.

[1001100 01101001 01101110 01100101]

“Lord Oikonny, the Gorgon Cannon is integrated into the Great Ape’s weapons systems!” One of Oikonny’s head engineers reported dutifully and Oikonny cracked his neck.

“Good work. I’ve finished ensuring the power connections are suitable for such a heavy load on the reactors.” Oikonny replied as he rubbed grease from his gloves onto his utility jumpsuit before shoving his hands into the suit’s pockets and then pulling his clean hands free, the gloves still in his suit pockets. “Gunners! Do we have a firing solution on the highest density of the Anglar?” Oikonny demanded when he returned to the bridge, not bothering to get out of his utility jumpsuit.

“Yes sir! We can fire when ready!” The Gunnery Chief reported and Oikonny nodded.

“Then prepare to fire the Gorgon Cannon! We don’t have the energy capacity of a mobile space station, but we can still get a few good shots before we’ll need to let the reactors replenish our energy reserves. Fire!” Oikonny ordered and then watched with trepidation as the bridge’s viewport was overtaken by the rainbow iridescence of the vaunted Gorgon hyper laser weapon, the most powerful creation to ever come from the Macbeth Weapons Factory.

That said, they had to wait several seconds for the blinding blast to die down to see the effect it had down on Venom. The ocean where they’d fired had suffered immense rapid evaporation over a massive stretch of ocean all the way down to the sea floor, where the earth was melted into lava moments before the ocean crashed in on the empty space, exploding again into steam when the cold water met super-heated stone.

“The Anglar are responding! Other pockets of dense population are mobilizing!” One of the soldiers on the sensor suit reported.

“Maintain our defensive perimeter! We will move to the next largest cluster of life readings in the ocean and repeat our bombardment! We cannot let my Uncle’s past mistakes doom our future!” Oikonny snarled and sat in his command/pilot chair as his sharp teeth grit at the very idea of the man he respected dooming everyone on accident. On purpose was one thing, but by accident? His uncle would sooner kill himself than suffer the indignity were he still alive!

“They’ve launched fighters! Design patterns match old Lylat War Venomian Fighters!”

“A hidden planetary defense battery has emerged from the northern ocean!”

“Quick-response teams are mobilizing!”

“Drone fighters in the underground bases have just gone live!”

Oikonny knew it would come to this the moment he decided to heed Mrs. Feell’s warnings. Thankfully Star Wolf was on the way…