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[img]https://i.postimg.cc/L5r26P82/Star-Fox-Final.png[/img]

[i]feat.[/i]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/5r7OTIh.png[/img]
[@DracoLunaris]

[color=5edaf6]Level:[/color] 4 (33 -> 39 -> 42/40) [color=turquoise]LEVEL UP![/color] ---> [color=5edaf6]5 (2/50)[/color]/[color=aquamarine]2 (6 -> 9/20)[/color]
[color=5edaf6]Location:[/color] Sandswept Sky; Aboard Vah Naboris; Inbound for Lakeside
[color=5edaf6]Word Count:[/color] 4131 (+3 EXP)

[color=5edaf6]Power:[/color] Impact Shot
[/center]

The collective efforts of the ground force paid off in short order before more lightning could be called down on them, which Fox was dangerously close to suffering on foot. He was saved having to make a snap decision to aim-dodge the bombardment with a closely timed dash or try to take it with his shield--the latter of which he was almost certain would fail if hazarded--and clearing the Beast’s underside as its mass descended was easy enough with or without Morgana’s help. He would still accept a ride regardless, jumping aboard mid-sprint for the round trip back to Naboris. Boarding the creature was apparently as simple as taking the conveniently placed ramp at its side, whereupon it began rising once more to its feet. It was as if the Beast practically beckoned them aboard.

Within the Beast, a battle waged in the central chamber, with a great warrior woman and her dark, ghastly, phantasmal counterpart gaining the upper hand on those that had entered before. Fox was late to answer her on her call-out thanks to the Thunderblight blitzing its way to the ground floor to meet them all with a rapid assault, and took a hit he wasn’t quite prepared for. To say the least it was astonishing to witness up close the speed at which the phantom covered so much ground to reach them, though they now knew to expect it. After another round or two, Fox noticed that the creature had a tell for when it rushed; it tended to gently sway into its takeoff. Using this new insight, and his own matching movement technique, he evasively led the monstrosity even further away from its ally while he and his own picked it apart. Fox eventually managed to place a solid string of shots directly into its singular eye that, despite their low power, stunned the Thunderblight long enough to bring it down.

From there the Phantom Thieves made good on the opening afforded to them, capitalizing in spectacular fashion as they ripped through the Thunderblight in streaks of sharp shadow hitting it from every angle. Mona, who led the Thieves’ finishing assault, emerged from the battle-haze after dealing the final blow and smugly sending off their foe with a celebratory puff. The spewing dark ichor from the phantom’s mortal wounds dissipated into glittering, ashen dust, followed closely by the creature itself, and with that, the fight was over.

Fox realized late that the amazon-esque woman had fallen as well, learning as much upon noticing her Spirit floating next to that of her previous killer turned comrade. Accompanied with statements of the obvious, he began having thoughts about their overall situation, and with it, he had a hard time feeling satisfied enough with their victory to call it one. The more evident half of his thoughts were echoed aloud with the question of their ability to commandeer the Divine Beast. Only then did it seem to occur to them that perhaps this was a loss they couldn’t necessarily afford, until Primrose stepped in to remind them otherwise. She was the first to suggest one of them taking in Urbosa’s Spirit, taking the two in hand and presenting them to whoever found themselves willing. Rather than entertain the suggestion, more [i]feeling[/i] than [i]thinking[/i] himself an ill-suited candidate for it, he started quietly taking his first steps away from the scene to further ruminate on the subject.

Sure, maybe they [i]could[/i] just annex the necessary knowledge and/or abilities of whoever by way of Spirit absorption as needed, but even if such a loss could be considered affordable, was it really necessary? Being a soldier of fortune (admittedly a thin, supplementary cover for good causes in his case), who had struck down entire armies and even a whole species in the past with not an iota of guilt, hesitation or regret, it was conventionally unbecoming of him to suddenly dwell on the value of individual life. After being ‘awake’ in this new world for less than a day and receiving a crash course on its rules as those before understood them, he was already seeing a problem with how it worked. In a world where everyone--even old friends--could be considered an enemy, and every enemy--even mortal--a potential ally, it seemed a mistake not to more carefully consider that in future engagements as far as who to slay and who to spare. Fox personally understood, if nothing else, the strength of unique individuals as part of a unit over that of one alone, and so silently pledged to act accordingly by setting the example when the next opportunity presented itself. If he could help it, they’d not lose anyone else that they didn’t have to.

As per the proposed method, Midna didn’t hesitate to take in the Spirit of her fallen foe, casually alluding to some intuited connection to Ganondorf to rationalize her (second) death. Fox paused in his steps at the mention of the name, one that had become loosely familiar to him in years past, and not in the best of ways. Of those present, that made him and her the only two present who knew of him at all. He was suddenly curious as to [i]her[/i] relationship to him, guessing that they hailed from the same world, yet somehow, based on her cautiously optimistic conjecture about his ‘awakening’, he knew almost better than her that they were all but certain to run into him, reminding him once more of who and what was inevitably in store for them. If there was ever any one enemy (from another world) he had ever encountered that made him think and act more carefully in dealing with…

Fox made his way over to the Beast’s core near where Midna resided, listening to the brief she gave of her newfound bond with and seamless command of it. Observing the terminal itself, it was evident that this was a relatively primitive, but no less sophisticated technology at work, one which he couldn’t begin to comprehend. If it hailed from Hyrule, given what little he understood about anything from there, it was the likely product of primordial techno-magicka, not that he could conclude that on his own. More interesting to him was the revelation that it was intended as a weaponized deterrent against Ganon, which prompted him to take the impish princess up on her offer to [color=aquamarine]“chat.”[/color]

[color=5edaf6]“So what else do you know now?”[/color] Fox opened with the vague line of inquiry, expecting her to take his meaning.

Midna looked over at him from where she lay, the tearful overlaid eye of the sheikah staying in place as her own found him for a moment, before it turned back to the ceiling [color=Aquamarine]”I’ve been trying to figure that out,”[/color] she admitted after a moment. The princess let silence hang for a moment after, likely mulling over what to say before trying her best to explain.

[color=Aquamarine]”I don't exactly know things she knew. I don't have memories of being her, or at least I can’t find any. So I didn’t remember how to control Vah Naboris, I just looked at it and suddenly it just made sense, almost instinctively,”[/color] she pursed her lips and furrowed her eyebrows in thought for a moment before she added [color=Aquamarine]”Which is maybe more concerning than if I had memories that I knew weren't my own.”[/color] 

Fox nodded softly at the latter end of her statement, bearing a thoughtful look about him. While contemplating the potential consequences of thoughtlessly taking someone out for their Spirit that he skipped over the possible side effects Spirit absorption on those who undergo it. Still, in consideration of the former, he couldn’t fault her for killing Urbosa, for she had what she believed to be good reason to.

[color=5edaf6]“Not to alarm you,”[/color] he began, focusing away from the terminal to face her more directly, [color=5edaf6]“but if you know what to call it--and what it’s for--you may be getting some feedback,”[/color] he theorized. Turning his back to the core to prop himself against it, he looked off once more into the mostly vacant space of Naboris’ central chamber and continued. [color=5edaf6]“But I’m sure you knew some of it already. To me... it doesn’t make much sense.”[/color] He paused for a second for her attention before asking, at the risk of punching a hole in her previous assumption about the Gerudo Champion, [color=5edaf6]“What would a servant of Ganon be doing with a weapon made to kill him?”[/color]

Midna paused, raised a finger and looked up and to the right as she was dug through her own memories before saying [color=Aquamarine]”No... No, she called it that when she showed up. Before you came.That’s where I know it from,”[/color] not sounding like she was entirely confident with what she was saying. 

She shuffled a little on her spot, clearly uncomfortable, before taking a breath and becoming calm again, regaining her relaxed position and smiling at him [color=Aquamarine]”I appreciate the concern foxy, but I've got this under control.”[/color]

[color=Aquamarine]”As for why she was with it, presumably for the same reason the dark machine specter was. To stop people using it. Zant, a treacherous usurper who served Gannon, did the same with the twilight mirror to stop me from using it to return home and reclaim my throne. He couldn’t destroy it completely, the fake king that he was, so he broke it into 4 pieces. Then he hid 3 of them from me and created monsters to guard them,”[/color] Midna said, casual confidence fully returned. [color=Aquamarine]”Didn’t work of course. Your’s truly found them all, used them to get home and then killed that treacherous little bokoblin. With a little help from my Link.”[/color] 

Midna’s logic checked out, with an anecdote to corroborate it. She would sooner know than him in any case. [color=5edaf6]“Maybe you’re right,”[/color] he stolidly, halfheartedly concurred with her theory about Urbosa safeguarding the Beast against any who would use it, [color=5edaf6]“and I’m sure you can handle… [i]this[/i],”[/color] he added, gesturing generally to Naboris. [color=5edaf6]“I’m not worried about that,”[/color] he calmly, but earnestly reassured as he paced over to the edge of the platform near where Midna lay. [color=5edaf6]"There is something bothering me about all this though,"[/color] he admitted while seating himself at the ledge, leaning on palm and raised knee, leaving a comfortable gap between them. [color=5edaf6]“Besides what we know of, I’m not sure I can tell who our real enemies are.”[/color]

[color=Aquamarine]”Good, because I can”[/color] Midna agreed with him before rolling to the side to look at him when he sat next to her, elbow leaning on her wolfos and fist holding up her cheek as she continued to speak, her one exposed eye roaming over him as if she where only now taking the time to properly examine him. The motion put her a touch closer to him, but the gap reminded the comfortable distance between meer associates nonetheless.

[color=Aquamarine]”I suppose i’ve gotten lucky in a way with this being familiar-ish stuff so far,”[/color] she waved a hand around the beast before continuing [color=Aquamarine]”also having done this before in a way, though that was time rather than reality getting all mashed up and twisted,”[/color]

[color=Aquamarine]”With so much unfamiliar stuff in this world, it’s probably best to assume hostility from anyone and everyone till proven otherwise. Red eyes or clear,”[/color] Midna said after a few moments of contemplation on his question, [color=Aquamarine]”I’m not saying we cant learn to trust people, just that you shouldn’t risk exposing your throat to the unknown”[/color]

[color=5edaf6]“No...”[/color] he concurred, [color=5edaf6]“because that would mean trusting everything, and I would rather be prepared for it.”[/color] This came as a tacit admission to just how little he knew about what to expect in spite of his previous experiences, with an allusion to his main point tacked onto it. He let a brief second of silence hang as he adjusted himself, leaning slightly forward, still bearing visible pensivity. [color=5edaf6]“This isn’t a first for me either.”[/color]

Minda raised an eyebrow and leaned in a little closer, clearly all ears on the subject [color=Aquamarine]”It’s not?”[/color] 

[color=5edaf6]“Making allies out of people I barely knew, or just met, with only a greater common enemy to trust them by, and a god at the end of all of them who just wanted the world for himself...”[/color] Fox started listing the general facts of a particular episode in his life years prior that might strike Midna as parallel or familiar to their current overarching predicament. [color=5edaf6]“Truth is I’ve been here before, and I’m not the only one. There are some of us now who still remember it. I remember us almost losing.”[/color] Fox’s tone shifted subtly while he stoically recounted the pivotal moments of the Subspace Incident.

[color=5edaf6]“It wasn’t enough to have the best of us altogether. We pulled through because [i]all[/i] of us came together. We won… with the help of our friends, [i]and[/i] our enemies,”[/color] which, between him and Wolf, actually made for a second time for him. He turned his head slightly more toward Midna as he made to further illustrate his point. [color=5edaf6]“If you can believe it, even Ganondorf was with us in the end,”[/color] and the beginning the time after that, at the cliffside, when they [i]did[/i] lose, but he neglected to mention that much.

[color=Aquamarine]”He was what!”[/color] Minda balked at the possibility, flinching backwards, causing her wolfos cushion to stir and growl at Fox. The implicit threat from her mount seemed  to draw Midna out of the rage and shock she was feeling.  [color=Aquamarine]”No. Down.”[/color] she ordered the beast, pressing its head back down to the ground. 

The princess sat up from resting against the beast, her hands gripping the side of the stone platform they were sitting on as she asked [color=Aquamarine]”Who could have possibly thought that working with [i]him[/i] was a good idea? How did it not end in disaster?”[/color]

While he did watch it more attentively, Fox had no strong reaction to Midna’s lupine mount baring its fangs at him, not even so much as hovering a hand over his sidearm. In a manner of speaking, he was rather used to it by now. [color=5edaf6]“I don’t know,”[/color] Fox admitted, lightly shaking his head in response. He thought back on his encounters with Bowser at the time, personally knowing him to have been responsible for it in part. [color=5edaf6]“Maybe it just didn’t work out for them, and they realized they had no options left,”[/color] he guessed. Such tended to be the case for the Koopa King, having many times before sided with his nemesis upon failure, and even now sided with them in their campaign.

[color=Aquamarine]”I don’t like it, not one bit”[/color] Midna asserted before sighing and looking up at the ceiling [color=Aquamarine]”but I take it if you don’t know much then you didn’t get close,”[/color] she glanced over at him and added [color=Aquamarine]”So I think you’re safe. I’m not going to be open to working with him if that somehow ends up being a thing. But I’ll keep what you said in mind overall”[/color] before going quiet and implicitly letting him continue talking about subspace

[color=5edaf6]“The last time this happened, none of us knew what we were really up against, who was behind it all, or what was at stake. We didn’t have the luxury of understanding our enemy,”[/color] a fact that remained largely unchanged, all things considered, [color=5edaf6]“but at least then the burden fell on able bodies. Only those of us who [i]could[/i] deal with it had to. Now…”[/color] he sat up into a kneel, looking down over the ledge and into the distance none of their travel companions in particular, [color=5edaf6]“it’s everyone’s problem; everyone’s involved, whether they can afford to be or not.”[/color]

[color=Aquamarine]”These kinds of threats are always everyone’s problem, most of the time your average person won’t or can't step up to face it. That said, I don’t think we're at the point where we need to force farmers into illfiting armor to face world ending horrors at spearpoint just yet. If Galeem starts feilding armies we might need to worry about burdening the common folk, but for now the burdens are still on well worn shoulders. Anyone else can go stay in Alcamoth”[/color] She replied. She’d let go of the parapet by the time she finished speaking, but she hadn’t gone back to lounging.

[color=Aquamarine]”Also, how do we know that won’t happen again,”[/color] she then asked,  [color=Aquamarine]”Do we know for sure this is the whole picture? That Galeem’s everything we have to worry about, or is it’s light blinding us to another master behind the monster?”[/color]

Fox hung his head in thought at the question, not having speculated that far ahead. [color=5edaf6]“I guess we’ll find out,”[/color] he said, blinking softly as he stood back up. [color=5edaf6]“Until then, we could do worse than to improve our odds, by shortening theirs. Give them less to use against us,”[/color] he suggested, appealing to her sense of pragmatism. He began tracing the edge with his steps, then pacing around behind Midna as he continued to speak. [color=5edaf6]“Not everyone in this world is even aware that anything’s wrong. I didn’t remember myself until this morning.”[/color] A more somber expression creeped onto him with his own reminder of his time under Galeem’s influence. [color=5edaf6]“I could have ended up just like her,”[/color] referring not so subtly to Urbosa, [color=5edaf6]“Any one of us could have.”[/color]

He stopped at the ledge leading up to one of the ramps, looking around at each of his teammates scattered throughout Naboris’ interior. [color=5edaf6]“I don’t expect to save everyone, or to conscript them all if we do,”[/color] he clarified, not wanting to be misunderstood, knowing better than to be able to. Casualties of war and all. [color=5edaf6]“Anyone who can and wants to help us will. That’ll be their choice to make, but I think anyone we can spare it for should have the chance to decide that for themselves,”[/color] He glanced back over to Midna. [color=5edaf6]“The same one we have.”[/color]

[color=Aquamarine]”There’s risk involved there,”[/color] Midna countered, drifting up off the platform so she could face him as he walked behind her [color=Aquamarine]”She attacked us first, first with lightning and then with sword. She was with Gannon’s servant. She would have kept fighting after she was freed,”[/color] Midna insisted [color=Aquamarine]”There are people and things that cannot be reasoned with and if we try it just gives them an opening. If we don’t know they are going to be friendly or neutral when freed, then trying it anyway is a bet with lives on the line.”[/color]

She floated upwards keeping herself at eye level with him as he walked. Her arms folded and for the first time that they had been speaking she was maintaining eye contact as she spoke. [color=Aquamarine]”Sure. We can try and free those we can, but if it’s a gamble on whether they’ll help or not, and the thing we are betting is the lives of those we know are in this fight? Then that’s not a bet I’d want to take. It’s a real heroic thing, what you want to do. But I hope you keep the risks in mind before you put other’s lives on the table.”[/color] 

Fox slowed his pace to a halt before speaking up. [color=5edaf6]“They already are,”[/color] he started, pausing for emphasis. [color=5edaf6]“Ours; theirs; everyone’s lives are already at stake. Like it or not, every decision we make from here on out is a bet made on someone’s life,”[/color] he explained calmly.

With a soft sigh, he continued, [color=5edaf6]“I’m not asking you to act against your better judgement; to do anything you can’t or otherwise wouldn’t do. Really, I’m not asking you to do anything at all.”[/color] In his open left palm, Fox gently manifested a fuschia heart-shape aglow with healing warmth to float idly in presentation. [color=5edaf6]“[i]I[/i] can do it. I’ll make the first bet,”[/color] he assured, [color=5edaf6]“and if I’m wrong, you can let me pay for it later.”[/color] With that, he closed his grip softly around the Friend Heart to dismiss and continued walking past the Twi-imp at a leisurely pace as he continued to speak.

[color=5edaf6]“You don’t have to trust everyone you meet. I won’t even ask you to trust me. I’m sure you have your reasons.”[/color] He briefly halted in his steps to further clarify, [color=5edaf6]“I just need you to understand mine, so that you won’t try to stop me.”[/color]

He stopped once more on his way as a singular forethought creeped back into his head to remind him why he started this conversation in the first place. [color=5edaf6]“At some point, sooner or later, you’re bound to find people you know in this world. Some you can’t do without,”[/color] he glanced back over his shoulder at Midna, [color=5edaf6]“and others, like Ganon.”[/color] He brought this matter back up for the moment as a means of meeting the princess halfway as well as letting his own point set in.

[color=5edaf6]“Do you think this ‘weapon’ will be enough by then?”[/color] He asked earnestly regarding Naboris’ function, looking to Midna as the resident expert on the matter of Ganon as a whole. [color=5edaf6]“Could you do it alone, or will you need all you can get?”[/color] Fox returned his attention forward as he let the questions linger. [color=5edaf6]“When the time comes, I’ll trust you to know,”[/color] he stated in closing before continuing on his way.

[color=Aquamarine]“This thing will help, that I’m sure, but enough? No. If he’s here, we’ll need every advantage we can get,”[/color] Midna said to him as he left, before returning back to the spot she’d been sitting in, never managing to get quite as comfortable as she had been before they spoke.

[hr]

Eventually, Midna called everyone to attention in announcement of their arrival as Naboris took its encroaching steps toward the oasis, as she could see first-hand through Naboris’ eyes. Fox joined the assembly on the right-most deck to observe the scene from afar, unable to match Poppi’s magnification, but discerning enough to loosely confirm her findings. The Phantom Thieves opted to disembark near the pyramid to tend to their appointed business there, while the rest moved closer to the temple grounds themselves across the lake from it. The conflict at ground level ceased shortly after they made their first stop, giving them time to deliberate on their next course of action before the second round, starting with deciding on their advance party and a suitable drop-off point.

[color=5edaf6]“Wherever we set down, I don’t think it’ll matter how close we are. No doubt anyone looking has seen us already,”[/color] he reasoned, as there was no subtlety to be had when it came to walking an ancient towering war machine into one’s territory. [color=5edaf6]“If we can get in on the ground though, we might still have the chance to surprise them while they fight each other.”[/color] Fox’s use of plural pronouns suggested he, respectfully, wasn’t all in on Tora’s plan to minimize the amount of manpower going in by sending Poppi alone.

[color=5edaf6]“I’m going with you,”[/color] he insisted. [color=5edaf6]“The rest of you be ready to get in behind us and back us up if we need it. Engage only if and when necessary,”[/color] he advised, keeping in mind the hyper-aggressive response of those still under the ‘Light’. [color=5edaf6]“Try to keep casualties and collateral to a minimum where you can. Where you can’t,”[/color] he drew out his blaster to check the action on it, ‘chambering’ it before reholstering, [color=5edaf6]“do what you have to.”[/color]

He singled out their Divine pilot to lay down one additional set of instructions. [color=5edaf6]“Midna,”[/color] he called on with a look in her direction, [color=5edaf6]“we’ll need you to hang back to keep us covered from here. You’re our contingency. If things get bad enough for us down there, bring the storm. Crash in if you have to. Give them something bigger to fight.”[/color] He awaited only confirmation from Midna before setting out for the battlefield with Poppi.

[color=5edaf6]“Let’s go,”[/color] he said to the artificial Blade, already quickening his steps for the balustrade to leap from it and begin his descent. Whether she decided to catch and carry him in then fan out from there was up to her. He would fare well enough on his own with a well-timed Jet thrust otherwise. Once he broke the boundary and made entry, he would do his best to keep his profile down while co-opting reconnaissance with Poppi, ducking immediately between narrow areas of cover and putting his back to a shadowed wall where he could get a decent visual of the battlefield while remaining hidden. All the while, he kept a ready hand near both of his weapons, ready to draw either of them on a moment’s notice.