“God Flyer!” Finnius panted as his rest was disturbed by a truck flying past the car at a startling speed. “Can you slow this thing down a tad?” Flyer ignored him and kept his eyes glued to the road.
All six were sitting uneasily in the seats of Finnius’s black car. It had taken a lot of perseverance for Flyer to have convinced Finnius to let him drive it, but he had been successful, much to Finnius’s dismay. In the front Lyn and Flyer sat. Flyer sat relaxed behind the wheel as he guided it through speeding traffic at terrific speeds. Lyn was on the edge of her seat, praying the worst would pass. She had many times attempted to engage in conversation with the other passengers in Finnius’s car, but those attempts were all in vain as the rest of the group were more interested in counting their blessings.
In the middle row, Finord and Finnius were hunched forward, as it seemed to supply a safer feeling aboard a car cursed by Flyer’s unreasonable driving. In the back, Tourican and his cousin, Zaphir were perched. Zaphir was daydreaming and much uncaring about the present situation, whereas Tourican was excited for every inch the vehicle travelled over.
With not the slightest hint or warning, the car screeched to a sudden halt propelling the unwary passengers out of their own seats. “Where here!” Flyer’s annoyingly cheerful voice pierced the silence. He turned in his seat the observe the nervous wrecks he had created. Satisfied, he opened his door and stepped out of it.
“And about time too,” Tourican beamed. He was about to recite another bad comment, but he caught sight of Finnius’s renowned “Say-it-and-I’ll-throttle-you look.
With their extremities shaking, Finnius, Finord and Lyn exited the death trap and scuttled away from it. Zaphir and Tourican left the car without any noticeable drama.
“Let’s get moving” Lyn shook off her fear of Flyer’s driving and adopted a completely different mood. She rushed into the museum without waiting for the rest of the team.
“What’s got her?” asked Tourican. Finnius tried to make himself small.

The six entered the museum in small patched and grouped up to pay the fee. They marched in a group down a halfway and after some argument, split off to a corridor to the right. This corridor led to a hall containing paintings of famous pilots in the war effort, Venomian and Cornerian. The team browsed them through, James McCloud, Bentino Toad and Pigma Dengar were some. Lyn’s wandering eye targeted a picture of a well-refined proud dolphin, similar to Finnius. She read the label; “Dolphinus” was all it read.
Tourican followed Lyn to the picture. “Hehehe!” he laughed ”That ugly dolphin looks like Finnius!”
It was by this time that Lyn expected Finnius to arrive in three strides ready to clout Tourican, but today was different. Finnius stood silent and still, observing the picture. Flyer watched him stare lifelessly at the painting. He felt an odd air.
“Next exhibit please,” Zaphir piped up and the rest of the team immediately reacted. More exhibits were seen and left, all the while Finnius paid little attention to everything they surveyed.

Later on in the day, the team had stopped in the Museum Café to have a bite to eat. Lyn, Finord and Zaphir were chirping away happily about the day’s experience so far, Flyer looked around the restaurant eyeing the dishes he could have settled with and Tourican slept, what he usually did when entertainment was difficult to find.
Finnius simply stared, deep in thought, up at the rotating fans, hanging loosely from the ceiling. They distinctively needed some repairing, with frayed cords hanging out as many were surprisingly still attached. Finnius wasn’t thinking about that though, he was thinking about himself, and what might be his lost past.
He thought of Dolphinus, the illusionary, yet familiar, figure. HE thought of how he was apparently the most capable pilot in the Venomian army. Finnius thought of himself, an also capable pilot, not to that extent of Dolphinus though, but capable nonetheless. He thought of his lost past, why had he never thought of it before? There were many probable backgrounds for him, but he never took the time to think. It was bizarre, the actual thought of pushing something as serious as a 25 year loss of memory aside for a month or so, and not even thinking about it for even a moment. It was possible that these memories were traumatic and had been locked away in his head for a reason, but one thing was sure, he had been lied to.
The doctors on Corneria said the memory loss was a result of an accident of some sort, but it would take a large near-death injury to block 25 years out of his memory, even then it comes across as highly unlikely. His train of thought stretched back upon Dolphinus. He was special, no doubt about it. He was the best pilot in thew Venomian army! That deserves a lot of praise and recognition. Finnius had no recollection of his parents either. He had not even passed a thought for his parents. The image was stuck fast into his memory. He began to think of why he thought of parents when his thoughts were concentrated on the mystical dolphin, but it didn’t take much to decipher. As he thought of Dolphinus, he felt the face as a day-to-day appearance, like a best-friend, only he had never met the man before. Strange. It was the same familiarity he received when he looked in the mirror, that current acceptance of his own features. The whole thing became instantly clear.
Dolphinus had some sort of relation to Finnius no doubt about it. The resemblance was uncanny. Finnius was aware of the fact that there very few families of dolphins, so in some way he had to be related anyway. But Dolphinus was a Venomian pilot! And here Finnius was, serving Corneria. He had never placed even a thought on why he was serving Corneria. He had always assumed it to be always the way, yet this seeming relation of Finnius’ server the Venomian Army.
It didn’t take long for Finnius to realise that what he was trying to unearth in his padlocked mind. The mind was always like a safe,  it could shut away information from those that ultimately should know possess. Finnius’ excavations into his head had proved forbidden.
Finnius prepared himself for the event that was inevitable. To his team-mates, it seemed without warning, but Finnius saw it coming from the pit of his stomach. He clutched his head and dropped to the floor in agony.
“I told him those oysters could be stale.” Flyer smiled.
“You moron! This is serious!” Lyn snapped. She threw her chair back and knelt over Finnius who was writhing on the floor. “Fin! What’s wrong!?”
Finnius fell limp like a headless lizard coming to rest. His body jolted and he moved his entire body swiftly to his feet. Lyn began to feel awkward and stepped back cautiously, with a hint of fear in her eyes.
“What Lyn? What?” only Zaphir dared speak.
Lyn and Flyer had their eyes fixed on Finnius. Finnius head titled, and he glared at the two. His expression was physically blank, but it exuded an aura of menace and pure evil.
Finnius’ wrath fired up as he kicked his chair several feet across the Museum Café. He headed for the door as people in his way parted like the red sea.
“Fin!” Lyn arose the courage to yell at Finnius. “Where are you going?” she tried to act casual. Finnius continued to march out the door, without a single sign of recognition.
The entire restaurant fell silent like a desert at night. Flyer eyed everyone curiously. “Um, Finord” Everyone in the café reacted as if there had been an earthquake. “Finord,” he continued. “Would it be possible that you could explain why in hell he did that. You know the fruitcake best.”
“Well, I think I can, but I’d best not.” Finord wheeled himself to the window behind Zaphir. Lyn’s, Zaphir’s and Flyer’s eyes drew onto him. By this time most of the customers had left and the five were almost alone. “Though, if you’re interested in catching him, I’d wager he’s off to the Cornerian StarPort.” He observed Finnius hurriedly click his car’s door open and slip in.
“Okay, we follow him!” Zaphir announced.
“WAKE UP!” Lyn slapped the snoring Tourican on the back to remove him from his sleep. “This is important man!” As Tourican groggily awoke, Lyn was already leading the way out the door pushing Finord infront of her,

The five of them sprinted down the emergency exit stairs and out onto the carpark. Finnius’ car was nowhere in sight. Lyn’s eyes spied a parked taxi on the curb. She rushed towards it and opened the driver’s door.
“100 credits says Flyer drives.” Lyn was hunched over so her head was level with the startled taxidriver’s head.
“But….But…” he stammered.
“MOVE IT!” Flyer called. He shoved the driver into the passenger seat and sat down. “I’ve always wanted a car like this.” He started the engine as Lyn helped Finord in and then set about getting herself and Tourican in. “Fasten your seatbelts.” He hit the pedal repeatedly to get some loud noises from the straining engine. He threw the car into first gear and started off on a jolt. “Nice pickup” he smirked.
He guided the speeding vehicle over the grass all the while smiling t the terrified bear next to him. After no more than  a minute, Finnius’ black car was spotted ahead. Flyer watched Finnius curse as he glanced at his rearview mirror and identified the characters driving the taxi at break-neck speeds. He swerved into the next lane on his left and hit the accelerator.
“Oh no! Not today” Flyer met his speed and hung behind Finnius like a fly. Finnius took several dangerous swerves all over the road but Flyer met them with equal skill and speed. Finnius hit an even higher speed and turned hazardously right. His tyres screeched as they navigated his manouvre. Flyer did the same.
The chase continued until Finnius tried an impossible turn into a dead-end street. He hit the brakes and the car squealed to a halt several inches from the road’s end. He got out of his car and stood quite comfortably on the pavement. It was obvious he still wasn’t going to give up. Flyer halted his the taxi and got out too.
He heard a loud shout and span around to see two policedogs frowning. Finnius walked casually towards Flyer’s taxi and leant on the bonnet.
“Alright! What’s going on here then?” one barked.
“I’m Sergeant Finnius Krill of the Cornerian Army, Pirate Killers division.” He grabbed his badge and stuffed it into the policedogs’ faces. “I order you to arrest these Venomian spies.” He grinned at Flyer with satisfaction.
“Ve…Venomians?” the other dog stuttered. He drew his weapon and aimed it at Flyer’s head. The other waved his at Lyn, Zaphir, Tourican and Finord. “Drop your weapons! Freeze and put your hands in the air. Um…give yourself up!”
“Relax, we’re in the Pirate Killers too. We’re Cornerians. Venomian spies…I’ll bash that fish.” Flyer vowed.
“Silence! I’ll have no more threats.”
“Good job men.” Finnius congratulated. “I’ll remember to drop a word of this to your official about this arrest and heroism.” He got into his cars and muttered, “Suckers” before driving back where he came from.
“If you are Cornerians, let’s see some identification” the policedogs started again.
“Auh, I left my ident back at the barracks.” Flyer moaned.
“Me too” Lyn frowned.
They both looked at Tourican anticipating his answer. He shrugged his shoulders and their faces fell.
“Well Finnius will be gone by now.” Finord groaned. “We have to play this silly game and get it over, then when we get out, we’ll get these morons sacked.”
The entire group watched their shoes. “Okay.”

Finnius was far ahead of the group rather quickly and he was indeed heading for the Cornerian SpacePort. He parked his car on the grass and flung the door open, before sprinting many metres to the boundary of the hangar area. He jumped the fence and crouched behind a pile of scrap. He viewed a medium-capacity Commercial Jet with Corneria Airlines marked across it. It was taxiing out of its hangar and turning to collect some passengers. It would be his best escape.
Lifting his staff over his shoulder, Finnius began to push himself along with his staff. He caught up with the slow moving aircraft and hopped underneath it. Vaulting himself up with his staff, Finnius caught a piece of railing above the landing gear and held on tight. To give himself more stability, he jammed his staff into it and hung on with one flipper while the other one pryed open the luggage hatch, and with his flippers being composed of mainly muscle, did this with relative ease.
Once inside the compartment Finnius retrieved his staff and thrust the hatch back into position as best he could. He looked wround for a useful piece of luggage the get him into the main corridor above and spied a canister with a flammable symbol on it. Eagerly, he wrenched a cigarette lighter out of one of the bags and lit a piece of paper he was carrying. He placed the canister up one end and retreated to the opposite corner, then flung the burning paper in its direction and hid behind a mountain of baggage.
When the smoke cleared, Finnius found a hole in the ceiling above the remains of a torched canister. It was amazing what some people carried in their vacation luggage. He slunk underneath the hole and looked up to see a very perplexed security guard. He threw the cigarette lighter at him and got him worried into fleeing to a safe distance to allow Finnius passage to the area above him.
Finnius threw his staff up through the hole and adjusted it so it stretched from one end of the gap to the other so it formed a pole for him to hoist himself up on. He picked up the staff and stepped along to were the security guard was standing shivering in fear and mostly confusion. In a swift movement, Finnius drew his stafd up level with the guard’s head and forced it into it. The guard fell to the ground holding his nose, which was bleeding.
The confusion inside the craft turned into terror, many screamed and gasped, hoping for themselves not to be the next to be harmed. Finnius had no business maiming them, yet. He wiped the blood off his staff and continued down the corridor. Every eye met him, but when his eyes met their gase, they each person turned away. Finnius emerged into the cockpit and saw two guards eating their lunch, standing next to three pilots.
He spoke calmly to the nearest guard. “This plane is hijacked.”
The guard spat out his mouthful and chuckled “Another cook! Who do they think we are.”
“Simple security guards. Dealing no experience with fire arms and never actual been in a threatening situation and therefore, ignorant to the dangers.” Finnius remarked. “In other words, watch your knee caps.”
“E-What?” One of them muttered.
Finnius ignored him and struck both of them in each of their knees in one single blow with his staff. The pilots looked back to see what was going on but only saw a grinning dolphin and an inch-thick staff with a metallic lustre connecting with their foreheads. Finnius bent down and grabbed both of the semi-automatic weapons carried by the heavily-wounded, swearing guards and shot both of them dead with three bullets each.
He smiled and stepped back into the corridor and smirked at the petrified passengers. He said; “Bye all” before taking aim and firing.

“Sir! We discovered a group of Venomian spies in the Eastern Quadrant of Corneria City. They were in pursuit of a Sergeant Finnius Krill of the Pirate Killers division.“ a high-ranking police snake reported to General Pepper.
“SPIES? I’ve got more things to worry about then Venomian Spies! Give me a break!” Pepper bellowed, looking over his accumulation of paper building skyscapers on his desk. “No rest for the wicked.” He put his pen down. “Haul ‘em in”
An Eagle and a Parrot bearing massive shotguns, lead Lyn, Tourican, Zaphir, Flyer and Finord into the unhappy Pepper’s office.
“Corporals Veaver, Down, Down, Krill and um, you.” Pepper pointed at Flyer, looking elsewhere. “Why on Corneria are you Venomian spies?”
“Oh brother!” Lyn groaned. “We aren’t spies. Fin told the cops that we were, because we were following him. We didn’t have any identification to prove otherwise. He went bonkers and ran off, we were trying to find out why.”
“Fin? Who the devil is Fin?” Pepper queried, puzzled.
“Argh! Sergeant Krill then” Tourican rolled his eyes.
Pepper adjusted the neck of his uniform and withdrew his hankerchief to wipe his face, as if the room just got hotter. “Oh um…Finnius Foggs, I mean Krinnius Fill. Arrh, Fennius Krull…”
“Finnius Krill!” Lyn shouted, impatiently. “Yeeesh!”
Flyer was staring thoughtfully at Pepper. Pepper’s eyes met Flyer’s and shied away quickly. Pepper’s voice was becoming hoarse. “Oh, um dismissed. Very sorry about this mix-up. We’ll do our best to get to the bottom of this.” His voice became high-pitched in the middle of his sentence. “Oh! Um. Goodbye” he turned away from the five before erupting into a coughing fit.
The Cornerians left the room immediately, all except Flyer who lingered for a moment, eyeing Pepper suspiciously for a moment. He gave up and followed the others.

“Notice anything strange?” Flyer asked, with thought in his tone. “About Pepper?”
“Well, he’s become twice as much of a fuddy-duddy as usual.” Lyn laughed. She was rewarded with laughter from her collegues.
“She said strange” Finord had a go.
Flyer laughed and continued. “Well, either I’m paranoid, or my hunch is correct, and old Pepper cracks under pressure.”
Everyone expected Tourican to say “You’re paranoid.” But he didn’t.
“Still, it may help to do a bit of eavesdropping on, Pepper. To try and unearth all of this. Leave it to me.” Flyer grinned, deviously.

“Hello?” Pepper was sitting at his desk writing on a sheet of paper, nursing the phone handset under his ear. Flyer observed him from in the ventilation system. “Yes, its General Pepper. No, I’m not interested in retirement just yet. What do you mean damn? Ahem, I’m calling about Sergeant Krill. Apparently Finnius Krill may have remembered his identity because of some evidence we may have missed. Sergeant Krill. K-R-I-L-L. Yes it is bad. Now check that evidence. If Krill gets back to Venom, we could be up against a great adversary. And hurry.” Pepper hung up the phone and built a worried look on his face.
The grate on the ventilation opening moved and grabbed Pepper’s attention. It fell to the floor with a loud clank as a dark-einged figure emerged from it and stepped out onto the floor. Pepper had the hell scared out of him. He watched, as startled as ever, as the figure wiped himself down and could be identified as Flyer.
“What in Lylat are you doing here, Corporal?” Pepper shouted.
“Looking for explanations.” Flyer glared holes through Pepper’s skull. He slammed his fist onto Pepper’s mahogany desk. “You appear to know more than what you let on.”
Pepper stood stock still. His eyes followed Flyer’s aggressive hand movements, which made him twitch in anxiety. “What are you talking about?”
“Okay, lets play dumb. I’m not putting up with the clichés, TELL ME!” Flyer was right up against Pepper’s face, wielding a threatening fist. “Tell me or I’ll mail your home address to Andross.”
Hatred was boiling up in Pepper now. He could tell he was tasting defeat, he hated blackmail. His honour was damaged, for he had never been outdone by an inferior corporal in his own army. “All Right! All Right!” Pepper’s face shrunk. “Take a seat.”
Flyer didn’t move, as if Pepper had said nothing.
Pepper sighed. “Finnius Krill was once a Venomian pilot, like hid dad, arh, Dolphinus. He got shot down on Katina in a battle there, and was found to be suffering a long-term amnesia. His brother, also a pilot, suffered the same fate but sustained more injuries.
“We tried our best to remove all evidence of his existance, but it wasn’t easy. We had to lock him up until it was safe. Then we enlisted him into the Cornerian Army as a Sergeant….”
“That’ll do.” Interrupted Flyer, as he removed a dictaphone from his jacket pocket and pressed stop. He hit rewind and played back Pepper’s voice; “…Katina in battle there, and was found to be…”.
Pepper was enraged. He made an angry kick to his desk and swore loud enough to wake the dead. “You insidious little… ARGH!!!! GET OUT!!! GET OUT NOW!!!!!”
“With pleasure” Flyer didn’t hesitate to exit. Before he left, he turned and waved mockingly.
“Self-Satisfied Gitt!!!!” was the last thing Flyer heard before he slammed the door behind him. He met Lyn, Tourican Zaphir and Finord outside his office.
“We heard the profanity and figured you’d gotten some info.” Tourican grinned.
Without a word, Flyer presented his dictaphone and made his point clear.
Lyn laughed again. “Trust Flyer to get the job done.”
“Now what,  chaps?” Finord chirped.
“We wait, and see” Zaphir concluded.

“Emperor Andross sir.” Stuttered a small alligator. “A cruiser picked up a Cornerian Commerical craft in Venomian airspace.”
“Any passengers?” Andross’s deep, croaky voice could be heard.
“All dead, just a dolphin.”
“Dolphin? Why didn’t you tell me earlier.” Andross smiled. “I wish to meet this dolphin, in person.”
The alligator looked confused, but found it safer to keep his mouth shut.
Andross had Finnius escorted into his throneroom. He looked welcoming, but sinister, at the seemingly confident dolphin.
“Good Evening, my Emporer” Finnius crooned, with calm words.
“Welcome back Commander Krill” Andross replied.
The alligator’s eyes bugged out and his jaw dropped. He had no idea what was going on.
“Just as well you returned Commander,” the powerful ape continued. “I have a task very daunting for completion, but I understand you would be able to handle it.” Andross spoke in a respective tone that was unfamiliar to any of his minions.
“You won’t be disappointed my Emperor.” Finnius assured.
“I was hoping you would say that.” Andross smiled. “Your father was a great mercenary, but no match for my own Commander of the Airforce. Which that reminds me, I was going to put you up for promotion. But that will occur later. Come.”

“Well dudes.” The unique dialogue spoken by Bill Grey briefed the Pirate Killers “Ol’ Pepper is busy, and he has a grudge with one of you, and he wants me to brief yas.”
Bill put on a pompous voice, mocking the text in Pepper’s file. “Despite your significant efforts in stamping out pirate activity from Lylat and reocurring successes, we are faced with more peril.” Bill strutted back and forth like a demented hen. “If we discover more information on your sergeant friend, we will react in the necessary way. But for now, keep him off your minds. Lyn, you’re in charge.”
He continued. “An uninhabited zone of Sector Y, harbours a troupe of pirates, who have recently dabbled into the arts of terrorism. They are in possesion of a nuclear warhead, in which they constructed in their own grounds, that poses a large threat to however they wish to launch it at. In the risk of that target being any of the Cornerian Military bases, it is important that this nuke be located and disabled, and please do it quick and steathily.”
“Well then lets go troups.” Lyn ordered, adjusting to her new position.

The Pirate Killers met the floating space station soon after entering Sector Y, but were suprised to find it empty and destroyed, with no defense or nuclear missile. All that populated the region were free-spinning hulks of damaged pirate-fighter-craft chunks, littering the cosmos.
“Oh jeez. Will Pepper ever get any substantially correct intelligence?” moaned Tourican.
“Doubtful” Flyer added.
“Look closer. This is the aftermath of a swift attack. We’d better go inside to confirm that.” Lyn expressed.
The team docked onto the trashed titanium mass. They collected their rifles and explored the winding tunnels as a group.
The walls were dinted and swollen and piping following the corridors were jagged and cracked. The corridors were patterned with blood and the occasional decimated body. Some were decapitated, others disembowelled by some grusome tool. Mayn were simply slain by accurate shots to the head, others touched by heavy artillery, possibly from bombarding ships.
“Whatever happened here, it was more than a runaway meal from the stomachs of a particulary tubby member of Star Wolf. This place have been stratigically attacked. And by the appearance of some of these sickening and painful deaths, by Venom.”
“And not that long ago. I thought I saw one twitch, put it out of its misery.” Flyer smirked.
“Oh yuck Flyer!” Lyn and Tourican chorused together.
Flyer saw a journal sitting on a bench across in the next room. He walked towards it and placed his finger on a line of text. “This entry dates no longer than an hour ago.”
“An hour? That means whoever did this should still be in range of our Long Range scanners.” Lyn noted. “Lets act fast.”
“I was just about to say that.” Tourican frowned.
Sure enough, when the trio returned to their Arwing Bs and checked the scanners, a convoy read on it.
“Eighteen small dots, three medium sized ones and a really big one.” Tourican dictated.
“Ahem. There’s eighteen heavy fighters, three cruisers and one goods barge, full load. And they’re Venomian.” Lyn corrected.
“I bet that missile is on the barge.” Flyer claimed. “Cause it certainly ain’t here.”
“They are heavy fighters on an escort, shouldn’t take much to catch them. They appear to be en route to Venom.” Lyn judged. “If we use Radar Stealth we should be able to pop in and get the first hits.”
“Perfect!” Flyer agreed. “Lets roll!”
“We are outnumbered, but they are on escort, so that means they are unlikely to send out their whole convoy to attack us at once. We get first dibs, shoot a few down, and retreat and wait for the rest to break away and attack one by one.”
“You’re the best Lyn.” Tourican congratulated.

The team sped off after the convoy. “Remeber not to blow this first few shots, its vital we do it well. If we can take a few fighters down, it will affect the outcome greatly.“ Lyn instructed. “That means you too Tourican.”
“All Right already!” Tourican whined.
A few thousand miles up, the blips appeared on the Short-Range scanners. The team could be given more detail.
“Oh my God! Emperor’s guard! Led by a Commander Class Bomber! We CAN’T screw this up! They are still moving slowly so chances are we haven’t been detected yet, but stay alert.” Lyn continued.
“Yeah yeah.” Tourican groaned.
“Keep the radios quiet” Flyer warned. “I’m going to try to tap into their radio frequency.” He began to fiddle with dials on his comm-link. He stopped when he saw an image flash onto the screen. Flyer was taken aback in surprise. “Well, well, well. In the commander class, it’s our old friend. Meet Fin.”
“Finnius? Arm Supa-Bombs” Lyn ordered.
“Supa-Bombs? Isn’t that a bit rash?” Flyer aksed.
“Just do it. And silence our radios now too.”
The team cruised along. They thought there was no use trying to convert Finnius back, but deep down felt there was hope. Even still they found themselves hating Finnius. Not for what he had done, but for what he might do.
“Fire!” Lyn’s voice crackled over everyone’s comm-link. As if pre-rehearsed, the entire team let off Supa-Bombs and they slammed into the enemies ranks, downing five of them. The enemy reacted immediately, U-Turning at different times and unleashing hot lasers which radiated heat as they narrowly missed Flyer'’ ships. He was careful not to be struck, but was clipped by a projectile which melted through his shields and tore off his right wing.
“Son of a…These guys are tough!” he cursed.
“Just concerntrate. We’ve got a quarter of em down.” Lyn reassured.
While Flyer started off bad, Lyn’s luck came in steadily. She successfully downed three fighters after tailing them thoroughly and patiently. But her ship was hit hard by a salvo of flak from the cruisers and her ship was hammered ceaselessly. Lyn felt a sharp pain in her back as a piece of debris pierced her seat and embedded itself into her back. She tried to regain control of her ship and null to pain mentally, but found it difficult. Desperately, she hit the eject button and safely flew out of her ship, seconds before its destruction. She wrenched the metal out of her back and tossed into into space.
A Venomian craft attempted to tractor Lyn in, but was cut short by Flyer’s laser as its wing was ripped off and its left fuel tank ignited. “See how you like it!” he growled. Another ship was caught in the explosion and destroyed also. Tourican had two in his sights, but another two chasing him. Flyer banked in to assist Tourican, downing one and sending the other into a Cruiser, crippling it. Meanwhile, Tourican calmly struck his two.
Finnius emerged out from behind a cruiser and came dangerously close to Tourican, guns blasing all the while. It was nearly impossible for Tourican to avoid the deadly pulse of four heavy laser cannons and was forced to eject by them. In ne last futile attempt. He removed a laser pistol from his pocket and blasted a hole through one of the fighter’s wind shield and created a vacuum, disabling the craft.
It was up to Flyer now. He tried to down Finnius but his ship was more than a match for Flyer’s and so he downed the remaining two ships before falling to Finnius’ merciless attack. One of the cruisers pulled mFlyer aboard, and left Tourican and Lyn for dead.
“I expect you two to survive, and come back to save Flyer, so see ya later.” Finnius leered.
“I want to kill him.” Tourican hissed.
“Me first.” Said Lyn.

“So he nicked off with Flyer and left us to rot. Lucky for us we were recovered by a patrol from Katina.” Lyn explained the situation to Pepper.
“Hold still” the doctor told Lyn.
“Ow!” Lyn was getting her wound healed.
“You do of course realise he is plotting a trap.” Tourican said.
“Yes I do.” Pepper groaned. “But we have little choice. Not only did he capture Flyer, but he has that warhead, and that poses a big threat. With Corneris city destroyed, our entire military capabilities will wane and fall into disrepair. This is big trouble. With only two members left, I’m going to temporarily shut down the Pirate Killers until we can recruit more members. You’ll be merged with the Interceptor companies together.”
“We will have to assemble an attack force, go and destroy the base with the warhead in it.” he continued.
“Yes, but most likely, Andross will launch the nuke while the attack is underway, and bye bye Corneria.” Lyn protested.
“We’ll have some defensive turrets stationed here. That’ll have to do.”
“Whatever happens, we’ll have to be prepared for everything. Andross’ moves are not to be anticipated.” Lyn added.
“Damn that ape” Tourican muttered, unimpressed.

The following day, a very large strike force was amassed. It consisted of half of the Interceptor and Assault Fighter Divisions accompanied by fifty cruisers, all escorting a few transport carriers containing over two hundred elite infantry and twenty armoured vehicles each. This was once of Lylat’s biggest attack forces to date, and it was the most expensive to assemble by way.
Tourican and Lyn were unimpressed at Pepper’s choice of forces. His orders were for the cruisers to cover the transport carriers before pounding the main base. The infantry and vehicles were to occupy SAM and AA installations around the base, as well as ground based protection. The fighters were to hold on defense, some of them were armed with missile launchers to down whatever cruisers may threaten the operation.
It was well thought out, but Pepper was underestimating Andross’ cunning. What’s more he gave no effort to rescuing Flyer. Tourican and Lyn knew that there was no hope for Flyer now, there was absolutely nothing that they could do to either convince  Pepper to show mercy, or even rescue Flyer on their own. It was obvious the attack had to be taken with caution and Lyn and Tourican would be ultimately killed if they tried to be heroes. Even if they did get inside the base, they wouldn’t get out, not with the cruisers bombarding the place. Now was the time to say goodbye to Flyer, and they all knew it.
“Well at least if he does die,” Tourican had said. “It will be all Pepper’s fault.”
“Oh shuttup!” Lyn had replied “Of all the people to be stuck with, why you?” She had then stormed off to her Arwing.

The convoy was heading to Venom at a very slow and tedious speed. It had almost taken twenty two hours to reach Venom, and both Lyn and Tourican were weary and wanted to sleep.
The spot that was Venom had eventually grown into veiw like a pussy blister. Ugly and Festering like a plague. The sight of it had bought relief that the long treck was almost over, yet it also brought nervousness, as there was much battling to be done. Each pilot knew that any laser could be the one to send them to their graves. But it wasn’t lasers that sent them to their deaths, it was something else.
“Oh Crap! My fuel light is on!” Tourican wailed.
“What? You idiot Tourican.” Lyn groaned. “Okay, stop and I’ll share some of my fuel.”
Tourican stopped his ship and Lyn came up alongside him. Her fuel transfer line extended and linked with Tourican’s hatch. Lyn’s fuel began to transfer to Tourican’s tank, as the two slipped behind the rest of the convoy.
Tourican and Lyn bothed watched thew convoy get further ahead. “Almost done” Lyn informed. They watched the convoy drift even further away until they were a fair disatance away from it, when they finished up the transfer and set about regrouping. Before they got a chance to, their comm-links were flooded with cried of despair as the entire sky in front of the two lit up into a blinding white.
“Oh my God! What was that?!” Lyn then realised what it was. “Quick! Shut the fuel gates or we’ll run dry!”
“But I’m blind!” Tourican croaked.
“Oh man, I am too. Do your best.”
The two felt around their control panels for the switch to shut the fuel gates, it took almost a minute for them to locate it properly. They were both dangerously low on fuel right now.
“Now what, we’re both blind, so we can’t pilot our ships. I bet the rest of that convoy was wiped out in that light, and I can’t opperate my radio either!” Tourican frowned.
“Um, I guess we wait.” The two sat and waited for a while, with no perception of anything around them. A wave of realisation came over them.
“Goodbye Lyn.”
“See ya in the afterlife Tourican old pal. Maybe we’ll meet Flyer there.”
”Yeah, maybe.”

Lyn and Tourican had relaxed themselves and prepared for death. Their crafts drifted into the Venomian atmosphere and began to repidly meet its surface. Lyn and Tourican both sensed this and leant forward, placing their heads between their legs and holding on tight, all the while saying nothing. They fell unconscious before impact, and did not remember anything thereafter.
Tourican awoke, face first into a cold, stone floor. He puahed himself up painfully and observed the scratches and cuts littering his body. He got onto his feet and looked around. He was standing bewildered in a cell across from one containing Lyn, who was still unconscious. Flyer was still no where to be seen.
“Lyn! Wake up!” Tourican shouted. Seeing he got no respond, he found a chip of rock from the wall and skimmed it across the floor. It sailed between the bars and landed on Lyn’s head, startling her.
“Who? What? Huh? What did you do that for?” she looked in Tourican’s direction, angrily.
“Lyn! Can you see?”
“Um, errr, if there’s a toucan in the cell across from me then, yes.”
“Oh good. Now what?”
“Damnit Tourican! Why do you always leave the thinking up to the leader?”
Both of them heard footsteps and nestled themselves against the hard cell walls. They watched as a guard marched down the hallway, met the end and returned. He then disappeared around the corner.
Tourican thought for a moment. “Leave it all to me, I’ll get us out of here.”
“Don’t get yourself shot.” Lyn warned.
Tourican gave his cheesy smile in response. When the guard returned Tourican called, “Hey Fathead!” In three strides, the guard was upon him. “Okay Lyn! Now!”
Lyn glanced blankly back at Tourican. The guard swung around 180 degrees and aimed his gun at Lyn, suprised to see her quite relaxed. Tourican poked his long, curved beak through the bars and caught the back of the guard’s uniform. He pulled back and smashed the guard’s head against the steel bars and the guard fell to the floor like a rag doll.
“Sweet!” Lyn smiled. Tourican reached for the guard and dragged him towards himself. He searched the body, and removed a key from his front pocket. He unlocked his and Lyn’s confinements and grinned happily.
“Thankyou Tourican. But let’s not get cocky yet.” She stepped forward and picked up the guards assault rifle. She loaded it and smiled again “Cha-chink!” She grabbed an automatic pistol and handed it to Tourican.
“This is the thanks I get?” he studied it, twisting and turning the firearm rapidly, as if to locate an ant that was crawling unwanted on it.
“Standard procedure, we find the Control Room, disable security, then we locate the Armoury, get some good equipment. And of course we find find Flyer and kill Finnius, whichever comes first.”
“Hmmm, you make it sound so easy.”
“One thing I’ve learnt in gunfighting, is to get first dibbs. I’ll try to find a better weapon for you.”
“Swell.”
Lyn and Tourican set off down the halway, with guns at the ready. Tourican was all the while, attempting to make his gun look threatening. Ahead was a board that mapped the entire bunker. “Hmmm, you think they could at least make it a bit difficult.” He placed his finger on the map.
“What, and this will be easy? Two pilots up against a whole Venomian platoon?  You’re nuts.” Lyn blurted
“We’re both nuts to try and accomplish this task.”
Lyn fired off a few rounds at a guard turing the corner. “Shuttup and use that gun.”
Following the directions, and gunning down everything in their way. “Camera!” Tourican shouted then fired a bullet that smashed the camera immediately. His hand jolted in the proccess. Tourican then found a nice automatic with a teleskopic sight lying near a dead body.
“Brace yourself” Lyn hit the switch to open the door and stood in the doorway firing round after round at everyone inside. Guard after guard after technician after guard fell to her gun. Tourican joined in and killed almost as much. Lyn’s gun clicked and she realised it was drained of ammo. She knelt to pick up the pistol Tourican scrapped and sung into view again, killing two guards. “Cover me!” she shouted as she ran into the room. Tourican shot those she didn’t. Lyn finished off the last soldier and relaxed herself. “Phew.”
Lyn fiddled with a few knobs and the screens before her turned off. She hit a button and a faint alarm could be heard far off. “There units should be diverted to another region. We’ll be able to move through with a bit of safety, until we can find some good guns.” She faltered. “Tourican?”
She turned to see Toruican sprawled on the ground, clutching a bullet wound. “Look.” He hissed, almost inaudibly. “They got me.”
Lyn covered her eyes. “Perfect” She tore off her sleeve and strung it around the wound. “I have no idea if this will help at all” She lifted Tourican onto her back and handed him her gun. “Here’s the deal. Sport them on yur shoulder and shoot anything that moves. Use the sight if you need to, and try not to think about that gunshot wound.”
“Yes ma’am!”
Lyn carried Tourican around the bunker on her back. And as instructed, Tourican fired upon every threat that entered view. This partnership lasted until they reached the armoury, then Lyn placed Tourican in the corner and stocked up on ammo.
“Wait here Tourican, I’m gonna set some charges that’ll blow this place sky high.” She grabbed some time charges and vanished out the door. She walked briskly into the lavatories and placed a charge on the ceiling there. She was planning on flooding the base with the water from the water main.
Tourican waited patiently, covering the doorway from any dangers. Lyn called out before she entered to avoid friendly fire. “Glad to see ya.” She muttered, friendly. Tourican was once again hoistered onto Lyn’s shoulders as the two set off in search of Flyer. “We have half an hour to blow this joint.” she informed.
“Where do we find Fin?” Tourican pondered, above Lyn’s head.
Slowly the lights dimmed. “I think he’ll find us.” She answered.
Lyn and Tourican watched as the curvy corridor ahead twisted and distorted into a straight hall.
“Follow that hallway.” Tourican’s attempts to speak became more strained as his life was slipping slowly.
Lyn followed the path until she came to some stairs, then reluctantly ascended them. She sensed an evil aura about, something she associated with Andross.
At the top of the stairs, a door was situated. Lyn reached cautiously for the knob, but watched as it melted and the door dissolved. The entire physical fabric of the room was distorted beyond believe. The walls didn’t even seem to exist anymore. The door and corridor behind Lyn had vanished. The vast opening was decorated with swirling streams of color. Lyn and Tourican bewildered at this sight they had both never seen before.
The only physical substance Lyn could see was a circular platform beneath them, linked to a ramp which joined up a larger platform at a higher elevation. Upon the platform ahead, a single silhouette could be made out, but its form not visible. Although, it was obvious it was Finnius standing before the two.
The silhouette lit up, and it was indeed Finnius Krill. He was standing tall and recognisable, with his left flipper on his hip and the other pointing a gun diagonally to the ground. “Hello” his voiced boomed. It was a familiar variation of Finnius’ normal voice, only with much  more power and a deeper tone.
Another form to Finnius’ right materialised, growing its textures as if there was lights controlling the whole situation. It was clear to Lyna dn Tourican that Finnius was pointing his gun at this figure.
The figure was Flyer, knelt beside Finnius in a position of unwilling praise to him. His head was limp on his shoulders, hanging on to his neck loosely, his back arched downwards.
“Flyer!” Lyn cried.
“Drop your weapons, or Batty bites the dust.” He sneered. He turned to Flyer and looked at the pathetic mess. “You think that sounds original?” He clobbered Flyer with his fist and forced him to nod.”
Lyn hesitated, then placed the weapons onto the ground. She lowered Tourican onto the floor and let him lay peacefully. “Don’t die. Just don’t die” she soothed.
“Thankyou.” Finnius’ voice echoed. He sharpened his aim with his gun and pulled the trigger. A loud shot tolled the end of Flyer, as his body slumped forward and fell to the ground. He lay l;ike a block of wood, still, silent and inanimate.
“FLYER!!!!” Lyn cried. Tears swelled up in her eyes. “Finnius you bastard! You’ll die!!! Very painfully!!”
“I’m charmed” he leered. “Maybe I will die, maybe painfully, ubt not from your hands.” He let his flipper rest. “Dad served Andross well, as his right-hand, an honour that only he had achieved throughout history, until now. He wasn’t strong enough to cope, and therefore met his demise soon enough.” L:yn looked into his eyes and saw no pupils, only a dull red glow that made her shiver.
“You megalomaniac fool!” Lyn, tears glistening her eyes, hissed.
With that, Finnius lifted his flipper to face Lyn and fired a single shot, which met its mark into Lyn’s hand. Lyn cried out in pain as blood flowed onto the ground, forming puddles. Lyn held her hand tight.
Finnius continued. “You silly Cornerians. Wasted so much military power on one nuclear missile.”
Though in intense pain, Lyn was still brave enough to continue to speak. “And you wasted your missile on our power.”
“One missile my dear.” He replied. “One of hundreds. We only stole that missile to get your planet scared. We have enough nukes to destroy the whole of Corneria. And I’d love to see you stop me.”
All of sudden, Finnius’ insane smile died down and adopted an expression of pain and struggle. His eyes faded and turned blue. Finnius’ common voice could now be heard. “YOUR Father? Sickening. You cannot destroy me Andross. You must carry me wherever you go, and I will haunt you. I harbour more power than you could dream of.”
“But still.” The deeper Finnius returned. “You can’t destroy me either. With your spirit, I am immortal.”
Lyn stared baffled at Finnius, who was happily engaging a conversation with himself.
“What makes you so sure, Andross? What if I cease to exist? Where would the power go?” The normal Finnius voice came back. “You deceitful idiot. This so-called Right-Hand position of mine is nothing more than a new body for you. A body that supplies you the power to be immortal. “
“Nevertheless, this galaxy is finished. Only I will survive the blast, and everything will be mine.” Finnius started up again.
“My dad had that power, that is why you chose him to be your Right-Hand. He killed himself for a reason that I will demonstrate.” The normal Finnius spoke again. “Goodbye, My Emperor” he spoke in a sarcastic voice.
Lyn watched as Finnius engaged in a fight with himself. He was strugling to raise his own arm, but trying to stop himself from doing it. It was really quite confusing to observe. Finnius had eventually straightened his laser to the side of his head, and Lyn realised he was attempting suicide from his gun. “NOOOO!!!” she shrieked.
With his last ounce of strength, Tourican drew his pistol he had been saving and fired it at Finnius. The bullet impacted with Finnius’ gun and it was knocked from his hand. The gun clattered onto the floor, making a click as it did.
Finnius’ eyes dimmed and his muscles relaxed. The chains binding him seemed to break. His body had been relaxed, but his face screwed up into a position of displeasure. “Dammit! If I would have died, the possibilities of the end of Lylat would have been completely destroyed.”
“By the looks of things, you aren’t evil. And if you aren’t evil, nice to see you too.” Lyn growled.
An eerie cloud emerged from Finnius’ facial orafaces and formed a misty presence in the doorway that formed. “Er, we’d better run.” He collected Flyer and ran down the steps to Lyn.
“Didn’t he get shot?” she asked.
“Erm, that chamber had a tranquiliser dart in it. Guess which bullet he got.”
“Nice to know you haven’t changed.” Lyn mused as she lifted Tourican onto her back.
The sound of a distant rumble occured, followed by rushing water. Lyn gasped. “Oh no! The charges were faulty. If we don’t book it now, we’ll drown!”
Andross’ evil face materialised in the only escape route, blocking it. His voice left a throb in all of the newly-reunited teammember’s ears. “You have caused my opperations too much annoyance. In three minutes, all of the missiles will have launched and there would be no way of you saving your precious system. Everything will be destroyed, you and I included.”
“Actually, in three minutes, this entire base will be flooded and the nukes waterlogged.” Lyn was impressed at herself, at actually outsmarting the emperor of the Venomian Conquest.
“Then you will go with it.”
“Not on your life jerk!” Finnius cried as he picked up his gun and hurled it into Andross’ eye. In this split second of diversion, Lyn and Finnius, carrying their cargo, fled down the corridor, the sound of rushing water getting louder.

It was some time before the two had reached the helicopter bay, and not a moment too soon. Finnius led Lyn onto one of them and didn’t hesitate to start it up. The rotary blades began to spin and the helicopter lifted off, with merciless waves crashing against the bunker walls inches below it. A sigh of relief came up as the two knew at last they were safe.
Lyn lay Tourican onto the ground and began to apply some proper medical help. He was still alive, but not by much. He and Flyer both came around, and were pleased to see they were escaping.
“That settled him” Tourican smiled. He coughed and lay pained.
“Don’t speak Tourican” Lyn advised. “Rest”
The base could be heard exploding. All the nukes that threatened Lylat had been lost forever. The galaxy was saved by four pilots.
A wave of anxiety crossed Finnius as he said “Oh God! What am I going to say to Pepper?”
“I’m sure we’ll find something.” Flyer grinned.
Too exhausted to say anything more, no-one spoke at all during the rest of the trip. Not from then until they arrived at Corneria Airport, to a heroes welcome.