Fox's mother, Vixy, had been killed while Fox was still a cub, by none other
then Andross. Vixy had been killed in a car bomb, because Andross thought James
and Fox would get in, so he could have Vixy to himself: the chance failure had
made Andross only even more maniacal in his purposes. James had taken up a fight
with Andross with a vengeance, and Fox had learned every detail of their long,
personal war. Pepper had his own war with Andross, but only for the loss of
Remus City, and all those lives: gone, thanks to the madness of Andross.
Peppy Hare was another pilot. Thirty five years old, Peppy was a wise rabbit
pilot. He had a very good grasp on reality, and on the controls of his Arwing
fighter. He had helped James out of many tough spots in his career, and James
could think of no one else other then Peppy to be beside him in a gunfight or in
a Arwing Battle.
Peppy was very smart, and had several degrees in physics, astrophysics,
astronomy, and nucleus and biology. He had been an easy pick for the Star Fox
team when all these skills had been added to his superior flying. Peppy was a
great friend to James and a Godfather to Fox. General Pepper had very much
approved of Peppy, and was also Peppy's friend.
The rabbit had helped evacuate Remus City during Andross' mad outbreak. He had
received emotional scars from seeing friends die, but had recovered well with
James and Fox. Peppy was his normal cheerful self again, but everyone on the
Star Fox Team was glum when they had to talk, much less go and check up on the
vile, insane Andross.
The sun of the system was on the other side of Venom, so the lights of the
Arwing fighters were all that lit up the small ships, plus the instrument panels
inside. The three pilots were all tired and groggy from their long hyper space
journey, but slowly they came to and started running through the normal power up
routines.
James McCloud activated his communications unit, letting it fuzz a bit before it
went into its normal unit frequency, hooked up with the other pilots. Next, he
put his fighter into all range mode, which allowed better maneuverability and
targeting range. He put his shields on equal around the fighter and checked his
nova bombs. All nine of them were there, and the nova bombs had the affect of a
nuclear bomb, and that was very big considering that there was no oxygen in
space. James made sure his hyper lasers, a personally added technological piece
of work, were fully charged. Finally, he grabbed the throttle and disengaged the
auto pilot. His ship stopped its forward march, and turned, ducking below the
tip of the planet.
Finally, Peppy and the other pilot, Pigma Dengar, followed James as they flew in
low circles around the planet. James switched on his scanners, and
automatically, Peppy and Pigma did the exact same. James looked, seeing what
General Pepper had been talking about. There were small explosions and strange
power readings coming from the planet. James decided to let it slide for a
little while, see if the scanners could lock in.
Pigma and Peppy were just outside his field of vision, but he knew Peppy was
probably thinking about Andross, and Pigma was thinking of the big pay check
that Pepper had waiting for him back home. James was thinking of three things,
with the addition of his son, Fox. He looked down at the planet, knowing that
some day, Fox would probably follow in his father's foot steps, checking on
Andross every few weeks, fighting galactic battles as hired mercenaries, it was
a life James had lived for so long, since he was Fox's age, and now he was
thirty five. People still looked up to him, said he had it all. Wit, brains,
cunning, courage, skill, smoothness, everything. They said it, he had it. James
McCloud flipped the heat sensors to add to the scanners. They started to trace
the locking mechanism to find the source. Peppy appeared on James' wing, looking
the other way, down at the planet below. James adjusted his shades and saw the
rabbit was very tense. Pigma appeared on James' other wing, he was looking tense
too. Both of them knew the horrors of Andross, and both of them knew the dangers
which he could hold with his maniacal genius.
James looked at his scans/sensors chart and grimaced. The computer said that it
would be able to lock in on the source in approximately seven minutes. James
flipped a switch and rock music filled his ears and he displayed it to the other
two. He saw Peppy relax a little in his fighter, but Pigma remained tense, a
little odd for the pig. He usually started to sing along with the songs that
James displayed for the group. James settled back into his seat and watched
Venom, and his scans/sensors charts at the same time.
The seven minutes seemed to stretch forever, but finally they locked in. James
flipped off the music and saw Peppy tense again, and Pigma kept his eyes locked
on the planet. James looked and saw it was in a deep cavern around the equator
on the west side of the planet, the side where the sun was, creating a
tremendous energy distortion, adding to that of the one on the planet below.
James flipped his communications switch and cleared his throat. "Okay, boys," he
said. "Loosen up. Stay tight on my wings. We've got ourselves Andross to check
up on, maximum risk. Nobody play the hero here. Let's move in." James barrel
rolled and headed through the atmosphere of Venom, and saw Peppy and Pigma doing
the exact same.
James steered carefully through the greenish-yellow clouds of Venom, keeping his
eyes on the scanners for anything the slightest bit wrong. He took his eyes off
the scanners as he broke through the clouds and the shaking of his Arwing
fighter began to subside. He looked at the rugged, tough landscape below.
"Okay," he said. "Spread out. Pigma, west side. Peppy, east side. I'll take her
down the middle," he concluded as he hit the boost key and his fighter
accelerated ahead. "Coming up on the target in four minutes. Until then, here's
some music." He pressed the radio again and the music came back on. James
relaxed slightly, as did Peppy. But strangely, again, Pigma seemed tense as
ever. "Piggy," he said and Pigma looked over to him. "Something wrong?"
It took Pigma a second to respond. "No," he said in his squeal of a voice.
"Nothing's wrong, Jimmy. Let's just get this over with," he said and continued
en route to the target. James smiled and nodded to himself as he took his route
towards the target.
"Will do," he muttered to himself. He thought of Fox again, and Vixy. Vixy had
been taken from their lives before Fox had even known her and when James had
loved her so: she had been with him for four years before that, and Fox had been
only a cub. Pigma was doing a little side to side maneuver. James flipped off
the music and cleared his throat. "Okay," he said. "Thirty seconds, guys, look
sharp," he said.
Then, it came into view. A tremendous fortress, built to almost the skies, and
armies of fighters, battle ships and cruisers were all around it. Ground troops,
tanks, heavy artillery, plasma rifles, automated defense systems, were on the
ground. James gaped, and realized that Andross was ready for them.
A face came onto the screen. The face of that laughing idiotic ape, Andross. He
laughed insanely as James gritted his teeth. He looked at Peppy who was even
tighter then ever. Pigma seemed slightly relaxed. Relaxed! How could he even
think of the word when Andross was on the screens in front of him!?
"So," said Andross. "James McCloud, Peppy Hare, and Pigma Dengar. The Star Fox
team, if I am not correct?" He smiled at the expression of horror on James'
face, which was probably displayed by Peppy and Pigma as well. "Yes, my agents
have kept me well informed. Yet with all this," the camera cut to a view of
Andross, and he spread his arms, taking in everything around him. "you may
wonder why I have not yet left Venom. Because I don't want General Pepper to
know I'm coming. He has agents everywhere you know, while not as numerous and
expensive as mine, he does have them. I have been staging the war for three long
years, McCloud. And you will be the start. Once the inhabitants of Lylat, soon
to be the Andross System, have seen that I have destroyed the great James
McCloud, they will think that nothing can stop me."
James found his voice. "You crazy bastard," he managed.
Andross cackled. "That's what everyone calls me," he said. "I'm quite used to it
by now. There are many things I know about you, yet so little you know about me.
You know, McCloud, your wife was an accident." James tensed. "I've always wanted
to tell you that." He cackled. "That bomb was meant for you and your son.
Although I didn't expect her to be the one to get in. But look? All of it is
falling into place! I will have you, and the first life I take on Corneria after
that of that inferior General Pepper, will be your son's."
James jerked in his seat. "Leave him alone!" He screamed.
"Hmm," Andross appeared to be in deep thought. "I just might," he said. "Not
leave him alone, but just might not kill him. There may be uses for him. My
agents inform me that while there is no hope of bending you to my will, there
are many for Fox. I could catch him soon and make him a commander in my fleet."
"You," James said. "Are an insane, maniacal, mad, stupid, crazy old bastard do
you know that!?" He was screaming now. "Well now you do!" He finished.
Andross nodded. "Maybe, actually, it is very possible that I am all of those
things which you just mentioned. You are indeed smarter then I thought, McCloud.
But not smart enough, I'm afraid." Andross cackled.
"What do you mean?" James asked, giving Andross a quizzical expression.
Andross grinned, a big, toothy grin. "You failed to notice the most important
piece of this puzzle. The piece, Mr. McCloud, which will lead you to your doom."
"Oh?" James smirked. "What's that?"
Andross stifled a cackle. "My agent," he said. "Pigma Dengar!"
Suddenly, an explosion rocked James' Arwing as Pigma blew his wings off. James
cursed and struggled with the controls as his ship began to spin out of control.
He looked at Andross' cackling face on the monitor, then saw that Peppy was in a
similar predicament.
James grimaced, set himself in his chair and pulled up and to the right on the
throttle as hard as he could, amidst the terrible, horrid laughter of Andross.
Then, James' engines went out. James tried everything, absolutely everything,
but his ship would not respond.
"Peppy!" James shouted.
There was no answer, save for the sound of an ejection as Peppy punched out. Of
course! James reached for the handle, it was just out of his grasp. He couldn't
unbuckle or he would be killed. He pushed himself back in his chair, and, with
all his might, kicked the ejection handle. There was a loud crack and the
cockpit flew away. His chair's rockets shot him into the air and a parachute
unfolded as he began to fall. He saw his fighter tumbling, twisting, turning,
before finally crashing into the ground far below.
James saw Pigma make a few circles and saw him fly into the hangar bay of one of
the war ships. James scowled, and looked down. Armies of Andross' best were
waiting. Best not to reach for his gun. He saw Peppy land, and the rabbit was
mobbed. He tried to fight, but they lifted him up in chains. They started to
drag him away over the rocks.
James hovered his fingers over his pistol, waiting until he reached the ground.
As soon as his feet touched, he kicked the closest marine in the cut and grabbed
his gun. He shot at one of the others who flew back. James jumped, and, while
flipping, detached his parachute, covering seven soldiers. He grabbed the fallen
soldier's rifle and started firing rapid bursts into the soldiers. He jumped
again as the spot where he had been was scorched out of existence.
The soldiers scattered, firing blindly as James fired down on them. They ran,
retreated and scattered before James landed. He fired more bursts and looked for
some means of escape, when a blue blast hit him. He went numb, couldn't move a
muscle in his body. James stood there, teetering for a moment, before falling on
his face. A stun ray had hit him, and he lay there, helpless as Andross'
soldiers came, collected his weapons and chained him up. They reversed the
effects and though James struggled against his bonds, they would not budge. A
shuttle landed as James was brought towards the large fortress and, flanked by
guards, was Andross. He grinned his ape grin and came towards James.
Andross stopped right in front of the brave fox. "So," he said. "Ready for some
of my diabolical torture, Mr. James McCloud?" he said with a loud cackle. James
struggled against his bonds again. "Oh," said Andross in a hurt tone. "Do I
frighten you, Mr. McCloud?"
Thinking of nothing else to do, James arced his head back and spat in Andross'
face. He staggered back and James felt a rapid succession of clubs hitting
against the back of his head. He fell down to the ground, trying to cringe away
from the blows which so badly hurt him. He was on the verge of passing out when
Andross whirled.
"Stop!" He shouted. He walked up to James, who was bruised, battered and torn.
James coughed up a couple of teeth as Andross stared into his face, his cold
eyes betraying nothing. "It was easy to get Pigma under my possession." He
grinned. "And while it may not be easy for you, you will join us or die."
James whispered something that no one, not even himself, could understand, then
fainted, lost consciousness at Andross' feet. His unconscious body was lifted
and dragged towards the prison. An ape came up to Andross and wiped the rest of
James' spit off his face.
"Pigma," Andross said and the pig was at his side. Andross reached behind him
and a guard gave him a huge suit case. "Your payment. I would like you to
organize our own little team. One that will make Star Fox look very, very
pathetic."
Pigma smiled. "Yes, My Lord Andross."
"Yes," Andross said. "A good leader would be chosen by me, but you and my chosen
leader will be the ones who command and choose the other pilots. Clear, Mr.
Dengar?"
Pigma nodded.
"Good," he said. "Pigma, I want you to order triple guard shifts. McCloud and
that dumb rabbit will probably try to escape. Neither of them are to leave this
place alive. Understood?" He said, and when Pigma nodded, he smiled. "Good," he
said. "This is turning out to be a very, very good day for me." He walked back
towards his shuttle as Pigma started snapping orders at the guards.
James awoke as cold water splashed across his face again. His body ached and
burned, a stale smell filled his nostrils and he was lying on something very
hard, his head propped up by something very soft. James opened his eyes to see a
steel room, with a small light hanging in the center. Two cots were there, and
Peppy was standing above him, a bucket of cold water in his hand. There was a
faucet in the corner and a drain under it. James groaned as he sat up.
"What happened?" he groaned.
Peppy shrugged. "All I heard was that you killed a lot of their men," he said.
"You got quite a few nasty bumps on your head. Plus the fact that you've lost a
couple of teeth, and probably broke your tail." Peppy said with a sly grin.
James tried wagging his tail and sharp stabs of pain coursed up his spine. He
grunted as he sat up, not sitting on his tail. "Well," he said. "Any idea where
we are?"
"The lowest levels of the fortress," said Peppy, looking around. "It's quite
classy compared to some prisons I've seen. Not that I ever went there for penal
offense, just for being captured and dragged behind enemy lines," he said with a
wink. "You know what I'm talking about, right?"
James nodded. "Yes," he said. Then he remembered. "How could Piggy do this to
us? I mean, not even him..." he said, trailing as he looked around the room.
"Why?"
"Probably he was offered a fatter pay check then Pepper was offering," he said.
"You know Piggy. He goes for money like Pepper after Andross." He sighed,
whistling through his teeth. We don't have any weapons. Not that would be of any
use to us, anyway."
Peppy backed up as James stood. Suddenly, an idea hit him. "How many guards come
to bring us food and stuff like that?"
"Huh?" Peppy asked, then understood the question. "One."
James looked at the bucket in Peppy's hand. "With water in it, how heavy is that
thing, do you wager?" James said, his idea forming into a full born plan.
"About twenty pounds. I see, so we hit the guard on the head, get his stuff, and
get to the hangar bay and get the hell out of here! James, you are a genius!"
James grinned. "Well, I don't like to boast about it."
"We'll have to wait another two hours."
"Okay," James nodded. "We have to form the plan of how we're going to do this.
I'll hit him on the head since I have more strength, and you catch him so he
doesn't fall and make any sounds for the guards to hear. Check?" he asked and
Peppy nodded. "Then, if I'm right, we attack guards on our way and find a map
that will show us how to get to the hangar bay. Then, we get a fighter at which
time, home we go."
Peppy nodded, grinning. "Okay," he said. "So, now we have to wait."
"I'll fill the water," James said. "You can handle grabbing the guard, right?
He's a lot bigger then you."
"Yeah," Peppy said. "Hey, I may be short and stubby, but I am pretty damned
tough, Jimmy."
"Yeah, I noticed," James said with a laugh. It took a whole hour, but finally,
the sounds of a key in a lock reached his ears and James lifted the bucket over
his shoulder. The door opened and the guard stepped into view! With a heavy thud
and a crack, the bucket collided with the man. He started to fall forward, blood
oozing from his ears, nose and mouth, but Peppy caught him and laid him on the
cot.
James grabbed the pistol and a knife while Peppy took a laser and a ring of
keys, plus the guard's radio which he dropped in the bucket of water. James
looked down the hall and saw three guards at both ends. James fired six quick
shots, three in each of the two directions and the guards crumpled.
"Which way?" Peppy asked.
James bit his lip. "Right," he said and they took off as a pair of guards came
around the corner. James fired twice and the guards went down. After stripping
the guards of their weapons they took off again. A man sat behind a desk and was
immediately shot between the eyes by Peppy. James sat behind the computer and
tapped the keys. He looked at the door. "Through there, fourth door on the
left."
"Let's go," Peppy said and opened the door. Ten guards were waiting. James fired
seven shots and Peppy three, and the guards crumpled. An alarm sounded and the
two pilots forgot about being careful as they ran. The arrived in the docking
bay and found an array of fighters. They saw a patch of Arwing Fighters and
jumped in, initiating the start up procedures. James activated his comm.
"Hurry, Pep! They're coming through the door!"
Peppy looked back as the cockpit closed to see the door sparking. "I see it," he
said. "I'm going to switch the rotation of my guns and shoot an incinerating
fire that should lay waste to any unlucky bastard who comes through that door."
"Good," James said. "I'm ready!"
"So am I!"
James flicked a switch and so did Peppy, and their fighters blasted out of the
hangar bay doors which closed behind them. They flew away from the fortress and
towards the upper atmosphere. That's when he saw it. The army of fighters
waiting for them. They opened fire and James banked right. "Fly through them and
go to hyper space on the other side, Pep!"
Peppy gritted his teeth. "Roger, Jimmy!" Both pilots started firing, as they
weaved their way through the fighters. Peppy banked hard right and narrowly
avoided hitting two fighters. He fired a nova bomb, and found that there were
only three in this ship. He grimaced and fired all of them, clearing a path.
James McCloud banked hard right, bouncing left and right, firing lasers and
bombs until his bombs were gone, then he just fired lasers. Then, a bomb
exploded right beside him. It tore a wing off his ship and he was spinning,
again he was spinning out of control.
Peppy Hare watched in horror as James' ship crashed into another fighter and a
brilliant flash, brighter than any other flash that he had ever seen in
colliding fighters emitted from those two ships. Peppy came out the other side
and engaged the hyper drive. With a cry, Peppy engaged the hyper drive and
sobbing, headed back to Corneria.
James McCloud, hero, father, friend and family: was dead.

Chapter One

FIVE YEARS LATER

The flagship of the Star Fox team, the Great Fox, was all white against the vast
darkness of space. In the distance, a small blue and white marble could be seen,
and with every minute, it would get a bit bigger. Barely noticeable to the human
eye, people inside the great ship were already scattering to perform their
duties.
On the bridge, a toad, Slippy Toad, was working feverishly at a technological
command console, pressing buttons, as the bridge crew and four others stood
there. The four others who were the only ones not working at stations were the
machine, Rob64, the falcon, Falco Lombardi, the rabbit, Peppy Hare, and the
young fox, Fox McCloud. Slippy pressed some buttons and finally a projection of
General Pepper came on the screen.
"Message from General Pepper," Rob64 stated. "Priority one!"
Slippy pressed a button and the image started to clear and sound came on. "We
need your help, Star Fox! Andross has declared war! He's invaded the Lylat
System and is trying to take over Corneria! Our armies alone can't do the job!
Hurry, Star Fox!" The transmission fuzzed, then blew out altogether. Slippy
turned in his seat, and all eyes went to Fox.
"Sound the alarm. Everyone to their battle stations and get the shields up. Star
Fox team with me!" He shouted and turned, blasting down the hall at a sprint.
Falco Lombardi almost took wing to keep up and Peppy had to run on all fours,
not a normal thing, to keep pace. Slippy leapt the whole way, keeping up as they
eventually reached the hangar bay where the four Arwing Fighters were ready. Fox
climbed into his, while everyone else took their spots. Fox looked at the
picture of himself and his father, and brought his head mike onto his head.
"This is Fox McCloud, testing," Fox said.
"Roger, Commander McCloud," said the voice of one of the bridge officers.
"Launch in forty seconds. Good luck, Sir," and the voice cut in a burst of
static. Fox flipped on his shield gauge with thirty seconds left before launch,
and the others were already in start up mode.
Fox cleared his throat. "All right," he said. "We all know what Andross is
capable of. Some better than others. But let me remind you, this is not
kamikaze, we are here to save the world as we have done for the past three
years, and as Star Fox as done for the past twenty."
"Yeah," Falco said with a clap of his wings.
"Let's do it." Slippy said and Fox counted off the last ten seconds and then,
they were in space. Fox could never get used to the fantastic awe which space
provided him. He saw the planet Corneria largely enough, now, and saw the specks
of orange and white all over where Andross was launching his Bio Nuclear
devices.
Fox swallowed and plunged into the atmosphere, not saying a word, knowing that
his fellows would follow. Fox charged his inter space comm system and waited
until they came out of the blue clouds. "All wings report in," Fox said.
"This is Peppy. All systems go," Peppy said.
Slippy took a second to respond. "Slippy, here. I'm okay."
Finally, Falco chimed in. "Falco, here. I'm fine."
"Check your G-Diffuser system and open the wings a bit," Fox ordered as he
checked his G system. "Keep your speed nominal until you see attack ships, then
accelerate to attack speed on your Y Axis and go full throttle. We've got a way
to win, and that's precisely what we're going to do." Fox paused as his scanners
beeped. He punched the accelerator. "I see them up ahead. Let's rock and roll!"
The four fighters broke apart and flew in separate directions. Peppy took the
right, Slippy the left, and Falco went above. Leaving Fox going straight down
the middle. Fox locked onto Corneria City, Andross' area of attack. The enemy
fighters were coming into view now. "Engaging laser target system," Fox said. He
got three locks and fired his hyper lasers. "Three targets wiped, over."
"Slippy, get back here!" Peppy's voice sounded over the comm and Fox looked in
time to see Peppy vaporize an enemy fighter, but another swooped around and came
in on his tail. "Watch yourself, Slip! Bogey on your tail!" Peppy reported.
Slippy banked right but the fighter stayed with him. "Whoa! Help me!" He
shouted, trying a series of banks and rolls, but Fox came in behind the enemy
fighter. "Fox! Help!" Slippy shouted frantically as he tried to evade getting
blasted.
"Locked on, firing!" Fox said and blew the enemy fighter out of existence.
"Thank me later, Slip. We're coming into a cavern. Fan out behind me, guys."
Falco's voice suddenly came over the comm. "Fox! Enemy fighters above you!
They're opening fire!"
Fox jammed on the brakes and watched as laser fire lanced down in front of him
and six fighters flew by. Fox locked on and fired six times. In those six shots,
six ships went tumbling down. "Thanks, Falco," he said, remembering the days he
would zero the best pilots that the Lylat System had to offer in simulation
combat exercises. "We're coming up on Corneria City now;" Fox trailed as they
exited the cavern and found themselves in the city. Andross' fighters were
everywhere, blowing down buildings. His City Destroyers were tumbling things
down and carrying hostages to waiting war ships. A few of Pepper's Cornerian
Defense Corps Fighters attempted to help, firing and destroying only a few.
"This is horrible," Falco gasped as he appeared on Fox's wing. Fox nodded, his
expression grim as he surveyed it. Falco jumped in his seat. "Let's kill some
bad guys!" He shouted and started firing like crazy.
Fox nodded. "Rock and roll, boys!"
The four fighters opened a barrage of fire, and didn't miss. They flew through
the cities amidst the cheers of soldiers and civilians below. They blew away the
enemy, blasting them to pieces. He could see the pilots panicking and trying to
get back to their warships.
"Okay," Fox said. "See that warship? Each of you fire one nova bombs and blow
that thing away, now, while it's over a field and can't do the city any damage.
Fire!" The four nova bombs flew out and hit the warship. It emitted a brilliant
explosion and Fox whooped as it crashed into a hill. Below them, Pepper's foot
soldiers began to take the upper hand in the battle.
"This is Peppy," came Peppy's voice. "I've got warships in the atmosphere
turning around and making the jump to hyper space!" There was a chorus of cheers
and Fox sat back in his seat. "But," Peppy said. "They have left numerous
amounts of fighters."
Slippy burped. "No problem."
"Okay," Fox said. "Let's go." He accelerated again, blasting now at the City
Destroyers below them. He gritted his teeth and fired, watching them blow up as
Pepper's fighters moved in to finish off any straggling Andross Fighters. "We're
winning," Fox said with a triumphant grin and tone. "Let's keep this up!"
They flew low over a lake, seeing enemy battleships in the water. Falco made
short work of them, destroying them all with one nova bomb blast. He whooped as
he came out of the fires, his ship a little singed, but otherwise undamaged. Fox
flew under a ridge and came out on land.
"Peppy!" Fox shouted, seeing that Peppy had a bogey on his tail. Peppy flipped,
soaring through the air and coming around on the bogey's tail, destroying it
with a quick burst from his lasers. "Nice move, Pep. Don't scare me like that."
Before Peppy could respond, Slippy's voice clicked on. "Enemy robot dead ahead,"
he said and Fox squinted at his scans, sweat matting his fur and stinging his
eyes. He wiped his forehead and saw what Slippy was talking about. He flicked a
switch.
"All range mode," he said, allowing the fighter to have more maneuverability.
Then, he saw it. The robot was vaguely humanoid in some ways, but it had rocket
launchers for arms and a strange power pack on its back. Fox stifled a laugh at
how ridiculous he looked.
"Ah, so this is Star Fox," said the machine. "I'm going to crush you!" He said,
firing a series of heat seeking missiles into the air. Fox barrel rolled
viciously and fired several lasers, causing a small explosion on the machine's
arm. "Ow!" He screamed. "That hurts!" He swatted and Slippy narrowly avoided
being crushed.
Falco came in behind the machine and fired several bursts into his back leg and
power pack. The leg exploded and the power pack dimmed, causing the machine to
topple over. "Fox!" Falco said excitedly. "The power pack! That's his weakness!"
"I'm going in," Fox said.
"I will not be defeated by this worm!" The machine said and fired a laser which
hit Fox's wing, causing him to tumble a bit but not sway from his course as he
continued towards his target. Fox fired a nova bomb and pulled away. "My
Emperor! I've failed you!" He stretched the "failed" for quite some time before
the bomb hit and the explosion lit up every scanner for miles.
"Yee-haw!" Fox shouted as they flew away, circling back towards Corneria City.
"All aircraft report!"
"I saw my life flash before my eyes!" Peppy said with a chuckle as he flew on
Fox's left wing.
Slippy laughed. "We did it so far, Fox!"
"You worry about your own hide," Falco said with a chuckle as they flew back
towards the building where soldiers stood, cheering and civilian crews had
started to rebuild the city and their automated defense systems. General Pepper
himself came out onto the landing platform as the four Arwing Fighters landed.
Fox climbed out of his fighter and shook Pepper's hand, and General Pepper
pulled him into a back slapping hug. "Way to go, Fox," he said, and looked Fox
up and down. "You're the spitting image of James. He's proud from where he is. I
know." He paused for a moment. "You've destroyed one of the machines," he said.
"But there is another one, out over Rome Lake. There is only one way to get in
quietly, and that's through the waterfall."
"Looks like we're moving," said Fox and started to climb back in, but Pepper
grabbed his arm.
Pepper swallowed. "Fox," he said. "Come back in one piece, Fox. I don't want to
lose you the way I lost James. Okay?" He said. Fox nodded and climbed into his
Arwing. Pepper watched as the cockpits closed and the four fighters jetted away
into the mid afternoon sun. "Start fixing up the city," Pepper said, heading
back inside.
Fox looked at his sensor board as the waterfall was about three clicks away.
There were many of Andross' fighters in between. "Incoming," Fox reported as
they came in. "Watch it, Falco, you've got three on your tail!" Fox swooped
forward to help.
"Shit! He's right behind me!" Falco shouted.
Fox came in and locked on. "Break right, Falco!" He fired. The hyper laser
bursts flew forward and destroyed the enemy fighters. "You're clear, Falco.
Thank me later. There's more incoming! Slippy, with Peppy! Falco, with me!"
They broke off into different directions and Fox came up, Falco on his wing.
"Open fire!" They started rapidly firing, raking down the enemy as they got in
the way. "Locked on and firing! Waterfall is one click! I can see it!"
"I've locked onto the enemy robot," Falco said. "Try to keep up!" He jetted
ahead through the waterfall and Fox swallowed hard, knowing Slippy and Peppy
were right behind him all the way through this godforsaken war which they were
fighting.
"Here goes," Fox said and flew through into a tremendous battle zone. Bombs were
dropping as Andross' War Cruisers were firing down on them. Fox fired several of
his nine nova bombs into the enemy cruisers then jetted along, blasting down
enemy fighters. "Be careful, guys! Fire some nova bombs, get them to bug out!"
Peppy took only a second to respond. "Copy," he said.
"I can't see it," Falco said. "He's gone off the sensors board."
They were over Rome Lake now, trying to lock in. Fox looked at his sensors and
gaped. "Holy shit! He's right behind us!"
"Ah, someone wants to play," came a mechanical voice. Fox looked up to see the
machine passing over him then coming down right in front of him. "Charge!"
Shouted the machine and launched a barrage of missiles.
Peppy gasped. "I know this one," he said. "Fox! Aim for the open spots! We'll
distract him!"
"Copy," Fox said and locked onto one of the open spots with a nova bomb and
fired. A brilliant explosion caused Fox to look away as one of them tumbled off.
There were two open spots, rocket launchers, left and Fox was locking on.
"Locking on." he said.
Then, Fox's engines exploded, sending him into a spin. "Oh, shit! I've got some
hydraulics problems, here! I'm going down! Mayday, mayday!" He shouted, twisting
with the throttle, trying desperately not to lose too much control. "Mayday!" He
shouted, the water was rushing up at him, reaching out to touch him. "Mayday!"
He screamed at the top of his lungs.
Then, Fox plunged into the water. To his great surprise, his cockpit didn't
explode and send icy water flowing over him. Instead, he bobbed to the surface;
on top of a Cornerian Submarine! Fox was winded, and hurting on his left leg. He
opened the cockpit as Cornerian Medical Units came out and started tending to
him.
Falco heaved a sigh of relief as Fox was taken care of. "I'll get the rocket
launchers," he said, swerving, losing one of the missiles and moving in. Peppy
and Slippy flew around in front of the main optical sensor which served as the
machine's eyes. "Locking on," Falco said. A steady, monotonous beep sounded.
"Firing!" He launched a nova bomb and a brilliant explosion shook the area. The
shock waves that chorused from it blew Falco backwards, cart wheeling across the
skies. He got control in time to see an enemy fighter coming in behind Peppy.
"Peppy, watch out!"
Peppy banked hard to the left and avoided being vaporized. Falco ignored the big
machine and fired at the enemy fighter on Peppy's tail and finally blasted it.
Slippy came across his view, shooting down an enemy missile. "Thanks, Falco,"
Peppy said.
"So, ready to die?" The machine asked.
Falco banked left as a missile shot past. He formed into a hard barrel roll and
flew across the skies, finally turning on his port engine and coming back around
for a strafing run on the machine. He barraged it with laser blasts, scorching
the machine's quantum armor. He circled, gaining speed as he came in for another
pass, firing at its optical sensors. He destroyed one and whooped as he came in
again.
"Lombardi, this is Captain Coyote of the Cornerian Defense Corps. We're coming
in to assist, over," Shawn Coyote said, roaring in, firing his lasers, which
weren't as advanced as the hyper lasers of an Arwing, but still pretty good, at
the machine. Four other fighters were with him and the machine began to reverse.
Falco banked. "Glad you could join us, Captain," he said as he shot a missile
out of the skies. "Looks like we're all..." Falco stopped as he looked at his
sensors. "Oh, shit!" He shouted. "Captain, we have a war cruiser dumping what
looks like a hundred fighters down on us!"
"Aha!" The machine shouted. "My friends have come for me, and now, you will
die," he said and fired a missile, blowing one of the Cornerian Fighters right
to pieces. "You see? Nothing can stop the great Emperor!" He launched more
missiles and enemy fighters.
Falco shook his head. "Okay," he said. "This could pose a problem."
Coyote banked hard right, blasting an enemy fighter to shreds. "Lombardi, take
care of the machine. We'll distract the fighters long enough for you to blow it
up. Hurry, there's not much time before they get here!" He said, blowing a
missile up.
"Right," Falco said, turning and zoning in on him. He aimed for one of the
missile launchers and locked on. "Firing!" He reported and launched a nova bomb
with a rapid succession of hyper laser bursts from his batteries. He watched as
they hit, and another brilliant explosion coursed out, but it took out three
optical sensors and sent a huge shock wave into them. Some of the systems in the
Arwing and Cornerian fighters started to shut down. "Captain Coyote, he's almost
gone," Falco said when he had gotten his controls under power again.
"Good work, Lombardi," Coyote said.
"Incoming!" Peppy and Slippy hollered together as a hundred fighters dropped
down from the skies. Falco ducked beneath their line of fire and zoomed along
the surface of the lake, avoiding reefs, rocks, submarines, animals and waves.
"Scatter!" Coyote ordered and every ship scattered. Seven ships against a
hundred was not Falco's idea of great odds, but he circled and started up
towards them. "Puncher, watch it! You've got one on your tail! Get out of
there!"
Puncher Doggy tried to evade. "I can't shake him, Sir! He's on me tight!" He
tried again. Falco saw the severity of the situation and swooped in behind him.
"Help!" Puncher said as he narrowly avoided a blast. Falco fired three shots and
blew the enemy fighter to pieces. "Thank you," Puncher said.
"No problem," Falco said. "Puncher, stay on my wing. Peppy, with Slippy. Captain
Coyote, regroup and come back in for another run, over," he said.
"All right," Coyote said.
Puncher stayed with Falco in a sharp bank and they zoomed through the maze of
fighters, passing the occasional good guy before spotting the enemy robot.
"There he is, Falco," said Puncher as they roared in. "Lock on and fire?"
"Affirmative," said Falco as he did the same. "Locked?"
"Locked," Puncher agreed, his hands hovering over the trigger that would doom
the enemy robot.
"Fire!" Falco shouted. Six nova bombs flew straight at the robot. The explosion
this time was worse than all the others combined. The shock wave was incredible,
and every fighter was affected. Puncher and Falco wrestled for control and got
it. Captain Coyote was tumbling before he got control again, but the enemy
fighters paused for a minute then started to run. The few that stayed were
destroyed in the fire of the rebellion. Whoops and cheers went up as the people
turned back towards Corneria City once again. Falco was off to see Fox.
"Great job, Puncher," Falco said to Puncher Doggy as they landed. "You flew well
out there. We'd have been out there still if it wasn't for your help."
Puncher grinned. "Thanks, Falco," he said. "Where's Fox, anyway? I heard he was
downed?"
"Yeah," Falco said as they saw Fox walking up to greet them, a small cut on his
forehead. "Fox! You missed out on all the fun! Where the hell were you? Puncher
and I had to take care of everything ourselves, while you were out flirting with
the staff!"
"I was not!" Fox shouted.
Puncher smiled. "Well," he said. "Good luck. I have to go. Got myself a planet
to clean up."
"Later, Puncher," Falco said. "Puncher Doggy. He's a pretty good pilot to have
on your wing." He shook his head and turned to Fox who was glaring at him.
"Hey," he said. "The staff thing was only a joke, okay, man? Jeez!"
"Not a very funny joke, Falco. We've got a job to do. Apparently, Andross'
lapdogs have hidden themselves in the Meteo Field, so we're off right now."
Falco nodded. "All right," he said. "Why are we going through there?" he asked.
"Fortuna," Fox replied. "It's been taken over by Andross, and we have to go
through Meteo in order to get there. Pepper's sending the fleet to Sector Y to
try to secure us a course for when we're done on Fortuna, so he's heading out
too."
Falco grimaced. "Okay," he said. "I guess that means we're saddling up." He said
as he walked over towards his Arwing. Fox's new Arwing was just getting repaired
by Pepper's men."So they're going to Y? Why?" Falco chuckled at his little joke.
"Not funny, Falco," Fox said. Falco shook his head. Their leader had no sense of
humor, he might have at one time, before his father died, but now he was just
dead cold, never telling a joke or anything otherwise. Falco sighed as he
climbed into his fighter.
Peppy and Slippy were already initiating start up procedures and the rescue
crews of Corneria were reconstructing their world. Falco flipped his systems go
switch and the landing gear came up, letting his fighter hover there for a
moment, then he flicked another switch and blasted off, gaining altitude as the
rest of the Star Fox team came up with him.
"Yee-haw," he said as he punched through the atmosphere and into space, where
the Great Fox was waiting to head into the asteroid field.
"We're ready," Falco said.
Fox swooped into the lead. "This is Fox, all ships and fighters follow me. Blast
any asteroids that get too close. Slippy, do a sensor reading. Peppy, hang back
in case we need any help. Stay a few clicks behind us."
"Copy," Slippy and Peppy said at the same time.
"And Falco, stay on my wing," Fox said and jetted into the asteroid field. Falco
grunted and followed, swerving to avoid asteroids. "Keep it tight." Fox ordered
and Falco swerved to get a bit closer to Fox's fighter. He avoided asteroids,
some by a wide margin, others just barely. He pushed on the throttle and
accelerated.
"This is fun," Falco said with a grin as he accelerated even faster, blowing
past all of the asteroids. "Woo-hoo!" He shouted, flying through a hole in one
of the larger asteroids as he jetted. Finally, he cut back on the throttle and
slowed down, allowing Fox to catch up.
"Be careful," Peppy said, now in front of them. "It's quiet. Too quiet." He flew
over the lip of an asteroid and green laser fire suddenly barraged all around
him. Peppy looped and flew back. "Be careful, it's a trap!" Falco powered his
guns as Andross' fighters came out of the asteroids, blasting all their
supplies.
"Take it to them!" Fox ordered.
Falco locked onto one unfortunate bogey. "Well, well," Falco said. "Looks like
we've got ourselves some bad ass perpetrators," he said, locking on with lasers.
"Locked on and firing," he said, blasting the fighter to shreds, then swerving
to avoid hitting an asteroid. "Scratch one bogey."
"Bogey on my six," Fox replied. "Lost him. I got a bit scorched on that one but
I'm okay," he said, swerving to avoid an asteroid. "Falco, watch it, you've got
one on your tail!"
Falco looked over his shoulder. "I see him," he said. "Let's see how he likes
debris." Falco pressed a button and the garbage disposal threw garbage at the
enemy fighter which swerved right into an asteroid. "Ha, ha," Falco said.
"Nice work," Fox said. "Pep, Slip, how are you holding up, back there?"
Peppy answered first. "Fine," he said.
"Things are really starting to heat up!" Slippy said.
"Quit dinking around, Slip," Peppy said with a chuckle as they all moved into
formation, with Fox on the lead. Fox pressed a button and looked at what was in
front of him.
"Jeez," he said. Fox could see the asteroid where there were two battle
cruisers. He could tell the others wee thinking the same things as him. "Split
up! They're targeting us!" Fox said and banked hard right. "Steer clear of the
asteroid, but blow up any fighters that get to close! Slippy, with me!"
"Roger, Fox," Slippy said, appearing on Fox's wing as the two of them broke
right, Peppy and Falco headed to the left. "Fox," Slippy said. "Sensors indicate
there are more cruisers out there!"
Fox cursed under his breath. "Okay, boys," he said. "Bring up your nova bomb
lock system and blow those cruisers right out of the stars." Fox locked on.
"Seekers," he said. "They'll go around the asteroids. Make sure the seekers are
activated."
There was a chorus of "copies" as they brought up their systems. Fox's finger
hovered over the button until the steady monotonous beeping sounded in his ears.
"Locked on and firing," Fox said and pressed the button. A nova bomb circled
out, avoiding asteroids as it continued towards the target. A brilliant flash
and the ship disappeared, destroyed. Fragments hit Fox's fighter.
"Firing!" Falco said. Everyone checked in and blew star cruisers right out of
the skies. "Fox, I think we got 'em all," he said, looking around.
"Look out!" Slippy shouted. A hail of fighters came roaring in at the four
Arwings.
Fox cried out in dismay. "Fighters coming in!" He shouted and banked hard right,
seeing Slippy follow him. "Slip, stay with me! Our only chance is to lose them!
Falco, do the same! Now!"
"Copy," Falco said in a hurried voice as they all followed Fox through the
asteroids. Fox went up, down, all around to avoid asteroids and fighters. "Fox,
speed up, fast!" Falco said, looking at his scans. "They're gaining!"
"Roger," Fox shouted and punched it up. Everyone else did the same and they were
going at unknown G Factor Forces. Fox maneuvered around asteroids and fighters,
looking through his cockpit canopy occasionally to see the fighters falling
back. "I think we're losing them."
Slippy sagged, but then saw it. "Fox! Star cruiser!" Slippy flipped the switch
and fired two nova bombs, blasting it before it could do anything to Fox.
"Thanks," Fox breathed. "Way to stay heads up."
They finally came out of the asteroid field, and Fox sagged back in his seat,
sweat drenching his fur. He rubbed his eyes and looked ahead of him. There was
Fortuna, sitting there, looking innocent. "Rob, this is Fox," Fox said,
attaching a communications connection to the Great Fox and sighing with relief.
"What's the situation and how long until you're here?"
"We will be there in thirty minutes," Rob64 said. "Start the defense. The base
has been overrun, you must free the prisoners and move in for the kill."
Fox nodded to no one. "Right,"
There was a burst of static that Fox could not understand what Rob64 said next.
"...something...wr...system..." was all that Fox could make out.
"Peppy, what is that?" Fox asked.
Peppy took a moment to respond, and his call was also stitchy, but Fox could
make out every word he said. "Someone's scrambling out communications circuits."
Suddenly, a laser blast blew through space and narrowly missed Fox. "I cannot
allow you to go any further," the voice of a machine said, and it came into
view. Fox gaped. It was huge, bigger then four of Andross' star cruisers, and it
had weapons! God, did it have weapons! "Now you shall die."
"Aim for the energy boxes!" Peppy said.
"What energy boxes?" But Fox realized it as soon as the words were out of his
mouth. There was a laser shooter on the front of the machine, and it showed
energy boxes while it rotated. "Copy," he said and locked on. He blew one up,
but several shots hit the disc. It hummed, glowing green and fired. Fox rolled,
and it barely missed. "That disc absorbs our lasers!"
"Yeah," Falco said grimly.
"Okay," Fox muttered. "Can't miss." He blew up another, and another, and
another, destroying everything before the machine had a chance to return fire.
"You're more cunning then I thought," said the machine. "How about this?" It
fired a tremendous laser, singing one of Fox's wings. "Ha, ha," the machine
laughed and fired again and again, causing Star Fox to scatter. "Ha, ha," the
machine laughed again.
"Shut up!" Fox shouted and fired a nova bomb. He had lost his temper. There was
a tremendous explosion, and the shock waves chorused into the fighters. Fox
struggled for control and saw the others tumbling and trying to stay in command
of their ships. When it died down, several of their systems had been shot. Fox
shook his head.
"Sorry," he said.
Their ships started to power up again and the Great Fox arrived minutes later.
Rob64's voice came on the comm. "Why have you not started your attack, Fox?"
"We had problems," Peppy filled in for him.
"We're starting now. Come on, guys. Fox, you're in the lead." Fox silently
thanked Peppy and dove into the atmosphere of the blue and white planet of
Fortuna.
The ice winds of Fortuna could freeze people in a matter of seconds, and it
would have frozen the Arwing Fighters had they not been so hot. Fox turned on
the heaters to full, despite sweating, to keep warm in this climate.
"Split up and take it to 'em," Fox said.
"Fighters are dispatching from the base, over," he said as the four Arwings
split up. Fox engaged and started firing, letting his lasers rip through them.
Automated defense systems fired at the four fighters as they entered the battle.
Slippy blew one down. "You're dead," Slippy said with a chuckle, then saw
another fighter and took off after it. "Ha! You die now at the hands of Slippy!"
He said and fired. He took off after another. "I've got you, now!" He said and
destroyed the fighter.
"Slip, calm down," Peppy's voice said.
"You're dead meat, pal!" Falco said and destroyed another enemy fighter.
Slippy destroyed another fighter. "Why are ships coming out of the base?"
"A bomb has been planted in the base," Rob64 said as the flag ship of team Star
Fox appeared in the distance. "It will go off in ten minutes."
Fox rolled his eyes. "Jeez," he said. "Can anyone take care of it?"
"I might," Slippy said. "If you can buy me some time, I can get in there and
deactivate it without a problem." He said, blowing another fighter.
Falco swooped in and blew a fighter off of Peppy's tail. "Well," he said. "What
the hell are you waiting for, Slip-up? Get the hell moving and deactivate that
damned thing!" He said, engaging in battle again.
"Right," Slippy said. "I'm going in."
With that, Slippy Toad flew into the base and cut all communications. Fox
McCloud breathed out a sigh of relief and hope as he blew another fighter to
atomic dust. "Clear," he said. "I'm firing a nova bomb."
Falco and Peppy flew away as Fox launched it. The explosion was not as brilliant
as impacting on the fighters, but it was a great explosion nonetheless. Fox
squinted and pulled his shades down.
He swerved and avoided being blasted again. He dropped his garbage disposal and
watched as the fighter spun in confusion and then crash into the side of the
base. "Rob," Fox said, addressing Rob64. "How much longer?"
"Ten minutes," Rob64 replied.
Fox cursed. "Slippy?"
"I'm working on it," Slippy said, a touch of urgency in his voice. Inside the
base, Slippy had his gun and decoder drawn, pouring with sweat as he worked like
mad to dismantle the huge bomb in front of him. Slippy looked up into the barrel
of another gun, realizing with was one of Andross' men who was holding it.
"Freeze, scum," the ape said.
Slippy swallowed, then pressed a button on the bomb and a jet of flame shot out,
hitting the ape in the groin. He fell to the ground, whining in pathetic pain.
Slippy pulled out his gun and shot him. "How nice," he muttered as he went back
to work. "Red, blue, or black?" He held his clippers over one wire, then the
next.
"Um," he muttered. "One potato, two potato..."
Fox swooped down and under one of the wings of the base. He grunted as he pulled
up, avoiding a rock ridge which had come out of nowhere. "Slippy! Hurry it up!"
"Three minutes," Rob64 reported.
Falco swooped towards the base. "Should I help?"
"No!" Fox said. "If that bomb goes off I want as many people out here as
possible when it does! Keep fighting! Slippy, we're not leaving you here!"
"I know!" Slippy shouted into the comm.
Fox looked up in time to see a fighter tumbling towards him. "Oh, shit!" He
swerved left but it knocked off his wing. Fox tumbled, out of control, flying
nowhere. He grimaced and pulled out of the roll, but was listing badly to the
right. "This is Fox, I've lost a wing!"
"Head back to the ship!" Peppy shouted.
"But..." Fox began.
"Now!" Peppy shouted.
Fox shook his head. "I'm not leaving here without Slippy! Never! Hang on,
Slippy, keep working!"
"One minute until detonation!" Rob64 said.
Slippy was pouring now. He closed his eyes and cut the wire. There was a low
rumble and then the bomb shut down. Slippy popped his eyes open and grinned.
"Yes!" He shouted with glee, doing the jig as he danced around. "Fox, get back
to the ship! We've got one deactivated bomb!"
"Way to go, Slip-up!" Falco shouted.
"Freeze!" A voice came from behind him. Slippy stopped and slowly turned to see
three apes standing there, with huge rifles. He doubted any small jet of flame
would work this time. Slippy waited, but pressed a button on his belt. His
ship's lasers turned towards the men. They turned but were blown to pieces.
"Yep," Slippy said. "I'm good."
Fox watched from the entrance to the hangar bay as the others landed. They all
took turns congratulating Slippy as the rescued personnel of the Fortuna Base
were cheering or being taken to Medical. He sighed and walked along the length
of the ship towards the fitness room, but Peppy caught up with him.
"Fox, you could've been killed back there," he said, a hint of anger in his
voice.
"Why didn't you just leave when you had the chance? A wing for a friend? Your
life?"
Fox whirled, angry at Peppy. "It was my life and maybe his," he said angrily,
and Peppy was taken aback. "I was not prepared to leave Slippy there. I was
there to see him through it, and everything worked out just fine."
"Do you really think so, Fox?" Peppy asked.
Fox nodded. "Yes," he said. "Slippy is an expert at these types of situations
and he handled it with all the accuracy of a well trained bomb squad officer. He
did a fine job, and I'd appreciate it, Peppy, if you would get off my back for
what little part I had in it."
"Fox," Peppy said. "You're like a son to me. I don't want to see you get hurt. I
made a promise to myself and James that I would not let harm come to you if he
ever didn't come back. Forgive me for being worried."
With that, Peppy turned on his heel and walked down the hall. Fox thought for a
moment then entered the fitness room and he started doing chin ups, working and
flexing his paws as he did so. He was pouring with sweat by the time he had
finished one hundred.
He continued doing them, feeling the muscles flexing and stretching and getting
bigger in his arms. He reached two hundred and was exhausted. He finally dropped
to the ground and realized an hour had passed. He pressed a button on his
communicator. "Rob, how long until we reach Y?"
"Two days until we reach Sector Y," Rob64 replied.
Fox turned off the comm and decided he would spend the days working out and
getting fit. Basically all he had done for the past few weeks before the Lylat
System War with Andross had surfaced, was training in simulators and taking
tests. Now, he needed to get into physical shape and work on his accuracy and
reflexes.
He started working on sit ups.
On the bridge, the tactical officer, named Pike handed a sheet to Peppy Hare who
read it over. Pike went back to typing at his console at the planned route to
Sector Y. Peppy wasn't really thinking about the report he'd been given, he was
thinking about his earlier talk with Fox. The boy was growing, and he could take
care of himself now, but Peppy didn't want the same thing to happen to him that
had happened to his father.
Fox was in the weight room now, Peppy knew that much. Peppy was trying to learn
as much about the Sector Y as possible, and the route they would take from there
would eventually lead to Venom. Peppy looked at T.O. Pike who was typing at his
console as a 3-D hologram came up in front of him.
"Computer, chart projected course," Pike said and a course went from planet to
sector to nebula to star of the system. "Computer, locate enemy strongholds,"
Pike continued and some of the planets grew medals on them. "Computer, locate
main base enemy strongholds which remain the largest threat."
Several of the planets which had medals started to blink. Sector Z, Area 6,
Venom. Pretty big places. Pike grimaced, his lips curling in what looked like a
snarl. "Things aren't looking good, Sir," he reported. "Andross has pretty much
the whole of Lylat at his whim. It's a good thing we managed to take back
Fortuna and Corneria, or we'd have some major problems, here," he said,
continuing to work.
"Keep me updated, T.O.," Peppy said and took the reports, leaving the room.
"Rob, you're in charge. Alert me if the situation changes." Pike went back to
work as Peppy left the bridge. He nearly ran right into Falco as he left. Falco
nodded and went onto the bridge.

Chapter Two

TWO YEARS EARLIER

Wolf O'Donnel sat at the bar, sipping silently at his drink. Corneria wasn't the
best place to get drinks, but it was on his way. If the Cornerian Army found out
about his mission, he'd probably be captured or killed. Wolf sighed and ordered
another beer.
He was putting up at the Pep's Inn tonight, and would head out tomorrow. The
bartender looked at Wolf quizzically, as if trying to place him from somewhere
before. Wolf's hand slipped under the table and rested on the butt of his gun.
He heard the door open and in stepped a person who he had grown to hate for his
father's mistake.
Sixteen year-old Fox McCloud didn't look very dangerous, especially to a beast
like Wolf O'Donnel who was at the age of thirty-seven, now. His hand was resting
on his gun. Fox didn't know what Wolf looked like, only by reputation. Fox had
two lap dogs with him. A rabbit and a dog. He later found out those two were
Peppy Hare and Bill Gray. Wolf drew his laser out and kept it on his lap,
pushing the drink away. Staying sober would be important in this battle.
"Excuse me," Fox said to the people in the bar. "This building is surrounded by
the Cornerian Police Squad," he said.
Oh, SHIT!
"I would like everyone but Wolf O'Donnel to leave this bar. We know he's here,"
Fox continued. "Please leave in an orderly fashion. Show us your ID for
confirmation.
Wolf made no move to leave the bar and waited until everyone was out. Fox
stepped towards him and Wolf's hand was clenched around his gun. Fox tapped him
on the shoulder and Wolf whirled, hitting Fox across the head with the butt of
his gun. The young McCloud hit the ground hard.
Gray had his gun out and fired twice. Wolf shot the bartender and dove behind
the bar. He could hear the sounds of a radio. Wolf jumped up, firing twice. Gray
fired and missed. The shot hit a glass bottle and a large piece of glass hit
Wolf in the face. He screamed in pain as blood gushed out of his eye. He shot
rapidly, finding the back door and saw his ship. He took off.

PRESENT DAY

Wolf scratched at the patch over where his left eye had been and shifted in his
chair. This wasn't the first time this particular person had called him and his
team, Star Wolf, for a special mission. Wolf hoped it was something that would
make Star Fox look foolish. He wanted nothing more than to kill young McCloud.
Too bad he hadn't been the one to kill his old man. He'd been there, had a lock,
but then some unlucky bastard had fired the shot that sent James McCloud out of
Wolf's sights, and into another fighter. Wolf had killed that insolent pilot,
and had his eyes on James' son, to exact his revenge.
The door opened and several Ape-Guards stepped in, followed by an ape in a
glistening gold uniform. Andross had an aura of evil around him, and he stopped
in front of Wolf and his other pilots. Leon Powalski and Pigma Dengar were
perfectly good pilots, but Andross' nephew, Andrew Oikonny, was a not good
pilot, and only there because Andross was his uncle.
"Well," Andross said. "Commander O'Donnel, I am never unhappy to see you, my
friend," he said.
Wolf nodded. "Likewise," he grumbled.
"As you know," Andross continued. "Star Fox has been causing some difficulties
in my control over Lylat. He has defeated us at Corneria, Meteo, Macbeth and
Fortuna. Right now, they are heading for Sector Y.
"Our best technicians managed to hack their ship's mainframe and project their
course. They will eventually wind up in Area 6, where they will be intercepted
by Caiman and Andy. If they succeed, and I doubt they will even get that far, I
would like you to intercept them at Venom."
Wolf grinned. "I hope they make it," he said. "McCloud belongs to me."
Andross nodded. "Your new ships are far better than their pieces of crap called
"Arwings". We are moving the fleet to intercept Pepper's fleet at Sector Y.
Since Star Fox is heading there, their mission will have a very low survival
probability. So they will most likely be killed, in which case, you get minimum
wage and spots as soldiers in my Air Command for my future rule over Lylat."
"Right," Wolf said. "So how much do we get paid?"
Andross smiled. "For destroying them seventy billion each. For minimum wage,
thirty billion each."
Wolf whistled and a chorus of gasps and whistles went through the group.
"Andross," Wolf said with a lop sided grin. "You've got yourself a deal. When do
we get these new and improved fighters?"
"Right now," Andross said. "Andrew, show them."
Andrew Oikonny opened a door and led them into a large hangar bay, where four,
four winged, hyper laser capability, nova and thermal nuclear bomb capability,
hyper maneuverability, ejection seat which made it seem as if you were still in
the fighter, four of them, were right there.
"Whoa," was all that Wolf could manage to say.
Andross beamed. "Hmm. 'Whoa' is right, Mr. O'Donnel. Enjoy."
Halfway across the galaxy, the Great Fox had finally arrived at Sector Y. Fox
McCloud climbed into his Arwing just a little after the tech boys inside had
started the pre-flight procedures. The other pilots were all strapping in as Fox
did, and Fox put a picture of himself and his dad right above the radar.
"This is Fox," he said. "I am systems go and ready for launch, over," he said,
flipping systems and waiting for his permission to go ahead and get this sappy
mission to escort the fleet to Sector Y.
"You are cleared for launch," said Rob64.
"Launching." Fox hit the accelerators and he was out of there...right into a
hailstorm of laser fire. The fleet, or what was left of it, was vastly
outnumbered by Andross' army. Fox gaped as the few of Pepper's fighters fought,
and were destroyed. Star Fox teamed up on his flanks. "Kill them." Fox growled
and took off into the fray.
General Pepper ducked under the fallen support beam and looked at First Officer
Hellhound. "Sir," Hellhound said. "We've lost the Auxiliary Power and our turbo
batteries are being shot down!"
"Do something," Pepper said. "I'll take the helm."
"Right. Sir, I...aaaaah!" The console in front of Hellhound exploded and the dog
flew back and hit the door, which buckled under his weight. He fell to the
ground, his face burned, and Pepper knew with a sinking feeling that the dog was
dead. He turned to the helm, buried under sparking electronics.
Second Officer Dally grunted as he helped other officers out from under the
wreckage. "Sir! We can't hold out for much longer!"
Puncher Doggy whipped his fighter around and blasted one of Andross' lap dogs.
He saw Pepper's personal cruiser, badly beat up. "Shit," he whispered. "General!
Get the hell out of here! We're outnumbered ten to one, over!"
"This is S.O. Dally," said the voice of Dean Dally. "The General is working the
helm. We are not leaving until we can declare this a safe passage! We are going
to win this war or die trying!"
Puncher shook his head. Suddenly, four fighters he recognized were there,
fighting. "Sir!" He said excitedly. "It's them!"
"Who?" Dally asked.
"Star Fox!"
Pepper felt his heart leap when he heard Commander Puncher Doggy speak those
words. He smiled as he activated the turbo laser batteries and let them rock the
Androssian Forces again. The Great Fox was firing blasts, blowing cruisers to
bits.
Dally grunted. "Sir," he said. "Fighters are concentrating fire on us!"
"Destroy them," Pepper ordered.
Dally shook his head. "Can't," he said. "They've taken out all the aft turbo
lasers and our shields are at twenty percent!" Dally looked up.
"Bring our fusion engines on line and roast them," Pepper said. Within seconds,
the order had been carried out and the threat no longer remained. "Target all
turbo laser batteries on the war cruisers. Star Fox and our ships can handle the
fighters."
"Happy to oblige," Dally said, when suddenly, an explosion rocked the bridge.
The ground opened up beneath them and Pepper clutched the helm, hanging from it.
Dally tumbled out into deep space, and the suction hit him. Pepper gripped on
for dear life as the bridge doors started to close so agonizingly slowly.
Pepper looked at the cables. He grabbed one and hooked it on his belt as the air
started to leave. He pushed off, letting the suction pull him to the door and he
floated through. They closed behind him and Pepper breathed in painful, yet
refreshing air. He looked back. He heard explosions as the ship was attacked,
drifting.
"Secondary Bridge online," he said to Third Officer Rot. "I want all the crew on
the bridge and blasting the shit out of that fleet."
"Yes, Sir," said Rot.
Fox McCloud vaped a fighter and swerved to avoid the wreckage. He was flying
along the top of one of Andross' warships.
"Never give up! Trust your instincts!" Peppy said.
Falco jetted through the area, blowing several fighters to shreds. "Shut up,
Pep," he said. "Just get the damned job done and get it done right. Come on,
bring it on, baby!"
"This is Slippy. I've got some strange readings up ahead after these warships,"
Slippy reported.
Fox saw his comm system beeping on Channel 456. He flicked it. "Rob, that you?"
he asked, blowing a fighter out of his way and dipping below an enemy warship as
he moved again to the other side.
"Fox," General Pepper said. "It's me. You've turned the tide of the battle. We
have the upper hand and they're starting to fall back. Be careful, they have a
secret weapon in front of the nebula...luck...ox...good...luck..." the last of
it was lost in static as the group headed towards the nebula.
Fox cleared his throat. "Boys," he said. "There is only communication between us
four. If something goes wrong, head back for the ship. We've probably got
ourselves another machine here."
"Something's up ahead," Slippy reported. "Looks different."
Falco appeared on Slippy's wing. "They all are, Slip-up," he said. "Every last
one of 'em. I'm switching to all range mode."
"Yeah," Fox said, doing the same. "All range mode engaged."
Suddenly, two small robots launched off a war cruiser. Fox swerved as one of
them fired a plasma cannon, which narrowly avoided him. Fox was tired of being
the one in trouble. He locked on with a nova bomb. "Locked on and firing!"
A brilliant explosion caught the first machine and the second machine blew up by
catching in the debris. It exploded and for a moment, Fox thought that they had
won, but then, the bigger robot appeared. "Don't party just yet," it said in a
slang sort of voice. "It's time ta try our new weapon!"
"Shit," Fox breathed as it came out in front of them. "Lock on with novas and
blow that thing out of space and time, guys!" He said, locking on, but the
machine didn't lock. "Shit! It gives off no heat signature! Try manual
targeting, over!"
"Copy," Peppy said moving in. "Firing!" The shot flew at the robot, but it
raised a shield which was attached to its arm and the bomb detonated, and the
thing was only slightly weakened. "Crap! Nothing happened!"
Slippy spoke up. "Something did," he said. "The shield he has is at forty
percent from that one shot. Fire another and it will not only blow the shield,
but him as well!"
"Dead men tell no tales," the machine said and fired a plasma burst which caught
Slippy's fighter and tumbled it away. "Ha, ha!"
"Slippy!" Fox shouted. "All right! Game over, man!" Fox fired a rapid succession
of nova bombs. They hit, and the explosion was small, a welcome surprise for Fox
as he sagged in his settled back in his chair. "Slip, you okay?"
"Y-yeah," Slippy replied. Hypes have been blown out, shields down, but other
then that, yeah, I'm okay," he said. "He tried vaping me but I wasn't about to
let him do that, guys," he said, trying to sound cheery."I wouldn't let you be
that lucky." They took off in opposite directions, Fox and Slippy to the right,
while Peppy and Falco headed to the left. "Fox," Slippy said. "Sensors indicate
there are more cruisers out there!"
Fox cursed under his breath and turned to face the threats head on. He swallowed
hard as he saw them, the Cornerian Cruisers were coming behind too slow. That
would mean Star Fox was the only line of defense for a few minutes, and four
fighters against an army of cruisers wasn't very nice odds to play with. "Let's
kick their asses," he said and the four of them accelerated.
"Sir," said a commander on the bridge to Admiral Deke Slug. "Sir, the four
fighters are attacking."
"Kill them," Deke said.
"Fire nova bombs!" Peppy shouted into his communicator. "Then break off! The
Cornerian Cruisers can take care of this! Firing novas!" He pressed his paws
down on the trigger. "Now break!" Peppy shouted and they obeyed.
"All wings report," Fox said.
"Let's go home," Falco said, exhausted.
It was a bit later and Falco and Fox had decided to go to the Flight Simulators
when Slippy walked up.
"Hey, Slip-up," Fox said and received a good natured scowl. and the two of them
headed for the flight simulators.
"You know?" Falco asked. "This could be the beginning of a beautiful
friendship," he said with a lop-sided grin. "I'm just grabbing a soda first to
wake up. Want anything?"
Fox paused. "Something sweet," he replied.
Wolf O'Donnel looked out at space from the large cruiser at Area 6 in front of
Venom. He was alone in his quarters, pondering things that could have been, but
never would be, wondering what he might do in the future, and how he would make
McCloud beg for mercy before killing him and getting his money.
The good thing about being a mercenary was that you had no emotional
attachments. Wolf had learned not to have that after grade nine of High. Wolf
had been dumped by his girlfriend who had found someone better. Wolf had been an
exceptional pilot with great skills and dropped out of the local High, applying
for the Academy, but they turned him down. So he became a mercenary, stealing
the money and buying himself a ship. He'd been roughing it ever since, and his
old fighter had become his home. Now he was moving into a new fighter.
"Some day, McCloud," Wolf growled. "Someday soon I'll kill you. Shoot you dead."
Rob64 stood behind one of the main control consoles on the ship. T.O. Pike was
standing behind his station and the bridge crew was thinner then usual. They
would be arriving at Katina in four hours, yet time passed so quickly for Rob64,
and he tapped at the keys on his board.
"Attention," he said into the ship wide comm. "We will be arriving at Katina in
four hours." He disconnected and went back to work, making sure that the four
Arwing Fighters had received upgrades and repairs. Making sure that shields and
weapons on the ship were fixed, that everything was one hundred percent perfect.
T.O. Pike turned. "Rob," he said. "Our course is projected, with the minor
difference of Katina. Afterwards we figure we'll head for Solar."
"The sun?" Rob64 asked, his brain circuits buzzing.
Pike nodded. "Yes. Apparently, Andross has launched one of his Bio weapons there
in the hopes it will destroy the sun and slowly freeze us, since Venom has its
own sun. We figure we should destroy the Bio weapon before that happens. Then,
Aquas, because another has been laid there."
"Oh," Rob64 said. "All right."
Pike didn't turn away. "After that, Sector Z. There was some activity at Sector
X, but it was moved to Z when some of Katina's defense fleet passed through
there in the early stages of their project."
"What was their project?" Rob64 asked.
"Unknown, Rob."
Rob64 nodded, his neck circuits shrunk and grew, letting his head bob. "Get back
to work, T.O."
"Yes, Rob."
General Pepper was having his paw bandaged in the medical chambers of one of the
new Recruit Warships that had come in from Titania. Pepper grimaced as they
patched up wounds everywhere. Doctor Chihuaha for one of the smaller versions of
the dog, was bandaging him.
"Many injuries, Sir," Chihuaha said.
Pepper nodded. "Yes," he said gruffly. "Innocence is the first casualty of war."
"We have arrived at Katina, Peppy," Rob64 reported as Peppy Hare stared out the
observation ports of the Great Fox down at the planet Katina. Even from space,
the explosions on the planet surface could be seen. "It does not look good, but
the field commanders are still there and requesting reinforcements."
Peppy nodded. "Well tell them the reinforcements are here."
Fox flipped a switch and the cockpit came down, sealing him into the fighter as
he engaged the weapons and shields systems. As quick as a cat, his paws danced
over the controls and the start up procedures started to initiate as he looked
at the picture of himself and his father which was just over the radar as a few
technicians were finishing their last minute checks on his fighter.
"This is Fox, I am go for launch, repeat, go for launch, over," he said and
settled himself back into his padded seat.
It took a moment for Tactical Officer Pike to reply. "Roger, Fox. Launch in five
seconds. Good luck."
"Thank you, Pike," he said and gripped the throttle controls as his fighter
blasted out into space, quickly followed by the rest of the Star Fox team. Falco
quickly appeared on Fox's wing as they blasted in towards the surface. Fox
started barking orders. "Falco, you stick with me, Slip, your with Peppy. I want
you guys to split up and take it to 'em hard and fast."
"...calling Star Fox, Katina calling Star Fox! Do you read, over?"
Fox flipped the comm switch. "This is Fox McCloud of the Star Fox team, we read
you loud and clear over. We're coming in and are ready to kick some serious
Andross-Ass, here!"
"Fox!?" A sort of punkish voice came over the comm which Fox immediately
recognized as the voice of Bill Gray. "How's the world been treating you!?"
Fox sighed. "You, Bill, are the highlight of my day." He flicked a switch and
the visual came on and he saw the battle, confirming what his radar had told
him. "And, it looks like you are in some very big trouble."
"Yeah," Bill said. "Can you help us out?"
Fox grinned. "As ordered," he said and punched the boosters and shot into the
battle, Falco on his wing as ordered. "Okay, Falco, listen up. I want you to
split off and help any fighters in trouble, I'll grab the stragglers."
"Copy," Falco said and broke off.
Fox came in behind a fighter, it must have been remote controlled, because Fox
had no trouble locking on and firing. "Scratch one bogey," he said and turned,
finding another, a cluster of twelve fighters were approaching. He switched to
nova bomb locking systems, locked, and fired. He turned without watching, but
the bright flash which lit up his sensors told him all he needed to know.
"Twelve more down."
Bill's ship appeared on Fox's wing. "We've got a little bit of time," he said.
"We've got standard two by two formations coming in from the three. Can you take
'em?"
"Can I?" Fox kept the nova bomb system up. "Stay back, Bill. These poor bastards
are mine." He fired the bomb and it flew across the landscape and collided with
the enemy squadron, creating a series of secondary explosions. "Bill, help out
your guys."
Fox cast a glance to his sensors as Bill moved in to help Falco save his
friends. The radar showed all the small blips which represented fighters. He
squinted as something big started to appear in the corner. Something huge...
"Bill," Fox said. "Get one of your units to cover the base."
Bill didn't ask. "Bulldog Unit, don't let anything through. Husky Unit, cover
the base, over," he said. "What's up, Fox?" he asked.
"We've got something about ten times bigger then a battle cruiser coming at us,
Bill," Fox reported. "And it looks pretty damned big."
Bill grunted. "My radar isn't picking up anything, but I'm reading massive power
fluxes," he replied. "I'm coming to your position."
"Oh, boy," Fox whispered.
A tremendous explosion rocked the landscape and cracked Fox's cockpit canopy as
he flew out of his seat so fast that his safety harness snapped. He crashed into
his cockpit canopy, his knee hitting the throttle and jamming his Arwing into a
nose dive. The G-Force drove him back hard into his seat, and he could feel the
blood running down his face. He reached for the controls but they sparked and
burned his paw. He yipped in pain and looked around.
"...ox! Fox! Pull...out, pull out! Pull..." He could just make out Bill's voice
through the static of the comm. Fox's hand was sore but he reached for the
throttle with trembling paws. He kept reaching as his altitude monitor clicked
down by the hundreds. Three hundred, two hundred...
Fox got the throttle and pulled up hard. He was pushed back into his seat as he
scraped along the rocks and pebbles on the ground as he pulled back into a steep
rise. He gasped as the pressure on him was relieved and he could grip the
controls again.
Suddenly, an alarm went off and Fox looked. One of his wings was gone and fuel
was leaking out right into the laser battery. "Oh, shit!" He shouted and started
to shut it down.
Then, the entire side exploded, and the right side of the cockpit exploded and
Fox's seat tumbled out. He fell away from his fighter, flying towards the
ground. "My parachute is gone!" He shouted to his head mike as it dangled from
his mouth. He sagged, letting himself fall, when Bill's fighter appeared,
falling at the same speed as himself. Bill grinned from inside.
"Hey, Fox," Bill said. "I'm here to catch the third out of the last inning of
the game. Gray is chasing the ball, he gets under it..." Fox smoothly touched
onto Bill's fighter and it slowed until it hovered and Fox hopped off onto the
ground. "And Gray makes the catch! He wins the World Cup and everybody loves
him! Yay!" He said with a grin as he hit the accelerators and they blasted
through space then charge up and blast towards the planet at a velocity that was
hardly imaginable. A velocity or speed that was so powerful that checked in and
blew star cruisers right out of the skies. "Fox, I think we got 'em all," he
said, looking around.
"Look out!" came the voice of Slippy Toad over the comm, shouting at one of the
pilots. "Fox, where are you?"
"I'm hot," Fox replied. "Launching."
Fox was not quite comfortable in the newer Arwing. The seat was more
comfortable, the controls, weapons, shields and maneuverability than the ones
used by the others, but that made Fox feel weird, for some reason. "This is
Fox," he said. "I have visual on the mothership. It's slowing down...parking its
ass over the base."
The mothership stopped right over top of the Katina Base. Fox watched,
spellbound, as four hangar bays opened on the mothership and hundreds of
fighters started pouring out of the underside of the ship.
"Looks like we've got company," Falco said over the comm.
Bill yelped. "Holy, mother of God...we are vastly outnumbered! Split up and
fight! Fox, do you have any other fighters or ships around!? We need some
serious help! Major, right now!"
Fox nodded to no one in particular and hit the comm. "Rob, we need you to bring
in the Fox right now! We are getting our asses kicked big time down here! We
need some serious help!"
"That will endanger the ship," Rob64 reported.
Fox rolled his eyes. "I don't give a damn! Bring her the hell in, because we're
gonna die some time, but for now, our graves are gonna stay empty! Get the hell
in here, right now, Rob, or your mechanical butt is heading for the microwave on
that ship when I get back! You hear me you stupid, mechanical piece of crap!"
"Yes, Sir," Rob64 replied.
Fox flipped off the connection and opened a connection to Bill and all the other
fighters. "All right, guys, listen up," he said and moved his fighter into
formation with the rest of his fighters. "Rob is bringing the Great Fox in to
give us a hand here."
"The Great Fox?" A pilot asked.
Fox smiled. "Yes," he said. "But they aren't going to arrive for five minutes,
so until then, paint your targets and engage. Take it to them!"
T.O. Pike sat at the controls and maneuvered the great ship through the
atmosphere of Katina. "Sir," he said to Rob64 and turned in his seat. "ETA in
three minutes."
Fox banked hard around a blast and came back onto his original course. "All
right," he said. "Firing a nova at the mothership!" He fired. It suddenly
stopped as a fighter got in the way. "Well, shit," Fox said.
Bill Gray blasted a fighter out of the skies and opened a connection to Fox.
"How're we doing, Fox?" He asked. "Please give me some good news because nothing
over here is looking very good!"
"I know," Fox replied. "It's the same over here. We've got the ship coming in
for ETA in two minutes now."
"Thank you God!" Bill shouted and blew up another fighter. "We've got a lot of
stuff to do here, and I don't like this queen mother ass blowing my home to
pieces! Not now and not ever!"
Fox coughed over the comm. "Don't worry," he said. "I don't think we're going to
have that problem...Slippy! Behind you! Watch out!"
Slippy looked back and started to bank but too late. The nova bomb exploded in
his engine fusion and the back of his sent blew into his back. The breath was
punched out of him and he was thrown through the glass of his cockpit, hurled to
the barren world below. He tumbled through the air, unconscious, as medical
crews moved to the ground to take the wounded, Slippy landed in a cloud of dust,
and they loaded him onto a cart, wheeling him away...
"Slippy!" Fox screamed at the top of his lungs as he watched in horror, the rest
of his fighter crumbling to the ground in atomic dust. He could feel the tears
running down his face as he looked away. "Somebody tell me he made it!
Somebody!"
No one answered.
Fox turned his fighter towards the mother ship. "You're going to die," he
croaked. "It's just a question of when." A monotonous sound of the nova bomb
lock beeped loud in his ear. "Firing." Fox expended all ten of his nova bombs
and then went at it, before they impacted, with his hyper lasers. A great flash
appeared and was immediately followed by the sound of the explosion. Falco and
Peppy did the same, and more flashes, then, a rain of bombs and fire from all
the fighters, nukes dropping down as the Great Fox arrived overhead, firing all
their weapons at the great ship.
Finally, it crumbled. The mothership tipped, one side facing the ground, the
other defiantly towards space, and even though the engines fired, it still fell,
towards the ground, and came to rest with a huge explosion, right beside the
Katina Base.
Slippy was having trouble breathing as they moved him into the E.R. He looked at
the faces of the doctors, who were mostly dogs. He could feel the sharp pains in
his back, and fell unconscious again.

Chapter Three

Bill Gray watched as the clean up crews cleaned up what was left of the battle
which had taken place on Katina. He felt sorry for Fox, Falco and Peppy, because
one of their best friends was in critical condition, floating in a healing tank
to repair his wounds. He had been hurt badly. A broken spine, broken legs,
concussion...it would take about five days in the tube, but Slippy wouldn't be
flying for a little while after. Maybe three weeks. Bill had let Fox and the
others put up here for the five days Slippy would be there. He was conscious
now, floating in the tank, and already talking into his mouthpiece and
describing his heroic experience to his friends.
He didn't need to know that the war would continue. He just wanted nothing more
then to help Fox. He had turned down the ability to help Fox once before, the
chance to become a member of Star Fox, the most celebrated flying group in the
galaxy, because he had taken the opportunity to become a member of the Planetary
Defense Corps, and he had been assigned to Katina three years ago, and hadn't
left since. He sighed and turned on his heel, walking back into the base in
search of Fox to offer his assistance.
Fox watched Slippy bobbing in the tube, floating. He was asleep now, and the
team was putting up here for a few days, or at least that's what Bill had
offered, but Fox knew it wasn't acceptable. Andross could take over all of the
Lylat System in those few days, and the team had to continue striking, with or
without Slippy.
He sighed, looking at his friend, floating lifelessly in the tube as the door
opened and Bill Gray stepped in. Fox knew what the dog was going to say even
before Bill was at his side, talking to him. "Fox, I want to help."
"I know," was all Fox said before turning to Bill. "But I can't. I'm not risking
any more friends then I am now, and Bill, no matter how much I'd like you to be
there at my side, I can't endanger you too. You're needed here."
The next day, they headed out. Despite Bill's protests, Fox refused to let him
go along, refusing to risk another life. Slippy's tube was shifted to the Great
Fox along with some of Katina's medical staff as Fox climbed into his fighter.
Fox exhaled deeply as Bill approached.
"So, where are you off to now?" Bill asked.
Fox shrugged. "Wherever Pepper orders us. We take our orders from him right now,
but we're probably going to go to Solar. There's some weird Bio Activity. I'll
see you around," Fox said, and closed the canopy before Bill could ask to come
along again.
Falco Lombardi watched their ship take off and engaged his Arwing Fighter's
systems. He blasted off, taking in the turbulence as he broke atmosphere and
flew into space. Fox had said something about Solar, so that's where Falco
plotted his course.
"This is Falco," he said. "I've got a course for Solar set in. Are we sure we're
going to do this, Fox?" he asked, looking at Fox's fighter.
"Yes," Fox said. "Engage the hyper drive."
Solar was a burning hot star, hotter then the sun of Corneria, at least eleven
thousand degrees on the surface, and the three Arwing Fighters roared in towards
it. Fox was zooming in when a long range comm was activated. He flipped a switch
and the face of General Pepper came on the screen, static was making the
transmission sparking, but Pepper was there, nonetheless.
"General?" Fox asked.
"That place is an oven," Pepper said. "What are you doing?"
Fox sighed. "There's Bio Activity here. If they harness the sun's power, then
they will be impossible to stop, General. It's my call, and I've just made it."
Pepper gritted his teeth and growled noticeably. "All right," he said. "Just
come back in one piece, McCloud. Don't play the hero. Pepper, out."
The three fighters zoomed in, out of the sensor range, and Slippy watched from
inside the tube, watching as his friends went off on another suicide mission.
Slippy sighed into his mask and watched through the visor which protected his
eyes from the water. He coughed as the water seeped into his back, melding his
bones back together.
"It's really hot in here," Falco said over the comm and Fox grunted as he stayed
well clear of the sun's surface. He could feel sweat running down his face.
Suddenly, rings of fire were jumping at them, trying to catch them and bring
them down. "Take evasive action!"
Fox swerved from side to side, avoiding fireballs. They were out of
communications range, and Fox narrowly avoided another blast. "Stay on target,"
he whispered and engaged his lock system. "It's getting close. Stay tight
and..."
"Oh, SHIT!" Falco shouted. "Fox! Move it! MOVE!"
Fox looked at his radar just as the sun creatures burst out of the lava beneath
and came at him. He cursed and dove, closer then he should have as the things
scorched the bottom of his ship. He was inches from the surface, the screams of
his friends shouting at him to pull out, the heat was baking him, his shields
running down, his alarms screaming in his ears, his throttle shaking in his
hands and he was roasting. He tried to pull up but the throttle would not
respond. Fox could see the wall of fire coming at him. He tried to swing left or
right, then realized one of the fire creatures was jammed in his rudder
controls. Fox tired brakes and boosters but it stayed lodged in there.
Fox heard rather then saw Falco roaring in, he came in right beside Fox. "Okay,
bud," Falco said. "I'm just gonna bump you off here, and remember, you owe me
the next beer, boy," he said and hit the side of Fox's fighter, sending Fox
careening up and away. Falco fired a precise shot and the lava creature in Fox's
rudder was gone.
"Thank you, Falco," Fox said, barely able to believe what had just happened.
Peppy came in beside Fox. "You okay?"
"Yeah...enemy lava squadrons are coming in!"
The creatures screamed and shrieked as they flapped their wings, coming at the
three fighters. Fox started locking on and firing, gritting his teeth and
blasting the creatures out of existence. "Die you sucker."
"Bogey on my six," Falco said. "Thanks, Peppy." He concluded as Peppy destroyed
the bogey. Fox swerved around a tsunami of fire as he looked down to see
thousands of the creatures roaring up. "Dropping a nova bomb," Falco said and
they were all engulfed in the fire from Falco's bomb. Fox looked forward,
painting targets with lasers as he flew across Solar.
"I've got something," Peppy said. "It's right below us!"
Fox was already jetting up, but not before the Bio Weapon came out of the lava
below. Fox swallowed hard as it looked at them, swinging its huge arms into the
lava, creating jets of fire which sprang out at them. Falco rolled hard, barely
avoiding the jet of deadly flame. "What the hell is that thing?" Fox shouted.
"It's the Bio Weapon!" Falco reported.
Peppy was nearly torched and flew hard and fast to the right. "Take evasive
action!"
"Move out fast!" Fox shouted and tried to lock on with a nova bomb. Then lasers,
but nothing happened. They wouldn't lock. "It must not be able to lock, because
I can't lock on!" He said. "I'm firing in its rough vicinity!"
Bill Gray's voice suddenly came over the comm. "Better make it all over this
vicinity, Fox, because this thing will kick your sorry little butt!"
"Bill! What the hell are you doing here!?"
Bill chuckled. "Here to give you a hand, McCloud. Don't get too excited, now
fire that bomb or we're all going to get in bed with the devil, and he's
supposed to be a pretty nasty guy, so I'm not all that hot on it."
"Firing," Fox said and fired the bomb. The Bio Weapon swung at it and hit it,
which blew off its other arm and it screamed, a high pitched, horrible sound
which Fox tried to cover his ears from. "Only minimal damage, so far," he
reported and it seemed to swallow, but then it spewed flames and rocks at the
group of fighters. "Scatter!" Fox shouted.
Peppy banked hard right and rolled up and away, firing several laser blasts into
the thing's head. "No damage on the head, it has some kind of armor against
lasers. Novas are our best bet."
"Affirmative," Fox said, and engaged his torpedo system. "Firing!" He launched a
bomb and it flew straight at the thing but it moved and it was hit in the chest,
which did hardly any damage which gave a small leak in lava-like blood. "My
god..." Fox said. "That hardly did anything!"
Falco zoomed in. "Hold on, I've got something here. Firing!" He fired a bomb and
the creature was just rearing its head back to spit again, and the bomb went in.
It swallowed and shook, its armor blowing outward and its head exploded, it
started to collapse to the lava, the corpse would create a huge wave of lava.
"Pull up! Get away from Solar!" Falco shouted and blasted upwards.
"Everyone move!" Peppy, Falco, Fox and Bill zoomed away from Solar as a giant
wave lept from the planet, falling just short of the Great Fox as it avoided the
blast by inches. Inside, Slippy was still recovering as Fox turned back towards
it.
"Rob, this is Fox, we've got Bill along with us for the ride, over. What's our
next destination?"
Rob64 took only a second to answer. "General Pepper has not sent his orders yet,
but apparently, they are stuck at Sector X, so naturally, I think they'll want
us to help them. Please come back to the ship for the trip to light speed.
Welcome aboard, Commander Gray."
"Thanks, dude," Bill said.
Fox shook his head. "I can't believe you did that. I can't believe you
disregarded my orders, you idiot."
"Hey," Bill said. "You needed the help, whether you liked it or not. I'm coming
with you to X, and I'm helping for the rest of the way."
"Fine," Fox said. "But I'm not going to be held responsible..."
"I know, Fox," Bill said. "My life is in my own hands. I'll take care of it."
Wolf O'Donnel looked at the fleet that was assembling in the place in Venom's
orbit called Area 6, as Andross' battle cruiser flew towards Venom. The defense
systems were huge, it was a tremendous army, but Wolf selfishly hoped that it
was destroyed and McCloud would reach Venom so Wolf could destroy him.
"This is good," Commander Caiman of the Area 6 Defender Unit. "I'm going to my
fighter. I'll alert you and Colonel Andy if they arrive."
"When they arrive," Wolf corrected. "Don't underestimate them. They've done well
so far. Even destroyed our weapon at Solar, so don't think a pathetic little
fleet will stop them. Try multiplying this by five, then you'll have a force
which might be capable of bringing them down."
Caiman swallowed. "I'll try, Sir."
"Don't try. Do it."
It was a rare time where Fox felt relaxed as he swam laps around the ship's
swimming pool. He had finished his weight lifting and fitness for the morning
and was spending some time swimming.
He was going to use the simulator next, and then would go up to the bridge to
get the stats on what was happening with the situation in Sector X, where the
fleet was assembled and waiting for them to be the inspection team for them.
Fox let the water slip over his fur, cooling him down as he swam on, his muscles
aching for rest as he continued relentlessly on. He had started swimming at the
age of eight, and had specifically requested that the Great Fox have a swimming
pool put in. Fox remembered suddenly, something completely off the topic, a day
which was about five years ago, when he was still in the Cornerian Flight
Academy, still the best, rivaled only by his father, pilot in the Lylat System.
Fox sighed as he remembered that day...
Fox brought up his targeting system as the simulator hatch closed over his head.
His flight group was tightly snugged in all around him. It was at least a few
years before Slippy or Falco came along, and Peppy was only an instructor, but
his wingmates were good all the same. Fara Phoenix, his girlfriend, was an
excellent pilot, and Fox really, really liked her. Bill Gray, his best friend,
was an exceptional pilot whose skills rivaled Fox's own.
A friend who had died only a year after graduation serving in the war at Sector
Z, was Jeff O'Neil. Jeff was a dog who was an exceptionally good pilot who had
it all; wits, brains and cunning. Jeff had been an almost obvious pick for
joining the Cornerian Air Defense Corps.
Now, they were going into battle against some of the top instructors in the
business. Peppy Hare, the legendary Johnny Cash, Jimmy Dalmation and Petey
White, a rabbit, like Peppy. They were leading an attack force against Fox and
his wing team. Flight 4 was Fox's command, and his crew was ready and prepped
for battle.
"Flight Leader, standing by," Fox said.
"Flight Two, standing by," Jeff said.
"Flight Three, standing by," Bill answered in his punkish west side accent.
"Flight Four, standing by," Fara chimed in.
Fox flicked a switch and exhaled deeply. Then gave the order for them to follow
his lead. "All range mode," he said as they approached the field where to the
two Flights would intersect and engage in battle. Fox cut back on his speed and
engaged the radar system, seeing the group of bogies coming at them fast.
"Charge your hyper lasers," Fox said.
Jeff, Bill and Fara fell into perfect flank formation around Fox and the flight
moved up to engage. "All right," Jeff said. "Let's get some. I'm engaging."
Fox watched as they broke formation and attacked. Fox hadn't known then that
this would be the day where not only was he proved to be one of the bests pilots
ever, but the exact year before his father died at the hands of Andross. Fox
engaged his locking program and found what he thought was Peppy, but turned out
to be Petey.
"Nice try, kid," Petey said and banked hard right, but Fox stayed with him. "You
gonna hover back there all day, kid?" Petey asked, an edge of irritation
creeping into his voice as he banked, rolled, cut, accelerated, yet all the
time, Fox stayed with him. "God damn you, kid." Petey finally said as Fox
launched the nova bomb and his fighter exploded, ending the simulation for Petey
White.
"Fox, this is Jeff," Jeff O'Neil said. "They got Fara and one of 'em's on Bill
really tight." Fox saw Bill, and saw that his shield gauge was down heavily. "Oh
boy," he whispered and the shot was fired. Bill was down and out. "Three on two,
Jeff. Can you dig it?" he asked as Jeff came onto his wing.
"No problemo," he replied. "Engaged!"
Fox took Peppy, while Jeff took Jimmy. Johnny Cash was still in the open, flying
around. Fox concentrated on his target as Peppy tried his best to outsmart Fox,
but it was no use. The monotone of a lock sounded in Fox's ears. "Firing," he
said and Peppy was gone from the simulation. "Jeff, how ya doing?"
"I got Jimmy, but Cash is on me like...God, I don't know!"
Fox zoomed in as Cash tried his best to wipe out Jeff O'Neil, who was doing a
fine job of evading his fire, but Fox could tell from earlier simulations that
Jeff couldn't keep it up, and Fox had never predicted it would some day be
Jeff's downfall in the battle for Sector Z.
Cash fired a shot and singed off Jeff's wing and his fighter tumbled away. Cash
moved...right into Fox's targeting range. "Firing!" Fox said and Cash's fighter
exploded. "Whoo! Splotch four!" He shouted and saw Jeff's fighter limp up beside
him.
"Game over," came the computer voice of the simulation and the cockpit opened,
revealing many clapping figures, applauding him as Fox looked around. Bill
climbed up the side and gave Fox a noogie, while Fara pulled him down into a
bear hug and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. Jeff ran up from his fighter and
whooped, high fiving Fox and cheering with the others as General Pepper entered
the room.
Fox had never seen the General come down from his office for a mere simulation,
but Fox had never done so well, and had recorded the highest mark in history
aside from his own father's in the simulator test. James McCloud had been off at
home, repairing some pipes in the kitchen and Peppy had come to the flight
academy, but Fox had never felt prouder as General Pepper, THE General Pepper,
congratulated him personally on his simulator run.
Fox had spent the entire night out with Fara, Bill and Jeff. Fara had kissed Fox
longer then ever that night and whispered some ideas for the future which Fox
would have found interesting...if his father had not died in the ensuing year.
Bill and Jeff just spent most of the time drinking and congratulating Fox.
The next day, Fox had gone home and found his father had read it in the papers
and received many phone calls saying what a great pilot Fox was. James had
looked up and his face had filled with happiness and pride as Fox strode in.
James had stood up and given Fox a hug.
"I heard the news," James said. "I'm really, really proud of you, son." He said.
"God knows I'm proud of you. Everyone should know. You keep that up. Peppy told
me all about it, even I had trouble shooting him down, but you wiped him out."
Fox nodded. "I lost Bill and Fara in the sim, though," he said.
James smiled. "Hey, there's gonna be others where you'll probably be even better
and all of you will come out of that with a splotch on each of your fighters for
vaping some bad guys."
Fox had remembered James' words. Practice makes perfect, was their motto.
Now, Fox looked back on that day and decided the simulator was not a good idea.
He exited and stood there, thinking about past events that had been like that.
And other things. Jeff's laughter, James' pride, Bill's contempt, Fara's kiss...
All memories, now. Bill was here, right. James and Jeff were dead, and
Fara...well, she was still in the academy, working as an Assistant Instructor.
Fox hadn't broken up with her, but when his father had died, he'd basically
severed all contact. He still saw Fara occasionally, but not much anymore.
He stopped thinking about the past and decided to go get some well deserved
rest. The others were probably playing poker, Slippy had just gotten out of the
tank and thought he was getting luckier, so he'd been dumb enough to join in
when Fox had left. Even Bill had made a rare appearance at playing poker, and
Fox wondered if they were still playing. Peppy was probably the only one who was
still wide awake, making sure that if they were tired or anything like that,
they got the rest that they deserved.
Fox entered the combination into his door and stepped in to see them all wide
awake and playing, Falco with his mean looking poker face slapped on. They
greeted Fox, and Bill offered him a seat, but Fox picked up his "Arwing Arial
Combat" book and sat in his bed and started to read.
At the exact same time, Wolf was instructing a class of pilots using the exact
same book to tell them what Star Fox's attack patterns would be like. Even
Commander Caiman and Fleet Commander Andy were attending was Wolf gave the
lecture. His team was around, checking things out that Andross had promised
them. Pigma was busy counting up his money toll as usual. The greedy pig was
probably thinking of all kinds of way to blow it. Leon Powalski, however, was
probably doing the same thing. Planning how to put it in his account and save it
for the future, and act as cool as usual, because Leon, the chameleon, was
exactly like that. Cool and calm in even the most extreme situations. Andrew
Oikonny would be getting more than most of them because Andross was his uncle,
and he was a spoiled brat with almost no flying abilities at all, they would all
be having dinner in a moment to discuss the new command chain. Wolf had made the
decision of command: himself, Leon, Pigma, then the brat, Andrew. Of course the
greedy monkey would probably start bitching at him because he thought he was
better then all of them, but Wolf's arguments were practiced and valid.
He handed out a copy of the weak spots of Arwing fighters to the pilots of the
ships in the Area 6 defense zone which would be set up as a perimeter. Wolf
sighed as everyone filed out. He looked out the thick window at the fleets
setting up in front of Venom, preparing for the war which would be probably days
from now. Even with the vast size, which was growing by the hundreds every day,
and being set up into lines, Wolf had to wonder, if it would really stand a
chance against McCloud and his lap dogs. The boy was really a good pilot, not as
good as Wolf, or at least he thought that way, but he was good, good enough
probably to get through this fleet in only hours.
He moved towards the dinner room, where everyone was already sitting, Andrew
pointing out what he wanted. The most fancy, exquisite food in the galaxy. Pigma
was making a mess of the appetizers, tearing through them all, while Leon
patiently went through his files, one of them was a copy of what Wolf had handed
out in the class.
"All right," Wolf said in his slick voice. "I've made the command chain, here. I
want no arguments at all," he said, eyeing Andrew, who was already beaming,
thinking that he would be second-in-command, but Wolf had a very, very big
surprise for him. "The command will go as this; myself in command. Leon will be
next," he could see Andrew's jaw drop and his eyes flame with anger but
continued. "Pigma, then Andrew. Those are my decisions based on battle
simulations and previous situations," he concluded. "What have we ordered?" he
asked the main waiter.
Andrew was on his feet in a flash, but tripped on the carpet and fell flat on
his back. Wolf kept a cool composure as Pigma squealed in delight. Leon didn't
even look up, but the waiter was noticeably shocked as Andrew clambered back to
his feet and walked over to Wolf and pointed down at him. "What the hell are you
talking about!?" Andrew asked, fuming with anger.
Wolf decided to play a little. "What ever do you mean?"
"Don't play dumb, O'Donnel! I know exactly what your little game is! I know it!
You know I'm a better pilot then all of you! I get the second in command
position! If you weren't in command, I would have your spot!"
Now Wolf was angered. He stood on his feet, a full three feet taller then Andrew
who started to cower. "I made a command decision. You are not a good pilot.
Never have been, never will be," he saw the anger this provoked. "Leon and Pigma
are ten times the pilot you are, and no matter how much money or fame in
Andross' minions you have, as long as you are in my command, you will follow my
orders!" Andrew was angry again.
"But Andross is my uncle!"
Wolf was fuming now. He reared his paw back and slammed his fist into Andrew's
big nose. The ape flew back a few feet and was on the floor. He walked up to him
and kicked him hard in the stomach. "But Andross is my uncle! But what!? As long
as you are in my command, then you will obey my orders! Andross is your uncle,
so what!? Huh?"
Andrew clambered to his feet and swung a weak fist at Wolf which he dodged and
parried with a blow to the back of the neck.
Andross watched on the camera as Wolf and Andrew fought. While a more sane
person would have acted on his own nephew's behalf, Andross was not like most.
Wolf had a very accurate way of getting his minions to follow his orders, but
Andross had to intervene. He picked up with his security guards and headed for
the room.
Wolf side kicked Andrew in the head, as the ape bled from several different
wounds. There was one thing that was good about the ape; his intensity was good,
but his picking opponents was awful. He swung at Wolf and, to the great delight
of Pigma, Wolf kicked Andrew in the groin, who whined and crumpled to the
ground. Wolf then brought his foot down on Andrew's head and started to drive it
into the carpet when, from the doorway, came a very, very loud and booming voice
which made Wolf's blood run cold.
"Cease!" The voice of Andross shouted through the room. Wolf whirled to see
Andross standing there in the doorway, flanked by security as medics helped
Andrew to his feet, who was still snarling. Only now did Leon look up casually
at Andross as Pigma started shuffling nervously. Andrew was dragged away, and
Andross stepped into the room. "Very interesting, Commander," he said. "Beating
up my nephew like that was amusing."
Wolf lifted his chin. "It was necessary that he followed my orders, Sir."
"Yes, I know," Andross said. "Andrew is sort of a spoiled brat, isn't he?" He
looked very amused, his few strands of white hair covering bits and pieces of
his balding head. He sighed and looked at Wolf. "I wonder, Wolf," he said.
"Would you be able to train my soldiers to beat up dummies like that?"
Wolf snarled. "I can beat up anyone, Sir," he said. Leon didn't look up to see
Andross' expression.
"Really? Even myself?"
"I'm not sure," Wolf replied.
"Then we don't know, now do we, Commander O'Donnel?" Andross said with another
smile and left the room. Leon finally looked up as his dinner arrived and he
sighed with contempt as a very strange dish was placed in front of him.
Wolf shook his head. "The guy creeps me out."
Fox McCloud sat up in his bed the next morning, seeing everyone else was asleep
in their beds as he was the only one awake. They would be arriving at Sector X
in the afternoon, around three p.m. as Fox sat up in bed and pressed his food
simulator, ordering a coffee.
Wolf O'Donnel was looking at sensor panels and readouts. He was giving orders to
Caiman and Andy of their placement of the fleet. Wolf pointed out the spot where
Caiman's flight would be patrolling.
"You'll be there, just at the outer ring of the perimeter with your squadron in
front of the first line. Andy, you'll be at the back where the weapon is."
Caiman and Andy nodded and went to it. Star Fox wasn't even past Sector X, and
if they were clearing every planet before they came here, then they had a very
easy chance of getting everything they had into the fight at Area 6, if they
even got past the ambush that was not only waiting for them at Sector X, but
after that, after Titania, Macbeth, Aquas and Zoness, they would go to Sector Z,
where another part of the fleet would be deployed along with six C-Bombs.
C-Bombs were Andross' invention, and they held the nuclear power of a million
atomic bombs, and that would put a dent in the precious hull of Great Fox. That
would give them something to think about while they were de-atomized into the
ions that they were built out of.
Wolf was still angered from his encounter with both Andrew Oikonny and Lord
Andross. Andrew was a spoiled brat, everyone knew, even Andross. But Andross
himself was pretty spoiled, getting everything he wanted. Wolf had to live with
it, though, if he wanted his money, which he didn't want as bad as Pigma.
Andy would be working pretty hard keeping his soldiers in check, and he would be
too far away to kick their asses as Wolf had done to Andrew when he had been
charged with insubordination. Andrew would probably be back soon, and with
revenge and something to prove on his mind, he would be more intense then ever,
which was good. Wolf liked to have intensity in his pilots.
Caiman was just assembling his flight group as Wolf looked on at the fleet
assembled in front of him. Commander Caiman was an experienced pilot who Wolf
would have wanted in Star Wolf alongside him, Leon and Pigma, instead of Andrew.
But, as usual, Wolf didn't have a choice in the matter as he watched them get
into their strange, disc shaped fighters with mounted cockpits and lasers on the
side.
Wolf had another plan besides Area 6 and Venom. He had sent a team to Titania,
where he knew Fox would be stopping, especially with the little surprise that he
had waiting for the Cornerian Fleet at the edge of the nebula. Fox would not
know who had set up the brilliant trap, but when he reached Venom, Wolf was sure
now that he would, he would know.
The new fighters Andross had supplied Star Wolf were very good indeed, and far
better then Star Fox's pathetic Arwing Fighters. Wolf's new Kaywing Fighters
were going to kick some serious ass when it came time to fight for Venom and
Andross' personal protection when Star Fox arrived and was ready to come and
fight.
The Kaywing was in a K shaped design, a very odd design, but good, nonetheless.
The maneuverability was spectacular, the shield gauges were higher then any
other recorded fighter, the weapons systems were beautiful and everything was
smooth. Wolf had gone out in his Kaywing to patrol Area 6 just the other day and
had seen Caiman and his flight team making their normal routes as he flew by.
The Kaywing handled nicely, especially in ZeroG, where there was nothing to hold
you down. Wolf grinned at the idea of the spectacle of watching Fox's fighter go
down in flames as Star Wolf emerged victorious...
...he was snapped out of his day dreams as the door behind him opened and he
turned to see Leon Powalski, Pigma Dengar, and Andrew Oikonny there. Andrew had
been patched up, but Wolf wouldn't hesitate to pummel him again when given the
chance.
"What is it?" Wolf asked.
Leon spoke, in his calm voice. "Andross has said to go down, in disguise, with a
SWAT Team to Titania. We're going to try and figure out a way to lure Star Fox
to the planet surface, and by golly, that happens to be one of my surface
specialties."
Wolf nodded. "Pigma, prep the ships. Leon, get me readouts. Andrew, chart us a
course, I want stats by 0600 tomorrow, we leave at 0930. Move out, people," he
said and they all turned to leave as Wolf flicked on his personal comm
connection to Andross and the ape's face appeared on the screen.
"What is it, Commander O'Donnel?" Andross asked in an irritated tone of voice as
Wolf straightened and looked at the ape.
"Sir, we are going to Titania at 0930 tomorrow morning, and everything is going
according to plan. Re route any remaining forces from Katina, Sector Y, Corneria
and Solar to Area 6, Sector Z and Sector X plus Titania, give or take. I want
your best SWAT Soldiers on the ground on Titania for the ambush on Star Fox."
Andross nodded. "It will be done," he said. "Now, I trust you can handle the
mission? And that you will have the Bolse Defense Outpost operational within a
few days, no doubt, Wolf?"
"Yes," Wolf said. He had forgotten completely about Bolse with all of the Area 6
planning. "The shields will be operational in time for Star Fox's arrival," Wolf
said with only a small hint of pride in his voice. Andross was smart, because he
noticed it and smiled.
"Good," he said. "If, Star Fox arrives."
Wolf's grin vanished. "Oh, he will arrive," he growled. "Fox McCloud never
misses a deadline. Never."
At that time, Fox McCloud was still off in Memory Lane as he ate his breakfast.
The hot chocolate tasted much like Fara's recipe back on Corneria, where she was
now. The taste of the eggs and bacon was much like that which Jeff O'Neil had
made.
Fox sighed as he shoved another spoonful into his mouth and chewed. The others
came in, laughing, talking, chatting...Fox was slightly worried about Slippy,
since it was his first mission back since Katina, and that had been a very close
call.
General Pepper had apparently made a bridge call to Rob64 telling him that the
fleet was in place at Sector X and awaiting arrival of the Great Fox to scout
out the area before heading through the charge at Venom. They would destroy any
enemy armies which happened to get in their way, because that was their job.
"Hey, Fox," Bill said, sitting down beside him as Falco, Slippy and Peppy went
to get their breakfast. "Haven't had much of a chance to catch up. How did
things go between you and Fara after I left?"
Fox shrugged. "After Dad died, I didn't see her that much."
"Whoa, whoa," Bill said, holding up his paws. "Do you mean to tell me that you
two broke up? Man, Jeff nor James would've liked that move, Fox, let me tell you
that," Bill said and looked at Fox with concern.
Fox glared at him. "I didn't break up with her," he said. "It's just that with
Dad dying, and her job, we didn't have that much time for each other any more. I
swear, after this last mission, I'm going back to Corneria and back to my
girlfriend." He said.
"Good for you, boy," Bill said, patting him on the back. "I'm gonna get some
grub." He left for the counter as Falco patted Fox on the back.
"I hear right? You got a girl waiting on you back home?" Falco asked with a
smile on his beak. Fox nodded and instead of laughing, for once, Falco was dead
serious. "I had one once," he said, and he was off down Memory Lane.
Falco had just arrived at the Zoness Flight Academy to go on his three day
flying pass. He was just hear to give a short demonstration of what the Space
Hot Rodders were capable of. He'd left Vincent Monroe and the others back to
their mission and he would be joining them in a few weeks. He had no idea that
only about a day after he left, Zoness was going to be taken by Andross. Falco
entered the class room, and the teacher, a cat named Catlyn Kitty, was giving a
lesson on flying skills. Nowadays, flying was one of the most important skills.
Falco had noticed right away one pink and white furred cat who had her eyes on
him. It turned out she was the most promising student in the class: Katt Monroe.
Vincent's own little sister! Catlyn had immediately turned the class over to
him.
"Hi," Falco said. "My name is Falco Lombardi, I'll be giving you some basics on
flying." He had then gone into a very long lecture about battles and Arial
Combat Procedures which he had the Rodders had done quite often in their day.
This had been before Falco had left the Rodders and joined Star Fox. He had then
taken the class to a new simulator which he had supplied the school with. It was
actually a class worth of Arwing Simulators, and they all went into the heat of
battle of the War of Sector Z. The only people who survived had been about three
others, Katt and Falco. Katt had hung on Falco's every word, and when he had
left, she had winked at him.
Falco could still remember the feeling of his heart sinking when he'd heard
about Zoness being taken by Andross, and that was his personal reason for going
up against the evil bastard.
"I never knew that was what happened," Fox said as Falco nodded grimly. "You saw
Zoness before it was taken by Andross? Bill had been there a few times to surf.
Apparently, the waves there were really big."
Falco nodded. "Still are," he said. "Andross can't change that much," he said as
he took a healthy gulp from his hot chocolate and the others sat down. For the
next few hours, they talked. Even after they had finished eating, they talked
about the worst combat situations they'd ever been in, and they all agreed that
it had been Katina for Slippy. For Fox: it had been Corneria. For Falco, Solar.
Peppy...well, he had to say Sector Y. Bill had chosen Katina because that was
the only place he had been.
Little did they knew they would probably all choose Sector X in this same
conversation in the near future.
Wolf entered the bar on Titania, looking at the pathetic bunch of bar flies who
were cluttered around. Secret agents were piling in all around them and taking
positions at tables and slumping at the bars. Andrew had been ordered to remain
in the freighter they had used to get here to keep a low profile, and so had
Pigma, because Fox and Peppy knew his face to well. Leon and Wolf had gone in
with the teams to take them. The forces above them were trying to get one
fighter in their tractor beam and force it down on Titania, then they would
intercept Star Fox.
Wolf sat down and ordered a beer while he waited, as Leon calmly sat, looking
out the window.
General Pepper looked at the nebula. It was beautiful...would be even more so if
it was not an enemy stronghold. Corneria had been the last place on Andross'
list. Without Star Fox, Corneria would have been taken, and Katina would have
followed. Nearly every other planet had been taken by Andross, but slowly, the
Lylat System was coming back in a brave battle.
Soldiers like James McCloud and Jeff O'Neil had died in wars like this. Fighting
for what they believed in, and that was what the brave troops of the Here and
Now were doing now. Fox McCloud carried on proudly in his father's steps, and
Pepper watched most of the way.
He watched and waited for them to arrive.
Finally, the time arrived for the team to get to their fighters. Fox sat down,
adjusting his flight jacket under his harness as the technicians strapped him
in. He slipped on his head mike and flipped on the start up switches.
"This is Rob64," Rob said. "We will be coming out of hyper space in twenty
seconds. Disengage from the ship ten seconds after. Clock starting now."
Fox saw it come up on his main control panel and breathed out. The ship would
burp him out of the hangar bay and into the midst of General Pepper's fleet.
Star Fox would then cruise on ahead and inspect the field. He sat there as the
others buckled in. He could see Bill's fighter, the Gray1. Not as classy as an
Arwing, but it had it where it counted.
"Ten seconds," Rob64 said.
Fox gripped the controls as the counter reached zero and he flew away from the
ship with a great jolt of his craft. The others were seconds behind as he flew
in among the fleet of Corneria.
"General Pepper, I hope you haven't had any fun yet without your pals, over,"
Fox said.
Pepper laughed over the comm. "Great to see you, Fox. We need to know what's
going on in that nebula. It's been very quiet while we've been here. Be careful
and make no mistakes, over."
"Copy, over," Fox said. "Okay boys, let's roll," he said and boosted his engines
to speed and flew out in front of the fleet. "Activate radar." He looked at it
but it showed only static. "What the hell....radiation interference, guys. Look
sharp and keep your eyes open."
There was a chorus of "copy's" from the group as they flew in. Fox saw something
up ahead. "I think I see the base, General. We're going in for a closer look,
over," he said and didn't wait for Pepper's response as he accelerated in
towards what looked like the base. Fox squinted as it came into view....but the
odd thing was that it was in pieces.
"Somebody beat us here," Falco gasped. "It's all gone!"
Suddenly, what must have been hundreds of fighters burst out from all directions
and Star Fox plus Bill Gray was barraged by a hail of fire. "Holy shit!" Fox
shouted and banked hard and hit the boosters. "Scatter!"
Slippy was better this time as he flew about, avoiding laser fire from several
directions as he swerved amongst the strange fighters, looking around as he did
so. He tapped his cap which read "Slippy" and shaded his eyes from the
brightness of the nebula as he flew.
Falco banked and swerved to avoid fighters. He rolled up on his axis and dove
down beneath the ocean of fighters. He whooped as he did this.
Andrew Oikonny pressed the button and the fight appeared on the screens. He
nodded to Pigma Dengar who pressed a button which was a direct communication to
Wolf and Leon who were in the bar. "Ambush has been sprung," he reported to
Wolf.
"Good."
Slippy jetted hard and fast and popped out the other side as Bill decided to
hang back a small bit and blast some fighters before continuing. "Fleet this is
Slippy Toad. You have multiple bogies incoming, over," Slippy said and the
Fleet's reply was jumbled by the static but it was an affirmative. Slippy flew,
the remnants of the base's guns were firing at them as they moved along.
"So far so good, Fox," he said.
That's when the second wave hit. The fighters were everywhere, at least ten
times more then the first wave as Slippy rolled up and away, dropping a nova
bomb down at them and jetting forward again as the rest of them copied his
maneuvers. Slippy punched a button and dove back into the fray, firing rapidly,
when Falco's exasperated cry came over the speaker.
"Jeez laweez what is that?" He shouted as a large thing moved past him. Then:
"Scatter! There's another one!" And another thing flew past. Slippy was so
awestruck he almost didn't notice the fighter that came in at him. Bill zapped
it before it came any closer.
"Thanks, Bill." Slippy rolled up on his back thrusters and punched the boosters,
slapping in the main hyper lasers as he came in behind one of Andross' lackeys.
He tried a lock, but the fighter was evading. Slippy switched to single fire
lasers and aimed for a lock and got it. He fried a rapid succession of shots and
the fighter exploded, a brief ball of fire exploding like a firework in space,
then disappearing into dust which sprayed against Slippy's cockpit canopy.
"Scratch one bogey," Slippy said, rolling back on his fighter's axis and coming
in behind another. Slippy switched back to his hyper lasers and locked on and
fired a blast of energy that blew the fighter to dust. "Make that two. How are
we doing, guys, talk to me?"
Fox took a moment to respond to Slippy. "The fleet is being taken down by the
remaining fighters. Rob is moving in to assist."
"Good," Slippy said, coming up on Fox's wing. "How are the shields turning out
here, guys?" Then a static burst came over the communications and shorted his.
He took his hands off of the lasers and throttle and switched to auto pilot
defense systems, his personally designed data. He pulled out a screw driver and
pried the communications panel off of the main circuit board and saw there had
been a small electrical fire in the circuits. "Great," he murmured as his lasers
automatically took out a fighter on Bill's tail. Bill probably said thanks, but
the comm showed no signs of improvement as Slippy brought out his circuit
connectors.
"Slippy?" Fox asked to the comm, but still, his friend did not reply. Slippy's
ship showed signs that he had engaged auto pilot mode, which meant that
something had to be wrong. And since he was not responding, Fox could only
assume that it had to mean his communications was the problem. Fox rolled up on
his back engine and braked hard, letting the enemy fighter fly right past him.
Slippy connected the black to the blue as sweat rolled down his tough skin.
Slippy gritted his teeth as he slowly worked to control his shaking hands. Auto
pilot control was running high, but his ship rocking back and forth made it hard
for Slippy to work. If he screwed up, his whole fighter would shut down and he
would probably be blown away by some lackey from Andross' army. He was just
about to make the connection when there was a great bump, and suddenly, all of
his systems went blank.
"Oh, shit...." Slippy whispered as he stopped dead in space.
Fox looked at Slippy's fighter which had suddenly stopped. He must have hit the
shutdown! His air recyclers wouldn't be on line! He wouldn't be able to breathe
if the oxygen wasn't being filtered in. "Slippy! Slippy, do you copy!? Slippy!?"
Slippy pulled out his emergency oxygen supply as the air in his fighter started
to grow thin. He breathed in deeply, sucking in the air, as Andross' fighters
swarmed all around him. He fastened the mask onto his face and got the tools out
to get his ship back on line. He unbuckled his safety harness and pressed his
back up against the canopy, careful not to hit the release button. He took his
screw driver and unscrewed the pilot seat from its moorings. The gravity had
suddenly left the ship, so Slippy had no trouble lifting it up against the
canopy and climbing down to behind the seat to see the last part of the inside
ship. He pulled a flash light off his belt and looked at his watch. Seven
minutes of emergency oxygen left. He flicked on the flash light and looked
around the engine until he saw the power supply. Slippy pushed off, thankful for
being little, as he squeezed into the back of the ship.
Still no reaction from Slippy. Fox swooped by the fighter and got an odd view.
The seat pressed up against the cockpit! He saw Slippy's shoes disappear into
the back. He was working the manual power ride! If Fox's watch was right, Slippy
now had seven minutes of emergency air left, that meant seven minutes to get the
power back on in his ship before he was killed in space.
Slippy squinted at the power supply. His flashlight in one hand, he pulled out a
screw driver and let his flashlight float in the air as he unscrewed the power
supply. He grabbed the flashlight out of the air and looked at it. Two circuits
fried, and that made it all the easier. He brought out the power connection but
before, he looked at his watch. Four minutes. He had plenty of time.
Then, a laser blast hit his canopy, and air started blasting out. His chair hit
the canopy, plugging the hole, but the canopy cracked and a shrill whistle
filled the ship. "SHIT!" Slippy shouted as he felt the coldness of space
slipping in. He really needed the power back so he could weld that shut.
Fox saw the fighter hit Slippy and blew it away immediately, but he could see
the damage that had been done. Slippy would be killed in one of two ways if he
didn't finish his job in the back of the ship.
Slippy brought the connectors out and plugged one of the circuits together with
shaky hands. He swallowed hard, trying to comfort himself, but the whistle grew
higher as the cracks spread across the canopy. He swallowed and hit the
connectors and grabbed the screw driver, sealing the panel back in place. He
backed out of the back and turned to face to panel...
...and saw that the chair blocking the hole in his canopy, was blocking the
manual switch as well. "Crap," he whispered. He would have to move the chair,
creating a suction in the cockpit, in order to get the switch within his reach.
With both hands, he braced his feet against the floor and pulled. As soon as
that happened, he felt the darkness tugging at him. Then, the incredible suction
hit, and Slippy pulled with all of his might against it, until the switch was in
reach. He kicked it and all systems came on line. Automatically, another canopy
went up under the other one, sealing the leak, and gravity returned, making
Slippy collapse under the weight of the chair. In a matter of minutes, it was
bolted down and he had his harness on. He kick started the engines and was back
in the game.
"Slippy here, I'm okay."
Fox sighed with relief as Slippy reported in. He went back to the fight,
blasting and detonating over and over again, destroying Andross' feeble army. He
grinned as he went into the fray.
The wine tasted dull now. It was supposed to be a taste of sweet victory, but as
he pulled a hand through his thinning hair, Andross felt nothing but bitter
defeat. Star Fox had handled this ambush far too well. Of course all the pilots
were going on to attack the fleet and several Cornerian Cruisers had been
destroyed.
Still, it was not enough. The main threat was Star Fox, and they were getting
through, even as the robot assembled itself to destroy them. Wolf and his team
were in position on Titania, awaiting the blow that would send one unfortunate
Arwing flying to its doom and sending Star Fox after it. Andross took another
sip of the wine, feeling it sweeten with victory again.
Across the table, was General Krang, a turtle who was busy working with Admiral
Wildcat, doing several hundred battle strategies. The High Command were all
there, and Colonel Tiger was also there, working on some things as he watched
the video screen.
"They're getting through," Tiger observed.
Andross nodded, but said nothing, and Tiger took his cue to shut up. Krang and
Wildcat were talking in hushed whispers as the battle continued. "Switch to the
remaining fighters and guns against the cruisers, Captain."
A captain switched the panel to the fight, watching the Cornerian Fleet being
crushed by the fighters. This made Andross a little happy as he watched.
"Excellent," he whispered.
Fox McCloud barrel rolled high up and lost the fighter on his tail, allowing
Falco to blast him. Peppy flew by, shooting a fighter out of the stars and they
continued along. The two long things were side by side now, and something was
appearing in the distance. Something huge...
"Wolf, they're powering up the weapon," Pigma said.
"Excellent," Wolf replied.
Fox jetted forward, trying to see what the thing was, when the two things
attached to the giant machine, and it took on the shape of a robot. All of the
enemy fighters were suddenly, fighting the Cornerian Fleet, letting Star Fox
have the robot all to themselves.
"What the hell...." Fox was whispering.
"Robot is on line," it said in a nasal voice. "Directives....to destroy
enemies....you are a enemy....destroy.....destroy...." it raised one huge arm
and swung at Fox, but his quick maneuver saved his life yet again. The robot
focussed a sharp beam of laser at the others and they scattered, flying away
from the battle.
"Aim for an arm!" Peppy shouted out the weakness.
"Data analysis as been taken," Slippy said. "Displaying the data to you guys."
Fox looked at his screen and targeted an arm.
"Firing a nova bomb!" He launched and watched the sphere of light flying in at
the machine and it impacted heavily with an arm. But it didn't slow down,
charging the Star Fox team and Fox broke off, turning around for another pass,
when the monster turned its attention from him.
"Let me take a look at this," Slippy said, flying in closer, evading the lasers
and missiles the machine was firing at him as he moved. He was getting in close,
when it raised another monstrous arm and swung.
Slippy's ship was hit hard in the side, and Slippy's wing was gone. Although
he'd been trained for situations like this, he couldn't get control as he was
thrown from the fight by another impact from another slam by the machine. He
tumbled, screaming all the way, towards the planet that was called Titania.
"Slippy!" Fox shouted after him as Slippy hit the atmosphere and disappeared
from all sensor relays.
"Fighter down," Tiger said to Andross. "I'll go and relay the information to
O'Donnel." He left as Krang and Wildcat and all the other staff congratulated
eachother as they looked and saw only four hundred of the seven hundred cruisers
left in the huge fight. They were winning.
Andross rubbed his hands together, knowing Pepper would be trying to pull
back...or be brave and stay to the end. That would be just like Pepper, but it
would save Andross a lot of trouble.
Then, suddenly, a great white flash lit up the field and hundreds of fighters
were gone. The Great Fox came into view, all weapons firing as it swooped in for
the kill like a bird of prey. The congratulations stopped immediately as it
started to kick some serious butt. Andross was no longer tasting sweet victory.
"Tell the fighters to pull back and group to Area 6, Sector Z or Bolse. Their
choice. Zoness has been reinforced to the maximum." That from General Krang.
Andross didn't tell him anything, but watched as the great white ship moved
across the screen, killing all kinds of fighters.
Fox rolled up on his Y Axis and away from the machine, dropping a nova bomb down
on its other arm. "I've got both arms disabled! Falco, hurry up and finish him
off, will you?" He shouted as he turned, seeing Falco rush in.
"You're dead meat, pal," Falco said and fired. There was a tremendous explosion
which the group barely escaped, a roaring fire which was then swallowed up by
the vast blackness of space. The group of fighters turned towards Titania.
"Hang on, Slippy," Fox said.
On the planet surface, Slippy had been secured by the robot. Wolf sat in the
bar, awaiting the arrival of Star Fox, a grin pasted on his face, and he was
glad that no one could see his face, because it was the most maniacal grin, even
worse then Andross', in the entire history of maniacal grins ever recorded.

Chapter Four

Fox opened the doors to the bar and the whole team stepped in. Bill, Peppy and
Falco were right behind him. They didn't care of the raging battle in space
overhead, because they were here to find Slippy, and Fox would find Slippy, no
matter what.
There were lots of people there, many of which were slumped at the bar. Bar
flies, obviously. Titania was a backwards little world which was basically just
a big cargo stop for pilots on their way to more important places like Corneria
or Katina.
Fox walked over to a table where a chameleon was sitting playing cars with a
rabbit, not much unlike Peppy. The chameleon looked up, a very calm expression
on his face, and Fox guessed that he was winning. The chameleon had keen,
farseeing eyes as he looked right at Fox.
"Help you?" He asked.
Fox nodded. "I'm looking for a friend," he said. "He crashed around here. You
know anything about his whereabouts?"
"As a matter of fact, yes," came a sharp voice from behind him and Fox whirled
to see Wolf O'Donnel standing there, the patch over his eye giving him the
perfect pirate look. "Recognize me, boy?" He said with a cackle, and Fox
realized that almost all of the thirty people in this bar were Andross' men,
because they had weapons drawn.
Fox slowly turned to see the chameleon with a strange gun pointed at them. Falco
was snarling at him, his teeth grinding under his beak. "Leon Powalski," he
growled and the chameleon let a slow smile play over his face and he made a low,
gruff laugh.
"Falco Lombardi. I didn't think you were good enough to be down here," he said.
That's when things got weird. A shot, not from Star Fox, nor from Wolf's boys,
but from somewhere else, hit some of Wolf's guys. He whirled and Fox took his
cue. He cried in rage and tackled him. Peppy jump kicked the nearest man and
Falco charged Leon right into a table. They went to the ground, fighting.
Fox jumped up as Wolf jumped as well. Wolf tried to catch Fox with a spin kick
but the wily McCloud evaded the kick with a forward flip and his foot caught
Wolf in the face, sending the misfit backwards.
Bill Gray had pulled out his gun and shot down two of the officers from Andross'
SWAT boys.
The wine tasted bitter again in Andross' mouth. "This is pathetic," he said.
"And all of this just for that miserable toad. I want them dead or captured.
Relay that to the troops down there."
Andrew and Pigma entered the room with the reinforcements, firing their guns.
Fox dove behind a table and found the others were there as well. Falco had been
skinned by a laser blast and Peppy had taped it up as much as he could. All of
them had their blasters out as the SWAT team tried to destroy their cover and
them in the process.
"The bar," Falco said.
"You sure? Lot's of glass and flammable..." Fox started but Falco, with one
swift flap of his wings was off like a shot which no one could hit. Bill patted
Peppy on the back and the hare launched himself off of his powerful hind legs
and over the bar. Fox forward flipped, landing on his feet behind the bar, then
Bill combat rolled, shooting down two of the SWAT boys before coming up and
hurling himself over the bar.
Fox stood, ready to fire, but Falco yanked him back down as a blast seared over
his head. "Idiot," Falco hissed with a grin on his face.
Suddenly, all gunfire stopped, and the annoyingly slick voice of Wolf O'Donnel
filled the bar and the people's ears as they hid. "All right," Wolf said.
"McCloud? I have a proposition for you." He said, and pausing for dramatic
effect, continued. "If you surrender to me, I will let your friends go. Do we
have a deal?"
"Wolf, I have two words for you: Eat me." Fox said and jumped up. Before any of
the SWAT boys could get their guns up, Fox had shot and hit Wolf in the foot. He
fell behind a bench and Fox dropped to the floor as the area where he had been
was riddled with laser blasts.
Falco jumped up and launched himself with his wings right at Leon. Bill and
Peppy jumped over the bar, followed by Fox, and Fox tackled the finally
standing, yet injured, Wolf. Falco tackled Leon Powalski and took him to the
ground.
Slippy awoke. He was still inside his fighter, but outside, it was black.
Blacker then space because space had stars to eventually light up the horizon.
He was sore all over as he unbuckled his harness and sat up with a groan.
He looked around and picked the flash light off his belt, flicking it on. He was
on some sort of planet, a barren landscape. His fighter was trapped in the claw
of some weird claw, but at closer inspection, it looked more like a tree branch
or something like that. Slippy drew his pistol as he realized he was on Titania.
He swallowed, looking around, flicking the power button and watching his systems
hum to life, which made him feel a bit more comfortable.
Falco rolled along the ground, punching and kicking at Leon who was doing the
same. They came onto their feet, and Falco balled the end of his wing into a
fist and hit Leon as hard in the head as he could, and Leon's head flew into the
wall. Leon crumpled and slowly started to get up, but Falco kicked him.
Suddenly, a gun cocked behind his head and he froze.
"Don't move," a SWAT member said. Falco slowly reached his hand to his belt. He
turned it around so the front faced the back. The small laser hole he had
designed was right at the ape's crotch, and Falco pressed the button. A small
arc of electricity hit the ape in the groin and with a wheeze he fell to the
ground.
But Leon had used this time to get to his feet. He head butted Falco hard in the
gut and the wind was knocked out of the falcon as he hit the ground hard, and
Leon lept on top of him. Falco took a few seconds to get his breath before
throwing his foot into Leon's gut. Leon flew back against the wall and Falco was
on his feet.
Fox spin kicked Wolf hard across the jaw and Wolf did a backwards somersault and
hit the wall. He slowly got to his feet as Fox drew his gun and pointed it at
Wolf, who stopped dead cold. "You're under arrest," Fox said.
Then, the butt of a gun hit him in the back of the head. Wolf looked at Andrew
Oikonny, bleeding from several wounds, as he came over to Wolf, grabbed him by
the paw, and pulled him up. Fox started to get up and Andrew kicked him hard in
the head.
"Maybe my nephew's not so useless after all," Andross said, having another glass
of the wine. He watched the bar brawl. Andrew had taken out Fox with a good
piece of weaponry that Andross would have used to blow Fox to shreds.
Krang, Wildcat and Tiger watched with fascination that battle that was emerging
in a simple bar on a small, backwards planet such as Titania. Wolf had received
a broken foot, which would probably heal in Andross' healing tubes in the time
it would take for Star Fox to reach Venom, if they did indeed reach Venom.
Falco punched Leon again and again until the chameleon sagged. Pigma Dengar
suddenly jumped out, shooting Falco in the arm. He fell to the ground as Pigma
picked up Leon and ran after Andrew and Wolf who were heading for the door. The
SWAT team covered them as Star Fox rallied. Fox made no move to get up from the
floor, and lay motionless. Bill combat rolled to his friend and got him out of
the way as a laser scorched the spot where he had just been.
Falco lay there as everyone left, and Peppy moved to his side and touched his
feather. Shot twice in a row by these bastards, but he had taken down a fair
amount. Peppy took out the same medical kit he had used before, and started
taping up Falco. That's when they all noticed Bill trying to revive Fox.
Slippy pushed at his cockpit but it wouldn't budge. He sagged back into his
seat, looking around, wishing he had something to eat, or that his comm system
wasn't acting up again and th>

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