Author: RINGSHADOW
Subject: Story--Dragon's Fate
Posted: FEBRUARY 04, 1999 14:08

//this is another assassin story I came up with. If you read
'Silent Bullet', you'll recogonize characters from that story
in this one--Warrior, Gustile, Silent, Jordian, and Mary,
though not all get lines.//

"Look General, I know you want Andross gone." Said Fox
calmly. "But I can't really help you there. Its not like I can
walk into his temple and blow him away."
"I understand that." General Pepper replied, annoyed. "I was
hoping you'd come up with a creative way to get rid of him
though. I'm impressed that you destroyed his Telekinetic
Amplifier, but we need ANDROSS HIMSELF killed. I've
heard all sorts of suggestions lately, and it IS amusing what
some people think will work. Anything from bombing to a
direct ground assault to nuking the base."
"It would certainly help if we knew exactly where he was."
Fox remarked absently.
"Yes indeed. Any different ideas?"
Peppy cleared his throat.
"Yes Peppy?"
"Sir, I just thought of someone who might be able to help us."
"Who?"
"He goes under many names, buthe's a Soldier of Fortune. It
may seem insanebut what if we hired someone to assassinate Andross?"
General Pepper blinked. "Interesting thought. And this
person you know is good enough?"
"Yes sir, I think he is."
He thought about that, rubbing his chin. "I'd like to meet
this person, Pep, then I'll decide."
"He won't come to you, you have to come to him. Tell you
what. I can fly down and take you to him."
"Fine by me. General Pepper out." The radio flipped off.
"ASSASSINATE ANDROSS?!" Falco guffawed at the thought.
"Don't knock it. That just might work." Said Slippy thoughtfully. "If
he's good enough."
"He is, he is." Peppy got up and went down to his plane.
Half an hour later, he was pulling an army jeep up in front
of a store, General Pepper sitting shotgun.
"Don't ask about the location sir, I know what Im doing."
Peppy got out and entered the store, the General following him. He leaned
on the counter. "I need to speak to Draco."
"Draco is dead." Said the girl in a sad voice, not looking up from her book.
Pep held up a fifty-dollar bill.
"Draco lives." The girl took the money with a smile, and
picked up a phone on the desk. "There is someone here to
see you." She said into the phone, and then hung up.
Part of the wall nearby opened.
Peppy walked through the opening, General Pepper still
following, who was now more then a little confused. The
wall closed behind them.
The room they entered was dim, and filled with equipment
and weapons. Sharpened weapons sat on shelves, guns sat in
racks. A number of file cabinets were wedged in between the weaponry shelves.
A dim flare of fire came from a dark figure sitting behind a
desk. "Well, if it isn't my good friend Peppy Hare."
"Draco, drop the act already." Peppy replied.
The voice laughed, and the lights came all the way to life.
A Lylatian Dragon sat behind the desk. He was rather thin,
and his thick scales were scarred and scarlet in color,
highlighted with gold. His wings were strong looking, but
battered--General Pepper could see a number of holes that
seemed to have been caused by bullets. "And General
Pepper too! Oh this is a surprise, if perhaps a pleasant one."
"You know me?" General Pepper blinked.
"Not personally, but I do know who you are. My name is
Draco. Soldier of Fortune, Assassin, explosives expert,
martial arts expert, black market dealer, et cetera." He wove
a red-stained talon absently. "So what brings you two here?"
"A proposition for you." Peppy sat down and wove General
Pepper to do the same.
"Oh? This is interesting. Continue."
Peppy explained the situation as best he could.
"You have given me the proverbial mother of all
assignments." Draco grunted, letting a cloud of smoke
escape from his mouth. "Assassinate the best known and best guarded war
lord in the system huh? Well
now, what's my take in this? How much are you willing to
pay for this little stunt?"
"How much do you want?" General Pepper asked warily.
He preened his talons thoughtfully, though it didn't remove the red stain.
Lylatian Dragons weren't common. According to recent
surveys, there were only 1500 or so living in the entire of
the Lylat system. They weren't entirely bipedal, having the
power to walk on either two legs or four at their discretion.
The wings could be used, General Pepper knew. He also
knew that 200 or so of the 1500 Lylatian Dragons were
mercenaries, and all tended to ignore the law. They thought
of themselves as exceptions, and as most didn't have the
guts to arrest them, they were gracefully allowed to carry
on with their way of life. General Pepper wouldn't have
been surprised if that red stain on Dracos claws was blood.
In fact, he would have been surprised if it WASN'T.
"Well?" General Pepper asked.
Draco lifted his head to look at the Cornerian General. It's a
lot. You're asking me to go on a suicide mission really, and
you know it. Plus the cost of the equipment I'll need..."
"Out with it."
"Six million, half in advance."
General Pepper was stunned.
"You know if we got paid that much, the Great Fox would be paid off by
now." Peppy remarked.
"Do you get paid to do what you want me to?" Draco asked,
eyes narrowing at the middle aged hare. "It could be a lot more."
"I'll need authorization..." Pepper rasped.
"Fine, get it if you want me hired. I'm sorry to say I'm not
coming down in price. If you think it's worth it to take
Andross out..." He wove a talon again, and pressed a button
on his desk to open the wall back up.
The two left, the wall closing behind them.


Author: RINGSHADOW
Subject: Story--Dragon's Fate
Posted: FEBRUARY 05, 1999 13:22

"SIX MILLION." Pepper growled to himself. "Insane. That is a lot of
money."
"Would your bosses pay it to get rid of Andross?" Peppy replied.
"Maybe. I'm not sure."
"Find out. Draco isn't the sort that LIKES waiting. I personally think
he's being fair in price. Think about it. He could have asked for twice
what he is."
"How do you know this guy anyway?"
"He worked with the old Star Fox team a while back. Was a good friend of
James'. Until five minutes ago, I hadn't seen him since James
disappeared." Peppy sighed.
"Champagne." Draco said the bartender simply, sitting on a barstool, tail
wrapping around his waist to keep it out of the way. "And make sure its a
good year and label."
"Yes, sir." The bartender went to the wine racks to fetch one of the older
bottles.
He rubbed his long neck absently, popping his neck vertebrae. He wore
straight-legged dark jeans, and a tank top. No shoes, his kind couldn't
wear shoes because of their long claws. His long tail was prehensile, and
sharp as a whip. His wings had been delicate and beautiful when he was
younger, but now they were scarred, shredded, and had more then one bullet
hole. They still worked, if reluctantly.
"Here sir." The bartender handed him the long stemmed wineglass, looking
at the talons warily as Draco took his glass.
"Thanks."
"Well, if it isn't my favorite arms supplier." Warrior, a government hired
assassin, sat down next to Draco. "Didja hear? Mary took a stand and took
her old trainer Lightning out. Piece of cake, but she's retired now."
"Silent Bullet retired? Hm, that IS news." Draco nodded. "Of course she
has more money then God now..."
"That she does, that she does!" Warrior grinned. "Last I heard, she had
bought a house, a car, and her own plane."
"What type of plane?"
"Some one-man fighter or something, I'm not sure. Wasnt listening." He
shrugged.
"Okay." Draco took a long drink from his glass. He had known Mary since
she had won the Kerlruit Championship a year or so back. He had been at
the Championship round, made a lot of money on it. Afterwards, he had
brought her a drink at an upscale bar, and the two had become friends. "So
how you doing?"
"Better then usual. My government contract finally ended thank god, which
means I can say good-bye to all the guerilla warfare. Whew! I was tired of
beating brush and helping military insertion units find where theyre going
or what they're looking for. How about you?"
"Government's trying to hire me on."
"For what?"
"An assassination. Isn't going to be easy, they aren't happy about how
much I asked for either."
"How much are you wanting?"
"Six million."
"WOOSH! Must be one risky assignment!"
"You got that right." He finished his wine. "I'm going to have to give it
some thought myself. It's going to be tough to carry out." He shrugged.
"Money is money."
"You've got a lot of money." Warrior grunted. "Already. For god's sake, I
hear about you full time on the streets, especially from gangs. You're
their favorite illegal arms dealer."
"I'm not surprised. Tell Mary hi." He got up and left, claws clicking, not
bothering to pay. The bartender didn't bother trying to stop him.


Author: RINGSHADOW
Subject: Dragon's Fate, CH3
Posted: FEBRUARY 09, 1999 09:49

"Well, it's a go. Youre officially hired on. Money is being wired to your
account as we speak." Said Peppy to Draco via the radio.
"Thanks for telling me. Listen, I need your help finding something. I'd
like a A-25 Attack fighter, in new condition."
"They're old. I can get you a just-off-the-rack A-45."
"A mercenary WOULDN'T DRIVE an A-45." He pointed out. "Most mercs
drive older in-good-condition planes. I know what I'm doing, trust me. So
where can I get a good A-25?"
Peppy sputtered. "You have a plan apparently. Look, I'll be at your
office in a few minutes, I can take you to a person I know who has a
bunch of planes, I should be able to coax him to sell you one of his A-25s."
"Yes I have a plan. Thanks, see you in a few minutes."
Half and hour later, Draco and the plane owner were haggling over the
price of the A-25. In near-mint condition, the plane had been refitted
with two small ion cannons on the wings close to the body, and four
hyperlasers. Not only that, but the engines had been tooled up and could
hit about three times their original speed. Draco knew the plane was perfect.
Finally settling on a price, Draco paid to have the plane moved to a
small airstrip outside Corneria City, and went back to his office after
thanking Peppy.
Once at his office, he grabbed a large duffel bag and started loading
some of his weapons in, mostly assorted guns and ammo, but also some
assorted blade weapons. A bow hung on his back, and a rapier hung on his
belt. If everything worked out according to plan, nothing else would be
needed.
Then he put the duffel bag in his plane's cargo hold, fueled up, and took
off, heading for Venom. He wasn't looking forward to what he had to pull off
to finish his assignment, but he couldn't think of any other way.
A number of being-repaired cruisers hung in stationary orbit. One smaller
Dreadnought, though, was in an active, changing orbit, appeared to be on
patrol. It was this Dreadnought which hailed him.
"We have you on our screen now, please identify."
"Draco, Soldier of Fortune and pilot, looking for a paycheck." He replied
briskly.
"Oh really?" Replied the voice. "So, Mr. Draco, how do we know you're not
some wild-card Cornerian fighter?"
"Do Cornerians drive A-25s on a regular basis?" He snapped.
"Good point there." Remarked someone in the background.
"Hush up Andrew." Muttered whoever was on the radio. "What's your specialty?"
"Have none." Draco said bluntly. "Explosives, assassination, sniping,
martial arts, planes. Everything equally good."
"And what do you fight for?"
"Money, curse your eyes. I have no affiliation."
"Too late for that I'm afraid, I already have one blind eye." Said the
voice drolly. "Well Mr. Draco, dock with us, and we'll see if you're a
worthy fighter."
"Roger that." He aimed for the Docking Bay of Star Wolf's Dreadnought,
and landed easily.
Leon Powalski met him. "Well, whoever you are, welcome aboard." Said Leon
in a not-to-friendly voice.
"Yeah thanks. What now?"
"Wolf wants to face off against you, see your fighting skills. Grab
whatever weapons you use and follow me."
He grabbed his duffel bag and did as he was told.
Wolf O'Donnel stood in a workout room, working with a double-saber. A
strange weapon, the double saber was a long blade with the handle in the
middle. Wolf appeared to be quite an expert at this exotic weapon.
Hearing Leon and Draco come in, he turned to look at them. "Thanks Leon.
Well, Mr. Draco, what's with the bag?"
Draco set the bag down and unzipped it so Wolf and Leon could see what he
was hauling. "I can use all of these, and more if I am provided with
them."
"What about that pole on your back? How good are you at that?"
"Exceptional." He reached back and grabbed the bow. A simple weapon, it
was a thick, strong wooden pole, but a foot of each end had been plated
in thin, hard, strong steel. As inferior as it looked, it packed a punch.
"We'll see about that." Wolf set the double-saber down on a nearby table
and picked up a normal bow, no metal plating.
In the end, Wolf was quite impressed with Draco's fighting abilities,
both on the ground and in the air. In fact, Draco almost immediately
became a member of Star Wolf.




"I don’t like it." Andrew muttered to Leon and Pigma. “You’ve seen him
fight, seen him fly. He could easily shove one of us off
the team."
"Wolf wouldn’t do that." Leon muttered back.
"Sure Wolf would. He’d pass one of us over for a better fighter, no
questions asked, not a second thought to it." Pigma grunted. "Not that we
can do anything about it."
"Cyanide." Suggested Leon, rubbing his chin.
"Do YOU want to be the one that feeds it to Draco?" Andrew demanded. “That
guy could rip all of our spines out he’s so strong."
"How in Hell do you know that?
"I saw him lifting weights in the Workout Room. Anyone else you know
lifting 750 pounds for no particular reason?"
"Only Pigma when he stands." Snickered Leon.
"HEY!" Pigma protested, hands on hips. "I may be a little overweight but
there is NO REASON for you to goad me about it."
"Sure there’s a reason. It’s fun. You going to do something about it?"
"I’d like to but I won’t. And where exactly were you planning to get
Cyanide, genius?"
"My supply room, Einstein." Leon snarled.
"Trust Leon to have Cyanide on hand." Sighed Andrew.
"Don’t trust me, Andy."
"Don’t call me that!"
"You gonna make me?"
"ENOUGH!" Pigma snarled, and lowered his voice. "Look, if it gets to the
point that we think that Draco will be a problem, I’LL somehow slip him
some Cyanide, all right?"
"Fine with us." Andrew said.
"Look, I have a bad feeling about this new pilot. I recognize him from
somewhere..."

"No more tears...no more tears..." Hummed Draco as he went through various
stretches, taking up a good part of the Workout
Room when he stretched completely out. Although Star Wolf’s Workout Room
did have a lot of various weight equipment, it
was hard for six-limbed Draco do get fully limbered up.
"The Lylatian Pretzel." Observed Andrew from the doorway.
Draco peered at him from underneith one of his own wings. "Oh, hi Andrew.
What do you want?"
Andrew shrugged.
Draco untangled himself, taking his time about it, then stood upright
again.
"You’re a martial arts expert right?" He blurted.
"Yes indeed, why do you ask?" Draco twisted, popping his back.
Andrew winced at the series of snapping noises. "I don’t know much about
hand-to-hand...could you teach me?"
"Interesting request. Why should I?"
"Because I’m your teammate and I need help." He blurted again, ear tips
reddening.
"Mm. I can teach you, but if you’re a beginner..."
"What?"
"The style I use is very old, almost lost. It’s savage. You must
understand that I am very old as well, by your standards."
"A killing machine? How old are you?"
He narrowed his eyes. "No, not a killing machine. But if I have to kill, I
want to be quick, to the point. No fancy moves for the
hell of it. I’m considered to be in my early thirties in your aging
pattern. Of course, in your years, I am MUCH older."
"You aren’t willing to state your age?"
"236."
"Holy crap." Andrew’s eyes widened, stunned.
Draco laughed, long and loud. "I age VERY slowly. Let’s see here. Say I’m
thirty by your age standards...and I’m 236..that
means for every eight or so of your years, I aged one year."
A quick burst of mental math later, he said, "Which means that when you
were counted as 18, you were 144 years old?!"
"Something like that, yes. Look, do you want to discuss my aging rate or
learn how to kick your teammates’ tails?"
Andrew grinned. "What do you think?"
"Right. Well, we have some free time, let’s get started."

"WHAT?!!!!!" Roared General Pepper, furious.
"Take a chill pill, Pepper. I know Draco. He wouldn’t back out on a
contract." Peppy rubbed his chin.
"You can’t be certain about that. What if he just took the three million
and switched sides?"
"He has more honor then that sir."
"Then explain the blood stains on his claws! Look, Peppy, I’m sorry I’m
being so touchy about this, but MY bosses are going
to skin me alive for this!"
"Sorry sir, I’ll attend your funeral." Said Peppy in poor humor. "Give
Draco time. He’s probably up to something."

"Getting better Andrew." Draco remarked, knocking some pills back and
draining his water bottle.
"Thanks." Andrew was exhausted. "Out of curiousity, what are those things
you always take?"
"Charcoal tablets." Muttered the dragon. "For my fire."
"Oh. Thanks."
"No problem." He snorted a cloud of smoke to prove it. "That’s why I eat
so much. Some of the food I eat goes to being burned if I don’t take the
charcoal, and I breathe hotter, cleaner flame if I don’t have to deal with
burning protein and calcium..."
Andrew imagined a burning glass of milk and a charred steak, and almost
grinned. "I’ll take your word for it." He slowly stood
up, wincing in surprise when his aching muscles loudly announced
themselves.
"Sore?"
"Yeah. Always, and what, this is the third time around you’ve been
teaching me?"
"Once your body gets used to it, you won’t be as sore."
"Good...oh, hi Leon."
"Martial arts lessons continue?" Leon asked, leaning into the Workout
room.
"Yes indeed. Your teammate has vastly improved in skill." Draco stretched
as usual. "Look out." He dropped to all fours and
opened his wings.
"Swiss cheese." Leon eyed the punctured webs.
"You get shot a few times with an automatic while flying with wings like
these, and let’s see if you walk away WITHOUT
punctured wings." Draco snapped. "That was a long time ago of course,
nearly a century." He folded his wings, shaking sweat
out of his eyes.
"A century." He echoed, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, a century." The dragon left the room, heading for his quarters.
"Draco!" Wolf called, catching up. "I just finished a conversation with
Andross. He’d like to meet you."
"Oh?"
"Yes. It just so happens he’s having a dinner party for all of his
assorted, er, war lords and high-rankers. We’re invited."
"Oh?" Draco repeated. "What’s the dress?"
"Just uniform for us."
"Out of curiousity, where will this be?"
"The new headquarters. It’s a huge, just built base. That’s where Andross
and all of his Generals stay now when they aren’t on
the cruisers." Wolf replied absently.
'Bingo.' "Fine then, I’ll be there. When?"

"When you said huge, you meant HUGE, didn’t ya?" Draco said as he flew his
plane in for a landing.
"Yes indeed." Wolf replied easily.
He landed his plane and hopped out of the cockpit, looking around, mapping
everything in his mind. Hangers, barracks, guard
posts, security stations, everything he could see. He’d need the
information later, he knew. "Nice."
"Should be." Andrew said, getting out of his Wolfen4 and joining Draco at
one side of the runway.
Wolf, Pigma, and Leon joined them. "Well let’s go."
As they walked, Draco continued to catalogue everything he saw in his
mind, drawing himself a 3D map in his head. His mind
was kept busy by this activity for a while at least.
They entered the Head Quarters Building, and Draco immeadiately heard the
music. Continuing to map hallways and rooms in
his mind, he remarked, "So how often does Andross throw dinner parties?"
"They aren’t common, but he’s thrown two so far. Just to show that he has
money you know. I could do without the
high-society act though." Wolf shrugged, and led them down another
hallway.
Draco paused at a map, studying it. "Expansive base." He remarked,
memorizing it, then catching up. "Why we heading for the
offices?"
"There’s a lobby this way, of all odd things. Or rather, short of anything
else to call it. A really big lounge perhaps? Anyway,
my uncle’s party is there." Said Andrew.
"Oh." He growled as his back claws got caught in the Berber carpet,
working them free. It took a few seconds.
"I told you to wear boots." Leon looked amused.
He growled again. "Would YOU if you had claws like me?"
"Hell no."
"Good. That’s why I don’t." Pulling his back claws as far in as possible
and walking gingerly, he continued to walk, between
Andrew and Wolf. "Please tell me the lounge has tile floors..."
"It does." Andrew started to snicker.
"Thank god."
The lounge was indeed very big. At least, the sixty or so people there fit
comfortably. An attached room seemed to be a dining
area, or so Draco’s nose said. The lounge itself was done in cool, clean
colors; silver, black, gold, white. Military uniforms,
mostly dress whites, dominated dress. Some of the special units, like Star
Wolf, wore normal uniform.
A small shiver traveled up the back of his neck, then down again, settling
just above his shoulders. His warning sense kicking in,
telling him of evil in the area. He didn’t doubt it one bit. He always got
that feeling when around his ‘teammates.’
A group of girl pilots in scarlet uniforms stood vibrantly out, clustered
together.
"Who are they?" Draco asked Wolf.
Wolf was amused. "That’s the Night Riders. Covert services; basically the
only girl pilots Andross employs. Good fighters, but
they don’t see the front lines. Probably never will. They do the
so-called ‘sneaky stuff’."
"Oh..."
Wolf wandered off to talk to one of the generals, and the rest of the Star
Wolf team had already disappeared into the crowd.
Draco wandered around, mingling absently.
"A new Star Wolf pilot?" One of the girls in scarlet asked, raising an
eyebrow towards Draco.
"Something like that, yes ma’am." He replied. Another shiver ran up his
neck and back.
She stepped forward and held out a hand. She was a muscular hawk, with
jet-black feathers. "I’m Sorceress Night. And you
are?"
‘What a name.’ "I’m Draco." He reached out and shook her hand, careful not
to spike her with his talons.
She rose an eyebrow. "The mercenary?"
"Well, I am a hired soldier." He admitted freely.
"And a famous one at that. I’ve heard much about you, and your style. I
hear you’re quite the fighter."
"When I want to be." Was his cool, even reply. "It’s a living."
"It certainly is. I like my job. To quote a song, I live the life I love,
and I love the life I live." She tossed her head, smiling.
Later, Draco was introduced to Andross. Andross seemed glad that his best
squadron had picked up another fighter, especially
an exceptional one like Draco.
"I hope to see you in action soon, see for myself just how good you are."
Andross remarked.
‘Oh, you’ll get to see me in action. Very soon. Of course, only one of us
is walking away...’

"Where are you going?" Wolf asked.
"Down to the surface. I need to breathe air that isn’t processed, okay?"
Draco replied, continuing to walk toward the launching
bay.
"Okay, but don’t be too long all right, and leave the radio channel open."
"Right."
Once into the atmosphere, Draco’s ship went into stealth and advanced
cloaking, heading for a predetermined point on the
surface. While his ship flew itself, Draco pulled a hidden sniper rifle
from under his seat and checked the action. Two shots.
Two shots, and he could return home. Draco sighed at that. Venom was
getting on his nerves. The constant shivering up and
down his neck was unnerving.
He called up the map in his head, turning the 3D model he had made up
mentally, finding Andross’ office. He made the
windows light up on the mental model, so it showed better.
The plane touched down, and stayed under stealth and cloaking as Draco got
out, slung the gun over his shoulder, and snuck
onto the military base.
His scarlet scales were hard to hide, but he was used to hiding them, so
it was easy for him to go unnoticed. He ended up
hiding in the attic of a barracks building, where he had an easy sight of
Andross’ office.
He studied the window via the scope. Not bulletproof, and it didn’t matter
if it was, because the two shots he had were special
armor-piercing rounds.
Cushioning the butt of the rifle on his shoulder and cocking the gun, he
continued to sight absently, waiting.
Andross walked into his office and sat down at his desk, working at his
computer absently, completely unaware of the fact that he was being
sniped.
‘Sight.’ Draco brought the gun up.
‘Kill.’ He squeezed the trigger.
The gun bucked silently, and the window shattered. Andross slumped in his
chair, bleeding from a fatal wound.
‘Job done. Get the hell out of Dodge!’ Draco left the gun, after removing
his fingerprints, and casually walked out of the
barracks like nothing had happened.
Once again, no one noticed him. He returned to his plane and took off,
returning to Star Wolf’s cruiser. There he would grab
his weapons, and then return to Corneria.

"DRACO!" Wolf shouted, standing in the bay, watching the dragon get out of
the cockpit of his plane. "Did you hear?!"
"Hear what?" Draco replied.
"Some SOB shot Andross! He was pronounced DOA five minutes back!" Wolf
looked confused, like he wasn’t sure what to
do now that his Emperor was dead.
"Dear god." Draco shook his head, lying easily.
Another plane landed, and Sorceress Night got out. "I suppose you heard."
She said sadly to Wolf, then turned to Draco.
"You’re a gun expert aren’t you?"
"Yes."
"Perhaps you’ll recognize this." She tossed him the left behind sniper
rifle, eyes narrowed suspiciously.
He caught it. "Customized sniper rifle." He replied, weighing it. "Good
make. I’ve never seen this particular gun before though,
if that’s what you mean."
"You’re a damn good liar." She sneered. "Best I’ve seen."
"What do you mean?" He said, pretending to be confused. Really he was
worried, it was obvious that Sorceress knew.
She turned to Wolf. "That sniper weapon is the murder weapon, and
the....mercenary holding it is the murderer." She calmly
stated.
"WHAT?!" Andrew shouted. He was standing in the doorway, watching.
"DRACO?!"
Draco blinked, setting the gun down on the ground and folding his claws,
managing to look innocent and confused.
"Don’t be fooled." Sorceress hissed. "He’s an easy liar. I know the
truth."
"HOW?" Leon asked, coming in with Pigma.
"I have a source, who told me of this. Draco is under contract. He’s
working for the Cornerian Military to assassinate Andross.
The pay? Well, more then enough to live on. Six million dollars, three of
that up front. He black balled you guys, used you."
"You LIED to us?!" Andrew looked at Draco, shocked. He hadn’t for one
second suspected that this dragon, who had taught
Andrew how to defend himself, was a double-crosser.
Draco shrugged. "I have no idea what she’s talking about."
"Talk to us Draco. The evidence is heavy against you." Said Leon, eyes
narrowing.
"Fine, I’ll confess. It’s true. I am working for Corneria." Draco shrugged
again. "My assignment is complete. I came here to
collect my stuff, then I plan to leave."
"What if we try to stop you?" Wolf asked, pulling his gun, voice angry.
"You can TRY. I don’t think you’ll succeed. Look, there’s always another
warlord. Get over it already." When on the job, he
kept his feelings locked up tight, became UNFEELING. He couldn’t risk
feeling anything while working, and he knew it.
Everyone pulled their weapons except for Andrew, who shook his head. "He’s
right. He’ll kill all of us, and he’s saying he’ll
leave without harming us. Let him go."
"Shut up Andy." Snapped Pigma, gun up.
Suddenly, some connection was made in his mind. "Pigma Dengar. You’re the
one who turned James in..." Draco said slowly,
rage building up. ‘One of my best friends, THE best friend I’ve ever had
in fact. I’m looking at the man responsible for his
disappearance. Will my God care if I kill once more? I’ve killed many
times. I am, as Andrew said, a killing machine. It’s
become automatic. I don’t want it to be automatic.’
"Yes, so? Hey. You’re the same dragon who was a good friend of James,
worked with Star Fox a few times. That’s why I
thought you looked familiar."
"Yes indeed." Draco flexed his claws, shifting back and forth.
"Oh did my betrayal of my teammates make you mad?" He sneered. "What are
you doing to us right now?"
"I have no team." Was the harsh, whispered reply.
"Only because no one will accept you!"
Something snapped, and the dragon lunged.
All Pigma saw was a flash of red scales, talons, and shining teeth before
he was sprawled on the ground, Draco pinning him,
claws digging in easily, jaw circling the pig’s throat.
"This is for James." Hissed Draco, and then he suddenly snapped his mouth
shut, ripping his enemy’s throat apart.
Spitting blood out, he jumped backward away from the body, wings beating.
"JESUS!" Screamed Leon, eyes wild with fear.
A blur of black feathers, and Sorceress has Draco on the ground, going for
his throat with a dagger.
Andrew lunged and pulled Sorceress away. "He’ll kill you!"
"Damn you, I had him!" The falcon howled, furious.
Draco lurched to his feet and snapped his tail like a whip, leaving a
long, bloody slash down Sorceress’ cheek. Andrew let
Sorceress go, who lurched away and found sudden shelter in Wolf’s arms,
who looked as stunned as the others did by this
motion.
Draco took to the air again; more then close enough to kill Andrew, who
just stared up at his former instructor.
"Andrew saved my life. For that, I spare the rest of yours." Hissed the
dragon, smoke drifting from his nostrils.
And with that, he dove back into the cockpit of his plane and took off.
There was no other move to stop him.

The bartender took one look at bloody, exhausted, worn Draco, and set a
double shot of bourbon on the bar in front of the
dragon. "I know you like wine but you could stand something a lot
stronger."
"I agree." He knocked the shot back. It took some of the blood taste out
of his mouth.
"Draco?" Asked a soft, feminine voice, and a soft, strong hand clasped his
shoulder.
"Mary?" He twisted slightly, and smiled in relief. "Thank god for a
friendly face. What are you doing in a bar that is usually
populated by active mercenaries?"
She made a face. "Bad enough that all the excitement is out of my life
now. If I was cut off from my mercenary buddies, I’d go
nuts. Note I’m not officially back on duty yet. I have no wish to take up
the job of killing people. Come upstairs. Warrior,
Jordian, Gustile, and Silent are here...all of us are anxious for a
report."
He nodded, and followed her upstairs to the lounge.
"Why do you look so down at the mouth?" She asked, glancing at him.
‘This is the same woman who earned the nickname Silent Bullet, because she
is as lethal as one?’ He wondered. "It’s a
long story." He said wearily, dragging himself up the final stairs and
collapsing in front of a large fireplace, staring into the blaze.
"A long story."
"We’re here to hear ya." Said Warrior, sitting down, holding a glass.
He slowly told them, starting with when he was hired, ending when he
touched down on Corneria less then half an hour ago.
They listened silently, respectively.
"I’m tired." He said slowly. "Really tired of killing people." He lowered
his jaw to the ground, closing his eyes in misery. "I
don’t know what to do now, really."
"You sound like I did when I considered retirement." Said Mary, reaching
over to pat his scaly shoulders reassuringly. "If
you’re tired of it, stop doing it. It’s that simple."
"Things never seem that simple." He growled.
"They usually aren’t for most people." She admitted with a half sigh,
sitting back. Though she was a former assassin, Mary was
a very peaceful, loving person. "But the way I see it, you’re a
Jack-of-all-trades. So you’ve dropped one trade, so what?"
"Meaning keep everything else up, drop the assassinating?"
"If you want to. You’re self-employed, your own boss. Think about it."
"Oh no, employee empowerment!" Snickered Gustile. Silent whacked him
upside the head.
Draco sighed. "You’ve brought up a good point, Mary."
"Well now that I’m retired, it’s one of the few things that I’m good at."
She replied with poor humor. "Peaceful times ahead,
hopefully, right? What better time to relax?"
"True." He looked at his blood-stained claws, gave up, and slowly preened
the blood off without really thinking about it. The
stain would never come off of course, the experience would never leave
him.
‘I performed my mistakes in the dark.’ He thought, trying to shove the
feeling of dishonor back. ‘So I am still a man.’
"You’re right. It’s time to kick back, relax, and STOP KILLING PEOPLE. I
have a long life ahead of me. Time to have some
fun with it, am I right?"
"Yes indeed." She grinned. "Yes indeed."