Chapter X
	Fox watched as Fortuna slid out of sight of the Great Fox, and
then walked away from the window. He went over to the vidscreen, and set
it up. General Pepper was waiting. "Fox, you're okay! I was so sure that
was a trap!"
	Fox nodded. "It was. But I've made some discoveries. We're all
safe, and Fortuna still exists, although I'm not sure about your security
guards. I didn't even see hostages."
	"Oh, they're fine. We got a call from them right after you left, I
guess. Somehow, they all got locked inside the janitor's room. You can bet
they were plenty sore from being stuffed in there."
	Fox smiled. "I probably would have freed them when I got in there,
but when there is a bomb about to go off, you get kind of preoccupied."
	"No matter, Fox. Thanks again. Are you guys ready for your next
mission?"
	"Yes, I suppose. Where to now?"
	"Well, we're waiting for an attack, really, but we have some
witnesses say they have some toxic dumping on Zoness."
	"Why? Such a beautiful planet should be left alone."
	"What you'll be seeing the invasion aftermath. By time you get
there, it's not going to be so beautiful. There are unconfirmed reports of
bio-weapons, too. We think that the toxins were designed to have mutation
effects on these animals."
	"All right. Have you taken into consideration how long it's going
to take us to get there?"
	"So far, the matter isn't that urgent, but we have to keep you
busy. I'll update you more when you arrive."
	"Okay, contact you there. Fox out." Fox pushed a button, and the
screen fuzzed out again.
	Slippy looked over to him. "We're heading all the way to Zoness?"
Fox nodded. Slippy went about getting the ship in the right direction.
	Fox went up his bunk to try to get some rest before they got to
Zoness. He was exhausted. At the moment his head hit the pillow, he was
asleep. He saw his father, being turned over to Venomians by that traitor,
Pigma. Peppy had told him the story so many times, it was real to him. He
watched as his father and a younger Peppy made their way to the control
rooms in Bolse, saw them escape the guards and run to their crafts. And
for once, Fox's mind's eye didn't follow Peppy, as he made his way past
where Pigma and James were fighting. He stayed locked onto James, noticing
every move he made. James was being chased by Pigma, and they were nearing
the black hole. Fox watched as Pigma launched a bomb at James, and then
turned away from the dangerous area. The explosion, instead of destroying
James, shoved his ship nearer to the hole. Fox saw James' ship get
helplessly sucked into the hole. Fox woke up with a jump. He was sweating
again, nervous from his dream. He laid back down, and began thinking of
the whole process again. Soon, a few events popped into his head. He saw
himself, not too long ago, boosting away from the Shogun. Almost as soon
as he saw the Shogun, it exploded, sending Fox farther away from the
blast. That wasn't normal. He saw the mothership at Katina absorbing
energy and generating a shield around itself. Then, suddenly, in the nick
of time, it stopped, and dropped its shield. That wasn't normal either.
Then he saw himself running through the base at Fortuna, following the
only path that was open. Why would they leave only the path that led to
the bomb open? Lack of time? No, they had plenty of time. He saw himself
jamming into the room filled with Venomians, and them all scattering,
because of who they thought he was.  Then there was that bomb. It was
completely set up to be disarmed. Why in the world would they have it set
like that? Fox woke up. "No way." But it seemed to make perfect sense,
almost. Fox jumped out of his bunk. "I am never getting into that bed
again."
	Still, now that he'd been thinking of his father, he couldn't
stop. He began trying to think of ways that his father could have survived
that black hole, and come back. Finally, he confused himself so well, that
he couldn't think straight. "It's not possible! But.. it has to be." He
got up from his chair, walked over to his locker, and did the combination.
His hands moved swiftly as they dug down to the bottom of the locker,
tossing other things to the side. After a few minutes, his hands rested on
a small box, with a ribbon wrapped around it. Fox picked it up and undid
the ribbon. He lifted the lid off of the box, and looked underneath. Fox
pulled out a picture frame with a picture in it of his father and him when
he was little. He leaned back into his chair and looked at the likeness
between them. He wished out loud, "If only you were here..."
	He thought more about his father, and then he thought he felt
something else in the box. Oh, it was the pair of sunglasses that Bill had
given him as a going away gift from the Cornerian Space Force. He picked
them up and compared them to the ones James had on in the picture. Fox had
to agree with Bill; they were almost a perfect match. Fox thought for a
second, and then he slid the shades onto his face. He heard the speaker
start up, and figured that Pepper had called.  "Fox! Get down here! It
seems all you ever do around here is sleep!" Falco wasn't exactly patient.
	"I'm coming. Don't lose your tail feathers." Fox started for the
control room.
	As the Great Fox passed Solar, the Lylat System's sun, a much
smaller cruiser, suitable for one person, pulled into Zoness orbit. Its
pink hide complemented the pink-purple feline inside. Just in front of her
face on a console, she had a picture of her intended finacee', Falco
Lombardi. She thought of him, smiled, and purred. "Ohh, Falco, I can't
wait to see you again!" She hit the boosters.
	Pepper was once again waiting for Fox. "Fox, we have some
problems. The pollution is much worse than our wildest nightmares could
have it. If I'm correct about your position, you can look out of your
windows, and see the devestation for yourself."
	Fox leaned to his right, and looked for the stricken planet. In
the distance, he saw what appeared to be a swirling ball of greenish
waters. "Wow."
	"Yes, my thoughts exactly. We don't even have to go into the
atmosphere to find a good deal of pollution. Andross has been using this
place as a dump for all of his toxins, and we think they have been
affecting the animals that live there. We also have confirmed reports of
storage spaces on that planet. He probably has some weapons and such
hidden here."
	"So what's our target?"
	"We need you to destroy the main security system so that we can
get our troops in after you do."
	"Sounds easy enough. Where's the security system linked?"
	"All around the planet. Andross was smart enough not to use just
one main security system. He has hundreds."
	"That's not good. Are there any bases where the systems are all
based?"
	"No, but each system is linked to a searchlight, and if you
destroy the searchlight, you destroy the system."
	Fox looked solemn. "Any word on the Star Wolf Team?"
	"Well, I know they're not around here, but if you want anthing
else, you've come to the wrong person." Pepper shrugged. "If it's any
comfort to you, we did find out that they got picked up by a Venomian
transport ship a few hours after you left."
	"That means that we'll probably be running into them again."
	"Well, we'll see how things turn out. Keep in touch, Fox."
	"You can bet on it, General. Fox out." Fox hit some buttons, and
watched the screen turn back into fuzz. "Come on, guys! Let's get moving!"
	Falco looked at Fox as he was getting ready to leave the room, and
noticed Fox's sunglasses. "Hey, Fox, what's going on with those shades?"
	Fox smiled, and straightened the sunglasses. "A legacy."
	At that moment, "You fools! You let Fox get away!" Andross was
angry, very angry. The four pilots of the Star Wolf Team were lined up
against one wall, nervous and scared. "Well? Do you have an explanation?"
	Andrew half-stepped forward. "Well, you see.."
	"Be quiet! I don't want to hear you grovel! We are through, Mr.
O'Donnel. Through with all of your pilot's training. All four of you,
done!"
	Wolf was frantic amidst Andross' shouting. Suddenly, he had an
idea. "Excuse me, sir, but I think I have found Fox's weakness."
	Andross was continually shouting now. "..and I gave you ships, and
that armor, and anything that you needed to kill Fox, but could you do one
little.." Andross slowed, and looked over to Wolf. "Did you just interrupt
me?"
	Wolf was quiet. No one had ever even dared to scare him like this
guy did. He didn't know what to say. "Well, I guess, sir.."
	As Wolf babbled on, Andross pressed some buttons on his arm, and
aimed his hand at Wolf. To the amazement of everyone in the room, another
bigger version of Andross' hand appeared, and zoomed across the room,
hitting Wolf. It was choking him as it held him against the wall,
following every action that Andross' real hand went through. "Do you like
it? It's my newest invention. A virtual recreation of my hand, only much
larger and indestructible. This allows me to do what ever I want, where
ever I want. Nothing can stop this hand, like it or not. This is the
secret weapon that I've been working on for so long." Wolf was losing air.
"So, Wolf, you want to interrupt me? Fine! Now I'm listening. What were
you going to say?"
	Wolf was showing red through the grey fur on his face.
"At....Fortuna,....found....Fox's weakness." He continued to try to hold
his breath.
	Andross moved his hand up, lifting Wolf higher against the wall.
"Really? And what, prey tell, is that?"
	Wolf was out of breath now. "His......father!" He was about to
pass out.
	Andross smiled a cruel smile. "How interesting! You have proven
well. I believe I shall let you on a while longer, weaklings." He hit a
button on his arm, and the hand dissappeared, letting Wolf drop to the
floor, and start gasping for breath. Andross straightened his coat, turned
and started walking out of the room. "I shall expect you all in the
meeting room within an hour." The other three pilots watched as the evil
doctor left the room, and then ran to Wolf's side.
	Wolf sat up, panting frantically. He put his hand on his head, and
leaned against the wall. "No... amount of money... can be worth this."
	Fox pulled his Arwing down to the level of the water. "Stealth is
the key to this mission, guys. Let's sneak in low, and surprise them!" He
manuevered around some rocks sticking up out of the waters. "Pepper said
to be on the lookout for any kind of mutated animal!"
	Falco pulled in near Fox, and suddenly, a small dragon blasted out
of the water at Falco. He barrel-rolled out of the way just in time, and
gave it a taste of laser. "Whoa! Looks like these guys want to have us for
lunch!"
	Slippy watched as Falco retreated back in rank, and then looked
ahead. "Don't look now, guys, but there's a whole flock headed this way!"
He aimed at one of the group, and his computer locked onto it. "Hey, this
is weird. Fox, I think we're running into more of those bio-weapons. These
things are registering as robots!" He fired a few lasers into the group,
and they went down.
	Peppy slid forward in the fog to get a better look at the dragons,
and his eyes spotted something. "Hey! Searchlights up ahead!"
	Slippy locked onto the first searchlight. "They're trying to scan
our ships!"
	Falco swooped in low, and blasted one out of the water. "Let's
take 'em all out!"
	Not too far away, the pink ship watched as Falco shot the
searchlight. The cat inside purred. "You're just as amazing as ever,
Falco."
	Slippy went to shoot at a searchlight, but his ship shuddered. He
looked behind himself and saw a trio of dragons biting at the back of his
Arwing, but they were staying clear of the flames in the back. "Don't like
fire, do you?" He hit the brakes and swerved back and forth, scorching his
chasers. "Whew! That was too close!"
	A dragon pulled up behind Fox, and tried to take him down. "Oh,
yeah?" He pulled into a somersault, and blasted the animal as he came
down. Up ahead, saw some rocks, with lights glowing from in between them.
"Hey! There are more of those lights up there! We have to take them all!"
He dashed forward, and locked onto one of the lights. Just as he was about
to shoot it, a dragon popped out of the water, and scraped the bottom of
the craft. Fox moved, and the shot missed. "Hurry up and shoot that,
someone!"
	Falco pulled in, but almost hit a rock when he locked on. "Missed
it. Peppy!"
	Peppy slid down to it, and hit the brakes. "I can't lock onto it.
Too many waves. Your turn, Slip."
	Slippy had been going after another light, and didn't even notice
that one. "Huh? Oh, no! We missed one! Now they'll get us for sure!"
	Suddenly, there was a splashing noise and they all looked behind
them. A small pink ship had shot down the light, and was proceeding to go
in front of Fox. "You take the right light, boy. I'll take the left." She
boosted ahead to hit the lights, and Fox swerved to get the ones she left.
	Falco thought that he had recognized that voice. "Katt?? Katt
Monroe? What are you doing here?"
	Katt pulled into a small circle to come near to Falco. "Is that
any way to greet a girl?"
	Slippy flew inbetween them. "Come on, let's go! He boosted way in
front to get a light, and then pulled clear of the rocks below. He noticed
movement in the water below him. A small dragon flew by, and suddenly, an
explosion came from the water below. A huge sea serpent launched  iteself
out of the water at the dragon, caught, and ate it. Slippy had to dodge
and fly underneath the massive arches that the body was making in the
water. "Whoa!! Watch out!!!" The whole group flew underneath the arch, and
watched as the serpent chased the dragons across the surface of the water.
"Wow! I just hope he doesn't mistake us for dragons!!"
	Fox nodded. "Yeah. That's all we need. Everybody hang close until
that thing leaves." Fox tried to slide into four ship-formation, but Katt
was trying to come up in the center.
	"Don't you boys forget that I'm here!" She kept pulling her ship
upwards, towards the center of the group.
	Falco sighed. "Fox, you might as well let her into the formation.
She's not going to leave unless you do."
	"Alright, guys. Let's go into five-ship formation." He moved to
the left, allowing Peppy to pull up beside him, and watched as the pink
ship slid back beside Falco. The five of them continued on, watching for
any lights against the smoggy night. More dragons, trying to escape from
the sea serpent, charged towards them. "Break up!" The group split, and
the dragons dodged the serpent as it shot between the groups. The serpent
seemed to turn slightly nearer to Fox. "Uh-oh. I think he's spotted a
bigger meal. Be on your guard, guys!"
	Some lights appeared in the distance, and Katt noticed them right
away. She boosted ahead to get them, and felt her ship shake. "Oh, no!
I've got someone on my tail!" Falco swooped down and blasted the dragon
following her. She cooed, "Beautiful!! I could kiss you for that!"
	Fox saw some movement under the water. "Falco, Katt!!! Watch
out!!!" The serpent exploded from the surface, trying to catch the two
ships in its mouth. Both ships shot away from the area just as the huge
mouth slammed down on the waters.
	Peppy saw some gates up ahead. He knew there were lights behind
them, but he couldn't see how to get them up. There were some axels on the
sides of the gates, maybe that would work. He shot at one, and the gate
started to rise. "Guys, shoot the axels to raise the gates!!" Fox and
Peppy pulled up the first gates, and shot the lights underneath.
	They flew over the waters, looking for any lights on the surface
of the choppy waters. Slippy thought that he saw something in the
distance, but he wasn't sure. It looked like, well, maybe, "Enemy tanker
up ahead!!" 
	Fox locked on to the huge craft, and sent a bomb flying towards
it. BA-BOOM! The ship started to lean to one side in the water, and
flopped down into it. Another ship came into focus. BA-BOOM!! It started
to sink immeadiatley. In the distance, a complex of platforms with crates
stacked on them was visible. "This is where they must store some toxins!
Let's get rid of these crates for them!!" The five ships flew in and
around the platforms, blasting the crates and parked fighters.
	They regrouped on the other side of the complex, and started going
after the patrol boats that followed them. The boats swarmed them, making
it difficult to shoot them individualy. Falco pulled into a somersault.
"Clear, everyone!" He blasted a bomb down onto the water, where it cleared
out most of the boats, and sent the others a good distance away. Almost
instantly, a group of aircrafts attacked from the front, always staying
just one step ahead of their shots. "Man, these guys just don't give up!"
	Fox flew over one lone platform on the water, and blasted the
crates off of it, as well as the patrol boats parked next to it. Peppy
followed him, and they took out the rows of crates and fighters on the
next one. Falco passed, with a ship following him. "He's right behind me!"
Fox locked on to the fighter, and shot it down as he went past. Falco
looked back and saw who had shot the attacker. "Gee, I've been saved by
Fox. How swell."
	Fox laughed, and turned to shoot down more fighters, when
something caught his eye. "Up ahead!! More lights!!" He boosted forward to
get them, and Falco pulled a wide arc to catch up.
	Peppy watched as Falco slid under a platform to shoot one down,
and then crossed in front of Fox sharply to shoot one underneath another
platform. Fox shot the ones that Falco missed. Peppy nodded. "Good
teamwork, guys!"
	Falco pulled back, and slid beside Fox. "That was a close call,
Fox."
	Katt boosted up to fly on the other side of Falco. "That's what we
thrive on!" She plowed through some crates on top of a platform with her
lasers. "Make way for Katt!!"
	Falco saw what looked like logs floating on the surface of the
water up ahead. "Geez Laweez! What is that?"
	Slippy catiously approached one, and it exploded, sending flames
high into the air. "Whoa! Stay clear of those things!" The group dodged
around the logs, twirling around the flames. On the other side of the
field, they regrouped.
	Peppy saw something moving under the water. "Keep on your guard,
guys!" Suddenly, a mace exploded from the water and flew right at the
group. "Break up! Break up!"
	A submarine with cannons on either side of it emerged from the
water. Its smoke stacks were pouring filth into the air. A voice came over
the com. "Miserable little whelps!" The mace was reloaded. "I'll teach you
some respect!" Again, the mace flew and the group separated. "Cannons,
begin the attack!!"
	Fox and Peppy came around from the side that they were on to find
the other three. Fox commanded, "Five ship formation! Let's take this guy
out with one blast!" The group got into the formation, and began charging
their lasers. "Laser charged! Aim on target! Fire!!!" A brillant blast of
bright white laser slammed into the hull of the ship. "Huh?"
	The ship rocked, and then righted itself. The laughter echoed
across the com. "You can't hurt us with those weakling flashlights!!" The
cannons took aim, and began to rapidfire cannonballs at the group. After
watching the team dodge the cannonballs for a while, the ship's captain
became bored. "You waste my time! Submerge!!" The massive sub lowered
beneath the waves, and he began aiming the mace towards them. "Thirty
degrees left, up ten degrees! Fire one!!"
	The mace erupted through the surface of the water. Falco and
Slippy shot to the side, and avoided it. The mace retracted, and they
regrouped, waiting for another attack. Katt moved forward, and began
shooting flares into the water to help them detect the sub. Without
warning, the mace blasted through the surface again, and Katt was right in
the way. Falco saw the danger she was in. "Katt! Get out of there!!" She
turned, saw the mace heading towards her ship, froze and screamed. He hit
his boosters, and rammed his ship into hers, knocking both of them out of
harm's way.
	She righted her ship, and turned back to Falco.  His ship was
sparking and missing a wing. "Wow!!! No one's ever done anything like that
for me before!! Thanks, Falco!!!"
	He dropped to the back of the group. "You guys are going to have
to cover for me! I'm almost outta here!!"
	The sub came back to the surface of the water, and began the
barrage of cannonballs once again, followed by some of the exploding
torpedoes. The captain watched contentedly as the squadron just barely
avoided each blast. A door burst open behind him, and a sailor rushed in
and came to attention. "Sir!!"
	"At ease. What is it?"
	"We have received reports of the great sea serpent in the area. Do
you want us to make an attempt to catch it?"
	The sub's captain paced while he thought. Finally, he decided. "If
we get him, Andross will be so proud of us! He might even make me a
general! That serpent would make an excellent bio-weapon, too! So it is
done, then. As soon as it comes within reach, we drop our targets and go
after the serpent."
	The sailor saluted. "Affirmative, sir!" He stepped out, closing
the door behind him.
	The captain leaned against his desk as he watched the Star Fox
Team fire away with their lasers.
	Falco was getting tired of just firing lasers at the sub.
"Everyone, clear!!" As the team scattered, Falco launched a bomb right
against the hull of the ship. BA-BOOM! The two smoke stacks on the top of
the sub exploded from the sides.
	The captain got up from where he had fallen and opened the door
from his cabin into the control room. "What just happened?!?"
	A few sailors jumped up from their chairs, and reported. "Sir, one
of those ships fired a bomb onto us."
	The next one continued. "We have massive damage to the top side of
the sub, but we can still submerge if needed, sir!"
	The captain looked out of the window just in time to see another
bomb ram into the side of the ship. One of the sailors checked onto the
computers as he was standing up. "Sir, we've lost the cannon system on the
left side!!"
	The captain came down the stairs among the rushing sailors. "Lower
the crane now!! Get that system reattached!!"
	Fox watched as the crane lowered into the water. "He's going to
try to reattach that cannon to the side of the submarine!!"
	Slippy pulled back from the crane. "Not if I can help it!
Everyone, clear!!" The bomb crashed into the crane, blowing the foundation
off of it.
	Katt slid back. "It's still holding on! Let me get a shot at it!
Clear!" The bomb radiated pink-purple fumes. "Don't you think it's my
color?" She giggled.
	Peppy saw that the crane was still functioning. "Wow! They must
have had a huge shield on this thing! Clear!" The bomb slammed into the
backside of the ship, ripping the crane from the sub, and sinking it not
far away.
	Fox fell around to the front. "And one more bomb for the other
cannon system. Eveyone, clear!!" The explosion rocked the ship over on its
side, but it righted itself.
	The captain inside was holding onto a desk to keep himself
standing. He ordered, "Panic manuevers!! Enable rapid-fire on the mace,
and charge the pulse-laser!!"
	Fox thought he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. "Guys,
watch out! More of those dragons are coming our way!!"
	Peppy dodged a few of the bio-weapons, and rolled out of the way
of the rest. "That means that the sea serpent can't be far behind. Be on
your guard!"
	Falco pulled away from the dragons. "Are we ever off of our
guard?"
	Slippy was just watching the sub. "Guys, I think they're going to
try something, but I can't say what. Their power levels in their weapons
are rising off of my scale, but everything else is being drained. This
looks like a final effort to take us out!"
	Suddenly, a hole on the front of the sub erupted into blasts of
lasers, firing everywhere. Katt barely escaped the pulses and fired back.
"The frog said that the other energy was being drained to attack us. Our
lasers should hit right through what shield they have left! Everyone, on
my mark!!" The five ships got into formation, and charged their lasers.
"Ready, lock, fire!!" The lasers blasted from their guns and banded
together into one mass beam of white light. The sub absorbed the whole hit
and rocked back and forth in the waves for a while, still shooting off its
pulse cannon. Katt was rallying. "Let's go at it one more time!! Everyone,
charge your lasers!"
	The captain saw what they were doing. "Not this time, you don't!!
Fire the mace, sailor!!" The mace launched from the sub, breaking the
group apart. "Your individual lasers are still too weak to take me out!"
	Katt went around behind the sub, and Falco fell to the side.
"Fine, then. Get in groups of two! Katt, you launch a bomb when we are all
clear of the sub, got it? Let's go!!" Falco and Slippy went to the right
of the sub, while Fox and Peppy went to the left. "Fox! You and Peppy
attack now!" The beam glowed a bright blue as it hit the sub. "Slippy,
now!!" Another blast of bluish light rammed the sub. "Katt!!"
	She smiled. "That's my cue!! Clear, everyone!!" The bomb blasted
into the hide of the sub, taking off one piece of the side. "That ship's
done for now! I think that it's taking in water!! Come on, everyone,
regroup!"
	The captain listened as a sailor informed the captain of all of
the damage they had received. He watched out the window for an opportunity
to fire the mace one more time. The team regrouped, and the captain held
up his hand. "We've got to hit them all with this last hit! Drain the
power from the pulse laser, and raise our shields again! Use the rest of
the power to strengthen the mace! We'll get these guys yet!!"
	Fox led the attack again on the ship. "We need a strong hit to
finish this thing off! One more time! Aim! Lock!! Fire!!" The beam
rocketed onto the ship, but it didn't even hurt it. He looked down out of
the corner of his eye. "Break up!! That sea serpent is about to try to get
us again!!"
	The captain saw that they were sitting still. "Don't just sit
there, sailor!! Fire that mace!!" The mace blasted from where it sat
towards the team.
	Fox shot up and away from the team, while Peppy broke to the left
with Slippy. Falco and Katt fell to the right as the serpent shot
overhead. It roared as it arched over where the team had been. The captain
realized that the mace was going to hit the serpent. "No! Stop! We have to
save that sea serpent!!" However, the mace slammed into the hide of the
serpent, and it turned to see what had dared try to hurt it. Roaring, it
reared out of the water and thrashed around. The water around the sub
began bubbling with life.
	Slippy swooped down to the water and was almost taken down by a
small dragon. "That serpent was calling those dragons to attack this
thing! Let's get out of here!" By the time Slippy had regained altitude
with the rest of the group, the dragons were shooting out of the water and
slamming into the hull, trying to break it. Slippy checked his gauge. "One
more good hit, and they're history!"
	The huge sea serpent raised its tail into the air, and slammed it
down with all of its force onto the sub. As it hit the sub, the entire
engine exploded, sending huge waves going in every direction. Fox and the
rest of the team started boosting away, eager to get away from the
dragons. "All right, team, all aircraft report!"
	Peppy sighed. "I'm sure glad that we weren't one of them!"
	Slippy was next. "Those dragons gave me the creeps!"
	Fox waited for Falco to respond, but no response came through. He
quickly looked back to see what was wrong, but he had no need to worry.
Falco was in the back of the group, talking to himself. He suddenly
realized that someone wasn't there. "Katt, where'd you go?"
	Fox pulled to the front of the group. "Great job, everyone! I
think we pulled off a soldier's dream! Let's go back to the Great Fox for
our next assignment!" They shot off of the water, towards the sky, leaving
a few dragons behind.