Star Fox 64:
The Legacy
--------------------------

Chapter I
	On the peaceful planet of Corneria, in the Lylat System, a small
red car drove through the suburbs, passed a few kids playing, and parked
in front of a large, but moderate house. Peppy Hare, 31 and still as
playful as a teenager, hopped out of the junker. He jogged down the
walkway and jumped the steps up to the door. As he rang the buzzer, he
fingered the note in his pocket. It was for James McCloud, the best
fighter on this side of the galaxy. The Cornerian Army hated to see him go
to raise his son, Fox, when his service time expired, so he agreed to be
used as a mercenary in extreme situations. 
	Little Fox, then 8 years old, answered the door and told Peppy
that his dad was coming. James presently came up behind his son, and
received the note from Peppy. "They were having tech problems up at the
com center, so they sent me with this note," Peppy explained. James read
the note, looked at Peppy and said, "You had better go get Pigma. It's
another mission. I'll meet you down at the hangars", and then bid Peppy
goodbye.
	Peppy gave a little shout of joy, and headed out to his car. As he
started her up, he grabbed his phone and dialed Pigma. "Hey, Pigma! It's
me, Pep. Yeah, guess what? We have another mission. Well, James won't take
it if it isn't dangerous. Yeah, I'll meet you down at the hangars. Uh-huh.
See you soon." He hit another speed dial button on the phone, "Yes, I'd
like to talk with Major Pepper. Peppy Hare. I'll wait." He drummed his
fingers on the dash while waiting for both the light to change and Pepper
to come on. "Hello? Fine, thank you. Hey, about that mission, it's a go!"
He said some other things about minor settings and arrangements, and then
hung up. Then it hit him:"Pigma just asked if this mission was dangerous.
I don't think he's ever asked that before. Weird."
	At the hangars, the three met and discussed the details of their
mission. James McCloud, a tall and commanding fox, was the leader of their
little group, the Star Fox Team. Peppy, next tallest only because of his
ears, was their excitable and quick rabbit wingman. Pigma Dengar, a short
and chunky pig, was slow, but he always knew how to get out of any
situation. He very often received medals for saving his friends.
	James spoke up. "This mission is a exploring mission to Venom.
Pepper has seen some activity there that he knows isn't any kind of storm.
He has one guess as to whom it is that is doing this. Dr. Andross, the one
who was banished to Venom when he was discovered to have been making
revolutionary material, and recruiting fighters. After looking at the
info, I decided that we'll just swoop down there and check on his
findings; if we do find a base, confirm it as Andross' or get attacked, we
shoot. That's it.", here he glanced at his watch, "We're losing time. I'll
answer any other questions on the way there. We're going by way of Sector
Y. Keep your coms open."
	The three ran to their starfighters and started the countdown:
	"G-Diffuser systems check", James started into his radio.
	"Check"
	"Check"
	"Fuel system check"
	"Check"
	"Check"
	"Laser Cannon system check"
	"Check"
	"Check"
	"All right, guys, let's take'em out!" The sound of the engines
revving was almost deafening. Suddenly, a blast echoed from the thrusters,
and they were off.
	As they exited Sector Y, a war-torn nebula, Venom came into sight.
"Let's skip the scenic route and hit the boost, guys." The starfighters
rocketed toward the planet.
	Another voice crackeled onto the radio,"Welcome, Star Fox. You're
walking right into my trap!"
	"Who... what in the world was that?!" Peppy barked. But no one had
time to answer. Suddenly, squadrons of starfighter class pilots appeared,
shooting at the team. Peppy and James both went into defensive manuvers,
but Pigma boosted forward into the mess. "Andross, why did you take so
long to get here?" Both James and Peppy sat there, stunned at what they
just heard. "Sorry guys, but you were high on Andross' list of people he
didn't want on his tail, and I needed money," his ship joined the other
fighters,"so are you going to surrender or not?"
	James and Peppy were speechless. Finally James spoke up, looking
into the hardened face of his old friend, wondering how anyone who knew
could do such a thing," Didn't friendship ever mean anything to you?", he
spoke slowly and quietly at first, but rose to fast and angry,"I gave you
that spot on my team because I knew you could handle the position, and
wouldn't gloat it over anyone that you could. I knew lots of other pilots
who would have died if they had gotten this spot. Why? Money is never
worth it's getting. Come on, you can still escape if you want to, boost
out of here with us, please! Say you aren't going to do this to us!"
	Pigma looked right into James' eyes, "I plan to earn my money any
way I can, doing anything I can, and friendship is just a block in the way
of it." Peppy could not believe his ears. 
	"Stop it, Pigma! You know you consider our friendship to be worth
more than that! Come to your senses, man!"
	"I've asked once. I'll ask again. Will you surrender or not?"
	James spoke quietly, "If you have you mind that consumed with
money, and have no thoughts whatsoever about our team, then we have
already lost the battle. We surrender." 
	Peppy couldn't believe what James had just said. "No!", he
shouted. "James, why are you doing this??" 
	James glanced over to Peppy, "Just follow Pigma's instuctions,
Pep. Do it for me." Peppy caught something in that glance, and he realized
that James had a plan. His gaze softened, and he turned off his laser
cannon.
	"All right, let's go. We haven't got a chance against this
squadron anyway."
	James could see Pigma's cruel grin from his cockpit. "I knew you'd
see it my way." 
	Back at Bolse Defense Post, James and Peppy were thrown in a cell,
to wait further 'sentencing'. James was sitting on a small platform that
was an excuse for a bed, and holding his head in his hands, as if he was
pondering something. Peppy was checking the walls for cameras and
microphones. When he was satisfied, he went over and sat by James, saying,
"O.K., James, you can tell me what it was you were thinking up there. I
think the coast is clear."
	James looked up and said, "Do you remember when I told you that we
were going on a mission back at Corneria?" 
	Peppy nodded., "Of course you did. So? You say that every other
time, too."
	"Peppy, I knew that Pigma was going to turn on us." Peppy's eyes
widened. "Pepper had been watching his activities, and found that he had
been dealing with Andross. I didn't want to believe it, I told him. I
didn't believe it, I said. But it was true. Pepper showed me cam shots and
phone taps that proved the point. I knew that something had to be done,
and that's when we started the mission. I was determined to counter this,
and the only way that it was feasible was for us to get captured. Our real
mission is to get any info we can on Andross' Venomian Army. Now, I have a
plan to get us to the controls, download some info, and get back to our
fighters before anyone even knows we're gone."
	"But first how to get out of here...." said Peppy. 
	"Easily done." James pulled a small, rectagular metal box from his
pocket. "This is a prototype, so we can't really trust it. Pepper had a
copy finished just in time for this mission. I stick it to the door where
I think the lock is located," he did so," and start the machine. If the
door is worked the way normal locks do, you know, with a key, it can
somehow turn the lock without the key, because of magnets in the box. And
voila! The door opens!" James pushed and leaned into the door, to open it.
It didn't budge. "O.K., maybe a few more tries..."
	 Minutes later, the two of them were dashing down the hallways.
"This place is like a maze! Not a single sign as to where we're going!"
Peppy whispered. The hallways were already dimly lit, so getting around
was not really a problem.
	James had been watching a camera. "I guess the guys in the
security room must be asleep or something. We've gone past nine or ten of
those things, and not a single guard. All the better, though." Suddenly
they heard footsteps down the hall, and a flashlight beam went past them.
They ducked into a niche in the wall.
	"Those guys must be crazy. There's not a single thing down this
way.", they heard someone say.
	"Yeah, let's head back to the control room.", they heard the other
say.
	James mouthed "What luck! Let's tail them!", to Peppy. And tail
them they did. Presently they came to a double doors with the sign 'Main
Control' on the right door. Above the sign, there was a window in each
door, so James stood on his toes to look. He looked satisfied at the
sight. "This is our stop.", he whispered to Peppy. Peppy looked through
the other window, and saw into the room. The room was circular with
computers all around. On the far wall, there was an alarm, which looked
like it was a manual button. The computers were blinking with videos of
every planet in the system, where Venomian troops moved, more than not
unexpectedly to the citizens. 
	"Wow!" Peppy couldn't believe that Andross already had that many
troops, and on every planet already.  James kept looking at his watch, and
Peppy noticed. "What's going on? You have a bomb planted or something?"
Suddenly......
	When James and Peppy got on their feet again, they peeked through
the windows. Everything was in a panic. Red lights were flashing
everywhere, and all of the techs were running away. "This should take care
of the rest of them." James put the box that had unlocked the door inside
of the room, just creaking open the door, and then got back outside.
"You'll need this" He handed Peppy an oxygen mask. They watched as tech
after tech just dropped to the floor, some trying to reach the panic
button, but always falling short of it. "It's a harmless sleeping gas,
Pep. We only have a few minutes to work, though. Let's rock and roll!"
They dashed into the room, and while Peppy reckoned with the computer,
James was busy getting the ID cards that each tech had on. He ran to
another computer, inspired by an idea. Clicking and typing away, he found
the clearance list. He found the names of the cards that he and Peppy now
had, and opened them to 'All Clearance'; he then inverted his selection,
and every other card was then set for 'Base Level Only'. He laughed, even
under his mask, and noticed that some of the techs were waking up, and he
thought he heard steps in the hallway. "Pep, you ready?", he shouted under
the mask.
	"All ready. Got stuff on every planet. I even sent some of the
enemies fake commands. Let's go!"
	"Be sure you have your shades. I might have to use the
flashbox...", he didn't have time to say anything else. Guards swarmed in
from every side of the room.
	"Freeze!! Don't move or we shoot!!" the lead guard said.
	"Are you sure? Can't we move a little? Even just like this?", and
he tossed a small box into the air. Just as Peppy and he got their shades
on, the box burst into brillant light. All of the guards were shooting,
dodging, whatever they thought to do, all of them blinded. James and Peppy
were on the ground, crawling away from the chaos. As they exited the door,
James ran his ID card through a scanner, punched some buttons, and then
the display said "Doors LOCKED". "I love these computers!!" James shouted
as they dashed down the hallway with signs leading to the hangars.
	Once at the hangars, James paused at the doors. "No scanner. We'll
just have to beat them out of here. Run for your ship!" The two of them
dashed towards their starfighters, while guards were busy opening the
door. "Start 'er up!" James shouted as he jumped into his cockpit. The
engines roared to life, and the two were sliding down the runway before
anyone could squeeze off a shot. The doors out of the hangars into open
space were closing. "Someone must have gotten the controls running! We
have to beat those doors! Boost!!!" As the ships rocketed froward, the
doors closed faster. "Turn on your side!!!" James yelled. The two ships
squeaked through the doors, and Peppy lost his cannons on the bottom of
his ship. 
	Peppy saw the problem. "Aw, man! Hey, James, you're going to have
to guard me. I lost my cannons. Sheilds are low. I hate it when that
happens."
	James returned with a smile. "I don't think we'll have any
problems from here on out. Huh? What in the world?! Pep! I'm being
attacked!" Peppy turned around to see a squadron of ships coming at them,
led by a black starfighter. 
	"I thought you guys would do something like this. Trying to skip
out on me, eh? Well, see if you can get away from this!" The black
starfighter continued to shoot at the two of them. "Attention, Squad
Black, these two are mine. Go back to base!" 
	Peppy recognized that voice. "Pigma?"
	"You bectha! Now watch your back! Your friend James is about to
meet his maker!" Pigma squealed with delight. "Andross will be sooo
pleased!" 
	"James, evasive manuvers!! Do you copy? James!"
	"It's all right, Pep. You go on back to Corneria!"
	"What?! And leave you here? I'll do no such thing" James was
dodging shots that were coming more quickly now.
	"Peppy. I command you as your boss, to get out of here, NOW!"
	"NO!"
	"What could you do to help me? Your cannons are gone.  Your ship
is weak. Now I said GO!"
	Peppy thought. James was right. "All right. I'm going." Peppy
slowed down, to watch James. He was going everywhere, trying to get a hit
on Pigma, while trying to stay out of Pigma's range. The two kept getting
nearer and nearer a black hole. 
	Suddenly, Peppy was forced to turn around and watch where he was
going when a meteorite nicked the side of his fighter. Then he heard an
explosion. He looked behind him again. 
	"All right, Peppy, now it's your turn!"
	"Where's James?", as if he didn't know.
	"You'll see him soon!"
	The radio crackled to life. "Calling Pigma, base to Pigma."
	Pigma answered while chasing Peppy around a somersault. "What
now?!" he complained.
	"Your command of sending my squadron back was rude, and against
all rules here. We will have no one-man teams. Come back to base."
	Pigma was shocked. "What?! And let this guy go?"
	After a few seconds, the base said, "His shields are down far
enough. He's as good as dead anyway."
	 Pigma turned his ship around and headed back to Bolse Defense
Post. "You have to be the luckiest animal alive right now, Peppy."
	 Suddenly Peppy's comlink to Corneria came on. Pepper was on the
screen. "Alright. How did the mission go, guys?"
	"Uh, Pepper? My sheilds are really low, and it would be nice if
you sent out an escort..."
	"Oh, hard time, eh? Escort's on the way." Pepper looked at the
radar and froze. "What happened, Pep?"
	"I really don't know, Major. He was being chased by Pigma over by
the black hole, and I had to watch where I was going and the next thing I
know.... James is gone."
	Pepper was quiet, then said. "I can't believe it."
	Back at Corneria, Peppy headed over to the neighbor's house where
Fox had  spent the night. He took Fox with him back to his house. When
they got there, Fox said, "Hey, Uncle Peppy, where's dad?" The words stung
Peppy. He leaned over the steering wheel and remembered. Remembered how
James had saved his life many times. Remembered how they used to be like
family. Remembered how they went through the flight academy together.
Remembered how he used to invite him over to sit and watch the stars. He
would say, "Sometimes, it's just great to look at the stars and just
wonder."
	Peppy had to say it. "Fox, your dad...."
	Fox leaned over the seat to see Peppy better. There were tears
streaming down his face. "What? What's wrong?"
	Peppy got out of the car, ran up the hill beside his house and sat
down, facing the sunset. Fox came up behnd him, "What, Peppy? Did I say
something?"
	Peppy took little Fox onto his lap and said, "You know what, Fox?
Sometimes it's great just to watch the stars." So they did. For two hours,
they watched the stars, and wondered.


Star Fox 64:
The Legacy
--------------------------

Chapter II
	Ten years later, Fox McCloud had finished the Cornerian Flight
Academy and had already flown several missions. He worked with a passion
which used to belong to his father, and had vowed to gain revenge on the
one that had orchestrated his father's death. Little did he know how soon
that day would come.
	Peppy had adopted Fox, feeling that he was responsible for him
now. The more Peppy watched Fox in his mannerisms and style, the more he
was reminded of James. Peppy looked at his relation to Fox as more of just
a care-taker than that of a father.
	One evening, soon after Fox had returned from another mission,
Peppy received a letter. As he was entering the room where Fox was
watching TV, he read the note. Fox looked up just in time to see an
expression of disbelief and confusion cross Peppy's face.
	"What's wrong, Pep?" Fox inquired. Peppy simply handed Fox the
letter. Fox read the typewritten words with disbelief:
	To Peppy Hare, mercenary of the Star Fox Team:
		In a process of cleaning out of files, we examined all of
the licensed mercenary teams belonging to the Cornerian Alliance. We
have discovered your team to be without a leader, and without further
consent, are holding a meeting of all eligable troops to select a new
leader for your team. In the situtation that you would not have us choose
a new and suitable leader for your team, your group will be immediately
disbanded from the Alliance. You may attend this meeting if you wish,
provided you are accompanied by a soldier certified by the Cornerian
Alliance.  You may also recommend any soldier you see fit, if he/she
consents to the recommendation. 
	The note went on to describe small finalities about the new
ownership and such. Fox looked up at Peppy again. Peppy looked like he had
just been handed a death sentence. Fox read the note again, in order to
make sure he hadn't missed anything, to try to say that it wasn't the
truth. It was there, all right. The Star Fox Team was to be with either a
new leader, or not at all by the next week.
	Peppy slumped into a chair, and blankly stared at the note. "What
to do, what to do...." Peppy's mind raced thinking of ways to reclaim the
team. He knew that he couldn't take the positition of leader, because he
wasn't a soldier anymore. Besides, if could, he would still be the only
one in the team. His gaze shifted to Fox, and he started thinking again.
Yes, it could work. It would have to! "Fox, would you consider..."
	"When is that meeting again? We need to be there. I want to see
who gets the team." Fox's answer was curt and slightly angry. Peppy just
stared at Fox, who was watching TV again, shocked at what he jsut said.	
	The next week, Fox and Peppy arrived at the meeting. It was held
in the conference hall, a huge room with enough space for at least 200
people. Both Fox and Peppy found a spot near the podium, and sat down. As
the meeting began, Fox whispered to Peppy, "I'll be right back, I've got
some business to attend to." Peppy didn't care. How could he? His entire
life was being given away by a complete stranger, who decided that not
having a leader made the team ineffectual. Actually, now that he thought
about it, he saw their point.
	The Star Fox Team was nearer to the end of the session, and Peppy
suddenly wondered how long Fox had been gone. The announcer continued,
"The next team up for bid is team number 2322, the Star Fox Team. This
team was owned by the famous war pilot, James McCloud, until an ambush
killed him, and has left the team without a leader. So far, we have had
only one person respond to this team, so anybody qualified for the postion
of team leader, and wishing to apply, please stand now." Peppy looked
around, and saw no one standing. "All right, fair warning, and done! The
team is now under the new leadership of Fox McCloud, James McCloud's son!"
Peppy almost fainted. Then the door in the back opened, and Fox stepped
in, followed by two other people, one tall and skinny, and the other short
and fat.
	Newly-christened General Pepper stood to congradulate Fox, and Fox
held up his hand to ask to have the floor. Someone handed him a mike, and
he started, "Thank you to everyone in here who recommended me to this
position, and I am greatly honored to have the status that my father once
had. This one is for you, Peppy." Peppy's eyes were welling with tears.
"While the Star Fox Team is on the ballot, General, I would like to apply
for two extra spots on the team, making a squadron of four. The two pilots
that I would like to have join me on the Star Fox Team are Falco
Lombardi," the tall, blue-feathered falcon nodded his head," and Slippy
Toad," the small toad waved. "Peppy Hare is to remain on the team, despite
efforts by my colleagues to persuade me otherwise. Thank you all, again."
	That evening, the newly formed Star Fox Team, and some of Fox's
army friends, had a celebration at Peppy's house. Fox looked up as someone
entered the room, and greeted the tall, grey-furred dog. The dog took out
a small package and handed it to Fox. "I couldn't come up with a
going-away present, but then I remembered that your father used to wear
these all of the time." Fox opened the package and put the contents on
over his eyes. Peppy happened to look over at Fox at that moment, and
thought he was seeing James again. The sunglasses undoubtedly made him a
virtual twin of his father, and everyone agreed likewise. 
	As Fox shook the grey dog's hand, he said, "Thanks, Bill."
	"Bill's not the only one with a present, Fox!" Slippy spoke up.
"The rest of us have something to show you tommorrow!" 
	The next day, at Space Dynamics Company, Limited, Fox had been led
into a room blindfolded, but he used his other senses to tell him that he
was in a workshop of some sort, because the smell of oil and grease
permeated the air heavily. Slippy worked in engineering with his father,
Beltino Toad, here. It was here that all of his ideas for the future of
machines took flight, and I do mean flight. The small group that had led
Fox here consisted of Falco, Peppy, Slippy, and Bill. As they had entered
the room, Fox had heard Bill whistle out of awe, so he knew that this must
be big. He could also feel great heat; he figured that somebody was
welding metal. Falco must have seen Fox trying to see out overtop of the
blindfold, because he reached over and made sure that the handkerchief was
tight. "Don't even think about it, Fox." he warned.
	"Alright, here is where we stop!" Slippy said cheerfully. Peppy
reached around Fox and untied the blindfold. As it fell away, Fox scanned
the room for what he was led here to see. He didn't have to look far; not
100 feet away from him was a extremely large object under a sheet. Fox
guessed that it was some kind of space crusier, but he couldn't be sure.
Slippy caught Fox's eyes, and directed his gaze to the other side of the
room. "Over here, we have two of my best inventions yet to come out of
Space Dynamics Company, Limited. On the right, we have the Blue Marine,
the only underwater war machine to be able to generate a shield like your
Arwings do. By jetting out the water in the ballast, it can also boost,
and even has a lock-on system. Using high-powered compression systems, it
can also make its own torpedoes out of practically nothing but some rock."
Fox ran his hand overtop of the machine's titanium hide, and slipped
inside. As he slid into the seat, Slippy continued, "The seat you're in is
also one of my better ideas. The only connection from that console to the
ship is on the back of the seat. The connection is built to allow the user
to sit completely still while the actual ship is doing corkscrews. It is
very useful by keeping the driver from getting dizzy, and I've thought
about patenting the idea." Slippy went on about his dreams while Fox and
the rest of the crew scrutinized the ship. It looked a little like a large
fish, with a huge compartment as the head, and a tiny rudder for the tail.
It was a beautiful deep blue, and was emblazoned with the Star Fox Team
emblem. By guessing and estimating, Fox guessed that the Blue Marine was
at least his height, but he was sure that someone tall like Falco could
never fit into it. He figured that Slippy had built that sub around his
body size. 
	"And to your left, have one of the most unique siege machines in
the history of war. Friends, I would like to introduce you to the
Landmaster Tank." Slippy said excitedly. Peppy and Falco went over and
inspected the machine, which was also adorned with the Star Fox Team
emblem. Bill was admiring the treads when Slippy hopped over near him, and
continued explaining. "These treads are also revolutionary. They can tear
through practically any type of surface, from ice to sand, and can climb
almost any incline up a 90 degree angle. Even then, I did something to
prevent the tank from being blocked by anything. Each side of the tank is
equipped with a small thruster, specifically placed to allow the tank to
turn left or right quickly, using the appropriate thruster. The quick
manuvering was my origional intention, and it came out with a great side
effect. When both thrusters are run at the same time, the tank actaully
lifts off of the ground and hovers! However, the thrusters have a time
limit, and the limit is depicted by this meter here." He pointed to a blue
bar on the console, "When the bar is red, no boost. When it returns to
blue, we have power! Now, I didn't use the same still-console pattern as I
did in the Blue Marine, only because you are usually on the ground and
right side up anyway. It is also fitted with a special pulse cannon which
sends out bursts of laser, instead of rays." Fox walked around the
machine, admiring it. The body of it was a chrome-white, and the two
windows in front of the pointed body were tinted green. The cannon was
loaded onto a turret which looked like it could go a full circle. There
was also a type of blue-colored shield on each side of the cannon, each of
those also pointed. "Fox, since these are both my inventions, Dad gave me
the choice of what to do with them. They now belong to the Star Fox Team!"
Fox was speechless. "But wait, Fox! The best is yet to come!"
	Fox came up with a question, "But what are we going to fly?"
Everyone looked at Bill.
	"Pepper said he'll let you keep the Arwings you've been flying in
the Air Force. He must really want to keep you guys happy. That's a good
sign."
	One of the techs that was working on the object behind the sheet
looked over at Slippy. Slippy nodded and gave the OK sign. Slippy lined
everyone in the group up to face the object, and said, "My friends, this
is my masterpiece. I would like to introduce you to my most prized
project!" As the sheet fell away, the group was awed. The ship underneath
was definitely a space cruiser, huge in size and a gorgeous white. The
main body of the ship was almost taking up the entire room they were
standing in, and the control tower in the front reached almost to the
ceiling. The ship was standing on retractable legs, which were just below
a docking bay. The four wings, one at each corner of the back end of the
ship, were massive, and the thrusters on the back looked big enough to
push the entire planet forward. The rudder was decorated with a huge Star
Fox Team emblem, and in huge green, bold letters was the word "STARFOX" on
either side of the ship. A lift neared the group, and Slippy directed them
all aboard. They entered the ship through a small door on the side, and
crowded into the docking bay. "This bay is built to be able to hold
practically anything we would need or pick up in space, but specifically
for our four Arwings. Now if you'll proceed to your right and up the
stairs," they did, "and we'll be in the main control room. Now, I figured
that since I built this ship to be completely taken care of by robots, why
not put one in charge? Say hello to ROB, our captain!" Everyone said 'hi'. 
	"Welcome aboard!" ROB said in a robotic voice. 
	"His name stands for some technical phrase, so don't worry about
it." Slippy reassured them. "He is the only robot with complete control
over the ship. He monitors everything on this cruiser." Peppy seemed a
little leery about that. "Don't worry, it's completely safe. He
automatically gets checked for any viruses every hour, and he is run on a
completely seperate generator in case of a blackout." They spent the rest
of the day checking out the ship, and even went into the night. "O.K.,
Fox, here is the best part: Dad said that we could use this thing for free
until we could pay for it. That means that we have the entire ship, for
free, and when we pay for it, it's ours! That's it! Dad gets the publicity
of our team using his ship, and we get the ship!"
	Fox couldn't believe it. "Well, team, what do you think? Should we
take it?" The answer was unanimous.
	Everyone was quiet for a minute, realizing the effect that this
would have on the team. "One more thing, Fox." Slippy said. "The ship
still needs a name."
	Fox stood looking at the montrous figure full a full five minutes,
and then answered, "The Great Fox."


Star Fox 64:
The Legacy
--------------------------

Chapter III
	As General Pepper walked into his office one morning, he checked
his computer for messages. There were several, but the only one that
caught his eye was from the space control room. The subject said
'Questionable?'. Pepper directed the computer to it, and read the short
note:
	We think we've found something. Hurry to the Space Conrol Center.
	"Hmmm...," Pepper mused. He shut down the computer and gave notice
to the sectretary that he was leaving, perhaps for the day. 
	At the Cornerian Space Control Center, Pepper looked over the
piles of images the techs had printed up for him. 
	"We've got several reportings of small attacks, but no declare of
war yet. Whoever's doing this must be close to Planet Venom, because
they've ressurected the Bolse Defense Post. We've seen the fighters coming
out of there and the amount of them is climbing like never before, sir," a
young cheetah told him. 
	The huge hound dog eyed the tech. "Monitor the situation and keep
me updated. If they attack any of the planets in alliance with us, send
troops only after I give the okay. I want figures, stats. Get me some
solid information!" Pepper growled, "It can't be. It just can't be."
	The techs ran to the computers to follow commands, and the cheetah
was back within 10 minutes. "We have a whole fleet entering Area 6 and
heading towards Macbeth. Estimate 300 ships. Arrival time to Macbeth...
within the hour."
	"Get the Macbeth leader on the vid!" Pepper barked. "We need to
warn him now!"
	"Readying vidscreen communications..connected...start talking,
sir." As Pepper watched the camera, fuzz turned into a video of a slightly
overweight raccoon.
	"Sir! This is Major Pepper of the Cornerian Space Force, and I am
reporting a fleet of ships estimate 300 heading your way with unidentified
signals."
	The raccoon spoke with a southern drawl. "My techs have spotted
the crafts, too. Our force is on it. Thank you for your concern, and we
might need backup. For security reasons, we'll keep a signal coming via
radar. Should you lose contact, send backup immeadiatley. Shutting down
vidscreen." The camera crackled into fuzz again.
	After several minutes, the cheetah spoke up. "I've got the signal
on radar. Now what, sir?"
	"Keep an eye on Bolse. I want numbers! Tell me what exactly is
going on there, and who is running it. You! I want you to run a complete
scan on Venom. Every last detail of life there and any updates must be on
my desk in 15 minutes! Now move!!" The techs scattered.
	Pepper marched back to his office, and waited for the information.
He was confused, and needed time to recollect. Soon, the cheetah burst
through the door. "Don't you ever knock?" Pepper barked.
	"Here are the stats, sir. Bolse is turning out more than 100
fighters a minute. In an hour, they'll have enough fleets out to conquer
the entire Lylat System."
	Another tech dashed to the door and stopped. "We've lost all
contact with Macbeth. This isn't looking good."
	Pepper growled. "It's war. Get through to Macbeth, assess the
situtation, and send in our fighters!"
	Bill was working on his fighter with some of his friends when a
someone ran into the room and shouted, "Emergency here! Get ready to fly!
We've got a war on our hands!" Instantly, the hangars flooded with pilots,
and the air was filled with the sounds of engines revving and boosters
starting.
	Bill jumped into the cockpit of his craft, and started getting
ready. The rest of his team settled into their respective ships behind
him. "Let's get a move on, guys!" The doors of the hangars slid open, and
ships started to take off, heading into their groups and receiving
instructions from the leaders. Bill waited for the ships in front of him
to clear up, and then said, "Roll call, guys!" The respective members
called out status and position, and Bill said, "All right, Black Mist
Squadron, let's show'em how it's done!" Then they took off, towards
Macbeth.
	As they rocketed away from Corneria, Pepper's voice came up over
the com. "Black Mist Squad Leader, this is General Pepper. Respond,
please."
	"I hear ya."
	"That'll do. I want you to break away from the main fighters and
protect the Macbeth World Headquarters. That structure is worth a lot to
those fighters, I'll wager."
	"I see your point. Mission accepted."
	"Watch for the Flaming Beacon and Dark Storm Squads as well. The
Dark Storm Squad will be helping you defend the base. You are to protect
the Flaming Beacon Squad, as they are going to be trying to get right into
the heart of the invasion. They are mainly going to give me some idea as
to how many there are and what firepower they have. Their survival is of
utmost importance."
	"Roger that. Right wingmen?" Bill checked with his team.
	"Yeah. We have'em."
	Pepper came on again. "Good luck. Over and out."
	"Yeah, yeah. Flaming Beacon Leader, this is Black Mist Leader.
Please respond."
	A voice crackled on the com. "Present and accounted for."
	"My husky and bulldog units will protect your wingmen going into
the fight. After you have retrieved your information, I want you to get
out of harm's way, so my team can rejoin. Is that possible?"
	"Perfectly fine. We'll only take a minute to get what we want. As
soon as Pepper gives us the go-ahead, we'll be out of here anyway."
	"Good. Over and out."
	"See you on the other side."
	They were nearing Macbeth, and now they could see the blaze of
firing lasers and exploding bombs. "Right wingmen, break away!" The two
units swooped down to join the Flaming Beacon Squad. "Dark Storm Squad
Leader, this is Black Mist Squad Leader. Please state your position."
	"Right over here!" the voice shouted. Bill looked to his left, and
saw someone in the ship wave to him.
	"Alright. Squads, unite into seven-ship form!" The ships shifted
to allow the new fighters room. "Let's go save the world!" They boosted
forward into the mess. "Locate the headquarters we're to protect,
someone!" Bill shouted.
	One of the Dark Storm Squad shouted back, "Due north-east! I think
I see it now!" They could surely see it. There was a mass of fighters
flying around it.
	"Alright, guys! Game's over!" Bill said as he locked onto a ship.
"Take that!" The blast from his cannons took the ship down instantly.
"Yee-ha!" Soon, the squad had taken out most of the opposing force near
the base. "Cornerian ship to Macbeth World Headquarters. We are a back-up
crew, and we wanted to know if there was any special part of your base
that we needed to protect specially."
	"As a matter of fact," someone responded," there is. On the far
side of the base, there is a generator big enough to level this whole
place if made to overheat. You must protect it."
	Bill looked around, and sure enough, there was a reactor generator
near the Headquarters. "Why do they always put the reactors way out in the
open?" he said with exasperation. "Can anyone handle it?"
	"We have it, Black Mist Leader," some of the Dark Storm Squad
replied.
	As they broke away, Bill thought he'd check up on the other squad.
"Black Mist Leader to Flaming Beacon Leader, do you copy?"
	"We read you. Operation is complete. We just need some more time,
but these guys behind us are intent on not letting us have it! Help!
	"Why do these things always happen to me? Why? Team, hold'em till
I get back." Bill located the Flaming Beacon Squad's position on the radar
and headed towards them. He noticed a new wave of ships coming in near the
headquarters, and knew that he'd better hurry. Finally, he saw the squad
boosting away from some ships. He saw both of his wingmen working on the
mass, but there were just too many. "Alright, let's break it up!" He got
into formation with his wingmen, and they started destroying the ships.
Bill asked, "So what's happened while I was busy?"
	The husky spoke up, "First, we had them. They paid no attention to
us. Now, they're swarming! The Flaming Beacon lost one ship, and they're
working on the other two!"
	Bill called to the remaining ships, "How are your shields and how
close are you to getting out of here?"
	"Our shields are now practically non-existant, but we're finished
here. I just got an okay from Pepper. We're gone! Thanks for your help!"
The two ships blasted out of the Macbeth atmosphere and back to Corneria.
	Suddenly, Bill heard Pepper yelling over the com, "Everyone!!!!
Get out of there!!! The generator is overheating!!!"
	Bill shouted, "You heard him, team! Let's move!!!" He and his two
wingmen slammed on the boost and rocketed out of the atmoshphere. They
stopped and turned. Seconds later, a gigantic mushroom cloud erupted from
the surface of Macbeth. The smoke cleared, and the team watched in awe as
a new crater in Macbeth was unveiled. "This time, they won." He watched as
wounded squad after wounded squad came back from the blast. His com was
echoing with the cries of pilots for their fallen leaders or friends. He
figured that his voice might as well join the rest. He started yelling to
and looking for remainders of the Black Mist Squadron, while the all of
the Lylat System was preparing for the war to come.


Star Fox 64:
The Legacy
--------------------------

Chapter IV
	Pepper walked into the room quietly, trying not be noticeable as
he slipped into his seat at a long conference table. Near the head of the
table, a tall and slim tiger in his usual business suit was looking out of
a window. "Gentlemen, we have a war on our hands. Our opposition? No one
knows. His troops? They move like fire in the wind. Stoppable? We're not
sure. It is my job, as Cornerian World Leader, to protect this planet. It
is your job to inform me, so that I may better perform my job." He turned
around to face the table. "Ah, General Pepper. Glad you could join us;
late, as usual."
	Pepper grimaced. "The news crews wouldn't let me through the
building until I gave them some answers."
	The tiger smiled. This was always like Pepper. "And, pray tell,
what was the information that the public will hear before I do?"
	Pepper pulled a sheet of paper from his pocket. "These are the
actual stats, sir. In summary, we've lost most Alliance contact. We appear
to be one of the only planets left. This tyrant isn't wasting any time."
	The tiger eyed the paper with a frown. "Anything else? What are
the enemies' movements, positions?"
	"The information was on the way when I left the SCC. They said
they'd send a tech with the data. He should be here.."
	The door burst open mid-sentence, and the cheetah dashed in. He
quickly recollected and came to attention. "Sir!"
	Pepper put a hand over his eyes and grumbled, "He never knocks..."
	The tiger sauntered over to the tech and said, "At ease. What
information do we have?"
	The cheetah started, "There are two fleets of 400 approaching from
Meteo and Sector Y. Another general has authorized attack groups to both
areas. The base at Katina is secure, but we've intercepted some plans
giving instuctions to destroy the base."
	The tiger growled deep in his throat. "Perfect. Just perfect."
	The tiger started to turn away, but the cheetah spoke again. "Uh,
there's one more thing, sir."
	"Yes? What's that?"
	"Their leader wants to speak with you."
	The tiger seemed surprised, and then said, "Well, then bring up
the vidscreen."
	"On it's way, sir." The cheetah ran out of the room, closing the
door behind him.
	"Okay, now. We have a tyrant who's just outside of our planet,
with unmatched power. Solutions?" He turned his head toward a small turtle
to his right.
	The turtle spoke quickly, "We need backup. That's all there is to
it. Find the best mercenaries you can. Employ them and hope for the best."
	The tiger looked dismal. Soon, the cheetah was back with a
portable vidscreen communications center. "You know, I can only run that
fast for an estimated 100 yards," he gasped. He set up the camera, and
showed the tiger where to stand. "All right, sir, we're ready."
	"Begin transmission," the tiger said.
	The picture was fuzzy at first, and then it turned into a shadowy
picture of someone at a desk. "Greetings," the figure moved as he talked,
"and welcome to negotiations."
	"I am willing to negotiate."
	"I'll start. I want revenge."
	"I'm not quite sure that I understand."
	"Ten years ago, I started the interplanetary Lylat War. You won,
and banished me to Venom. I have the opportunity to get my revenge, now. I
may have been hurt then, but you will hurt worse. Consider this message a
warning. All I wanted was to see you squirm."
	Pepper could feel the his brown fur stand up on the back of his
neck. "Andross!" The tiger started to sweat, as he saw light hit the face
hated and forgotten so long ago.
	"It is too bad that you didn't see the same vision that I did
before you sent me to Venom. I am purely sorry that you didn't side with
me. You've had your chance, but I am willing to give you another. Are you
willing to side with me and go on to victory?"
	"If I do?"
	"Then everyone will be happy, and you can be sure of wealth,
power, and my protection against the rebels."
	"And if I refuse?"
	"Then your planet will die miserably. It's as simple as that. Why
don't you take the easy route and just become part of my team?"
	'Become part of my team.' Pepper remembered those words. They were
the same words Pepper had heard Andross use on a phone tap to con Pigma
into being a traitor. "NO! Andross, you evil tyrant! Get out of here now!"
	"Ah, Major, no, General Pepper! How good to see you! I'm so glad
that I'll be using my techincal genius to outsmart the one who put me on
this planet! It will be so rewarding to see me defeat you! But, I'll
disregard that comment for your sake. Well? I'm a busy man. I need an
answer."
	The tiger gulped hard and started, "No. We would rather keep our
honor than side with the likes of you. Get out. Now."
	"I'm so sorry that you've let your pride get the way of this. I'll
give you another half-hour. That'll be time enough for a press conference,
and time enough to reconsider. This will be your last chance." The screen
faded with maniacal laughter.
	Everyone seemed shaken. Finally, the tiger straghtened his tie.
"Solutions?"
	The turtle spoke quietly this time. "I already gave it. Our army
alone isn't going to defeat him. We need someone who has beaten him
before. Someone that knows this enemy."
	The tiger eyed Pepper. Pepper smiled. "I've got just the people.
The Star Fox Team."
	The tiger smiled. "I've got full trust in you. Get them. I've got
a press conference to do. This meeting is adjourned." He walked out of the
room, and everyone instantly got to work.
	The conference room was filled with reporters as the tiger walked
up to his podium.
	"I have bad news for our people. We have been threatened by a
terrorist, who most of you will remember. Dr. Andross, the scientist who
was sent 10 years ago to Venom, and defeated in the Lylat War. He, at this
moment, has troops stationed right outside our atmosphere, and is going to
attack in around 20 minutes. I would warn the people of this planet to get
to a safe place to wait out the attack. Questions?"
	A badger raised his hand and said, "Rumor has it that you have a
back-up crew to help our army."
	The tiger smirked. "News gets around quickly, doesn't it? Yes, I
have authorized a mercenary team to help our air and space force. I am
very proud of this team, the Star Fox Team. To describe this team, they
are graceful,..."
	At that moment on the Great Fox, Peppy rolled a little too far on
his bunk and fell off. "Huh?" he said in a muffled, sleepy voice.
	"unselfish,..."
	Falco was up and grooming himself in front of a mirror. "Beauty,
thy name is Falco Lombardi." he cooed to his reflection.
	"quick to act,..."
	The phone had been ringing for at least 2 minutes when Slippy
started to hop over to it. "I'm coming, I'm coming..."
	"alert,.."
	Just then, Slippy tripped over a cord and hurt his leg. "I always
have to be the one who does everything around here," Fox grumbled as he
stepped over Slippy, who was nursing his wound. "Hello, this is Fox.
Yeah?"
	"and they are going to risk their lives just to preserve our
honor."
	"You'll pay us how much?!?" Fox's jaw almost dropped as Pepper
repeated the number. "All right. Yeah. Believe me, we'll be there." He
looked over to Slippy and said, "Duty calls. Corneria is in trouble."
	Slippy hopped right into action. He went to the nearest intercom
and said, "ROB, are we in Corneria orbit?"
	"Affirmative," the robotic voice spoke.
	"Position the Great Fox so that when we launch, we'll be headed to
Corneria City."
	"Initializing," he responded.
	Slippy hopped over to a control panel and pushed a button. Soon,
red lights were flashing, and a siren was sounding. Slippy's voice came
over the intercom, "Everyone head to the docking bay! We have a mission!
Fox has the details, and he'll explain later! Let's move!"
	"Let's move!" The same words were being echoed across the
Cornerian Space Force Base. Bill remembered the same scene a while back,
and almost hesitated while getting into his craft.
	As the covering came on top of and locked onto the cockpit, Pepper
came over the intercom, "The code word is 'imminent'. If Andross attacks
or declares war, I'll give the word, and you will come out of here firing
at any Venomian ships! Be on your guard!"
	"Roger that, team. Let's get ready."
	The tiger was in his office readying for his next meeting.
"Vidscreen up, tech."
	The cheetah pressed a button. "Readying vidscreen
communications... connected... this one's for the world, sir."
	Instantly the face of the huge, grey-haired ape came across the
screen. "You try my patience. It is past your deadline."
	"It was a misjudging of time, let me assure you."
	"All right. So, you've reconsidered. Well, I am sure we can work
out terms..."
	"I'm sorry, but I'm not changing my position. Come what may, we
will remain out of your control, and nothing you can say can persuade me
otherwise. We were born a free planet, and will die one."
	"You have chosen noble words. It is a sign of a true gentleman to
go down nobly. I wish you the worst of luck in defeating me." The screen
faded out with yet another barrage of laughter.
	For several minutes, all was quiet. "Well spoken, sir," the
cheetah finally said. "It is the right thing to do."
	"I hope so," the tiger said quietly and slowly, "I hope so."
	By this time, Fox and the rest of the team were on the way down to
the docking bay. "Andross is back. He's been taking over every planet in
the system. Corneria is the last planet not conquered, and Andross is
attacking..." he looked at his watch," right now!! We've got to hurry!!"
	"Well, Andross has offically declared war," the tiger was again
speaking to reporters. "I advise everyone to get themselves into hiding.
Our forces are going to try to beat Andross back, along with the Star Fox
Team. But we can't be sure that we'll win. As I speak, Andross is readying
for battle. We have no time for questions. This press conference is over."
	At that moment, four ships were flying over Corneria City. The
green crafts had six wings, making them look like asterisks from the
front. The leader of the group, a grey wolf with an eyepatch, called,
"This is Wolf O'Donnel. Star Wolf Team, report!"
	The lizard in the craft back and to the right of Wolf responded,
"Leon Powalski here. All systems go."
	You could see the smile on the face of the monkey in the rear
ship. "Andrew Oikinny here. Let's go get'em!"
	Then a familiar voice called from the wingman to the left of Wolf.
"Pigma Dengar here. I'm ready to go!"
	"Alright then," Wolf said. "Star Wolf Leader to base. Star Wolf
Team is ready to fight!"
	"Copy that. Go to it!"
	Pepper came on the com again. "We have attack. Imminent! Get out
there!"
	Bill revved his engine again and called to his team, "Okay, guys,
it's our turn to win! Let's go!" The ships boosted out of the hangars.
Almost instantly, the Black Mist Squad came upon the opposition.  "Break
up and take it to 'em!" Bill commanded. The squad split and chased the
various ships in front of them.
	Not far away, Fox said, "Team, open your coms with the SCC.
Pepper's going to give us instructions."
	As everyone hit the button, Pepper came on saying, "Your job right
now, is to break up the opposition and reach two key targets. The first is
a ground assault robot named Granga. You will most probably find it at the
bay just before the West Ocean. The second target is an air attack
carrier. It is heavily armed with missles, so be careful. You will
probably find it hovering over the West Ocean. Good luck, Star Fox Team.
The fate of the Lylat System depends on you."
	"I love it when he says that!" Fox exclaimed. "It makes me feel so
important! Well, the stage is set: the Second Lylat War. Enter Andross,
evil dictator bent on conquering the system. Enter the Lylat System,
Andross' quarry. Enter Star Fox, hero to the Lylat System! Let's get on
the job! Entering Cornerian atmoshpere. Open the wings!" The wings of each
Arwing slid to full open position, enabling the quick flight that Arwings
were famous for. "Check your G-Diffuser system!" Each pilot ran a check on
his Gravity Diffuser system, which allowed them to travel great distances
without being affected by the gravity of any object. The ships were, in 
all senses, weightless now.
	The check ended, and the roll call began. The ship back and to the
right of Fox answered. "Falco here. I'm fine."
	Now came the rear craft. "This is Peppy. All systems go."
	Finally, the left ship. "Slippy here. I'm okay."
	Fox squinted through his cross-hairs and saw a squadron coming at
them. "I see'em up ahead. Let's rock and roll!" The four ships broke away
from each other to ready themselves for attack.
	Slippy broke away and charged into the fray. "Slippy! Get back
here!" Peppy called. Slippy turned around to see behind him, and suddenly,
he was being chased! "Slippy, watch out! Bogey on your tail!"
	Slippy was suprised and was trying to get away. "Whoa! Help me!"
	Fox boosted forward and took out the ships behind Slippy. "You owe
me, Slip." he laughed. The sea that they were flying over came to an end,
and they were entering a populated area. Fox checked his coordinates.
"We're entering Corneria City."
	Falco slid to the right, avoiding the blasts of butterfly ships.
Fox locked on and shot down the butterflys mechanic counterparts. Falco
looked around at the wreckage of what was left of once-thriving Corneria
City. "They got here before we did. They did this in less than 30 minutes!
This is horrible!" He started going in between the fallen buildings,
trying to chase out any ambushers. Up ahead, they could see some ground
attack units, normally called BCs or building crushers. Peppy pulled into
a somersault to avoid the building that one of the BCs was using his huge
mechanical arms to push on top of him.
	"I don't see our targets. They must be faster than we thought."
Fox mused. "Let's hurry, before they have a chance to destroy the HQ like
they did on Macbeth! Hit the boost!"
	On the other side of the city, Bill was trying to work the fight
away from the Headquarters as well. "Lure them out, guys! That's it! Make
them follow you!" Suddenly, a huge robot came up over a hill. "What in the
world? Black Mist Leader to base, we have what appears to be a ground
attack robot, approaching our base." No word came back from base. "I've
expected this. Black Mist Squadron, follow me!" He started after the
robot, who strangely turned and ran on his huge legs. His squad followed,
shooting at the robot. Bill thought about how strange it was that the
robot was running away, when he amassed so much firepower. "He could
easily take us down if he wanted to." he paused, and thought some more,
"which must mean that he wasn't attacking the base." Slowly, he realized
that the robot was leading them a good distance away from the base. He was
using Bill's same tactic against him, and he fell for it! Angry, Bill
yelled, "Everyone, clear!" and fired a bomb at the robot. When the smoke
cleared, the robot was still running, but he didn't show signs of turning
back. "Alright, we've been had, but we still have time to save the base!
Return to the primary goal, Black Mist Squadron!" the ships boosted back
towards the base, where the battle was still raging heavily.
	Inside the base, Pepper was furious. "Get that communications
system running again! Start the extra generator!" The techs were running
everywhere. The lights were flashing on and off, because of repeated hits
to the main generator outside the plant. Communications had been down for
a while now, but Pepper had already figured on that. Most of the fighters
only had one mission anyway, and that was to protect the Corneria World
Headquarters. Suddenly, the lights came on and stayed on. "Finally!"
Pepper said, exasperated. "Now get to work on those communications!"
	Nearby, the Star Fox Team were closing in on their targets. Some
fighters were stupid enough to fly in front of Falco, and he started after
them. He felt his ship shudder, and he looked behind him. "Fox, I'll get
these guys. Get the ones behind me!" He took off, not giving Fox a chance
even to hit the boost. Fox gave chase, trying to tag the bogeys, but they
kept weaving in between buildings. Falco checked his shield gauge. They
were sure draining him now. "Fox, hurry up! What's taking so long?" Fox
got a good lock, but then almost ran into a building. "Fox, I could really
use some help here." His gauge was now nearly empty. Fox finally got clear
of the building, locked on and blasted the ships before they got Falco. As
Falco passed by Fox back into position, he said with mock respect, "I
guess I should be thankful."
	"Oh, be quiet and call ROB for some supplies." Fox joked. Now,
they were heading back out over water, and they started taking out the
robots skimming overtop of the waves on skis.
	Falco watched as Fox flew gracefully under seven stone arches that
were sticking out of the water. Fox didn't even nick the edge of his
wings. "Pretty smooth flying, Fox."
	Fox smiled back. "Thank you, thank you." he said in mock
appreciation. "Hey! What's that up ahead?" he said, squinting. 
	Slippy got on it right away. "It looks like some sort of robot!
Maybe it's one of our targets! I'll start the scan right away!"
	The same robot that had led Bill away from the fight was now being
scanned by Slippy. He took aim at the ships, and fired several homing
missles. "Whoa! Whatever it is, it's an enemy!" Peppy exclaimed.
	"Scan complete! This is definatley Granga all right. Let's take
him out!"
	Fox pulled into the head position of the four to complete their
formation. "Switch to all-range mode, guys!" Slowly, the wings of the ship
extended even further to allow the Arwing more free movement. "Let's go!"
	Granga's operator went to his com. "So this is the Star Fox Team,
eh? You don't seem so tough!" He was now rapid firing his missles. "You'll
never defeat me!"
	Fox tried sweeping past him and shooting. All he got in return was
a bad hit from a missle. "Ouch. That hurt my shields." he groaned.
	Peppy was watching Granga while fighting off the missles. "I
wonder..." he said. He pulled  free from the missles and went behind
Granga. He started high and swept down targeting, one of Granga's legs. As
it was hit, it started to smoke and wiggle.
	The monkey operating Granga shouted, "Nooo!", but it was too late.
	Fox had seen what Peppy was doing and figured out his secret.
"Everyone! Aim for the legs!" He pulled the same manuvering, and blasted
the left leg. As he passed, Slippy took his turn at the leg. Slippy came a
little too close to the ground, and hit some trees with his right wing.
"Careful!" Fox warned. Peppy took one last dash at the leg, and shot it
out from under Granga.
	The monkey once again yelled, "Nooo!" as the robot fell on one
side. Although he was lying on the ground, he could still aim and fire.
"You won't defeat me yet!"
	This time, Slippy was doing the thinking. "The generator for this
thing must be in its back! Aim for the back!" Again, everyone took turns
sweeping the immobilized enemy. Finally, Slippy shouted, "I don't get any
shield reading! This guy's going to blow!"
	The monkey inside the smoking mass yelled, "My emperor, I've
failed you!" Then Granga exploded. The team scattered to avoid the debris.
"Wow," was all Slippy could say.
	Falco was busy watching for survivors. Suddenly, the com sparked
to life. Pepper came on, "We've got the battle almost won! The enemy must
not receive any reinforcements! Look out for the air attack carrier! It
holds enough force to crush what we have left. We are depending on you!"
	Falco was looking around, when a movement caught his eye. "Hello,
what have we here?" Overhead, a huge ship was moving toward Corneria City.
"Not this time, you're not!" Falco started chasing the carrier.
	Fox saw Falco turn away and called out, "Hey, Falco, where are you
going?"
	Falco took a shortcut through a waterfall. "Follow me, Fox! I
think I found the target. Try to keep up!" As soon as they cleared the
water, they were under attack again. "Now this is the action I crave!"
Falco shouted as he chased ships through the sky.
	Fox knew that Falco must have seen the air attack carrier, but now
it was nowhere to be found. He kept looking even while he shot down more
ships. Suddenly, Peppy called out, "Fox, enemy approaching from the rear!
Drop your altitude!" Fox dropped sharply to the surface of the water they
were now speeding over.
	Fox watched as a huge ship moved in overtop of him. The operator,
a crocodile, said, "Ah, somebody wants to play!" Fox slowly pulled himself
up level with the carrier. The main body, which looked like a overdone
submarine, was attached to a huge docking bay on one side, and what looked
like more missle launchers on the left. Fox tried shooting the outside of
the ship. His armor was tough. It didn't even make a dent. "Everyone!
Charge!!" The docking bay door flew open and a squadron of ships flew out.
	Peppy was already on the enemy squadron. "Fox, you take the
carrier. We've got the squads."
	The two missle launchers on the side opened, and six missles fired
out. Fox, trying to get a hit on the carrier, shot at the inside of the
launcher. To his suprise, one of the launchers sparked, shook, and then
fell off of the ship into the water. "Well, sure! Why didn't I think of
this before?" He instantly shot at the other launcher and took it down, as
well.
	The crocodile was frantic. "Get him! Get him off of me!" Again,
the docking bay door flew open. Fox aimed carefully, and fired a bomb
right into the open door. There was a pause, and then, along with a huge
explosion, the entire right side of the ship fell off!
	The ship spun and started to boost away, but Fox gave chase. The
armor was now weakened enough that Fox's regular laser hurt the ship. Soon
enough, the craft stopped, turned around, and started firing huge lasers
at Fox. "GO!" the crocodile shouted. Then, while Fox was busy recovering
from the blast, the ship took off again.
	"Oh, no you don't!" Fox said as he fired one more shot at the
carrier.
	That was apparently the final blow. The ship stopped, obviously
reeling from injury, and the crocodile said, "Who are you guys?"
	Fox was proud to say, "We're Star Fox!"
	The crocodile yelled, "You'll never defeat Andross!!" and then the
carrier exploded. As the pieces fell to the water, Fox rejoined with his
team. He opened his com again. "Star Fox to Pepper. Please respond."
	"We're here."
	"How is the fight up there?"
	"Just about over! Thanks again for holding them off, Fox!"
	"Just doing my duty, sir!"
	"Now move onto the next place, Meteo, the asteroid field. I'll
contact you there."
	"Affirmative, General. See you soon!"
	As soon as the com with the General shut down again, Fox called
out, "All aircraft report!"
	Slippy started this time. "You did it! I was worried for a
moment."
	Peppy came in next, "You're becoming more like your father."
	Falco finished it off. "I guess you're good for something."
	"Alright, guys! It's off to Meteo!" Fox said. But he hesitated.
"Wait. There's something I have to do first."
	"What's that, Fox?"
	Fox smiled. "YEEEEE-HA!"

Star Fox 64:
The Legacy
--------------------------

Chapter V
	The tiger smiled and continued speaking to a sea of reporters.
"The scrimage that has started the Second Lylat War went beautifully for
our troops. We have minimal losses, thanks to the quick action and
military prowess of the Star Fox Team. The war moves on, though. Our
enemy, Andross, is probably even more angry at us now than before, and it
will be a great task for our armies to accomplish in defeating him. His
troops are in the Meteo Area, and in Sector Y, but we have groups headed
to both areas to hold back the attack. If all goes well, we may have more
allies as the war wears on. Good night." The picture on the screen turned
from the Cornerian World Leader to a news anchor. Slippy reached over to
the remote control and turned the TV off.
	"'Quick action and military prowess'? That's all he could think
of?" Falco whined.
	"They say that every dog has his day, but I'm not sure what they
about falcons." Peppy joked.
	They had docked onto the Great Fox after the fight on Corneria,
waiting to arrive at the beginning of the Meteo Area. Pepper had already
checked with them. Their task here was to make sure the ships full of
troops made it safely through enemy lines to Katina by destroying any of
Andross' forces in between the two areas. The intercom clicked on, and
ROB's voice came on. "Attention! We are now entering Meteo."
	"Alright, guys, here we go again! To the docking bay!" The four
started dashing towards their arwings. Fox pressed a button on the speaker
he wore on his wrist. "Star Fox to Corneria Base. Respond!"
	General Pepper's voice came in through the earphones he wore.
"It's about time you checked in, Fox. Do you know how high my blood
pressure is about now?"
	"Is the shipment of troops on the way?"
	"Yes, as a matter of fact, and it is of utmost importance that
they have a safe trip. Katina is sure to be invaded soon. It has to be a
flawless victory. No survivors to combat the troops. Those ships have very
weak shields."
	"You can trust us, General."
	"My techs have also informed me of another interesting twist.
Andross has placed a bounty on your team so large, you won't be able to
move out from underneath it. Expect the worst, Fox."
	"Man, I hate it when this happens. Okay, Pepper, any other little
suprises?"
	"Just one. We've detected some electro-magnetic storms in Meteo.
By time you reach them, they'll be resolved into space-matter depressions.
Slippy has the info on it."
	"Is it dangerous?"
	"Ask Slip. My techs will talk to him, and he should be able to
translate their scientific babble into everyday terms for you. A lot more
than I can do."
	"Please keep us updated on the situation in Sector Y, too."
	"You can bet on it. If I'm right, Andross has some major backups
there. Our squads will be helped by some stormships of ours, but I'm not
sure they'll even do any good."
	"All right, General. We're going into the asteroid field! Be sure
to come into contact with us whenever there's a development." The warming
of the engines nearly made Fox inaudible to Pepper.
	"Okay. Go to it, Star Fox!" Pepper listened as Fox turned off the
com, and the audio fizzled out into nothing. "And don't you dare
dissapoint me. Don't you dare." he whispered. He looked over at the
cheetah. "All right. Go to work. The com's yours."
	The cheetah smiled and started up the connection. "You had better
be careful. A guy could get spoiled with this kind of treatment."
	Pepper smiled back. "Oh, don't worry. I won't let you use this
that often."
	The cheetah put the headphones on over his ears, and gave the
starting signal. "Corneria Space Control Center to the Great Fox. Please
respond."
	ROB's robotic voice came back through the com. "Present."
	"Alright, could you connect me to Slippy Toad?"
	"Processing. Connection via com started. Connected."
	The cheetah looked up at Pepper, who was standing to his side.
"This is one robot after my own heart! Not a single error so far!"
	ROB came back onto the com. "Error 404. Connection terminated.
Reattempting connection to Star Fox Team."
	The cheetah smirked. "Okay, so I spoke too soon."
	"Hello?" Slippy said.
	"Hello, Slippy Toad? This is the Corneria SCC. I have been given
orders to explain some details about a given situation to you for the rest
of your team."
	Later, Slippy opened the com to the rest of the team. "Okay guys,
here's the deal. There are some electro-magnetic storms in the area ahead
of us. Now, these have not been known to generate in such a small area,
but it is possible that they were planted by Andross' troops. An
electro-mag storm, in layman's terms, is a giant, twisting, mutating
electo-magnetic cloud of space dust. They are so strong, they literally
strech and bend the gravity around any particular storm. However, they
only last a few minutes, and soon turn into simple space-matter
depressions. These depressions are streched gravity fields that stay
slightly streched. If you go through one, the force of the gravity on
inside will push you outward, and the gravity outside of the depression
will send you shooting out at a higher speed than when you entered. Not
only that, but a depression that has been entered by one object will
expand to a huge width almost instantly like the ripples made in a pool
and then dissolve. If Andross is planning to use these, with good timing,
an entire fleet could get the boost that the first ship got."
	"So it seems that Andross wants to get a lot of troops to one
place in a hurry. Slip, how fast can one of those things get you going?"
Falco asked.
	"The speed is almost limitless. They can really go as fast as they
need. And get this: if you go through more than one in a row, you can
reach even higher speeds."
	Peppy chimed in this time. "Well, how many are there?"
	"Our reports back at base say that there's seven."
	Fox gave a low whistle. "Slip, is it possible to sabotage these
things?"
	"The only way to make one dissolve is to put matter through it.
The streched gravity can pull a ship apart in seconds. The only ships that
can actually get through one of these things are the kind with Gravity
diffusers."
	"We have those. Where are these things pointing to?"
	"The SCC says Katina."
	Peppy looked over to Slippy's ship. "Then we have to sabotage
them."
	Falco scanned the area again. "Has anyone else noticed that we
haven't seen a single ship yet?"
	Fox pulled his ship away from a small asteroid. "I hope we're not
too late."
	Peppy boosted around some rings of little asteroids and up near
some larger ones. "It's quiet. Too quiet. Something's up." As he neared
one of the rocks, he saw a corner of something try to slide out of sight.
"Be careful, Fox! It's a trap!" Suddenly, the space around them was filled
with the huge buzzing butterfly ships. Both Peppy and Falco boosted away
from the fray.
	Fox aimed right for the center of the group, and fired a bomb. The
explosion was enough to destroy all of the butterfly ships and most of the
surrounding rocks. "There's a larger meteor ahead. It looks like it's been
hollowed out! On your guard, everyone! Whoa! Watch out!" Some extremely
long ships reared out of the asteroid and started launching fireballs at
the ships. "Dodge them and fire!" Fox hit the brakes to be sure to hit
them, and gave them some blasts from his laser cannons. The huge worm-like
ships started blowing up, piece by piece. "Man, talk about weak shields."
	Falco pulled up right behind Fox to go inside the meteor while
Peppy and Slippy and around to make sure that there wouldn't be any
ambushes. "Whoa! Fox, watch behind you!" Two ships came spiraling from
behind, shooting static-laser beams behind them. The two ships came
closer, bringing the beams nearer to Falco. "Hey, Fox, I could use some
help here. They're just out of reach of my lasers.
	Fox noticed that the static-laser beams almost hardened as they
were shot out of the cannon, making a permenant barrier where the beam was
laid. He slowed down and went underneath of Falco to bring the ships in
range, and then gave them a good blast.
	Instantly, the ships repositioned to hit Fox, but Falco slid down
a bit and shot them himself. As they flew through the burnt pieces, Falco
said, "Yeah! That's the way to double team 'em!"
	Fox smiled up at Falco. "You and team don't belong in the same
sentence!"
	"Very funny. As if you could have done that yourself?"
	Slippy broke into the conversation as he and Peppy rejoined the
group. "This is no time for jokes. Look! Here comes a big one!" As Slippy
spoke, some huge meteors rolled through space toward them. "Break up and
get out of their way! We don't want anyone hurt!" Everyone split up and
started weaving their way through the huge meteors. Slippy looked over at
Fox, and saw two meteors looking like they were going to sandwich him.
"Whoa, Fox! Can you make it?"
	Peppy yelled, "Fox, hit the brakes!" Fox held the brake down, and
he narrowly missed the meteors. His ship was sprayed with broken rock as
the two collided, and then went in opposite directions again. Fox looked
up ahead, breathing a sigh. He dodged a few more meteors, and then saw
four more meteors coming in from diagonals to each other. A brake wouldn't
work here. The space between the rocks was getting smaller by the second.
"Fox, use the boost to get through!" Fox hit the boost, and rocketed
through the tiny space, almost denting his wings.
	Fox looked around now, and didn't see any more big asteroids. "I
think we're beyond the worst of it." He saw four smaller asteroids coming
toward them in formation. "Now, isn't that unusual." He tried locking onto
the rocks, and the computer registered as a ship. The four seemed to
realize they had been discovered, because they turned around and started
firing at Fox. Fox used the lock he had just registered and shot several
charged laser blasts.
	As they flew past the wreckage, Fox's com beeped. Fox answered,
and ROB answered. "General Pepper to speak with you, Fox."
	Fox signaled the other wingmen and slowed down. "Thanks, ROB.
Start the transmission."
	Pepper came on the com with a sigh. "I had expected this. Fox, our
units are being defeated in Sector Y. Andross has some new kind of fighter
like nothing I've seen. It seems to be built to look like a warrior, and
the giant shield they carry deflect almost everything. We've lost a
stormship, and more seem to be going. We won't last long. How long will it
be until you can get here, Fox?"
	"As soon as we finish this mission. I've got an idea. Expect us
within the hour."
	"Within the hour?! Do you know how far Sector Y is from Meteo,
Fox? What is this, some sort of joke?"
	"No joke, General. Fox out." Fox shut down the com. "Guys, we've
got to blow this place up and get out of here in record time. They need
our help in Sector Y. Let's go to it, team!" Fox locked onto another group
of fighters, and took them down in one shot. "Slippy, where are those
depressions?"
	"I'm picking up some stuff ahead of us, but I can't be sure. We
have a while until we get to it."
	Fox pulled a somersault to escape from some enemies, then locked
on and blasted them. More of the ships launching the static-lasers crossed
in front of them, making a web. They just kept criss-crossing between each
other. "Watch out, guys! Be careful! Those lasers could take off a wing!"
Fox rolled to the right to avoid the web, and then went through the middle
of the rest of it. More and more fighters were camoflaged to look like
meteors, and Fox found himself being tailed. "Hey! Get off me!"
	Falco boosted in behind him and took the fighters down. "I guess
it's your turn to be thankful, Fox." he laughed.
	"Yeah, yeah. Just make sure that no one else gets past." Fox said,
pointing out some ships boosting away from Falco.
	"Don't worry about them. They're mine." Falco said, turning away
from the group.
	Slippy came on the com. "Fox! We're getting really close to those
depressions now!"
	Suddenly, a voice came over the com. "I'm sorry, but I can't allow
you to go any further."
	Fox looked around. "What?! Who said that?"
	A large ship moved in overtop of him. The ship had a big shield on
the front of it which was missing one quarter of the circle, and four
large wings protruding out from the diagonals of the shield. On the back,
there were the thrusters, and what appeared to be missle launchers of
sorts. "I have come to collect the bounty for your team. If you will not
come willingly, I'm afraid Emporer Andross will have to receive only
what's left of you. Do you come willingly?"
	"Who do you think you're kidding?" Fox was busy looking for where
to train his lasers to, in case of attack.
	"In that case, good luck in defeating me. I have never lost yet."
	Falco joined into the speaking. "That's easy if you've never
fought!"
	"You try my patience. On your guard!" He started to rotate the
shield, showing small targets which just fit inside the piece of the
shield that was missing. "Just try and hit those targets. I dare you!"
	Fox started to shoot at the targets, but the shield seemed to
attract the laser. Some of his shots hit the shield, and it started to
glow a bright green. "What the..?" He continued to shoot, knocking out one
target, but making the shield greener by the second. Fox aimed at a target
and fired, hitting the shield. Suddenly, the shield erupted with a blast
of green laser, aimed right at Fox! Fox, taken by suprise, took the hit
head-on, and he could feel the heat of the blast invading the cockpit.
"Whoa!" was all he could say.
	"Ha ha ha..." the laughter came from the ship. "You see, Fox,
intelligence will always triumph over brute strength! Whatever hits the
shield will be fired back at you!"
	Fox was reeling from the hit. He fought to steady his arwing, and
trained his lasers to one of the targets. His computer was damaged from
the blast, so he couldn't aim properly. When he hit the shield, he took
note of how green it got, and then started backing away from the ship when
he thought it was ready to go off. He pulled to the side and got one of
the targets in the crosshair. He gave it a few blasts, and then Peppy
pulled up beside him, and started to fire as well, taking out the next
target. As the shield rotated, Falco, then Slippy also took their turns
shooting. Fox slid to take the target that Slippy was shooting at, and it
went down too. Falco saw Fox coming while the shield revealed the last
target, and Falco warned Fox, "This one's mine, Fox. Back off."
	That target went down, and the shield started sparking. The voice
came back, "I see I've underestimated you."
	The shield launched off of the ship, heading straight for the
team. "Watch out, Fox!" Fox slid out of the way just in time, feeling the
drag on his wing as the shield passed it.
	Underneath the shield, there was another target, in the center of
the four wings sprouting out. "Go ahead, try and hit it!" Fox slid over
and started to shoot at the target. He hit right on, and when he did, the
tips of the four wings started to glow, and a laser shot out of each of
them, towards the center. They met in the center, covering the target, and
fired a huge, pulsing beam of electricity out. Fox barely slid out of the
way, and Slippy split to the left.
	"Slip, can you hit it from where you are? Try to hit it from the
diagonal!" Peppy shouted out.
	Slippy shifted a little to the left, and tried a diagonal
approach. The beam didn't even come close to him. "Direct hit, Pep!
Everyone, go diagonal!!"
	All four of the ships began firing at the target from an angle,
and the person inside the craft  shouted, "Hey!! That's not fair!!" Soon,
the target smoked and then burst into flame. Suddenly, his voice got calm.
"I'm no match for you. I admit defeat." The ship started to turn around,
Fox guessed to leave.
	Falco caught something in the way he said that. "Are you going to
listen to that monkey?" He watched as the ship's thrusters started to warm
up, but the ship wasn't moving while they warmed. "Something's fishy
here."
	The thrusters suddenly glowed pink, and circular lasers launched
out of them. Falco dodged, and Peppy slid up and back from the blast. "If
this does not work..." the voice yelled. The missle launchers sprang to
life and began firing.
	"Fox, you take the main ship! Falco, you and I will get the
missles!  Slippy, you help Fox! Go to it, team!" Peppy shouted as he gave
chase to a missle.
	By now, the actual ship was sparking, and looking like it was
going explode. Fox was looking for where to shoot to take him down, and he
remembered the air attack carrier from Corneria. "Let's see if I can do
any damage to those launchers!" He boosted forward to avoid the blast from
the thrusters, and gave the launcher all the laser he could shoot before
his boost ran out. As he slowed down to recharge, he started moving in
circles to make it harder for the lasers to hit him. While he moved, he
shot at the missle launcher any time he got a chance. After a minute, the
launcher sparked and then shot fire out of the front. "It's done for! Now
for the other one!" He boosted again, and shot downward at the launcher,
blowing up missles as they shot out. Fox looked up in time to see the
lasers rehcharging and getting ready to shoot. "Slippy, watch out!!"
	Slippy was also busy aiming at the missle launcher, and didn't
even see the lasers coming. "Hey!!!" He tried rolling out of the way, but
the lasers followed. He boosted to get out of their range, and said, "That
was a close call, Fox! My shields are hurting bad now! He's mine!!" Slippy
started pummeling the missle launcher with as much laser as he could
shoot. "You sure picked on the wrong toad, buddy!!" Soon, the the launcher
smoked and exploded. "Guys, I don't get any reading at all!! He's a
goner!! Get out of the way!!"
	Fox called over to Slippy, "Slippy, where are those depressions?"
	Slippy looked at his radar. "Just ahead!! Let's hurry!"
	The monkey inside the ship suddenly saw red lights and heard a
siren going off. The ship was now on auto-detonate. "I can't believe I
lost to this scum!!!!"
	Fox opened his com. "Sorry to jet, but we're in a hurry!" The ship
started to smoke heavily, and the four passed it on the way to the
depressions. Fox looked back just in time to see the ship send out a shock
wave and then burst into a bright fireball. "You have to pity guys like
that. I think I see the depressions." The distortion of the gravity ahead
of them was almost plainly visible; it looked like what water does to any
object, lengthening one side, and angling it. Fox stopped his arwing.
"Slippy, are you sure the arwing can handle this?"
	Slippy looked over to Fox. "Fox, I'm not certain, but I sure hope
so."
	"So what do I do? Just fly through it?"
	"And make sure your G-Diffuser is working. If you feel the
gravity, start doing barrel-rolls. It should help dissipate the force."
	Fox paused. "All right, guys. We're dealing with a completely
unresearched phenomeon of science. ROB, make sure you record every single
detail while you follow us through these things."
	ROB came over the com. "Commands affirmative."
	"Okay, then. Here we go!" Fox inched forward, then went to full
speed. "See you guys on the other side." The ships fell into formation,
and Fox went into the first depression. As he entered, he instantly felt
the gravity pull at his ship. He started to pull into a barrel-roll, and
searched the area for the next one as he felt himself speed up from
exiting the depression. It was the strangest feeling. He knew he was
flying at probably twice his normal speed, but it felt like he was just
sitting there. He fought the arwing over to the next one. There was no
turning back now. As he exited this one, the colors around him started to
blur.  He kept going to the third one and blasted through it, heading
towards the fourth one. By now, he was getting dizzy from the
barrel-rolls, but he knew that if he stopped, his ship would probably be
instantly pulled apart. His actions were now becoming sluggish, and he
couldn't see properly. He pulled near the fifth one, and through squinted
eyes he pulled right through it. He threw his ship towards where he
thought the sixth one was, too dazed to see. As he exited it, he felt
himself getting near to passing out. He almost gave in, but realized that
he had to hang on. He tightened his grip on the controls, gasped for one
more breath, and boosted throught the seventh depression!! As he left the
depression, the whole area lit up with a bright white light. He closed his
eyes, not having enough strength left to fight his will. Suddenly, the
pull of the gravity on his body lifted. He felt his energy come back to
him, and he opened his eyes to view a greenish haze. His reaction time was
extremely slowed, but he managed to dodge all the meteors various other
things floating around in it. "This is like a space garbage dump.." he
said to himself. He tried opening his com, and when it didn't respond, he
figured that it was still recooping from the gravity effect. He wondered
where, in fact, he was, if he wasn't dead. His ship moved through greenish
cloud after greenish cloud, and just sat there in awe at the sights around
him. He felt his ship slowing and figured that the depressions were losing
their effect on him.
	Back at the Corneria Space Control Center, the cheetah brought
Pepper a sheet of paper on it with figures on it. "We've lost all contact
with the Star Fox Team. They went through the area with the space-matter
depressions, hit them, and we haven't seen them since. Our best sources
fear the worst. I'm sorry."
	Pepper sipped his coffee, trying to stay awake. "It hasn't
happened. It can't have. Alert everyone! We can't lose them! Notify the
Katina Base about this!"
	At the base on Katina, a tech was sitting around monitoring an
area that was doing absolutely nothing, looking for Andross' troops. He
was almost falling asleep, watching the screen with unconcerned eyes. But
wait! What was that? His eyes caught a light starting to form right in the
center of the screen. He leaned over to the next tech and tapped his
shoulder. "Hey! Look at this!"
	Fox was definatley feeling the slowing now, and the green haze
faded off and on, revealing the outer space near Katina.
	The tech had called over his superior, and everyone was watching
the area intently. Since it appeared, the glow had gotten brighter by the
minute, puzzling even the best officers there. The superior opened his com
with Corneria and informed them of the situtation. They said that they'd
get on it. Another tech came up to the superior and handed him some
papers. "I tried and tried to run scans on that thing. It doesn't register
as matter!! There's nothing there!"
	"What do you mean?! You see it, don't you?" the superior snapped
back. Suddenly, the light grew to an almost blinding level, and four dots
followed by a large ship blasted out. Then the light was gone. The
superior sat there in awe, then said, "Get me those people on the com. Do
it!"
	One of the techs grabbed a transmitter and started, "Katina Space
Control Center to unidentified crafts. Please identify yourselves."
	Pepper was also monitoring the situtation. He had opened to the
same channel as the KSCC. When no one responded, Pepper called out,
"Unidentified craft, this is the Corneria Space Control Center confirming
the KSCC's request. Please identify, over." Pepper waited. All he could
focus his attention on was that com, and the sound coming out of it. The
silence was deafening. "Crafts, please identify!"
	All of the sudden, Fox's voice came on the com. "Whew! That was
some rush!!" Cheering broke out on both of the planets, and momentarily,
the war was forgotten. "On to Sector Y!!"


Star Fox 64:
The Legacy
--------------------------

Chapter VI
	"I can't believe it! That group of rebels has destroyed my chances
of taking the Katina base by suprise! They even got rid of that bounty
hunter!" A shadowy form stormed around in his office, having just received
word about the ruining of his plans. "It just can't happen!"
	He stomped over to his desk, and pounded his hand onto the
intercom. A voice came over the speaker, "Sir!!"
	"I want a connection to the surviving officer in Meteo!" There was
silence. "Well??!"
	"Well, sir, they, uh, I mean, we, uh..."
	"Stop blabbering and say it!!"
	The voice paused, then said in a scared and quiet voice, "Sir, we
don't have any forces left there. That team, just, destroyed everyone."
	The shadowy figure turned red with anger. "WHAT?!?!?!"
	In Sector Y, Bill was leading the Black Mist Squadron through the
fierce melee of the battle. "All units, follow me between these ships!
Remember the primary objective: protect the stormships!" The fleet of
seven went into single file and slid between two ships, luring a warrior
ship to slam into the side of a stormship and explode. "Close one guys,
but good job! Keep it up!"
	The voice over the intercom continued, in the same tone. "Yes,
sir. We have lost all contact with Meteo. This team is so good, we can't
even find ship fragments on radar."
	"What team is doing this?"
	The officer on the other end of the line searched his computer
files and found the answer. "They were identified as the Star Fox Team."
	The figure thought a moment. "Star Fox... why should I know that
name?"
	"Pigma Dengar, one of our best, came from that team. He defected
from the Corneria Space Force shortly before the First Lylat War."
	The shadowy form nodded his head. "Yes, I remember the time."
	After a pause, the officer spoke again. "So, what is our next
step, sir?"
	Fox checked his computer as he spotted the haze of Sector Y in the
distance. "We are now entering Sector Y. Prepare to meet Venomian forces!"
	As Bill pulled out of a spin, his com sprang to life. "Black Mist
Leader, respond!"
	Bill answered, "We're here."
	Pepper came over the com. "We want you to get out of there now,
and start heading to Katina. We think something's up."
	"Roger that. Black Mist Squadron, let's move out!"
	The figure spoke again. "We attack Katina while the rest of the
forces are at work in Sector Y. Prepare the troops for battle, and attack
on my mark. Alert me when the Star Fox Team shows up. Andross out." The
huge ape released his finger from the button, and the intercom shut off.
"We'll hit before they even have a chance to react! And for the Star Fox
Team, we'll be waiting!!" He started to giggle at the beginning thoughts
of his schemes, and then the giggle grew to a hideous laugh, which seemed
to echo off into space.
	Fox and the rest of the team saw some of the warrior ships come to
greet them, but the ships turned when they saw a stormship approaching.
The huge stormship was firing everything it had at the groups of fighters,
but they were deflecting most of it with their shields. One of the
warriors started smoking, and crashed into the thrusters of the stormship,
starting a chain reaction. The blast moved from the thrusters up through
the fuel line to the tanks. "Get out of the way!! She's gonna explode!!"
Fox yelled. The space around them lit a bright white, and then sank back
to their original colors, minus one stormship. The warrior ships,
seemingly mocking the stormship, flew through the cloud made by the ship.
Fox was watching them closely. "They seem to be a little over-confident.
See if you can use that to your advantage! All right, Star Fox Team, let's
back up the squadrons!"
	Fox boosted to catch up with a warrior ship, and Slippy followed
suit. Slippy chased his quarry near an abandoned stormship, and then let
fly with a barrage of laser. "Take that!" As he pulled away from the
wreckage, he looked around for the rest of the opposing force. "Fox,
something's wrong. I don't see anything. Where is everybody?"
	Peppy had caught on to the silence, too. He started to move
forward, nearing an enemy starcruiser. Suddenly, the air was filled with
flying fire. "Watch out, Fox! Suprise attack from above!"
	Fox locked onto one near the middle of the squadron coming from
the starcruiser. "Everyone, clear!" As the rest of the team pulled away
from the area, Fox shot a bomb off, clearing out most of the small attack
ships, and injuring the starcruiser.
	Peppy saw some ships going past, attacking the Cornerian Space
Force and making holes in their lines. "Fox! They're trying to split us
up! Don't let any of them through!"
	Fox slid upward to skim over the top of a star cruiser, and saw
another squad coming straight for him. "Don't worry, Pep. I've got you
covered." He thought for a moment. He knew he didn't have time for a
lock-on if he wanted to take out the whole squadron, so he just fired at
them. They just charged right at him, trying to scare him into letting
them past, and one by one, they fell. "Man. These guys are determined!!"
As he came out of the groove in the starcruiser, his eye caught three more
cruisers to his left.
	Peppy checked his radar and found that not a single ship had
gotten past Fox. "Good job, Fox! Keep up the pace!" Peppy ducked his ship
inbetween the cruisers, taking out the laser turrets mounted on them. As
he came up, he saw a group sneaking up on Fox. "Hey, Fox! The enemy is
coming from behind!"
	Fox hit the brakes and took the squadron by suprise as they sped
past him. As he shot them down, he saw Slippy pull away from him, chasing
another ship. Slippy turned sharply, going behind another abandoned ship,
and chased out some ambushers. "Thought you could hide from me, eh?" He
chased them out to Fox, who shot them down. Slippy went past another
cruiser, and pulled a repeat performance. He boosted ahead to try a third
time, but when he went underneath of the next cruiser, he didn't see
anyone until his ship was suddenly being shot at! He looked over, saw his
ambushers, and then started boosting away. "Hey! Leave me alone!!" Fox
sped up and helped Slippy out.
	As Slippy passed Fox going back to his position, Fox said, "Third
time's the charm, Slip!"
	Slippy gave Fox as mean a look as he could muster. "Oh, be quiet!"
	Up ahead, Fox saw two of the warriors charge at him, trying to
take him by storm. He hit his brakes and shot carefully, making sure that
he didn't hit their deflective shields. They both fell, and Fox pulled
upward to avoid a stormship coming his way. Peppy went underneath, and
between the two of them, they took down all of the ships on both sides of
it. "That's the way, Pep! We're going to break through that fleet!" As
they passed the stormship, they noticed the starcruisers around them were
shooting out ships by the dozens to fight them, and the laser turrets were
firing faster than ever. While fighting through the gauntlet, ROB called.
"General Pepper to speak with Fox."
	"Connect us, ROB."
	"Fox! I got you just in time! Up ahead, you will encounter two of
the more powerful warrior robots; but, they are not the main target! My
techs have unearthed some data in messages to Sector Y about a secret
weapon that they call the 'Shogun'. I have no idea so far as to what it
is, but I have a feeling that it will be something like those warriors."
	"Any other information?"
	"None. It was all that we could do to get our hands on these
messages. Andross has some really tough computers."
	"I understand. We'll be careful. Fox out." Fox hit some buttons on
his com. "Did everybody hear that?"
	Peppy spoke up. "Yeah. Something about a 'Shogun'? Sounds
dangerous. Let's do it!" The four boosted past the starcruisers towards
the blip on the radar. "What are those?"
  	Slippy squinted to see the forms. "Enemy ahead. They look
different."
	Fox thought for a second. "If these are as dangerous as Pepper
says they are, we can combat them better in all-range mode. Switch to
all-range mode!" Simutaneously, the four of them hit some keys, and the
wings of their Arwings extended to the full position, allowing full-range
movement. Quickly, they boosted into the fight. Right up ahead, they could
see the two larger warrior fighters, one colored blue, and the other
colored gold. "Take it to 'em, team!" They split up, Fox and Slippy taking
the gold one, and Falco and Peppy going after the blue one.
	The two warriors fought the four of them off, but double-teaming
the guys worked. In a few minutes of firece fighting, the blue one went
down. "All right! Let's get a move on, here!" Falco said as he boosted
over to help Fox and Slippy.
	After a couple more exchanges of fire, the gold one charged at the
team. Peppy caught on just in time. "Guys! He's going kamikaze!! Watch
out!" Instantly, they all boosted away as the gold warrior sparked into
flame, and then exploded, leaving behind a great amount of debris. "They
must be equipped with nova bombs, in case they are deafeated fairly!"
Peppy mused.
	"So that's it! We can go from here!! Yahoo!" Slippy cried.
	Suddenly, their attention was drawn to their coms. "Don't party
just yet. It's time to try out our new weapon!" Instantly, the four of
them looked for the source of the voice. A starcruiser approached, and a
huge warrior ship was standing on a launching pad that was on top of the
ship. "That's right! You're all staring in awe at the Shogun! Let's see
what you are made of!!" As he spoke, the launch pad slid forward, shooting
him into space at full speed. Fox aimed his laser and gave some strong
blasts, but they just were deflected off the Shogun's huge silver
shield."What? Is that all you've got??"
	Fox spoke into his com. "Man! That shield he's holding is too
strong! It's defending him from most of my shots! We've got to get him to
drop it!"
	Falco pulled a wide arch away from the Shogun. "Leave that to me!"
Falco came around behind the Shogun, and shot at the hand that was holding
the shield. The Shogun instantly dropped the shield, and Falco then shot
at that, and blew it up. "Yee-ha! I just love coming to the rescue!!"
	The monkey inside the Shogun grabbed at the controls. "Cocky
little freaks! I don't need that shield! My speed is still better than all
of you, and so is my cannon!" He started firing at the four of them, who
started dodging the shots. "Let's see if you can take what you dish out!"
	Fox yelled into his com, "All right, guys! Just shoot him now!!"
The four of them broke up and started chasing him around the area. The
Shogun was firing, dodging, and trying to make damaging contact with the
four Arwings.
	Across the Lylat System, two gloved hands moved over a keyboard,
hacking into Andross' computers. The hands typed in passwords and
proceeded to weapons management.
	The operator of the Shogun sped past Falco, and started to go
after Slippy, closing the gap between them with his laser. "Hey! Why don't
you pick on someone with your own level of flying ability?" Falco taunted
as he blasted at the Shogun.
	Slippy rolled his eyes and said, "Gee, Falco. Thanks for saving me
and praising my piloting skills," as the Shogun turned to chase Falco.
	Falco was absorbed in luring the Shogun into a loop so that he
could get behind him. "Yeah, yeah. Don't mention it."
	Once in weapons management, the hands went on to condition of
weapons, and then specified the Shogun. They typed in a clearance code,
and then gave the computer instructions to show a display of the bomb that
was implanted in the Shogun. It displayed the bomb as unarmed.
	Fox saw the ship that the Shogun had come on, and got curious
about it. He started to head towards it.
	The monkey in the Shogun review the situation quickly. His shields
were practically gone, and the next few hits would take down his systems.
He hit some keys, and a message came up on his screen. It said 'Bomb
ARMED'. The monkey giggled to himself. "If don't get them one way..." He
spotted Fox over by the ship, and started boosting towards him.
	The person sitting at the computer terminal noticed the change in
status. A new command was also displayed: 'Auto-detonate Now'.
	Fox was still looking for a way to attack the starcruiser when
Peppy's voice came over the com. "Fox!! Watch out!!! He's got that bomb
armed!!!! Get out of there!!" Fox looked up, and the Shogun was bearing
down on him, moving at top speed. 
	He started to boost away, and the Shogun gave chase. "I'm comin'
for ya! You ain't gonna steal my moment of glory from me!!" the crazed
monkey yelled.
	The person touched his finger to the screen, highlighting and
initating the 'Auto-detonate Now' selection.
	Fox boosted one last time away from the now smoking Shogun.
	The monkey looked up as a new display emerged on his computer.
'Bomb AUTO-DETONATING'. "NO! THIS IS NOT WHAT IS SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN!!!!"
He pulled at the controls, trying desperatley to pull Fox into the bomb's
range. "AAARRGGGGHHH!!!!!"
	The trigger on the bomb was tripped, and Fox felt the shockwave of
the bomb carry his ship away from the explosion. He eased into his
controls as he slowed, and saw the rest of the team hurry over. "I'm
alright, team! Let's move on!! All aircraft report!!"
	Falco came on first. "Fox, that was a close call. Slippy almost
actually hit something!"
	Slippy was next. "You know, I'm really starting to despise Falco's
snide remarks."
	Peppy was last. "Fox, did it seem to you that the Shogun blew up a
little too soon?"
	Fox spoke into the com again. "I don't know how soon is too soon,
but I'm sure glad to see him out of the way! Now, let's head back to the
Great Fox and get instructions from Pepper!! Great job, team!" He boosted
his ship towards the Great Fox, followed by the Falco, Slippy, and Peppy.
	Back on Venom, the officer paged Andross again. "Sir, the battle
is won in Sector Y. The Star Fox Team was intrsumental in defeating our
best warriors and even the Shogun. You didn't even have us launch an 
attack on Katina yet. What am I to do?"
	Andross pressed the button on the intercom with his huge finger.
"If I know what Pepper is thinking, he'll send the Star Fox Team to Aquas,
to destroy my bio-weapon. If we attack while they are there, we can delay
them long enough to destroy the Katina base. Do you follow?"
	The voice came back on. "Yes, sir. In fact, while you were
speaking, I received a report of the Star Fox Team entering Aquas
atmosphere. When shall I begin the attack on Katina?"
	Andross chuckled to himself, and flashed an evil grin. "Now."

Star Fox 64:
The Legacy
--------------------------

Chapter VII
	The Great Fox slowed as it entered Aquas atmosphere, and glided
into the water. It came to a stop as the sun began to peek over the
horizon, sending the pinks, purples and blues off into the sky. Fox
watched out of one of the windows in the control room while the whole ship
rocked with the waves. Peppy and Falco were in back of Fox, trying to stay
on their feet as the rocking continued. Peppy held his head. "I sure hope
this is a mission that requires flight, so I can get off of this weaving
tin can!"
	He stumbled past Fox and ran into a table as Fox. "I wouldn't
worry. We usually do nothing but fly anyway." He giggled to himself as
Falco slid down into a chair, moaning. "Boy, you'd think that if you can
pull that many loops and tricks in an Arwing, you could surely take a
little shaking action like this!"
	Falco put his head into his hands. "Come over here and say that
again, uhhhnnn," he groaned. Fox just laughed.
	Fox looked out over the multi-colored horizon on the water, and
was awed. "It's beautiful, isn't it, guys? You know, it's really hard to
imagine that with all this peace right here, there is a war going on out
there." He thought to himself for a second. "Hey, guys, when Pepper does
finally send us a message, I'll be in my bunk, alright?" He started off
for the room as Peppy and Falco groaned at him.
	Fox walked into his room, and continued to think as he flopped
onto his bed. He remembered suddenly feeling exhausted. Suddenly, he was
back in his house on Corneria. Fox saw himself, as a child, and an older
fox, his father, James. He wondered if it had been that long ago. He saw
himself playing with some toys, pretending to be as great a pilot as his
father. James walked over to young Fox, and started talking to him. Fox
couldn't hear what James was saying, but he didn't have to; he had heard
it so many times. James was telling Fox that he was going on another
mission, but he would be back soon. James had his hand on Fox's back as
they went up the stairs to little Fox's room. Fox followed them, and was
flooded with memories. He saw photos; millions of photos of his family. As
he progressed up the stairs, he saw pictures of his father and mother at
their wedding. He saw his mom holding him as he was a baby. She had been
so proud of him when he took his first step. Then their were more baby
pictures of Fox, but they did not have his mother in them. Fox broke down
right there and cried. His mother had died when he was just a pup; Fox
could just vaguely remember it. He heard some voices, and hurried up the
steps, turning to his room. Here, there were even more memories. He saw
James helping Fox pack some clothes for him to spend the night at a
friend's house while he was away. Fox watched James, while his younger
couterpart scurried around getting neccessities.  James seemed
preoccupied watching Fox; he acted as if he didn't want to ever take his
eyes off of him again. Fox could almost feel his father's touch as he
helped little Fox close the traveling case. James giggled to himself as
young Fox tried to lift the bulging case, and then picked it up for Fox.
He carried it out to their car, sat little Fox in the passenger's side,
then got into the car and started it. Fox watched as they drove down the
road, off onto the main roads. Fox suddenly sat up in his bunk, sweating
and panting. He realized he had been dreaming. Slippy's voice came over
the intercom. "Hey, Fox! Come on, already! Pepper is waiting for us, and
you're sitting there asleep!"
	Fox stumbled from his bed over to the intercom and pressed the
button. "Yeah, yeah. I'm coming. A guy tries to get a little shut-eye
around here...."
	A short time later, Fox walked into the control room, just as
Slippy was getting the vidscreen up. Pepper's face was fading on and off
of the screen. Fox stopped to see the problem, and Slippy said, "I can't
really do anything about it. The sea spray is doing wonders to block the
reception," and shrugged his shoulders. Fox nodded and paced up to the
controls, trying to adjust the reception so that they could at least get a
steady audio.
	He worked it so that most of the fuzz was out, and Pepper's voice
came on. Pepper was musing to a tech, "Years and years of technology, and
we can't even get a vidscreen message between two worlds."
	Peppy and Falco were trying to actually stand up straight, as they
were slowly getting used to the waves. The bottle of seasick medicene
didn't hurt, either. Peppy responded to the General, "It's sad, isn't it,
sir?"
	Pepper realized that the audio was working. "Oh, good. You can get
through by audio. Well, good thinking, Fox. Now, I'm sorry, but we need
one of you to use that Blue-Marine of yours to get under the waves and get
rid of Andross' bio-weapon."
	Falco groaned, "That means that only one of us is going to have to
leave the ship."
	Peppy held his head. "Uhhhnn. I don't know how much more of this
rocking I can stand."
	Pepper laughed. "Oh, come on. But, back to the mission. To clarify
exactly what it is we're after, a bio-weapon is defined as an animal that
has been genetically changed to be used in war.  This type of weapon is
Andross' favorite; you'll be facing many more of these as the war wears
on. We have yet to have any registered officer actually see this weapon,
but we have some local witnesses who say it looks like, well, a giant
clam. Our techs figure that Andross is using it to do some deep-sea
mining. Aquas was once famous for all of the minerals that were underneath
of its waves, you know. We want you to also do some tests on the water
down there. Andross has been using this planet as a garbage dump, and we
need to keep the pollution on that planet to a minimum, according to the
Cornerian Alliance contract. Are you up to it, Fox?"
	Fox nodded, and said, "I don't know if that vidscreen is working
yet, General, but Peppy and Falco behind me are just plain seasick, and
Slippy is going to be working on our Arwings, so it looks like I'm going
to be your ship's captain. Hey, ROB! Prepare to deploy the Blue-Marine!"
	Falco looked over to the robot, and said, "Yeah, and make sure
that Slippy has my Arwing ready to do some flying. I don't care where I
am, as long as the floor stands still!"
	Peppy nodded his head. "I think I'm going to be game for that,
too."
	ROB spoke in monotone, "Initalizing all requests."
	Pepper nodded to the vidscreen. "Alright, then. Be careful, guys.
Pepper out." The screen shut down, and Pepper walked over to the cheetah.
"Get that sub on radar, and keep an eye on things. I have a meeting to
attend." Pepper went over to the door, and started on his way to the Main
Building.
	Fox, Peppy, and Falco walked down to the docking bay, Peppy and
Falco stumbling back and forth with the waves. Slippy saw them coming, and
met them in the doorway. "Hey guys. The Blue-Marine's ready to go. Are you
ready, Fox?" Fox nodded. "Great." Slippy hopped over to the sub and opened
the door on the top. Fox slipped inside, and got into the seat. Slippy
leaned over the hole, and started talking. "Okay, Fox. The controls for
movement work almost the same as the Arwing. The is an on-board computer,
that will pick up on your speech. If you have any questions, just ask, and
the computer will do its best to answer it. If it can't answer it, it will
connect you with ROB. Above you is a small compartment. If something is to
go wrong and the air starts leaking out, pop the box open, and an air mask
will drop from it. There is plenty of air for you to get back to the Great
Fox without running out of breath. Your com will be hooked up through you
headset, so pay attention. Don't worry about running out of firepower,
because the on-board computer can make torpedoes out of any rock, or
shrapnel or something." Slippy looked at his watch. "We'd better hurry.
We'll launch you, and then we're going to lift out of the water so Peppy
and Falco can get off of the ship. Well, then, let's get you moving. Stay
in contact with us, Fox. The waters can be dangerous." Slippy pulled
himself out of the ship, leaving Fox to prepare to hit the waves.
	Fox looked up to see the lid of the sub being screwed on, and felt
the Marine being carried by robotic arms to be set into the submerging
tank. Lights came on the computer screens around him as they were lowered
into the tank. A voice came over the speakers, "Welcome aboard the
Blue-Marine. Please state your name for voice identification."
	Fox adjusted the microphone nearer to his face. "I'm Fox McCloud."
	The screen flashed a smile face. "Voice identified. Welcome on
board, Fox. We are now preparing for expulsion."
	"Expulsion? Like in the defenition of 'leaving something at a
really high rate of speed'?"
	"Exactly. Please make sure your seat belt is buckled in." Without
another second, the Blue-Marine was blasted out of the docking bay of the
Great Fox.
	After the Blue-Marine slowed to normal speed, Fox got up off of
the floor. "Computer, make a note. Give me better warning next time."
	"That command is inoperative. What is the status of Fox? Fox
changed positions during expulsion."
	"Fox is just fine, thank you." Fox huffed, and opened the com by
turning on his headset. "Slippy, when I get back on board, I'm going to
hurt you."
	Slippy was at the receiver. "You've met the computer, eh? Listen,
I'm giving the computer instructions to sample the water and run tests on
it. As soon as the computer lets you know that its done, tell it to send
the info back to the Great Fox, will you?"
	"Sure thing. Did Peppy and Falco get off alright?"
	"Yeah. They'll be opening their coms to this channel in a second.
They're going exploring, even though they know that there is nothing but
water for miles. It's almost funny."
	Fox got back up onto the seat, and this time buckled the belt
around him. "Do you have any idea as to where this giant clam bio-weapon
is?"
	"Well, we launched you into the general area of where it was last
seen."
	"Okay. I'll check back with you when I start meeting opposition."
Fox looked out of the windows in the front of the Blue-Marine. "Headlights
on," he said. Instantly, the headlights clicked on, and he saw before him
great expanses of coral reefs, with colorful little fish swimming in
schools between the rows. "It sure doesn't look like a war from down
here."
	Back at the Cornerian World Headquarters, the group that witnessed
the beginning of this war was regathering in the same room. This time,
Pepper was on time, thanks to the newly-hired security guards that kept
the reporters out. He walked in the room as everyone was sitting down, and
he hurried to a spot. The room grew quiet as the tiger, in a new
grey-striped suit, got up from his desk, and headed over to the table. He
looked up and eyed everyone at the table through his glasses. "Ah, General
Pepper, I see you've made it on time for the first time. Very good.
Meanwhile, there is another matter of greater importance. The bases at
Katina and Fortuna. What is the news with them?"
	A cat in a green uniform, contrasting Pepper's red one, spoke up.
"We've not had any attack on Katina yet, but things are getting a little
suspicious around there. They're just kind of tense right now. By the way,
of what interest is the Fortuna base to you? It's been closed since we
made peace with Macbeth."
	Pepper saw things differently. "Of what interest?!?! That base is
not closed, it's just used as a store house for some of our weapons. If
Andross were to get hold of that base, why, he'd be holding half of our
arsenal!"
	A small sparrow to his right nodded. "He's right. That base is
also like a satelite, allowing us to communicate with the other worlds on
the other side of Solar. If he broke off communications, we'd have no
chance of establishing any allies! Every day, millions of top secret
documents go through that base, too." The sparrow shuddered at the
thought.
	"My point exactly. Good thinking, both of you." The tiger again
took the floor. "And so, what are we doing to protect it?"
	The cat spoke up. "Well, we've had guards there ever since I can
remember, but no real defenses. In fact, most of our ships don't even go
past there anymore."
	Pepper slid some sheets down the table to the tiger. "I was
thinking ahead in the battle, and got the current status and other info.
Everything seems to be totally normal, but that could change really fast."
	The tiger looked over the papers, and started them around the
table. "At any rate, we have to protect that base. My guess is that
Andross will try to divert us at Katina while he takes that base. The Star
Fox Team is still busy with that bio-weapon, too. He has us spread out all
over the system." The tiger took off his glasses, rubbed his eyes, and
yawned. "If all goes well at Aquas, we can have some of the squads back
off to Fortuna while--"
	Suddenly, the cheetah tech burst through the door, panting. "Sir!
I have important information! Katina is being attacked!" 
	Pepper leaned back in his chair to see the tech. "Don't you ever
knock at all?"
	The tiger stood up and caught the tech's eyes. "Go back and get me
the rest of the informationl. Pepper, I want you to go with him and run
the situation from the SCC. I'll be in contact with you there."
	Pepper stood up and saluted the tiger, then strode out with the
cheetah.
	Falco and Peppy were coasting the waves in their Arwings, just
being glad to not be on the Great Fox, where they couldn't even stand up.
Falco skimmed his Arwing down into the trough of a wave, and then slid up
over the crest, using the air to shoot him higher. "I guess we had better
check in with Fox and Slippy." He opened his com just as Peppy was opening
his, and they both contacted Slippy.
	Slippy was back in the docking bay, working on his ship. The
computer near him started beeping, and he hopped to it to answer the call.
"Hey, guys. How's everything going above the sea?"
	Falco answered, "It could be a little more exciting, but I'm not
complaining."
	Peppy came on next. "Falco's right. Anything else to do up here?"
	Slippy laughed. "No, not much. If you look to your left, I'm
putting a visual of the cameras on the Blue-Marine on your computers.
You'll see whatever Fox sees. Your coms will be open to the same channel,
so you can talk with him."
	Just then, Fox's voice came over the com. "Hey, everybody, we're
getting attacked! I must be getting near it!"
	Not too far from where Falco and Peppy were flying, another ship
was resting in the water. The captain was pacing on the deck, looking off
into the horizon. A sailor came out of the navigation room, and hailed the
captian down. "Sir, the bio-weapon is on its way back up with more
minerals. We are preparing to receive another load."
	"Very good. Anything else?"
	The sailor nodded. "Yes, sir. The general wishes to speak with
you."
	The short cat responded. "All right. I will be in my cabin, so
send the vidscreen there. Back to work." The sailor saluted, and then
marched back into the cabin. The captain started back to his cabin,
swishing his tail back and forth the whole way there. Once in his cabin,
he started watching out of the portholes, looking down into the waves.
Presently, the tech came back with the vidscreen com center, and hooked it
up against one wall.
	The screen faded up with the picture of a lizard with a large scar
across his face. "I've been waiting."
	"My apologies. I cannot help it that my techs are slow."
	"Yes, well. What is the status of the bio-weapon?"
	"Completely normal last I checked. Why?"
	"We've some reports of the Star Fox Team trying to down it. I want
you to do everything in your power to keep it functioning."
	"All right. I'll send some squid ships down. I'm sure that it's
nothing serious. One team can't be all that hard to down."
	"Don't get cocky, with me, captain. You know as well as I do that
that confounded Star Fox Team has ruined the emporer's plans more than
once."
	"Yes, we'll see if he can handle the Bacoon."
	"I don't even want him to get near it. Do you know how much
Emporer Andross wants to keep this running? He personally messaged me this
morning, telling me that I had better keep it going. You can expect major
cutbacks if that team gets through you, captain."
	"And I'm sure that it will begin with you, sir, so I wouldn't be
threatening me. I have some mining to do. Goodbye." The cat walked away
from the screen. "Tech, shut down the vidscreen and then get me the stats
on Bacoon. As much as I hate to say it, the general is right. If they
succeed in shutting us down, we would be better off in just sinking this
ship. Have the Bacoon get prepared for a battle, send some of our infantry
down there, and try to stop them. I'll meet you all in the navigation room
as soon as I'm ready. Leave the vidscreen in here. It's too much of a
bother to move out just now. Let's wait until this ordeal is overwith." He
held the door open for the tech to go out, then shut and locked the door
behind the tech.
	He walked over to the com center, and started it up. He then
looked out of the portholes, closed and put shades over them, and then put
a bureau in front of the door. He walked over to the com center, squeezed
behind it, and then rewired the connections to a lower frequency. A
Cornerian frequency. He came around front again, and then typed in the
target vidscreen.
	Back at the Cornerian Space Control Center, the whole place was in
a frenzy. Everyone was managing squads at Katina, trying to prevent
disaster. Pepper was calling the shots, with the cheetah working on
computer terminals in front of him. "It's no use, General," he said,
throwing his hands in the air, "their computers are too tightly locked up.
I'm not able to get any of their attack messages. I'm going to try
debugging their coms." With that, he started typing at the keyboard
furiously.
	Pepper backed off from the huge room filled with techs, and he
went into his office. He started up his computer, and tried to get in
touch with the world leader. No luck; the meeting must have ran longer
than he thought. "Oh, well," he said to himself, "this at least gives me a
chance to rest a second." He closed his eyes to help him rest, but he
couldn't sleep. He kept hearing a low-pitched buzz. At first, he figured
that someone's computer was on the blip, but the noise seemed to be coming
from the communications wall. He opened his eyes to see the problem, and
heard the com stations buzzing with a message. Pepper got up, walked over
to it, and adjusted the frequency to an audible hum. He stepped near the
speakers, and listened for speech. He didn't hear anything but fuzz. At
first, he thought to forget about it and just turn off the com, but
something drove him to make at least an attempt at communication. "Hello,
this is the Corneria Space Control Center. Is anybody there?"
	A few seconds passed, with nothing but fuzz, and Pepper was just
about to shut the com down, when a voice whispered over it. "Listen, I
have to do the talking right now. Wait until later for questions. I'm a
captain on a ship in Aquas. In fact, the only ship on Aquas. We are
Venomian, but I am defecting. I have a great knowledge of Andross'
arsenal, and would be more than willing to share them if you can get me
off of this ship."
	"It's possible."
	"Good. I have received word that the Star Fox Team is very
extremely near my ship, but they don't know it yet. I need you to have
them come down and stage something to rescue me. Can you do that?"
	"I can do it. What shall the team know you by? I mean, who should
they try to rescue?"
	"Just have them ask for the captain. I'll handle it from there."
	"How do I know this isn't an ambush?"
	"I'm very sorry, but I guess you'll have to trust me, now, won't
you?" Then the voice stopped. "I hear footsteps. Have them hurry. I have
orders to destroy Star Fox, and Bacoon, the bio-weapon has the power to do
it." The com went into fuzz.
	Pepper went over to the cheetah, who was still working hard at his
terminal. "Sir! I got through their coms to hear their plans! You could've
guessed what they were going to do. They're just trying to wear out our
pilots until reinforcements and something they call the Saucerer
mothership arrive. I've sent word to all of our pilots already. The enemy,
no doubt, has already copied my moves and found out that we know their
strategy. Expect a very long, very grueling fight, sir."
	Pepper smirked. "I want you to drop everything and get the Star
Fox Team on the com." The cheetah looked up at him.
	A short while later, Peppy and Falco were headed out towards the
coordinates that the cheetah supplied Pepper with. Slippy was now keeping
an eye on the Blue-Marine, where Fox was fighting while trying his best to
ignore the computer. Fox locked onto a group of subs, and blasted them
with a torpedo. As he leveled with a hill, his headlights graced some huge
columns. Slippy's voice came over the com. "Wow! Look at that! It's
beautiful!"
	The Blue-Marine's computer instantly started giving information.
"What you see here is most probably part of the Lost City. In prevelent
theory, it was believed that the rumor of a city actually existing here
hundreds of years ago was regarded as nothing more than just that, a
rumor. You are witnessing the first sighting of any possible proof of the
Lost City being found. Camera is recording."
	Fox laughed at the computer. "Well, at least I'm getting some of
my awesome fighting action recorded." Fox was weaving in and out of the
columns, shooting at a huge angler fish. "Boy, Andross knows the kind of
animals to copy!" The fish came nearer, flashing the gigantic jaws and
metal teeth. "Whoa! Let's get rid of you in a hurry!" Fox aimed, and sent
a torpedo right into the gaping mouth. The fish exploded, and metal parts
flew everywhere.
	Peppy and Falco were now circling high over the ship, trying to
decide the best approach. Falco started, "Well, first we need to identify
him."
	"Right," Peppy responded, "but how are we going to get on that
ship?"
	"There's always that pizza delivery guy gag."
	"Very funny. I saw we just identify, and ask if we can land."
	"Are you kidding me? That kind of thing never works!"
	Peppy started to slow down and head towards the ship. "I'm going
to try it. Arwing to unidentified ship, we reqest landing space."
	A voice came over the com. "Yes, this is the captain. We have
plenty of room to land."
	Falco looked over to Peppy. "I guess that's some sort of sign.
Let's go!" The two Arwings dove for the ship, slowing at the surface, and
then landing on the top deck. Some sailors came out to greet them, and the
two slid their hand lasers into their back pockets. Falco leaned against
his Arwing, as to cover the Star Fox logo on the side, and Peppy did the
same. Falco waved the sailors down, and said, "We've come from base on
Venom with some top secret documents. We need to see the captain
immediatley."
	The two sailors took it completely. "Of course. Just follow us,
please." The sailors started walking away, with Falco and Peppy behind
them. One of the sailors happened to look behind him for something, and
out of the corner of his eye he saw the Star Fox logo on Falco' ship.
Falco caught his gaze and realized their cover had been blown.
	The sailor spun around and tried to punch Falco. Falco caught his
fist, shoved him back, and then hit him with an uppercut. "You're messing
with the wrong guy, mister." He pulled out his hand laser and pointed  it
at the other sailor. "Now, we need to see the captain. No funny stuff."
	The other sailor looked down at his friend, who was unconscious.
He decided that he had no chioce. The sailor started leading them down to
the first deck. Peppy bumped Falco. "Listen. Set your hand laser to a very
low level," he whispered. "We don't want any casualties." Falco
understood, and adjusted his hand laser.
	They arrived at the navigation room door, and the sailor said,
"Look, I'm sorry, but you're going to have to wait here. I'll bring him
out to you." He then went into the room, not giving either of them a
chance to disagreee.
	"I'll bring him out to you! Right! Peppy, you'd better get ready!"
The door flew open and sereval more sailors came out. They formed a circle
around Peppy and Falco, who were back to back. "Round one, Peppy, old
pal!"
	Fox looked around him. "It seems to me that I'm entering some sort
of canyon. What are those up ahead?"
	The computer started speaking. "Three Venomian jellyfish ships are
joining tentacles to try to sting you. Be careful." Fox went through the
triangles, and continued to blast the starfish that were charging him. One
got to close range, then did a death roll, and exploded into the burst of
a bomb. "Those sea stars are acting as kamikazes."
	"Yeah, I noticed. Slip, I think I'm getting really close to the
bio-weapon. Did you get the information about the pollution in the water?"
	"Yeah. It's awful what Andross is doing to these places." Slippy
was watching the radar. There were some ships sneaking on the left and
right of the creavass that Fox was in. They were moving slowly, like they
were pushing something. "Fox, watch out!" Fox looked up just in time to
see some huge boulders falling down on top of the Blue-Marine.
	"Ding! And the crowd goes wild at the bell!" Falco was standing on
the deck of the ship, with Peppy near him. The rest of the sailors were
either laying on the deck of the ship unconscious or in the water, very
conscious. "Well, let's go find that captain!" They rounded another corner
in time to see some more sailors marching down the deck towards them. They
turned around, and another set was coming from that direction. "Well, as
quick as it is over, it starts again. Round two!"
	BLAM! The boulder slammed into the top of the Blue-Marine.
"Massive injury. Computer is trying to comprehend." Fox had been shaken
out of his seat yet again, so he crawled back into the seat, buckling in
again. "What is the status of Fox? Fox moved during blast."
	"Fox is okay. I just wish that those seat belts were better
material. Is there any damage, computer?"
	"There is an air leak in the cabin. Computer would reccommend that
Fox put on his emergency air tank."
	"Gee, you say that so calmly." Fox reached up and unsnapped the
box overhead of him. The mask fell down, and he put it over his mouth.
"Computer, can you still understand me?"
	"Speech is operational."
	"How much air do I have left on this tank?"
	"Estimate 5 minutes."
	"5 minutes?!? Slippy! You said that there was plenty of air to get
back on!"
	Slippy could barely understand Fox through the mask. "Well, there
is, I mean, was. That boulder must have hit right on your air supply. You
can get out of there anytime you want, Fox. We can fix it and then come
back to try again."
	"Are you crazy? By then, Andross will have this place so heavily
guarded that not even a piece of me will get to that clam! I had better do
it now! Let's hurry, computer!" The Blue-Marine flew through the water,
moving up, over and around enemies, just trying to find the bio-weapon. He
went under an arch, and the whole area lit up with fire. "Whoa! Hurry and
boost through here, computer!" Fox hit the boost, and the sub sped past
the area. Fox was watching in front of him, but he couldn't see very far.
There was something huge blocking the way. "Headlights on." As the
headlights flickered on, Fox said, "Slippy, I've found the bio-weapon.
It's humongous!"
	As if on cue, the huge shell opened to reveal a slightly smaller
eye, and a cannon on either side of it. The eye moved around, looking for
the one who disturbed his slumber. Fox aimed carefully, and fired a
torpedo right at its eye. It shrieked in pain and slammed it shell shut,
creating a huge shockwave. As Fox righted the Blue-Marine, he thought of
where to try to hit. He knew that the eye was a main target, but he needed
to get rid of the shell or the thing could just block his shots. When it
opened again, Fox put not the eye, but one of the muscles holding the
shell in his target. He blasted it with his laser, and then followed up
with a torpedo. The muscle instantly fizzled and started breaking up. The
other muscle pulled the shell shut again. "One more time." The shell
opened again, and Fox was met with a barrage of pearl-like rocks. "Whoa!"
Fox navigated through the pearls, and focused again on the other muscle
while the the cannons were recharging. Fox put another torpedo into the
muscle, and it fizzled out, too. Fox shot a torpedo into the top part of
the shell, and it fell back, leaving the eye itself open to attack.
"Terror of the deep, indeed. Let's get you out of here!" Fox started
shooting at the eye, but a natural shield of something like skin came up
between them. "Oh, yeah, well, take this!" Fox shot at the skin, trying to
get it to retreat. All the while, the cannons were firing the pearls at
him. Dodging and firing, the shield finally gave up and fell back. Fox let
fly with seeveral torpedoes. The eye couldn't do anything to stop them; it
reared back and shrieked again as the torpedoes slammed into the eye. The
skin shield popped up again, and Fox started the whole process over,
dodging and firing. "Come on, give me one more shot before this air runs
out!" The skin fell back, and Fox gave the eye another barrage. This time,
explosions started all over the shell.
	Fox slid back to avoid the explosions. Slippy came on the com.
"You did it! Hurry, Fox! Get back up here!" Then the whole bottom half of
the shell exploded into a marvelous light, exposing the the sea floor with
the light of day.
	Fox slid through the bubbles created by the explosion, making sure
that he didn't leave anything behind. "Thanks, Slippy. The Blue-Marine
came through."
	The computer suddenly came on. "Warning! All air in the tank has
been consumed!"
	Slippy came over the com. "Hurry, Fox. Try your best to hold your
breath! Just try to keep focused!"
	Fox inhaled as deep as he could, and then threw the control
towards the surface. He juiced the boost as much as he could, but his
lungs were starting to hurt. He was watching the surface come closer and
closer, but he was now getting light-headed. The sub leveled with the
surface, and Fox threw off his seat belt, and scrambled to the hatch. He
unscrewed the hatch lid, and burst out of the hole, gasping for as much
air as he could get. He slumped back against the lid, and sighed. "Slippy,
next time, you are going to drive this thing."
	"Sorry, Fox. Is everything okay? Just hang around there. We'll
come and pick you up."
	Peppy dashed up a ladder to get out of the way of a laser. He slid
to right and waited for the sailor to follow him up. As the person came up
the ladder, Peppy jumped down on top of him. "Falco, where are you?"
	"Over here!" Falco looked around the corner. "Man, they won't
leave us alone!" He turned around, and saw a group charging them. "Whoa!"
Falco followed Peppy up the ladder. The two of them ran down the hallway,
and into one room. The room had a stairway going down, and Falco stopped.
"Well, let's go."
	The two of them ran down the stairs, and looked around. They were
in a huge room, filled with what looked like piles of mineral ore. "This
must be the loading dock," Peppy mused. "There has to be a way out of
here." They moved around the steps they came down, and hid.
	Suddenly, they heard the door of the room above blow open. The
group flew down the steps, after a brisk search of the room. As they filed
down the steps, they spread out to search between the piles. Falco was
looking for something to give them the element of suprise. He looked up,
spotting the lights. There were only two of them, but they were giving off
enormous amounts of light, and the sailors were getting closer to where
Peppy and Falco were hiding. Falco nudged Peppy, and they both pulled out
their hand lasers. The next thing the group of sailors knew, it was pitch
black. Falco slipped on some night-vision goggles. Peppy noticed. "Where
in the world did you get those?"
	"There were some pairs in the room above us. Here. I got more than
one by accident." He handed Peppy the other pair, and he put them on. they
saw the sailors moving around, trying to find the stairs again. "Let's go
stir up some trouble."
	Falco moved in around one of the sailors and slapped him on the
back of the head. "Hey, what was that for?" The sailor turned around, and
hit one of the other sailors.
	"I didn't hit you!" And another hit was heard. Soon, all of the
sailors were joining in the fight. When Peppy finally found a flashlight,
the entire group was unconscious.
	Peppy started back for the stairs, and Falco followed. After a bit
of walking, they found themselves back at the door where the whole ordeal
started. "Ding! After round two, Falco and Peppy are still standing! And
the crowd goes wild!"
	The door burst open. A huge dog stepped out of the doorway,
dressed in a black trenchcoat. "Round three, Mr. Lombardi. It's my turn,
now." The dog took off the coat, revealing a black one-piece costume. The
dog reached behind him, and pulled out a large sword.
	Falco let fly with a blast from the laser. The dog blocked it with
his sword. "You can't defeat me with something as petty as that."
	Peppy backed down a bit, trying to find some kind of a weak spot.
He felt the night-vision goggles in his pocket, and the flashlight in the
other. He though for a second, then brought the flashlight out, and passed
it to Falco. "What in the world?" Falco wondered.
	Peppy charged the dog, and the dog got on guard. Falco shone the
light into the dog's eyes, disctracting him. Peppy jumped over the dog,
reaching back with his hand to slap the night-vision goggles onto the
dog's face. Falco continued to shine the flashlight into his eyes.
"AAARRGG! Stop that!!" The dog dropped his sword, to cover his face from
the light. Peppy moved around behind the dog, and pulled out his laser.
	Just as he was about to shoot, the cat came through the door.
"Don't worry about him. Let's get out of here."
	"You're the captain, aren't you?"
	"Yes. Now, let's move before we are missed." The three of them
dashed to where the Arwings were.
	Falco jumped into his Arwing, and the captain followed him. Peppy
got into his Arwing an started it up. "Let's get moving, team!" They
headed back to the Great Fox, where Fox and Slippy were waiting. Fox
helped the captain off of Falco's Arwing. "Welcome aboard the Great Fox,
sir."
	"Thank you very much. I don't want to break this up, but I have
much information about the Katina mission! We must get in touch with
Pepper!"
	"All right, we're going. So much for the terror of the deep."

Star Fox 64:
The Legacy
--------------------------

Chapter VIII
	Pepper tapped into his computer again. He tried the connection to
the Cornerian World Leader's computer. Finally, he got through. The tiger
typed in a message, and it appeared on Pepper's screen. "It's about time
you contacted me."
	"Sorry, sir. I suppose that meeting ran longer than it was
supposed to?"
	"Yes, well. What is the situation with the Star Fox Team?"
	"Just a few minutes ago, they picked up a defecter from the
Venomians, and they are meeting up with a transport ship to send him
directly here. He claims to have exclusive knowledge of some of Andross'
plans."
	"Hmm. Keep your eye on him. Does he have a name?"
	"He won't go by anything but 'the captain', his former rank in the
Venomian Naval Forces. Fox is to message me right about now, so if you'll
excuse me..."
	"Yes, please. Keep me updated with all news."
	"Affirmative, sir. Pepper out." Pepper clicked a few buttons, and
then shut the computer down. He walked out of his office, where he had
spent the night.
	The cheetah fell right into step with him. "Good morning, sir. The
Star Fox Team is already on the com waiting for you. Please follow me."
The cheetah lead him to a vidscreen, walked to a neighboring computer, and
then said, "All right. We're ready to connect."
	Fox was already staring into the camera when Pepper faded onto the
screen, sipping coffee. "Morning, sir. What do the headlines say today?
Maybe 'Star Fox To The Rescue' or even 'Fox McCloud Voted Greatest Hero
Ever Lived'?"
	"You're hardly so lucky. At any rate, we would like to know what
the status of the defecter is."
	"Not one to beat around the bush, are you?"
	"Fox, I haven't even finished my first cup of coffee yet. I
haven't built up the stamina to deal with your playfulness."
	"A bit on the touchy side, hmm? Well, you'll be happy to know that
your transport just left with your defecter. It's a good thing, too. I
could hardly stand one more of his sea stories."
	"Fine, fine. How did the mission with the bio-weapon go?"
	"A flawless victory, sir. Andross won't be using Aquas for much of
anything for a long time."
	"Good. Fox, I have bad news. As we suspected, Katina is being
attacked. We fear that if someone doesn't intervene, we'll lose the base.
We've not lost many, but their messages keep refering to some kind of
mothership called the Saucerer. From their descriptions, this thing
doesn't have very good shields, but it's beam packs a punch. In fact, they
refer to it as a 'planet-killer laser, level one.' Frankly, I think we're
leaving too much to chance. Fox, would you head over there and serve as
back-up?"
	"Be happy to, General. We'll be there as soon as we can. Fox out."
Fox backed away from the vidscreen and turned to face the rest of his
crew. "Hey, Slippy! Are our Arwings ready?"
	Slippy started for the door. "I thought you'd never ask."
	At Katina, Bill was piloting his squadron through the battle.
"Protect that base, guys! We can't afford to lose this one! Hold together,
Black Mist Squadron!" Bill pulled into a u-turn to chase a smaller
squadron. "Try to help each other out, too! We want to have no ships
down!"
	As Bill took down the last of the other squad, his com turned on.
"This is Pepper at the CSCC. We have good news for you all. The Star Fox
Team is on its way for reinforcements! Be sure to get a hold of Fox, and
associate him with your squadron's call signs. This is going to have to be
a whole-team effort."
	Bill responded, "Did you hear that, squad? Just hold on a bit
longer. Re-inforcements are on the way!" Bill locked onto a grouping of
fighters, and took them down. "That's the way!"
	At Venom, four pilots walked into a dark room. Emporer Andross was
sitting at one end of a long table, which the pilots seated themselves at.
Andross spoke slowly. "Mr. O'Donnel, I presume." 
	"You sent for me?"
	"I did. You seem to have a connection that I may be able to use.
You know Fox McCloud?"
	"He and I were in the Academy together. So?"
	"And you also didn't hit it off very well, did you? Didn't Fox
out-perform you in every event, right up to the end of training?"
	"Fox had connections with the General through his dad. I was just
as good as Fox and even better."
	"I see. Well, now that I've hired you, I need you to do some
special work for me. It deals with Fox."
	"I'm listening."
	"There is a base on the planet of Fortuna, which means a lot to
the Cornerians."
	ROB's voice came on over the speakers. "We are now in position for
launch."
	The team ran to their respective Arwings, and started the engines.
Fox began the check. "G-Diffuser system check."
	"All clear."
	"Check."
	"Ready."
	"Fuel system check."
	"Up and running."
	"Functioning."
	"Check."
	"Laser cannons check."
	"That's all!"
	"Ready to go!"
	"Let's rock!"
	"All right, guys! Power up main thruster!" The glow of the
thrusters lit the docking bay with a pink light. "Here we go!" The four
ships rocketed out of the bay, and towards the Katina base, where the
battle was raging on. "Entering Katina atmosphere." The four ships slid
into their formation, and headed into the battle. "Split up and take it to
'em!" Fox instantly started into his com. "KSCC, this is Fox McCloud of
the Star Fox Team, confirming presence at the Katina battle. Please inform
General Pepper of my arrival."
	"Sure thing. The general will be notified right away!"
	Fox began again. "Hey, everyone out there! No need to fear, the
Star Fox Team is here!"
	A familiar voice came onto Fox's com. "Fox? You made it!"
	"Bill, Bill Grey, is that you?"
	"Yeah! Listen, we don't have time for any frontline reunion, but
let me give you my group's call sign. We go by the Black Mist Squadron."
	"That sounds like something that you'd call your group."
	Another voice came on. "Also present is the Dark Storm Squad."
	"And also the Red Star Squadron."
	Fox spoke again. "Well, it's great to meet you all, and you can
get in contact with me by the Star Fox Team. Now, let's get fighting!" Fox
pulled up by the base and chased some ships away from it. He looked
around, trying to distinguish the Venomians from the Cornerians. "Man, do
you guys think that Andross designed these to look like your own ships?"
	Bill came on again. "I know. We've already had three ships go down
from friendly fire."
	Slippy pulled away from a ship that he was about to shoot down,
but realized that it was Cornerian. "You can't tell the bad guys from the
good! Hey, wait a second! Team, just make sure that you lock onto
everything you are about to shoot. Our Arwing's computer should only
register ones that are Venomian. Get my drift?"
	Falco whined, "Yeah, but it'll take so long to make sure that
every ship is a Venomian."
	Peppy scolded him. "It's better that we save our own troops' lives
than be the fastest ever defeated from friendly fire."
	Falco sighed. "I guess you're right. I was so eager to get into
the action, too."
	The leader of the Red Star Squad spoke, "It looks like these guys
aren't even following a pattern!"
	Falco followed a group away from the base and noticed some ships
behind him. "They're trying to trick us into getting trapped!" Falco
pulled into a u-turn to escape, and then took down his chasers. "There's
just no end to these guys!"
	Slippy circled around the pyramid-shaped base and took down
another grouping. "I got one!" He went into a somersault to celebrate.
	Bill raised an eyebrow. "Is he always like this?"
	Falco responded, "Only most of the time."
	Peppy chased a squad past Fox, and almost ran into Fox's Arwing.
"Watch where you're flying, Fox!" Fox dodged up and right, allowing Peppy
a clear shot at the group. As the metal fell to the ground, Peppy looked
up at the sky. Off in the distance, he spotted something. "Bill, did
Pepper give you any info as to what we'll be facing?"
	"Well, he did mention something about a mothership coming this
way."
	"Yeah, I remember. Can your computers identify that thing?"
	"I'll try. Black Mist Squad to KSCC. Please respond."
	"We hear you."
	"We spot what seems to be a mothership coming this way. Can you
give us a positive identification?"
	"We'll try. Give us a couple minutes."
	Bill slid past Falco as he was chasing another group. "They seem
to like to attack in groups."
	Fox pulled a somersault to escape some ships, and then gave chase
to another squad. "You have to watch out for that. I think they're trying
to get us to take our attention off of the base. Bill, you're going to
have to get your guys to hold them fast in front of the base."
	"Yeah, I see. KSCC, are you done identifying yet?"
	"We just finished. It's a Venomian third-class mothership. We
haven't gotten any reading as to how many ships it's holding, but this
type of ship is almost all storage space for smaller ships. If you damage
its systems, chances are that they'll try to just blow the whole place up
with it's planet-killer laser. We don't know how to stop it yet, but we
might find out something this time, if we're not all in Katina's newest
crater in a little bit."
	"Thanks, we'll do our best. Black Mist Leader to all Cornerian
ships. Enemy mothership approaching!" As Bill said that, the mothership
came into the direct area. "They're probably going to try to clear us out,
first, so watch out for their back-ups!" As the mothership centered
overtop of the Katina base, four hatches on the bottom opened, and almost
instantly, ships began to pour out of the hatches, attacking. "Come on!
Hold together! We have to destroy this thing!!"
	Fox pulled up and moved overtop of the mothership. "They don't
have any mounted guns. They're depending soley on these fighters!"
	Bill was busy getting his squadron together. "There are some
fighters grouping up south of base. Husky unit, cover the base! Bulldog
unit, don't let anything through!" The Black Mist Squadron rejoined and
then attacked the enemy grouping. After taking down most of the fighters
in the group, the rest scattered. "That should teach them not to do
something like that again!" As he spoke, the hatches on the underside of
the mothership opened again, and more ships flooded out, which immediatley
gave chase to the Cornerians. "Man! We have to stop them from getting all
this back-up! Destroy those hatches!"
	The leader of the Red Star Squadron slowed, and fired on the
hatches as he passed underneath of the ship. "We have to wait until they
open! They must have sort of shield on them while they're closed! When
they open, everyone drops their targets, and focuses on the hatches. We
can beat this thing yet!"
	A black car pulled up to the entrance of CSCC, and a guard,
followed by the short cat and another guard got out of it. The trio
entered and walked through the building, heading towards the
communications in battle section. They stopped in front of an office, and
the cat stepped forward and knocked on the door. The door opened, and
Pepper showed them into the office. Pepper walked back to his desk and sat
down, motioning for the rest of them to do the same; the two guards
remained standing, while the cat eased into the chair in front of the
desk. One of the guards handed Pepper some papers, and reported, "We ran a
full bio on him while we were still on the transport ship, and this is
what we found. He is in the Venomian Navy, but we can't get a name, and he
refuses to give his own."
	The cat folded his hands in his lap. "I will go by 'Captain',
thank you. My real name is not necessary."
	Pepper looked over the sheets, and sighed. "It says here that you
specialize in weapons managment."
	"Yes, that's true. I had been stationed to receive mineral ore
from the Bacoon, that bio-weapon that Fox destroyed. I also had orders to
destroy anything tampering with the Bacoon, using any weapons that I could
get together. My status allowed me to get all of the top secret files that
were about to be executed. Your guards confiscated them as soon as they
met me."
	Pepper looked up at the guards. "Get me those papers when we're
finished here." He went back to the cat. "I'm going to need your help, if
not as a defecter then as a fellow soldier. Our Space Force is at this
moment combating your forces at Katina. Can you help us out with any
information about this mothership that has just arrived?"
	The cat stood up quickly. "It has already gotten there?! We must
hurry before it's too late!!"
	Bill flew past the base, chasing another grouping of Venomians. He
looked up quickly and noticed that the hatch doors had opened. He called
into his com, "The hatches are open!" He let his target go, and shot at
one of the hatches, causing it to smoke and spark. Fox followed behind
him, and continued the firing. The hatch door started lurching open and
closed, and finally stopped halfway, bursting into flame. "That's the way,
Fox! Three more to go!"
	Falco came from another direction, and took out another hatch,
while the leader of the Dark Storm Squad flew in and followed Slippy past,
taking a third down. Peppy came around, and tried to take the fourth, but
the hatch was already closing, and the shield was up. "There's one left!
We have to watch for it open again! Good job, guys!"
	As Pepper, the guards, and the cat got to the communications room,
Pepper flagged the cheetah down. "Get me the Star Fox Team on the com, and
two headsets tuned to that com."
	The cheetah nodded his head. "Yes, sir. I'll be just a second." He
dashed off, towards the supply area.
	Pepper looked down at the short cat. "Now, what can you tell me
about this mothership?"
	The cat spoke quickly. "It's name on file is 'the Saucerer'. It is
an extremely old model of motherships, and this model is used for holding
and transporting large amounts of fighters. It is also a basic attack
ship. This particular model is fitted with a 'planet-killer laser', which
is to the very least ten times more damaging than your biggest space
cruisers lasers. It is the most powerful laser ever even tampered with.
Andross has planned for this ship to charge up here, which is what it is
most probably doing right now, and then blow that base clean off of the
face of Katina. If your squads can't stop that core from gathering enough
power to shoot, then it will be as though that base had never even been
there."
	The cheetah returned to the group, and handed the headsets to
Pepper. "Just turn them on. Fox is waiting."
	Once again, two gloved hands glided over a keyboard across the
Lylat System, hacking into Andross' computers again. They entered
passwords, and ran hack codes on the programs.
	Fox whistled. "Alright. I understand. We'll do our best to take
out that core. Do you have any idea about how much time it takes for the
core to gather enough energy to fire?"
	The cat responded, "From the initalizing to the actual finishing
of the gathering, about one and a half minutes."
	Fox sighed. "All right. When you get any signal that it is
charging, let us know."
	"You won't need to be warned. Shoot as soon as the core is
exposed."
	"Roger that. Keep us updated." Fox turned off his com and relayed
the information to the rest of the group.
	The gloved hands entered another program, dealing with the
Saucerer, and went into the energy managment area. The computer beeped.
	The cat got the cheetah's attention. "Quickly, I need to get to a
computer terminal, please."
	The cheetah backed away from his terminal. "Here, use mine."
	The cat sat down and ran some basic connection programs, then put
in his password on the authorization box. The computer beeped, and then
changed screens. "I don't believe it. My password still works. Okay, let's
get moving here." He made his way to the same screen that the other person
was at. The cat sat for a moment, scanning over the information. "It's
updating every couple seconds. It never does this. Unless, there is
someone else messing with this info." He went down the screen, coming to a
bar with the heading 'Core Energy'.
	"The hatches are open! Go after that last one!" Fox pulled a large
turn, and came to the hatch. He hit the brakes and turned upward, blasting
it with all he could get. The last hatch door jumped around, and then
finally broke out into flame with the rest of them. As the hatch slowed in
burning, the center of the bottom of the ship opened, and a long, metal
spike extended from it. "There's some sort of energy reaction! Shoot that
core!"
	Fox reached over and hit some keys on his computer. "Everybody,
sycronize timers to one and a half minutes! Now, let's take out that
core!" Fox saw the display of the time come up, projected onto his front
window. Fox slowed down, and shot at the core. "Man, that thing's tough!
Maybe the energy that it is consuming is creating some sort of special
shield!"
	The cat saw the bar on the screen start to fill. "Well," he said,
"when that bar is full, it is all over for your base. Let's hope that your
teams can combat its shield. When it is getting energy, it uses some of it
to create a shield. It's a strong shield; only about one-tenth of the
laser's power gets through. If they can find some way to stop it, then
they'll get that thing down a few hits. Don't even think about bombs,
either." He sighed, and continued watching the bar fill. The screen
displayed about nineteen percent.
	The ships continued to fire on the core, but it didn't seem to be
affecting it. Bill came out of a wide arc, and yelled, "Everybody, clear
of the core!" After a second to allow the teams to get out of the way, he
fired a bomb at the core. As the smoke cleared, the core continued to
operate, not even slowed from the bomb. The timer continued counting.
	Thirty-six percent. The person at the other terminal watched as
the number climbed. He ran some programs, and hacked into the Saucerer's
main systems. He broke into energy systems, and then checked back to the
other screen. Forty-two percent.
	Pepper got a hold of his headset again. "Black Mist Leader, what
was that explosion?"
	"I tried a bomb on that core. No affect at all."
	"I could have told you that. Don't fire any more bombs. Before you
can stop that core, you have to stop it from gathering that energy. It's
making a shield."
	"Fox guessed something like that. So, how do we do it?"
	"Our techs are working on that. Just keep firing on the core."
	"Roger that. Bill out."
	Fifty-four percent. The gloved hands opened another program,
bringing up enegy levels. The energy was rising faster now. That bomb had
jumped energy production. Sixty-six percent. He ran another hacking
program, opening the controls for the energy levels.
	"Less than thirty seconds, guys! We have to hurry and take out
that core!" Peppy went into a u-turn, and continued to shoot at the core.
"Keep hitting it!"
	Seventy-five percent. The cat continued to hit keys, trying to get
a hold of the controls. "This thing is updating way too fast. There has to
be someone else on here. Not only are they messing with the controls,
they're blocking my signals. I can't get through! I just hope that they're
on our side, because I can't get to those controls!"
	The cheetah moved forward. "Here, let me try. I think I can break
through this blocking signal." He sat down, and started typing furiously.
Eighty-three percent.
	"About twenty seconds, everyone!" Falco pulled out of a
somersault, and launched another barrage of laser on the core.
	Ninety percent. The gloved hands typed away at the keyboard. The
controls of the energy levels came up. He quickly went to 'Stop Energy
Consumption'. An authorization box came up, and he ran a password on it.
It came back void. Ninety-two percent.
	"Ten seconds. Hurry up and blast it!" Slippy turned quickly and
fired all he could at the core. "Just shoot at it!"
	The cheetah stopped typing. "The cat's right. There's no way into
this thing! I just used every trick I know, and it's still running."
Ninety-five percent.
	Fox aimed carefully, and slowed as much as he could, blasting at
it the whole time. "Keep shooting!"
	Ninety-seven percent. The gloved hands quickly re-opened the
authorization box, and tried a different code. It came back void again.
Ninety-eight percent. He tried one more time, and the screen flashed
white. The message 'Energy Consumption Stopped At Ninety-Nine Percent'
came on the screen.
	The timer beeped. Fox looked at the core. It wasn't moving.
Slowly, he realized that something was wrong! "Everybody, I think the
shield is down! Clear!" Without waiting for more than a second, Fox fired
a bomb at the core. As the bomb traveled through the air, all was silent.
Everyone watched it as it slammed into the core, and a huge cloud exploded
from it. The cloud was added to by fire; the core had exploded!
	Bill yelled, "Yeehaa! You did it!" The groups started firing upon
the main ship, and every hit started another fire. Within seconds, the
flaming and smoking ship began to drift away from the base. "Hey, it's
trying to get away!"
	The leader of the Dark Storm Squadron said, "Not today!" He and
his group went into formation and started firing on it. The wounded craft
slowly lowered to the ground, trying to land. Instead, as it hit the
ground, a great bright light exploded from it.
	As the Venomians watched their mothership crash to the surface,
they all scattered. The Cornerians started to give chase, but Fox called
them off, and said, "They've had some bad losses. We can afford to let
them go."
	  The various squadrons pulled into formations, and went through
their checks. Fox started off. "Okay, group, all aircraft report!"
	Falco started. "That was as good as it gets, Fox."
	Slippy was next. "Fox, that was the closest call I've ever seen."
	Peppy came last again. "Fox, what happened there? Why did that
shield go down?"
	Fox said, "I've been thinking that, too. Oh, well, we'll have more
time later on to think. Let's get on out of here!"
	The squadrons lifted out of the atmosphere at the same time, and
Bill said, "Thanks for everything, Fox. We'll have more time to talk
later. Take care, Fox."
	Fox looked back at his friend in the Cornerian fighter. "You too,
Bill." The Cornerian fighters slowly turned back towards Corneria, leaving
the Arwings to their cruiser.
	The person sitting at the computer terminal stared at the screen,
reading the results of the battle at Katina. He sighed, and rested his
head in his hands. He reached up with his hand, and turned the computer
off. He got up from the terminal, and walked over to a coat rack. He
picked up and put on his coat, and then reached into his pocket. He pulled
out a pair of sunglasses, and put them on. Then, he walked out of the
room, and turned off the light.
	At Venom, the group of pilots speaking with Andross was wrapping
up the meeting. Andross spoke. "So, we understand what is to happen,
then?"
	Wolf responded, "Yes. All the orders are clear. What do you want
me to do to Fox, then?"
	Andross smiled. "Kill him."

Star Fox 64:
The Legacy
--------------------------

Chapter IX
	"Yes, sir. We'll double up on all the control rooms, and be sure
to have the hangars closed down." The head guard stood in front of
vidscreen, with a higher officer on it.
	The officer spoke. "And I also want you to update on any progress
whatsoever every hour, on the hour. Is that clear?"
	"Yes, sir. We'll keep a tight watch for anything odd. Will that be
all?"
	The officer nodded, "Be careful out there. Andross is a madman,
and cannot be underestimated."
	"I understand."
	"Good man. Now, back to work." The officer backed away from the
vidscreen, shut it down, and turned to General Pepper. "Finished, sir."
	Pepper smiled. "That's taken care of. Now, if you'll excuse me, I
have some sleep to catch up on." He walked towards his office door.
	Before he got there, the vidscreen flickered on again. The head
guard said, "Sir, I think we have a problem."
	Just outside Fortuna atmosphere, four green ships sat motionless,
waiting for a signal. "Just wait a bit longer, guys, and then we can get
into the action." They watched as few Venomian ships flew down into
Fortuna atmosphere, joining the ones that were already there. "Just a few
more minutes."
	Pepper rushed over to a radar. The cheetah was already there, and
working on Fortuna. "This is it?! What kind of attack uses only twelve
ships to wage combat on a base? And normal fighters at that! Where is the
Star Fox Team?"
	The cheetah reached over to a counter and grabbed a headset. "Give
me a second, here."
	The captain walked in, refreshed after using the General's office
for a catnap. He came up to the screen that Pepper was looking at, and
studied it. "My goodness, that looks like the base at Fortuna. We never
had any plans for Fortuna." Pepper looked over at him. "I'm serious.
Fortuna was to be left alone. Andross was planning to use it and all of
the weapons inside for his own empire."
	"Are you sure about this?"
	"Fortuna was to be one of Andross' strongholds in this system.
What would move Andross to put his own planned base under attack?"
	Pepper looked back at the screen. One word escaped his lips.
"Revenge."
	Fox was sitting back in his bunk, waiting for something to happen.
He closed his eyes to rest for a second, and then he was asleep. Fox
looked up and saw his father and his younger self again, on the way to
Fox's friend's house, where he would stay the night while James was on a
mission. His final mission. Fox watched as James and his younger
counterpart rode on in silence. Every once in a while, James would look
over at Fox, who was gazing out of the window. Fox wished he could really
be there again. He would be telling his father how much he loved him, and
would miss him while he was gone, instead of watching trees go by. Fox
felt ashamed. Suddenly, they were at his friend's house, and Fox didn't
want to watch, but he did. James came over to Fox, who was lugging his
case in, and kneeled beside him. He hugged Fox, then walked back to his
car and drove away, off to the hangars. Fox wanted to cry, but he didn't
have time. Instantly, he was with his dad again, about a week earlier.
They were sitting on a hill, looking at the sunset. The sky above them was
changing into a beautiful blue-black, dotted with the white stars. They
watched the sun sink beneath the horizon, and then laid on their backs,
scanning the sky. James kept watching, and said, and Fox could repeat this
with him, "You know, sometimes it's great just to watch the stars and
wonder."
	Fox couldn't stand it. His father couldn't be dead. He woke up
with that thought. He sat, thinking about it. "It's not possible. Peppy
was there. It had to have happened the way he said it. Or, not? For some
reason, he felt he had to find out for sure. He got up and started to head
for the control room, where everyone was waiting for Pepper.
	As Fox walked in, Peppy was playing cards with Falco, while Slippy
worked on a model of some type of ship. Fox walked up to Peppy. "Hey, Pep.
I have something very important...."
	He was interrupted by the com beeping. Peppy looked up at Fox.
"I'm sorry. What was that?"
	Fox walked over to the com and readied the vidscreen. "Never mind.
It can wait."
	Pepper came up on the screen. "Fox, we need your help. There is an
attack going on at Fortuna."
	"Fortuna?! Why?"
	"For the weapons there, probably. It's a remarkably small group,
so we're not going to send out any help if you don't need it. Just clear
out the opposition. That's all we need."
	"Sounds easy enough."
	"Fox, be careful. We have reason to believe that this is a trap.
Be ready for anything."
	"Don't worry about us, General. We'll be okay. Anything else?"
	"That's it. Just be on your guard. If there are any developments,
keep us updated."
	"All right. We're out of here. Fox out." The screen shut down, and
Fox turned around. "Well, let's get a move on, here!" The four of them
jumped up and ran to the docking bay.
	The Venomian ships circled the base, shooting every once in a
while just to set everyone on edge. The head ship began giving orders.
"All right, they've alerted Corneria, and the Star Fox Team is probably on
their way. We have to break into that hangar before they get here! Ships 4
and 8, give them a few rushes, and then force your way in." The ships
swung around the base, and started blasting the doors. They shook, but
didn't give in. The ships came around once more, and tried again. The door
sparked, and retracted. "Good job, guys! All right, follow orders, group!"
Some of the ships flew down into the base.
	The four ships continued to wait just outside of Fortuna
atmosphere. The leader of the group spoke up. "Well, they've got it all
set up. Fox has been spotted. We're to give them five minutes, and then
get in there. Just be patient."
	At that moment, the Star Fox Team entered into the battle. They
split up, and started to give chase to the few ships that were there. Fox
took down a group, and went after another. They went down quickly, too.
"Something's not right, here. They're not even putting up a fight."
	Falco slid around an icy mound, and shot down a few more ships.
"There's no thrill in it when they just give themselves up like that. It's
almost like they want you to shoot them down."
	Peppy chased some ships past the base, and then took them down.
"You're right. It's really strange."
	Slippy flew around a group, and then hit the brakes to slow down
and shoot at them. "Well, let's hurry and get this done, so that we can
head back to the Great Fox." The four of them continued the fight.
	Back at the CSCC, Pepper and the cat monitered the screen with the
radar. Pepper watched as Venomian craft after Venomian craft fell to the
icy Fortuna polar surface. "Soon, the attackers will be gone. I was so
sure that this would be a trap, too."
	The cat studied the screen. "I don't mean to interrupt your
thoughts, General, but there seem to be radar markings coming from inside
the base."
	"Oh, that doesn't mean anything. Those are transports for the
guards."
	The cheetah had been watching from behind their backs. "Uh,
General, I have news for you. The guards don't have any transports. That
hangar is always empty, for some odd reason. Protocol, I suppose."
	"Are you sure?"
	"Positive, General. That's not normal."
	Pepper looked back at the screen. He watched the odd markings
coming from inside the base. He turned back to the cheetah and said,
"Quick! Get me the head guard on the com!"
	The cheetah saluted. "Yes, sir." He dashed over to the
communications center, and got a headset. He turned the headset on, and
gave the commands to connect the com with Fortuna.
	He waited for a minute, and finally someone answered. "Hello, this
is the Fortuna base."
	"This is the Cornerian Space Control Center. Can you get me the
head guard, please?"
	"Oh. I have news for you guys. Fortuna is ours! We have a bomb
ready and planted if you refuse to surrender it to us! You tell your
superior or whoever that if we don't get Fortuna, there are going to be
some big fireworks happening right here. If we can't have it, no one will.
Make no mistake about that. We mean business."
	Suddenly, there was a popping noise, and the com fuzzed out. The
cheetah just sat there for a second. "Uh, General Pepper..."
	Inside the Fortuna base, the officer who had just disconnected the
com line was turning on another com, connected to the ships waiting
outside of the atmosphere. "They just got the message. The Star Fox Team
is probably getting the news right now. It's your turn, now. Enter Star
Wolf."
	Slippy chased some ships away rom the base, and noticed something
strange. "Hey, guys, why are there ships coming out of the base?"
	Almost instantly, ROB came over the com. "Sensors indicate that a
bomb has been planted at the base. The bomb is active."
	Fox groaned. "Geez! Can anyone take care of it?"
	As Fox was talking, four green ships swooped down from out of the
sky. The leader of the group spoke first. The voice was familiar to Fox.
"Can't let you do that, Star Fox!"
	Second, a voice known only to Falco. "Andross has ordered us to
take you down."
	Next, a voice tainted with betrayal. "Peppy! Long time, no see!"
	Last, a new voice. "Andross's enemy is my enemy!"
	Fox sighed. "Great. Just what I need to see. Star Wolf. Let's take
care of these guys before we go for the bomb."
	Falco couldn't believe his ears. "Leon Powalski, is that you?!
What's going on, here?!"
	The lizard swept his ship up to Falco's. "It has been a while,
hasn't it? My, how you've improved! Consider this your greatest
challenge!" He slowed down, and started chasing Falco.
	"Leon, what are you doing?!"
	Peppy had his own suprise. "It can't be! You.. you traitor!!"
	Pigma Dengar pulled his ship behind Peppy's. "You knew I'd come
back for you, Pep! With such a big reward, how could I resist?" He started
to attack along with Leon.
	Slippy watched as a ship settled behind him. "Hey! What are you
doing!"
	Andrew Oikinny charged his lasers, and began to chase Slippy. "I
don't know you, but you'd better leave Uncle Andross alone!"
	Fox pulled up next to Wolf O'Donnel's ship. "I never thought you'd
do it, Wolf. How could you fight against the planet you love?"
	Wolf slid behind Fox, and began the fight. "It's easy. You've
heard of a rivalry? This is one grand scale. You've bested me before, and
I won't let you do it again! On, your guard, Fox!"
	"What are you talking about?"
	"Oh, don't play that with me. For years, you won at everything we
did at that Academy! Now that I've joined Andross, I have the ultimate
opportunity to show my skill!"
	  "You joined Andross just to fight me? Wolf, cut it out! It's not
worth it! Come to your senses!" Fox evaded Wolf, and slid behind him.
	Wolf braced himself for Fox to fire his lasers at him. Nothing
happened. He looked behind him, and Fox was still there, but he was
definatley not firing. "Fox, you had better fight back!"
	"Wolf, I'm not going to be part of a childish feud. I won't shoot
at you."
	Fox broke away, and went to help Slippy out, but Wolf gave chase
and shot at Fox. The Arwing shook as the lasers seared into the sides.
"Fox, I've been waiting my whole life for this. If you won't fight back,
fine! I can take you down easily, and then finish off your friends! Fox,
you're just like your dad, sentimental and blind!"
	Fox spun his ship around, and chased Wolf. He put Wolf into his
target, and it locked. "Wolf, this should teach you not talk about my
father that way." He was about to press the trigger, but he realized what
Wolf was doing.
	"I'm sitting right in front of you, Fox! Come on! Shoot at me!!"
	Fox looked down at the hand that had almost shot one of his best
friends out of the sky. "No, Wolf. Someday, you'll understand." He pulled
a wide turn, and went back to helping Slippy, leaving Wolf confused.
	Slippy went into a somersault to escape Andrew, but Andrew just
slowed down, and waited for Slippy to finish. As Slippy came down again,
he started firing, knowing that Slippy didn't have the power to deflect
his shots. Andrew taunted him, "Stick to the pond, froggie!"
	Fox came up from the side, and started shooting at Andrew's ship.
"You know, where I come from, people fight sportsmanlike, actually giving
the other person a chance!"
	Andrew dropped off of Slippy, and started to chase Fox. "You must
be Fox. Uncle Andross told me about you!" Slippy came up from behind, and
fired at Andrew. Andrew spun around, and shot at Slippy again. The blast
made one of Slippy's wings start smoking. "Give it up! You can't win!"
	Fox pulled into a u-turn, and started to chase Andrew. "Hey! Leave
my friends alone!" Fox put Andrew in his sites, and let fly with charged
laser blasts.
	 Andrew was fighting to stay up, now. His ship was smoking and
sparking. Slippy pulled into a wide arc, and slid behind him. "This should
teach you to pick on someone your own size!" Slippy shot several charged
blasts.
	Andrew's ship dove for the ground. "Uncle Andross!" The ship
exploded into flame as it slammed into the icy permafrost.
	Fox circled around the wreckage. "That's one down. We'd better
hurry before they decide to start that bomb." The two of them headed back
over to help the others.
	Falco was dealing with disbelief. He was staying just ahead of
Leon, who was firing at him at every chance. "Leon, what are you doing?"
	"I've taught you well enough. Now is the time you have to prove
yourself to me. Give me a challenge, Falco Lombardi!"
	Falco pulled around the base, and then went into a u-turn, leaving
Leon behind. "Why are you fighting me, Leon? What's going on?"
	"My cause is of no concern. Now fight!" Leon doubled back, and
looked for Falco again. "If you won't fight, then I will have to go after
your friends. I see Peppy over there, and I'm sure that he's no match for
my talent."
	Falco saw Leon going after Peppy. Peppy could hardly get away from
Pigma, and Falco knew that Leon would be too much for him even alone. Leon
was charging his lasers to hit Peppy. He hit his boost, and charged Leon.
He dashed in front of Leon, and took the blast that Peppy was about to
receive. Falco circled around, and started chasing Leon. "All right. If
it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get, teacher! Just leave my
friends out of this!" Falco followed Leon through a loop, and sent several
blasts his way. One of them connected.
	Peppy was being chased by Pigma all over the area. Peppy eased
back on his controls and pulled into a u-turn, leaving Pigma behind. He
pulled a wide arc, and then pulled right behind Pigma. "All those years,
and you finally come to try to get me, too. Take this, traitor!" Peppy
locked on to Pigma's ship, and started raking the air with laser.
	Pigma did a somersault, and slid in behind Peppy. "That reward's
as good as mine!" He locked on to Peppy's ship, and prepared to fire.
Suddenly, his ship shook. Fox fell in behind him and continued shooting.
He suddenly had visions of Pigma turning James and Peppy over to Andross'
troops. He saw Pigma locking on to James' ship when they were escaping,
and he was overwhelmed. Much too angry for words, he just started firing
madly at Pigma. Pigma panicked. "Hey, Fox! Stop that! If you don't shoot
me down here, I might be able to cut you in on some of the reward for the
rest of these characters! What do you say?"
	Fox kept his eyes trained on Pigma's ship. "You are twisted,
Pigma. Nothing you ever offer me could replace my father."
	Pigma pulled into a somersault to try to escape Fox. No good; Fox
followed right behind. "I'll give you anything!"
	Fox locked on to Pigma's ship and charged the laser. "I want my
father back!"
	Fox shot the charged the laser, and it connected, sending Pigma's
ship hurling toward the ice. "My beautiful reward!" he whined. The ship
erupted into a fireball.
	Fox flew away, ignoring the fight around him. "Justice has been
done." Fox turned back to the fight, and looked for the rest of his team.
	As Fox was coming back the fight, ROB came onto his com again.
"The bomb will explode in three minutes. Hurry up, Fox." The timer
appeared on his front window, quickly counting down.
	Falco was chasing Leon now, shooting anytime he got a chance. Leon
dodged the blasts, and worked his way behind Falco. Falco slid left and
right, pulling a tight circle around the base. Leon copied his moves, and
continued to stay behind him, shooting.
	Fox was on his way back over to help Falco, when he felt his ship
rumble from being hit. Wolf was behind him again, and this time he wasn't
going to let Fox go. Peppy watched from his Arwing on the other side of
the area. Slippy pulled up next to him. "Should we help Fox?"
	Peppy watched the two friends, now fighting as mortal enemies. He
couldn't be of any service to Fox. "No, Slip. This is one obstacle that
Fox has to tackle on his own." Slippy looked back to them.
	Fox pulled into a somersault. "Why won't you understand why I
won't fight you?"
	Wolf followed him, and tried to get in a few shots. "You're just a
coward, that's all! I've waited for years to do this, and nothing's going
to stop me now!"
	Fox dodged around some icy hills, and then looked up. He saw
Falco, being chased by another ship. Suddenly he got an idea. He opened a
private com to Falco. "Falco, we're both being chased, here, and we have
only these two to get rid of. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
	Falco saw how they were coming together. "Oh, I get it. Nice
going, Fox. Let's do it. I'll circle around the base to get him
disoriented. Hurry up!" Falco pulled around the base one more time.
	Fox pulled up near the base, and went right up near where Falco
was. Fox spotted Falco, and they headed toward each other. Wolf and Leon
followed along, still absorbed in shooting their targets. Fox and Falco
were getting closer and closer. They got within one Arwing's length in
between them, and then pulled up and to one side. Wolf and Leon looked
up just in time to see the other two go up, and were right about to
follow, when they suddenly looked forward, and saw the other coming! They
both hit their brakes, but it was too late. The ships slammed into each
other, taking them down. They spiraled down to the permafrost surface, and
exploded. Fox flew around to the wreckage, and spoke. "If you can hear me
now, Wolf, remember, I didn't shoot at you once." Fox doubled back to the
base, and headed inside. "I'll take care of that bomb now."
	The other three circled around the base. Peppy watched as Fox
dissapeared into the hangars. "Well, we should head back to the Great
Fox."
	Falco thought differently. "What, are you crazy? What if he needs
us?"
	Slippy looked down at the base. "If he can signal to pull off a
move like that, and have it work, I think he'll be fine on his own." The
three started on their way back to the Great Fox.
	Fox landed his Arwing inside the base, and had the timer
transferred to his watch. Two minutes. Not much time. He dashed down the
main hallway, trying to find the bomb. He came into a room with three
doors in it. "Which one has the bomb?" He didn't have any time to make
mistakes. He closed his eyes, and headed towards one of the doors. He
walked right into it. "Ouch! Alright, I'll try shooting it!" He pulled out
his laser, and shot at the door, and even the control panel on it. Not a
scratch. "Great." He moved over to another door, and did a repeat
performence. He went over to the last door, and backed away from it,
giving himself running room. "This one's coming down." He dashed with all
his might at that door, and when he got close to it, it opened, sending
him flying down the hallway. He got up, dusted himself off, and looked at
his watch. One and a half minutes. He followed the hallway he was in, and
came to another room, with three hallways leading from it. He walked up to
one of the hallway openings, and pulled out a mister. He sprayed some mist
at the opening, and saw the millions of criss-crossed security lasers
going across it. He could never fit through holes that small. Fox made his
way to another hallway opening, and did the same thing. More lasers. He
walked over to the last hallway. No lasers at all. "This is so weird.
First only one door was unlocked, and now only one hallway is open." One
minute ten seconds. He dashed down the hallway. In a few seconds, he ran
up some stairs, and ended up facing one more door. A dead end. He
listened, and heard voices coming from inside that room. He backed up, and
charged the door. This one must have been weak, because it broke right
down.
	He looked around the room, and saw frightened looks on the
Venomian troops that were nursing their wounded. One of the troops jumped
up and yelled, "He's back! Oh, please don't hurt us!"
	Another jumped up, dragging one of the unconscious troops with
him. "Hurry up, and get out of here, guys! This guy means business!" Soon,
the room was full of troops running away from Fox.
	Fox was rather impressed. "I didn't know that my fame had spread
that quickly." He watched as they scattered. Then, he turned around, to
continue to search for the bomb. Almost instantly, he spotted it attached
to a large computer. He dashed over to it, seeing the timer on the top of
it running past thirty seconds. He went to disconnect the bomb from the
computer to disarm it, but there were no wires. "It must be a remote
bomb," he said as he got up to try working on the computer. Suddenly, the
authorization box for the disarming of the bomb popped up. The box read.
"PASSWORD ACCEPTED-- DISARM BOMB?" Underneath of the words were two
buttons, marked "Yes" and "No". Fox was suprised. "What?! What is going
on, here?" It was almost too easy. This was too strange for Fox. He looked
as the cursor was centered over "Yes". It was almost as if this whole
thing had been set up for Fox. No, fixed for Fox. Then again, this
disarming thing could just be a trick, like a trigger to set off the bomb
if he hit "Yes". The clock dashed past twenty seconds. Whatever he was
going to do, he was going to do it fast. He put his finger up to touch the
"Yes" button, but couln't decide if that was the right thing to do. It
could be a trigger; Andross would stoop to any depth just to get his way.
Ten seconds. He reached up again, and almost touched it. He was just going
to have to hope that this was no joke. Five seconds. He touched the
screen, hitting the "Yes" button. The timer on the bomb stopped instantly.
The computer screen now read, "BOMB DISARMED". Fox sighed and put his head
down. He started back for the hangar, where his Arwing was waiting. He
thought for a while. Suddenly it struck him. "What did that guy say?" His
memory went back to when he entered that room with the bomb. The first guy
who talked looked up and said, "He's back!" Fox was confused. "I've never
seen that guy before in my life. What could he have meant? He must have
had me confused with someone else. But who?" He instantly thought who of.
"No way. It's not possible. He's dead!" He started his Arwing, and headed
out of the base towards the Great Fox. "Isn't he?" His ship joined up with
the rest of his group.
	Back on the surface of Fortuna, four pilots crawled out of the
wreckage they used to call their ships. They all gathered at one spot,
near the base, where they could stay warm. Wolf looked around at everyone.
"Did everyone's personal shields work alright?"
	Pigma nodded. "If it wasn't for that shield, I'd be a goner right
now! I didn't think that it could take the fireball I was in."
	Leon tossed the others his heat provisions. "Andross keeps
forgetting that I'm cold-blooded. You guys can use those blankets and
such. Falco prooved himself well with his new friends."
	Andrew caught the blanket that Leon tossed him, and wrapped it
around him. "I didn't know it could get this cold." He put out the beacon
for the Venomian distress ship to see them.
	Wolf looked over to Leon. "That last move was unfair. He should've
stayed with his own guy."
	Leon looked at him. "But you know as well as I do, fighting in a
team is much more effective than fighting alone. Besides, that team works
together. Didn't you see how they helped each other out when they needed,
and things like that? Overall, I'm very impressed."
	Wolf looked back up at the stars where he thought he saw the Great
Fox in the night sky. "Fox may have won this time, but I'll still beat him
yet! Fox, just you beware! This isn't over! I'll win yet!" The words
echoed into the night.