Rise of the Alters: Chapter 2
#3 of Rise of the Alters
Chapter 2: Fortuna Massacre
It was a starry night on planet Fortuna near an abandoned military base. Insects making their chirping noises all through the night, but was soon clouded out from rustling in the dense jungle. A Cornerian soldier dashes the darkness moving the bushes, vines and branches in his way. The canine soldier looks back to see if he is still being followed but hears nothing but the sounds of the bugs and him breathing hard. He sees that he is clear and decides to take a moment to catch his breath.
"...I've got to get to my ship." The soldier said to himself exhausted. He then heard some noises in the trees and then ducked into the bushes. Several footsteps were not too far behind him accompanied by vehicles with searchlights. Although he couldn't tell how many vehicles or soldiers were after him, he knew that at least one was enough. He waited as he heard the rustling of the leaves nearby. The sound became further and further away, but the greyhound suddenly felt something crawl on the back of his neck. He felt like jumping out of his fur, but he'd only let the others know where he was so he kept silent trying to shake whatever was on him off thinking that it was the enemy. He turned around and pulled out his blaster, but it wasn't anybody there. And he heard the loud chirping of some crickets.
"Damn bugs..." He thought to himself. The soldier turned back around with his fur drenched with sweat from the humidity and his late night run. He kept watching silently seeing nothing from the distance. The canine felt something graze his neck but ignored it thinking it was some mosquito or something. He then felt something was wrong, but whatever was on his neck had grabbed hold of him tightly. Suddenly another thing grabbed him from behind as well, this time wrapping itself around his waist and several more onto his ankles and dragged him forward out of the bushes. Then there were more that grabbed his arms. The soldier was struggling to break free but was unable to escape. He then stopped when the searchlights turned on and shined in his eyes.
"Hello there, Cornerian spy!" A voice called out. The dog soldier's eyes came into focus as he saw a leopard in a dark uniform with white on the front with several masked soldiers also in the same uniform. He looked over to see what was holding him, and saw large red hands. Each and every point of his body that was pinned to the ground was because of the strange floating hands. The hands then lifted his body up until he was at a vertical base.
"I know what you're planning! It won't work, you'll be stopped Venomian scum!"
The feline then punched the dog. "Bite your tongue, mutt! I suggest you get comfortable, because you're not going anywhere but back to the base."
"Wait! Tell me, who are you guys trying to bring back? Andrew or is it Andross?" The dog asked as the masked soldiers used the floating hands to drag him to the base.
"You're in no position to ask me anything except for me to spare your life. But how fortunate for you that our leader will decide your fate. Because, I would have you tortured to death otherwise."
"So they sent another one?" The liger asked sitting at the desk at his office, "Tell me, how much does he know?"
"Unfortunately, too much. He knows we're trying to revive Andross. But he's still oblivious to who we are. The fool thinks that we work for Starwolf now." Jetters responded over the monitor.
"Starwolf huh? Perhaps we could use this to our advantage."
"Commander, about the prisoner. May I have the pleasure of taking him out?"
"Don't, I have a use for him."
"Commander?" The leopard was confused, "He's just a natural! An enemy one at that, there's nothing really useful about him! He doesn't have any information we can use anyways!"
"Calm down Jetters. You need to plan ahead with this. You know of our little project." The liger explained, "He'll be our first test subject in the experiment."
"You know what the results of the testing is don't you?" Jetters reminded, "There's a very minimal chance of survival, so why not just let me just crush him now?"
"Jetters, your desire to destroy them is commendable, but you need to have patience." Thomas said, "Even if he has little chances of surviving, you'll only get further in life through trial and error."
"My apologies commander."
"But with this spy, the Cornerians will probably send a squad to see what we've been doing. It's about time I pay a little visit over there then so we can move our plan along."
"Yes sir, Commander Thomas." The leopard soldier saluted, "I will be awaiting your arrival."
The half-breed nodded, "And another thing, don't call me commander anymore. Call me...general."
"Yes sir...General Thomas." The leopard said slightly hesitant as the line was then closed off and Thomas' screen went blank. The liger looked up liking his new title, even if it was only temporary. He then received a call and opened the channel, voice only.
"Yes, what is it?" Thomas asked.
"Commander Thomas sir, your shuttle is ready for departure." The voice said, which seemed one of a female.
"I'm on my way now. And one more thing, contact everyone and inform them to call me General Thomas from now on."
"Understood general." The voice answered.
Inside a Katinan base, a gray feline sits in the lounge room slumped over in her seat. The room, oddly enough, is set more like a bar than a real military lounge. A room where the lights were dim, stools by the counter, and even a bartender! A red furred bloodhound who used to own a bar before joining the military. Greyson tries to forget about her failure over protecting her ship. Her doctors had cleared her to return to duty, however, Colonel Summers would not put her back on any patrols and was to stay off duty until she was assigned a new ship.
"Well, look at this. The famous feline lieutenant that always manages to keep all her command ships from being destroyed in battle, lost a small cargo ship to just one intruder." A voice mocked. Greyson looked over with a dull blank stare at the old dog commander who said that. He was an old hound with brown fur, a darker complexion than General Pepper, but still noticeable. He had narrow eyes and for being in his early fifties, he looked healthy as if he was still forty. "I guess it's lucky that you have nine lives otherwise you'd be long gone. So what do you have to say about that?" The dog taunted.
"All I can say is that if you were there then the same thing would've happened to you," Greyson calmly and slowly replied, "except that it would've ended quicker."
"What was that?" The hound asked getting up from his seat angered.
"She's got you there, old timer." Said a hyena sitting nearby taking a sip of his drink. He was a lieutenant like Greyson. The hyena was well built for his age with a gray yellow fur with spots on it. He also had long black ears pointed on the top of his head.
"Oh yeah? And what would you know?" The hound shouted.
"Do you really think that if you couldn't beat Greyson then how could you possibly stop that intruder?" The dog's face started turning red with anger. "Listen, I don't mean any disrespect but, the Lylat War was a long while ago. And face it, your glory days of the war are over. You should really consider retirement." The hyena added.
"You think that I can't fight? You young soldiers are all alike, thinking that this is nothing more than just a game!"
"Then why don't you show me?" The hyena challenged as he took one last gulp of his drink and stood up. The other soldiers and commanding officers were watching expecting to see a fight start up, some cheering for the younger hyena while only a few were with the grumpy hound.
"That's enough, both of you! We're supposed to be on the same side. We should be fighting the enemy not each other, so knock it off!" Greyson scolded.
"This is just a waste of my time anyways." The dog scoffed as he stormed out of the room. The other soldiers went back to their tables and seats, some muttering who would've won that fight and how others wanted to see the old dog get socked in the face.
Greyson turned back to the hyena, "Listen, Derek. I appreciate your help but starting a fight about it isn't going to solve anything. So what if my perfect record was ruined, the important thing was the fact the nobody was killed."
"Sorry Jen, but it's just that guys like him are intimidated by you because of that and also the fact that well, you're a woman and also a feline. These old vets aren't used to that kind of thing even now." The hyena sighed.
"That's alright, I can handle myself. You just worry about yourself."
"Thanks." The other lieutenant said as he finished his drink, "Ahh, that's the good stuff! Well, it's about time I get back on duty. Take care, and Jen?" The gray cat nodded. "Think of this time off as a vacation and try not to do anything reckless, okay?" The hyena said as he left.
"Right, thanks." Greyson said trying to cheer up. As the hyena walked out, a rabbit soldier came up to him.
"Lieutenant Hudson, the colonel would like to see you."
"Uh oh, looks like I'm in trouble." Hudson groaned, "Alright, I'm going."
The hyena walked down the hallway until he reached Colonel Summers' office. He took a few deep breaths wondering what to expect next. Once he was ready, Hudson boldly walked into the office. "Colonel, sir. You wanted to see me?" Derek asked trying to stay cool.
"Yes, I have a new assignment for you." The wolf answered. The hyena gave a small sigh of relief. "Is there a problem?"
"Huh? Oh uh, it's nothing, proceed sir."
"Right, we've received reports that a Venomian class command ship has been spotted around Fortuna."
"Again? I thought we wiped them out."
"Apparently not, there must've been some troops in hiding that we somehow missed. Your mission is to track down the ship but you will not engage into combat. I repeat, you are not to fight the ship until you've found the hole those rats are hiding in."
"So basically you want me and my group to just tail the ship and find them, right?"
"Precisely, find out as much as you can. And as soon as you discover the location of the base you will report in and we'll make a full-scale assault. Our forces will be ready in the general area on stand-by to back you up once you have found the location of their hidden base. It may be possible that Andrew is still alive and they're trying to create another rebellion."
"Why would they waste their time on someone as ignorant as Andrew? Especially after how Starfox..." The hyena stopped once he noticed Summers giving Derek a cold stare. "Sorry sir. But may I ask why I need to report back? Don't tell me that you doubt my abilities as a leader."
"No. It's just that with all the strange things that have happened lately, I'm not taking any chances. Once we find them, we can wipe out Andross' forces from the galaxy once and for all. I don't know what they're planning but be careful."
"Yes sir!" The hyena said giving a salute and then proceeded to leave. He was close to the exit until he heard the colonel call to him.
"By the way Derek, I appreciate what you did for Jennifer but try to stay out of trouble. I don't like dealing with Bryans as much as you, but watch your behavior."
"Uh, yes sir." The hyena bashfully acknowledged as he then hurried out the door.
At the Volstra space base, most of the damages had been fixed, however, the central computer system was severely damaged including their security systems. The elevators and lights were working at least. The thugs worked around the clock trying to fix the system, even Ralph and Shawn too as they were trying to fix up the ships that were damaged a little earlier.
"Man, this really sucks..." Shawn complained.
"Yeah, could be worst though." Ralph said wiping the sweat off his forehead.
"I still can't believe he managed to cause all this trouble all by himself."
The gator shrugged, "Who knew the kid was packin."
"Great, and he leaves all this mess just for us." The eagle moaned, "Lovely..." Ralph couldn't help but laugh a little, which only made Shawn sigh. It wasn't until a baboon pirate called out to them they stopped working.
"Hey! Ralph!" The white haired simian called, "The boss wants to see you in his office, pronto!"
"Huh? What does the boss want to see me for?" Ralph asked.
"Who knows, but he wants your scaly butt in there now!"
Ralph turned to Shawn who had a darkened look on his face. "I'll get Ronnie." Shawn said.
"Nah, I'll be fine."
"You sure?"
"It's not like he plans on killing me," Ralph said, "else he'd showed up himself."
"I know, but I don't like this."
"I'll be back, don't sweat it." The gator said as he walked off. The avian was still in a bit of doubt, but then returned to work.
A small unit of Kantian battleships arrives around the orbit of the green planet of Fortuna. Hudson was in the flagship, taking note of the view. All he saw was the green planet, not too far out of reach and the sea of stars as well as a clear view of Solar's radiating light.
"Ah Fortuna, so many memories about this place." The hyena thought to himself remembering that not only did the Venom forces take control of one of their main bases, but also were unable to stop Andrew's rebellion on their own, "Not all good ones but still, a beautiful place to visit."
"Lieutenant, we've scanned the region and still haven't found the Venomian ship." A bulldog soldier reported.
"How's that possible? It couldn't have just disappeared." Hudson said in a serious tone. Then, the Venomian ship suddenly appears out of nowhere.
"Sir!" A female spitz soldier called out, "The ship is on radar!"
"A cloaking device, eh?" The hyena mused, "Stay alert, we'll watch to see what it does."
"Lieutenant?" Another soldier, this one a collie questioned.
"There's a chance they didn't notice us yet since they took off their cloaking device, so let's just stay put." They observe for a while that the ship is moving nowhere, just drifting in the planet's gravity. The ship all of a sudden starts deploying fighters.
"Damn. They did spot us!" The hyena cursed, "Deploy the fighters!" The soldiers in the hangar bay were all prepared for combat. The launching deck was opened up sending a large number of fighters from each ship. "Be careful, we may outnumber them but they might have a trick up their sleeve."
"General Thomas, the fighters have been deployed as commanded." A dark furred fox soldier reported.
"Good, now then we wait." The liger calmly said watching the display of lasers and lights outside.
The Kantian fighters went into battle with the Venomian ships destroying them slowly one by one. Many Venomian ships, mainly Invader models, were being destroyed at a slow rate even as the battleship launched more and more fighters. The Katinan fighters then began to turn their attention towards the single battleship. They manage to cause only a small amount of damage to the ship so far, but it steadily increased. Some of the Katinans were shot down because they failed to pay attention to the next wave of Invader ships that were launched, but were soon on their way to taking control again. The battleship then took the opportunity starts trying to move away while still under fire.
"Now then, it's time for the real fireworks to begin." The liger said with an evil grin on his face as he rose from his seat. He closed his eyes and extended his arms outward. An ominous aura formed around the feline.
Ralph went up towards Wolf's office looking around to see if someone was watching. He did notice a few glares from other thugs that he knew, mainly ones that he didn't like. Ralph stopped outside of Wolf's office and knocked on the door.
"Get in here." A gruff voice ordered, no doubt Wolf's.
The gator went inside as ordered and noticed Wolf standing in front of his desk with Panther to the right with his arms crossed and looking like he was in a fowl mood, Leon was over on the left wall only observing with his usual cold stare.
"You wanted to see me boss?" Ralph asked.
"Sit." Wolf commanded pointing to a chair in the middle of the room. The gator sits down and is alone with the Starwolf members. He can't help but be a little nervous while Wolf paces back and forth. "You know why you're here, aren't you?" Wolf asked.
"No, I don't." The gator responded.
"The reason that you're here is because it was you that told the mechanics to remove the hyperdrive systems from our ships, correct?"
"Well, yeah I-" Before the gator could finish, he was knocked to the ground by a very angry Panther.
"You imbecile! Do you realize that your stupidity cost me my ship?!" The feline hissed out as he kicked the soldier.
"That's enough, Panther. I already said that we'll get you another Wolfen." Wolf said. Panther stopped kicking and took a few steps back letting the pirate breathe. "Now answer this, what made you decide to order this task?"
"Well, I did it because you're always flying around," Ralph coughed, "and I thought that it would help you if the hyperdrive systems were fully operational. I did it for you, Lord O'Donnell." Ralph strained a bit from being kicked hard in the stomach, but still managed to get back up.
"Was it for me? Or for that traitor?"
"What?" The thug asked acting surprised, "I did it for you. I was just concerned about your safety that's all. Wouldn't want to risk loosing our leader to those Cornerian dogs because of a little malfunction."
"I appreciate your concern, however, your actions come into question of your loyalty."
"But Lord O'Donnell, I'm loyal to only you, sir."
"I understand, soldier." Wolf said with a small grin on his face. Before Ralph knew what was going on, he felt a sharp pain enter his back. He hadn't noticed that Leon had come up from behind and stabbed him. The lizard didn't stop there. He started dragging the knife down slowly cutting the gator's thick skin. Ralph cried out in pain as his blood slowly pours out of him. Panther went back on his attack and punched the gator hard in his stomach. Ralph then fell to his knees after feeling another stab from behind and screamed out in pain. He then heard a pair of thick footsteps approaching and he looked up to find Wolf glaring at him with his real and cyber-eye.
"I didn't give you the order to touch my Wolfen and you are not to touch it unless I say so, understand?"
Ralph just nods his head slowly while cringing in pain.
"Good." Wolf said as two armored guards walked in, "Take this soldier out of here, I don't want him to spill blood all over my floor."
The two soldiers nodded as they grabbed the gator's arms and him, not even giving him a chance to stand, out of the room. Two trails of blood started pouring out from the stab wounds, on each side of Ralph's back aimed on close around his spinal area but enough just to avoid the lungs.
"You know he's working with the kid." Leon said.
"I know but just to be sure, I'll test him."
"How do you plan to do that?"
"There's been some activity I've detected going on around Fortuna." Wolf said in a calmer tone, "I'll bring him along. If he is working with that brat then I'll take care of him personally."
"It could be just some lost soldiers wanting to join us." Panther mentioned.
"Could be, but we can always use some extra help." Wolf said, "And there's also the possibility f finding some useful supplies there. As soon as the ships are ready, we'll take a group with us and head over there."
After the gator was dragged off into another hallway, the two guards just dropped the gator on his face. Ralph laid there still in pain bleeding at a slow steady rate. The reptile tried getting up, but that only made the bleeding even worst, he was able to pick himself up to one foot. It wasn't much later when Ronnie had came up to find where the gator was and saw Ralph in his condition. The rabbit hurries over to help him up.
"Hey Ralph, are you alright?" The rabbit asked showing slight concern in his usual monotonic voice.
"Yeah, thanks Ronnie." Ralph answered weakly.
"What happened?"
"Had a little private meeting with O'Donnell and his team." The gator said as he tried to stand on his own.
"You're only making things worst." Ronnie said trying to walk the gator to his room. About a minute later, the light brown-feathered eagle ran on over to the two.
"Ralph! Are you okay?" Shawn asked trying to catch his breath.
"Don't sweat it," Ralph chuckled, "I told you I wasn't going to die yet."
"Stop talking, you need to save your energy." The rabbit said, "Shawn, I'll need some help with him." Shawn went to the other side of the reptile and helped walk him as well. The two each had the large gator's arms over their shoulders for support. Ralph winced in pain as he bled a little more forming a small red puddle on the floor.
"Easy big guy," Shawn assured, "We'll get you some help."
"Ralph, why did the boss want to see you in the first place?" Asked the rabbit. He only got a few groans, "I bet it was about that fox." The gator nodded slowly. "I knew that punk was nothing but trouble since he got here. I don't know what Wolf was thinking letting him stay. We should've gotten rid of him when we had the chance. Let's just hope that the traitor got what he deserves."
"Yeah, I bet he's rotting in some Cornerian prison right now." Shawn said trying to force a laugh.
The Venomian battleship was beginning to take some heavy damage as burn marks have just about covered the once scarlet colored vessel. It had stopped deploying fighters and the ones already out were nearly all wiped out as the Katinan ships continued their attack on the main ship.
"The shields on the enemy ship are dropping at a steadily increasing rate. We have them now." One pilot reported.
"Lieutenant, we're winning!" The bulldog soldier exclaimed, "They don't stand a chance against us."
"He's right, this is almost too easy." Hudson thought, "And they haven't even called in for reinforcements. Could this be a trap?"
"Lieutenant! There's a strange energy surge!" A husky from one of the other battleships reported.
"Where is it coming from?"
"It's coming from Solar!"
"What!?" Hudson shouted out shocked, "Solar? You're sure?"
"Yes sir, it's-aaaaaahh!!" The connection was cut off as a powerful shower of energy from Solar destroyed the ship.
"Sir! He's right!" The spitz informed as her controls were sounding an alarm, "Intense heat energy from Solar is being detected all around this area!"
"No..." Hudson gasped, "Dammit, it was a trap! All ships retreat! I repeat, all ships retreat!" The hyena ordered but it was too late. The fighter ships exploded one after the other because of a shower of energy bursts from Solar. Then in the same manner, the Kantian battleships were being destroyed by the same attack as the beams of light cut through each battleship making swiss cheese out of each of them. There was only one option for the hyena.
"Contact the enemy ship, now!" Hudson ordered reluctantly. He knew that there was no point in continuing, since it would only be a waste to sacrifice more soldiers unnecessarily. The collie soldier opened a communication channel with the enemy ship successfully making contact. "Attention Venomian vessel, cease fire. We surrender. Call of your attack." Hudson proclaimed. The crew went silent and so did the lieutenant awaiting for another message in return. However, all they had for an answer was another explosion from the other ships. Hudson looked on in shock seeing the ship and its crew fall victim to their new weapon. The hyena grew angry and jumped over to the controls where the collie was stationed, "I said we give up! What the hell was that all about!?"
"My apologies about that but," Said the return message, "we can't afford any eyewitnesses after this little performance."
"But we surrendered! You can't!" Hudson shouted.
"Watch me."
At that, several more battleships were destroyed. Derek knew it was over and did one last thing. He had to tell the others, to let them know such a powerful and destructive weapon was out there and could possibly destroy not only the entire Cornerian army, but Corneria as well if they intended to make an attack there. "This is Lieutenant Derek Hudson. There are Venomian troops located on Fortuna, I repeat there are Venomian troops located on Fortuna and they have a weapon that controls energy from Solar, I repeat! They have a weapon that-gaaaaaah!!"
The transmission was cut off as the lead ship was showed by one final barrage of light, and bursted into another light in space leaving only a trail of parts.
"General Thomas, it's over! They are all wiped out. General?" The vulpine soldier looks over to the exhausted general, "Sir, are you alright?"
"I'll...be fine. Now turn this ship around...and get us out of here..." Thomas said as he tried to catch his breath and his fur glistened with sweat, "Contact Jetters!"
On the screen was the image of the leopard, "What can I do for you, General Thomas?" Jetters then notices that the liger is worn out, "You've used your alter to the limit again haven't you?"
"Don't worry about me...I'll be fine..." The liger said as he strained stand up. "Begin the next stage of the plan...The rest of how things go is now up to you..." The liger said as he strained to get up and leave, "Don't disappoint me Jetters."
"I won't fail you general." Jetters assured as the connection was ended.
"General, will you need some assistance?" An owl soldier asked.
"No...concentrate on getting us out of here, now...The engines have taken some damage and we don't know...how soon those dogs will get here..." Thomas explained as he limped out of the room holding his left side still breathing hard.
The Venomian battleship activates the cloaking device then left the region undetected. The liger then reached a dark room, he turned on the light showing an empty capsule similar to that he found the others in. Thomas limps over towards the capsule and opens the hatch on it. The general then crawled in, still in uniform, and put on his oxygen mask as the capsule started filling up.
"We must avoid being discovered while things run in full motion otherwise...the plan everything I've worked towards will be ruined..."
"Yes sir, general. The operation was a complete failure." Colonel Summers reported.
"Tell me. How many casualties were there." Asked General Pepper over a secured line.
"There were at least two-hundred, including Lieutenant Hudson."
The general gave a deep sigh after hearing the news. "Colonel, I'm sorry for the loss. I'm sending over the Starfox team."
"But sir, why do we need their help?" The wolf asked surprised.
"We don't have any other choice. This is something we cannot handle on our own. Now, I trust that you'll brief them in on everything that's going on."
"Yes sir, General Pepper, sir." Summers answered.
The line was then ended. The wolf wasn't too happy about calling in Starfox. The doors opened and Greyson entered the office not in her usual cheerful mood.
"Colonel Summers, I request permission to take over the mission Lieutenant Hudson never finished."
"I'm sorry, I can't do that." The colonel solemnly answered.
"If this is about what happened about the ship raid then you don't have to worry about me. I'm better now, I can handle this mission."
"This isn't about you. And even if I wanted to send you, I can't. It seems that our dear general has given up on us and has once again called in the Starfox team instead." Summers said as he turned in his chair away from the feline.
"Don't say that. The general is concerned about what's best for everyone."
"This army is supposed to protect our own people. But we fail at every big thing that comes our way. And who do we have to rely on? A bunch of mercs. And it's just four of them!" Summers said with a hint of anger in his voice, "It just makes me sick knowing that children sleep soundly at night thinking that a group of mercenaries will protect them."
"Wesley, I can understand how you feel. But we still don't give up. If it wasn't for us then not even Starfox could've survived the assault on the Aparoid home world."
"I know. Yet, I still feel useless. But an order is an order and when those mercs. call, then I'll inform them of the mission."
"So Fox, what do we do now?" Falco asked.
"We already tried checking his name through the records and Slippy is still analyzing that blaster he has, so until he wakes up, there's nothing more we can do right now." Fox explained.
"But his name doesn't even show up on the records!" The falcon complained, "This guy is probably lying. For all we know, he could be a spy."
"Would Wolf really go through the trouble of destroying one of his own ships?" Asked Krystal.
"You don't know Wolf like we do. He'll do anything to get us, even if it means using kids like him."
"We don't know that yet, Falco. When he wakes up, we'll ask." Fox said.
"I believe he's starting to wake up." Announced Krystal. Fox and Krystal then enter the room where the young fox is resting.
"That was a good nap." The fox said as he started stretching.
"How are you feeling?" Fox asked.
"Well, my head hurts a little and I still feel a bit worn out. But I can at least get up." Kazufox said as he tried to get out of bed. He stopped when he heard his clothes starting to rip. "Great, just what I needed."
"Don't worry." Assured Krystal with a slight giggle, "We brought you a change of clothes."
"Um...thanks." Kazufox said as Krystal handed him a spare change of clothes. A pair of metal boots, a green flight suit, a red scarf, gray gloves, and a white jacket.
"We'll be outside while you change." Fox said as he and Krystal left the room to rejoin the avian waiting.
"I still don't trust him."
"You haven't even given him a chance, Falco." Krystal protested.
"Yeah Falco, what's the deal?" Fox asked.
"Call it a hunch but, there's something not right about that kid." The bird explained, "And tell me again why we aren't questioning him right now?"
"How would you feel if you were being questioned while in bed and your pants ripped?" Fox asked with a smirk on his face.
"I mean besides that!" The flustered avian yelled.
"Because he's had a large strain on his mind. It's so severe that if we start questioning him now, we may be putting his life in danger." Answered Krystal.
"Just what are you getting at here anyways?" Fox asked.
"I'm just saying, that isn't it just a little strange how that kid managed to escape Starwolf and with one of their own ships? And that gun of his isn't even registered."
Before Fox could say anything, they all heard the young vulpine scream out. At that, all three of them rushed into the room and find Kazufox searching around the room for something while cursing.
"Dammit, where is it!?"
"What's wrong!?" Fox asked.
The young fox then stopped searching since he didn't realize that Fox and the others had heard him.
"Well?" Falco asked impatiently, "What is it already?"
"Uh...did you guys happen to find an old scratched up blaster when you guys found me?" Kazufox asked shyly.
Fox breathed a sigh of relief, "We have it safe. Don't worry we're not going to let anyone take it or anything. But since you're up, we have a few questions to ask you-"
"Incoming message," interrupted ROB, "from General Pepper."
"Perfect timing." Falco said sarcastically.
"Tell me about it." The young vulpine thought to himself slightly relieved.
"We'll be there in a minute. We need someone to watch over our guest." Fox said.
"Hey, I don't need a babysitter!" The young vulpine complained.
"I was thinking more like a tour guide. Falco, would you like to do the honors?"
"Me?" Falco asked surprised, "What about Krystal? I mean since she was new and all, wouldn't it make sense?"
"Fine, I'll do it." Agreed Krystal.
"But, but-" Fox stammered.
"We better get ours to the bridge." Falco said as he starts pulling Fox along, "Pepper's still waiting on us."
"Are things always this fun around here?" Kazufox asked.
"Not really. Usually on busy days like this." Krystal answered.
Fox and Falco make their way to the bridge however Falco is still upset.
"Fox, if we're supposed to be questioning him then why are we giving that guy a tour of our ship?" Falco asked impatiently.
"Falco, he just barely survived being attacked by Wolf. You heard Krystal say that his brain was pushed to nearly its limits. He's had enough trouble for one day."
"Yeah sure, listen to her. But why the tour?"
"Because, if we can gain his trust then he'll tell us what happened on his own free will. We don't know what Wolf did or if it was Wolf, but if we start interrogating him right away then he wouldn't tell us anything."
"Then we could scare the information out of him."
"And how much better would we be from Wolf if we did? You're just gonna have to get used to him being here a while."
"What are you talking about? Don't tell me, he's joining us?" The avian stopped walking asking surprised.
"I guess you could say that since he still has valuable information. And maybe he could tell us a little about that blaster of his."
"That's why?" Falco questioned as he started walking at a quicker pace, "Gee, why don't we just throw a big party for him while we're at it!"
The two entered into the bridge and see General Pepper's image on the monitor.
"General, you're looking a lot better." Fox greeted.
"Thank you Fox, but I've been better. The reason I called is because I have a mission for you."
"Go on general."
"There was an incident around Fortuna that wiped out a unit of Katinan ships." The hound informed. He then noticed a small look of concern on Fox's face. "No, Bill was not in that attack if that's what you're thinking." Fox's face relaxed a bit showing a sign of relief.
"Okay, so we just need to head to Fortuna and find out what's going on right?" Asked Falco.
"Yes, however you will head to Katina instead. There, you will meet with Colonel Summers. He will inform you on all the details."
"Understood general." Fox boldly answered.
"Good luck Starfox and...be careful." The old hound said before the transmission ended.
"What was that all about?" Falco asked.
"I'm not sure."
"Fox! Fox, are you there?" Slippy's voice called out over Fox's communicator.
"What is it Slippy?"
"You know that blaster that guy had? I tried a few different scans on it but I wasn't able to find out anything. I tried to take it apart but that didn't work either. It wasn't until I checked for radiation on it and I got energy readings off the scale!"
"What!" Falco squawked.
"How bad is the radiation?"
"It's harmless while its trapped inside the gun but I can't find out anything else. I'll have to send it to my dad to find out what it is."
"Thanks Slippy." Fox said as he cut off the communication line.
"Now what?"
"Looks like Peppy is gonna have to wait." Fox sighed, "ROB, set a course for Katina."
"Have you found anything?" Asked Wolf.
"Nothing yet sir." A reptilian pirate reported.
"Well keep searching!" Wolf ordered as he flew around with Leon and Panther in their Wolfens searching for the lost Venomian base on Fortuna. Wolf had brought along a few carrier ships so they can haul off anything they can get their hands on in one trip. A group of space pirates that went with them, including Ralph, were searching the trees below. "Where is it?" Wolf thought to himself. "Leon, you said that you detected the signal came from this area, right?"
"Yes, it's somewhere around here." The lizard responded. The ships continued flying around only found nothing through dense jungle. The search party below had no luck either.
"Ronnie, you find anything?" Ralph asked.
"Sorry, I've got nothing." The rabbit answered.
"This is hopeless." Complained a dark gray jackrabbit.
"Quit your complaining and keep searching!" Shawn exclaimed.
Panther flew by the group and overheard their conversation. He just shook his head and laughed to himself. "How useless." Panther then noticed something on radar. "Ah ha, so that's where you are." The feline said to himself with a small grin, "Wolf, I found the location of the base."
"Good work Panther. Send the information to the search party."
"So this thing is called the ‘Great Fox'?" Kazufox asked as he walked down the halls following Krystal.
"You act like you've never heard of it."
"No, I've heard about it but I never thought that I'd actually be in it."
Krystal soon stopped and looked back at the fox.
"Um, what is it?" Kazufox asked cautiously.
"Nothing. I was just thinking about how cute you look in that uniform." Krystal answered with a smile. Although she was really thinking about how good Fox looked dressed in it. She heard Kazufox groan when he heard that remark about him. "What's wrong?"
"‘Cute' wasn't exactly the word I was looking for."
"Then what word were you looking for?"
"Ah forget it." Kazufox sighed as they continued the tour of the ship. "So you said your name was..."
"It's Krystal."
"Right, sorry. I'm not too good with names. Falcon mentioned that you're new right?"
Krystal giggles, "His name is Falco."
"Well, I was close."
"And yes, you could say that I'm the newest but the guys know better than to try anything stupid. But I'm a little curious about you. Could you tell me about what happened to you?" Krystal asked sincerely.
"Well, I don't remember much..." The fox said scratching his head.
"Could you try to remember?"
"Well, I remember being captured by them and then when I made it out. I was in a Wolfen and I was chased around by a bunch of ships. I guess I must've hit some hyper jump button or something."
"I'm a little surprised that you know about their ships like that."
"The Wolfens? Well, uh, I know a few guys that know stuff like that, yeah." Kazufox lied, "They liked looking up stuff about how fighter planes worked and stuff. Real nerds."
"There's nothing wrong with that. Slippy is very smart and we get along. But it's a little different when it comes to him and Falco, but that's how friends are sometimes."
"Yeah, I guess you're right."
"Speaking of friends, is Kite a friend of yours?"
"Why would you ask something like that?"
"Because that blaster of yours had Kite's name on the side and I thought you two might have friends."
"Yeah, he was my best friend." Kazufox said solemnly.
"You said ‘was'. Did something happen?"
"No. No, it's nothing."
"We're here."
"Hm? Where?"
"Your room. This is where you'll be staying."
"Wow, that tour went by faster than I thought." Kazufox said as he entered the room and sat on the bed. "A guy could get used to this."
"If you need anything then don't hesitate to ask."
"Nah, I'm good."
"Kazufox. About asking about asking about Kite, I'm sorry."
"Don't worry about it. But there is one thing. About my blaster, when can I have it back?"
"I'm not sure how soon."
"Could you just make sure that I get it back?"
"I'll see what I can do." Krystal promised.
"We have arrived on Katina." ROB said over the intercom.
"Okay team, let's go." Fox said enthusiastically. The team started to leave except for one.
"Hey Kazufox, are you coming?" Slippy asked.
"Nah, there's nothing to do there." Kazufox answered.
"Aw, come on. It'll be fun." Slippy said as he pulled on Kazufox's sleeves.
"I'm coming, I'm coming. Stop pulling already."
The five exited from the Great Fox into the hangar of the Katinan base. The team took a look around them seeing plenty of command ships being worked on and repaired.
"So this is the base where that Summers guy is?" Falco asked.
"This is the place." Fox answered.
"Oh, Starfox. You've arrived." Greeted a black furred dog soldier with tan around his muzzle, shepherd breed, "Please, follow me and I'll take you to Colonel Summers' office." The group followed the soldier into the large base. They keep walking for a few minutes until the soldier then stops in front of a door. "Here we are." The canine said as he opened the door and entered, "Colonel, Starfox is here."
"Thank you, that will be all." Summers said as he turned in his chair to see the mercenary team and their guest. The soldier gave a salute before leaving the room. "Welcome back to Katina, Starfox team." The wolf said as he rose from his seat and walked over to the team. He then noticed a fox wearing the team's old uniform. "I see you have a new addition to the team."
"Him? Oh, uh, he's just a relative." Fox excused, "My cousin."
"Really?" Summers said raising an eyebrow as he walked over to Kazufox, "Mind if I took a look at your arm?"
"What?" Kazufox asked blinking in surprise.
"Don't worry, this is just a quick checkup."
"Uh...sure I guess." Kazufox said extending his left arm.
"I mean the right one. I mean you are right handed, correct?"
"Yeah." The fox nervously replied extending his right arm. The wolf took hold of the wrist and started poking and tugging on the vulpine's fur. The rest of the team looked at each other wondering what was going on all confused by the wolf.
"Colonel, may I ask what's the point of all this?" Fox asked.
"There have been some reports of a new illness that infects the young adult population. And the signs can be found in the person's writing arm."
"Then shouldn't you send him to the infirmary?"
"Don't worry, it doesn't take long." Summers said as he continued his examination, If there isn't some kind of stiffness or hardness found on the limb, he's okay."
"Hey! Are you just gonna poke at his arm all day or what?" Falco yelled out impatiently, "In case you didn't remember we have a job to do and we can't go anywhere until you give us some information!"
The colonel releases the arm. "Forgive me. Can't be too careful though. Now about your mission, I'd prefer to speak to Fox about it. In private."
"What's wrong with all of us being here?" Falco questioned.
"Think of it as a safety precaution, but that's up to your leader to decide."
"Okay." Fox agreed, "I'll meet up with you guys later."
"The guard outside will show you to the place you can wait." Summers said as he watched as Slippy, Kazufox and Krystal then left the room. He noticed that Falco didn't leave. "You're not going?" He asked.
"Nah, I think I'll hang around in here for a while." Falco replied with a smug look on his face.
Summers looks over at Fox nodding his head. "Very well, now down to business." The wolf said as he went back to his seat, "As you know, we made an attack on a Venomian battleship. Unfortunately, the attack was a failure. Apparently, the ships were destroyed because of a barrage of shots. Fired directly from Solar itself."
"Solar?" Fox asked shocked.
"Are you serious!?" Falco questioned also shocked by the news.
Summers nodded, "I'm afraid so."
"Okay, so all we gotta do is take care of the thing on Solar and we've got them."
The wolf shakes his head, "That won't work. We already sent a team to check but they didn't find anything."
"So what you're saying is...it's as if Solar itself attacked?" Fox asked.
"According to our scientists, it looks more like the energy was drawn from the surface of the star."
"So what exactly can we do?" Falco asked getting impatient again.
"We believe that there is a hidden Venomian base still active on Fortuna and it may contain the weapon that controls Solar's surface. The Great Fox won't be able to reach the planet because of its size. However, your Arwings should slip in undetected by the device. We've also received word from Corneria that they sent a spy in that area but lost contact a while ago. But thanks to him, we know the general area the base is located but where we don't know. Your mission is to take it out, understood?"
"Yes colonel." Fox answered, "But could you tell me the reason you wanted to see Kazufox's arm?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean the real reason. There is no disease is there?"
"I suppose you got me there. However, I can't tell you."
"What! Why not?" Falco questioned getting annoyed.
"Because it's classified information."
"But what if it deals with our mission?"
"That's enough Falco." Fox said.
"But Fox."
"You should listen to him." Summers said, "Your ship should be refueled and restocked so you will leave immediately."
"Yes sir." Fox said before he left the room and Falco followed.
"Kazufox huh? Could he really be the kid that attacked all those ships? But his arm, it couldn't be." The wolf thought to himself, "Well, if anything I should at least see to their departure."
"Classified my beak!" Falco shouted as he walked down the hallway, "Wanting to take a look at that Kazu-kid's arm like that and not even telling us why. What a freak! That guy is so full of himself, wouldn't you agree?"
"Hm?" Fox looked up, "Yeah, sure." He glumly responded.
"You weren't listening to a single word I said!"
"Sorry Falco." Fox apologized, "What were you saying?"
"Ah forget it, there's something bothering you. What is it?"
"It's nothing."
"Fox, I know you better than that. Something's bothering you, so what is it?"
Fox then stopped walking and looked down. "Falco, you and I both know who would be able to create a weapon like that."
"You mean Andross right? There's no way. We wasted him a long time ago. We saw him die, there was nothing left."
"I know but..."
"But what?"
"He came back before so...how do we even know that he's even dead to begin with? What if all those times I fought him it was just a fake, a copy?"
"Fox, you worry too much." Falco said as he put his wing on Fox's shoulder, "And even if by the smallest chance he is alive, we'll still take him down. Fox, you've got to remember, you're not alone in this."
"You're right. Thanks Falco."
The two finally met up with the others but they were a little surprised. They find out the lounge area had more of a bar setup. Slippy was telling Kazufox stories about some of the stupid things Falco did while Krystal sat to the side and was also listening in.
"Aw man, I didn't know they had a bar here." Falco said while looking around the room.
"Oh. You're back." Krystal smiled.
"Hey team, hope you guys enjoyed yourselves." Fox said.
"So when do we leave?" Asked Kazufox.
"Right now actually. I'll explain our mission on the ship."
"Good, the sooner the better." Kazufox said as he exited the room.
"He's in a hurry to leave." Falco noted, "But then again, I would too if some weirdo was touching me."
The group walked down the halls heading to the Great Fox. The group passes by a few soldiers that happen to notice the younger fox and wonder what he was doing with the Starfox team, mainly a dalmatian soldier. As the group continued walking, a familiar voice calls out to them.
"Fox! Hey Fox!" Fox looks behind him to find out who's calling him. He's surprised to see who it is. "Bill!"
"Long time no see, eh Foxie?" Bill said as he ran trying to catch up.
"Bill, when did you get here?"
"A little while ago. Hey everyone!"
"Hey Bill." Falco said.
"Hiya Bill!" Slippy exclaimed.
"Hello Bill." Greeted Krystal.
"Well, I see you guys have a new teammate."
"Yeah, he's my cousin."
"You sure?" Bill asked as he took a closer look at Kazufox, "Hmm, funny, he doesn't really look anything like you except the clothes."
"What are you doing over here anyways?"
"I heard that you guys have another mission and I wanted to at least meet up with you before you left. And also maybe I could provide an escort."
"I appreciate the offer Bill, but no thanks."
"Aw, Come on Fox! You're bumming me out!" Bill said disappointingly.
"Psst, Slippy." Kazufox whispered, "What's the deal with this guy and how does he know Fox?"
"That's Bill. He and Fox go way back." Slippy answered.
"So they're friends?"
"Yeah, they've been friends since Fox was a kid."
"That must've been a long time." Kazufox said sounding a little down.
"Hey, are you okay?"
"Yeah, fine." Fox and Bill continued talking. Soon enough, they all went down to the hangar except for Kazufox. "Friends huh?"
"What the hell are you doing here?" Asked a desert coyote. Kazufox was in a small house cluttered with junk and some papers sitting in a chair. It was a scorching hot out so several fans were turned on causing the papers to flutter.
"I'm sitting." Kazufox said as he leaned back in the chair, "What else does it look like I'm doing?"
"Well besides breaking and entering my house, being a lazy bum."
"What!? Hey, I came in through the front door just like everyone else, well except you of course."
"You're still upset about that? Hey wait, I had the door locked so how did you...?" The coyote's eyes narrowed at Kazufox, "Tell me you didn't do what I think you did."
"Well, you see...Heh, heh." The vulpine laughed nervously.
The coyote looks around the corner and sees the broken door hanging wide open. "You idiot! You broke down my door!"
"Sorry, I thought it was jammed."
"It's locked for a reason! I don't believe this, how dense can you be?"
"Hey I said ‘sorry'."
The coyote blankly stares at the fox. "Normally I'd be yelling at you for a long time but today, I'm actually in a good mood."
"You needed a new door after all?"
"No!!"
"Then why else..." Kazufox gasped, "Kite, you actually found a girlfriend?"
"No..." Kite said while trying to keep a smile and not throw something at the fox, "But that may change with this baby!" He said as he pulled out a platinum armored blaster. "Pretty cool huh?"
"Wow, looks expensive but I don't really get how that's gonna help you get any girls."
"Kazu, Kazu, Kazu." Kite said waving his finger. "You think way too small, you need to see the big picture."
"Then why don't you paint it for me then Mr. Artiest?"
"Okay, as you know the ladies love a man of action and I happen to fit that description."
"Pfft, as if. The only action you're in is driving and collecting money."
"May I finish...?" The coyote asked started to get a little agitated. He sees the fox nod. "Anyways, what is one very important factor that the girls pay attention to besides how the hero is dressed? It's the weapon he carries. It doesn't matter how cool the guy looks if his weapon is lame. But if it looks cool and the guy is dressed cool, then the guy using it is cool. It's simple logic really." Kazufox looks at Kite with a confused look on his face. "Look, I don't expect you to understand. You'd just rather worry about how to blow stuff up with your alter than care about how you look doing it, but that's okay. After all, the girls will be too distracted watching me in action."
"Ooh, Kite. You're so cool." Kazufox said in a girlish tone.
"You better believe it!" Kite laughed. Then both of them started laughing until Kazufox put Kite in a headlock.
"Alright, how much of my hard earned money did you spend this time you greedy little bastard?" The fox demanded.
"Didn't...spend...free!" The coyote managed to cough out.
"What?" Kazufox said letting go of his friend's head.
"Yeah..." Kite coughed, "...I found it lying on my doorstep this morning."
"No way. That thing?"
"Yeah, but this is the strangest part." Kite said as he showed Kazufox the gun. On the side of the barrel was engraved the words ‘To Kite' on it.
"Weird. So what are you going to do with it?"
"Well...Since it was just lying on my doorstep, it has Kite's name on it and I happen to be Kite....I'll just hold onto it until the owner comes by to...pick it up."
Kazufox stared at the coyote with a blank look, "You mean buy it back?"
"Think of it as being paid for...babysitting."
"You greedy worm, you never change. The next thing you'll do is probably find some matching clothes."
"That's a great idea! You really do understand." Kite said as he rubbed his face on the blaster, "So smooth and shiny. I'll never let anyone take you, no I won't, no I won't."
"Ugh, don't make me gag."
"Hey Kazufox!" Slippy called out. Kazufox then snapped out of his thought seeing Slippy and Falco down the hallway.
"Hey kid, wake up. You coming or not?" Falco asked.
"Uh, sure. I'm coming." Kazufox said as he ran over toward the others, "And I'm not a kid!"
"God, I hate paperwork." Greyson said as she walked down a hallway, "I could really use a drink." Just then she stopped as she saw Kazufox running across the hall. "Was that? It couldn't have been." The feline gasped, "Could it? Maybe I just need to lie down." She ran over to the next hallway just to check to be sure. Greyson found the hallway empty except for a few soldiers. "Am I going crazy? I could've sworn that was the same guy that attacked my ship." She thought to herself. "You, soldier!" She called out to one of the guards.
"Yes lieutenant?" The young beagle soldier answered.
"Was there a fox kid that came by this area?"
Uh, yeah. There was a fox guy that did seem kinda young."
"What color was his hair?"
"His what?"
"His hair!"
"Um, brown, red somewhere in between, why?"
"Which direction was he heading towards?"
"Uh, the hangar. Is something wrong?"
"Go find the colonel and let him know I found our little ship raider."
"Wait, you mean that guy was the one responsible for attacking all our ships?" The other soldier, a spaniel asked.
"There's no time to explain, go find the colonel and tell him!"
"Tell me what?" Summers asked walking up from behind.
"Wesley, the same guy that attacked my ship. He's here, I know it!"
"Jen, calm down. You're overreacting. You just need some rest."
"But Wes, it was him! That young fox, that's the guy!"
"Calm down, I met with him and I did check his arm and everything was normal. Maybe you saw someone that looks like him."
"Since when have you known me to have bad eyes?" Greyson glared, "And I told you that the two that found him said that his arm seemed normal, remember? For all we know he could be one of Andross' experiments that Starwolf found."
"Or Starfox..." The wolf said with a worried look on his face.
"What?"
"Come on, we need to get to the hangar. You two, you're coming with us." The colonel ordered, "And try to contact the guards. We can't let that ship leave!"
The two soldiers looked at each other and then nodded. The four ran as fast as they could trying to reach the hangar. When they finally got there it was too late. The Great Fox had already taken off.
"Dammit!" The feline cursed.
"I'm sorry sir. When we received the order to stop them it was too late." One of the mechanics said.
"Should we pursue them sir?" Asked the spaniel asked.
"No. Did anyone try contacting them?" Summers asked.
"We're trying to." Another mechanic replied.
"Don't."
"What?"
"Don't contact them. If they find out we're after them then they'll try to run."
"So we're just going to let them walk out like that?" The feline hissed.
It's too dangerous to try and take them down on our own. And even if we succeed, Pepper will find a way to get them out and have me locked up for treason. I need to contact Pepper before we can do anything to them." Summers said as he turned toward Greyson. "Jennifer, I had him in my grasp and yet, I let him go and I can't forgive myself for that. But the last thing I intend to do is let them get away with it. Just be patient."
Greyson looked up at the ship was only but a small spec in the sky and gave a sigh, "I suppose that's all we can really do right now."