Prologue: Ashes

10 Years after Andross's Forces were defeated at Venom by the Star Fox Team

"We had won the war"

The smoke in the commander's headquarters made it impossible to see as the hound dog gripped the last of the files he had to burn. He could barely breathe as he laid the papers over the fire in garbage can.

"We had won the war", The Hound Dog repeated as he let his hand go of the papers and heard the crackle as more smoke filled the already consumed office.

He started to choke on the smoke as he turned to his desk…..

"Your not done yet…..old boy", General Pepper said as he prepared to burn the most important objects in his office.

He looked at his photos he had around his desk; there was a photo of his wife Martha and one of his child Roth. He carefully looked at the photo of his wife; she was wearing a blue dress as the lioness's eyes sparkled as she smiled in the camera.

He was never very religious, however at that moment he prayed that she had gotten out in time before the blockade cut the planet off. His eye's watered as his hands held the picture and then let it drop into the fire.

He knew if they had gotten hold of photograph she would have been hunted down and tortured by the zealots.

He just stared at the fire as the photograph turned to ashes, keeping his eyes on those dark blue sparkling eyes his wife had until the color turned to black and it was no more.

Still finding it difficult to breathe he turned over to his desk and grabbed the second photograph of his son. The Dog was wearing a dark military green flight suit with a crimson fox on his right pocket. The Star Fox insignia being the most noticeable part of the uniform as the lion gave a salute, beaming with pride.

The General for a brief moment just stared not at his son, but at that dark crimson symbol…..a symbol at, which left him numb and cold inside.

It was a few moments until; he finally threw the photograph into the fire with a loud bang of the metal frame.

It was by no means angry at the Star Fox Armada or at their leader Fox Mcloud; in fact he nothing but respect and admiration for the most powerful mercenaries Lylat and ever witnessed.

"It's my own fault", the General said as tears ran down his check ; no one had ever seen the famous and powerful General Pepper cry, even when all seemed lost in the years of the Great War with Venom he had never lost hope.

This time it was over and the General knew that as the red emergency lights of the bunker started to dim and flicker around his office.

The hound dog jumped as he heard the explosions resonating around the complex.

He didn't have to look at the security feed from the TV screen in the office to know they had finally breached the bunker.

He heard the lasers and bullets firing as the futile efforts of the doomed defenders made their last stand.

He calmly opened the cabinet blow his desk….

Screams filled the bunker has he heard more explosions and more ammunition discharges filling the bunker.

His hand reached for his Corneria H-12 automatic pistol that rested at the bottom of the cabinet.

Then silence…

He knew he didn't have much time left as he took the pistol and aimed towards the door.

"Only one shot in the chamber", the hound dog said to himself as he steadied the barrel ready to fire.

The pistol was meant for himself as the "way of the solider"; a finally last ditch effort at not being captured and interrogated.

He knew that they never took prisoners and he wanted to go out on his feet.

Sweat poured from his face as the door began to open

"It is almost over…."

Prologue Ashes, Author's Notes: Hello! This is the prologue to the Star Fox Fan Fiction story of,Ashes. This is my second attempt to make a Star Fox story here at Fan Fiction and I'm excited at working on this project. Expect updates every other week if you are interested in reading the rest of the story. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy reading the rest of the story, as well as any feedback you can give me.