A/N– Star Fox belongs to Nintendo. (That includes all characters and things in this story.) I wrote this as a 'redeem a bad guy' challenge. Enjoy.
Wolf O'Donnell barrel-rolled his Wolfen fighter, deflecting the bright lasers, "Panther, Leon, this way!"
His teammates complied, drawing the strange Aparoids away from their rival team Star Fox. Rivals indeed. The reason Star Wolf was helping the fellow mercenary team was because Wolf was going to be the one to bring down Fox McCloud.
The ace pilot led the team down a side tunnel and away from the relative safety in numbers. Fox and his team of four would destroy the Aparoid Queen by implanting the virus into her. She, in turn, would send the self destruct program to all Aparoids, thus ending the menace to Lylat.
The nearly indestructible Aparoids that had attacked Fox from the front were now Star Wolf's problem. They didn't seem to have any weaknesses.
"Fall back, I'm trying a bomb," Wolf said.
As Panther Caroso and Leon Powalski drew behind Wolf, he locked onto one and fired. That seemed to work, and all of the round-shaped enemies dispersed. Star Wolf still followed, making sure that none circled around to find Fox again.
They flew past several branches in the tunnel, finally taking a right turn, and then a left.
"I think they're leading us somewhere," Panther said.
"You just figure that out?" Wolf snapped.
"So we're going to fly into a trap?" Leon snapped back.
None of them really had a desire to die that day.
"Get your bombs ready, we're gonna take them out," Wolf said.
The tunnel they were flying down opened into a large circular room. On the far wall was an Aparoid hatcher. It was busy spitting out more of the small-but-powerful enemies. Soon, Star Wolf was outnumbered fifteen to one.
"Line up three-point," Wolf shouted as the numbers odds grew even higher in favor of the Aparoids, "Fire a bomb!"
Three nova bombs streaked from the red Wolfens, impacting the line of bogies. Explosion covered the results; not even the radar would sort through the thick smoke. Finally, several blips disappeared from their displays, only to be replaced by several more blue dots.
"That thing is spitting out more of these faster than we can get rid of them," Panther shouted, flip-rolling to avoid a staticy-purple bomb, the choice weapon of the enemies.
The seemingly large space of the room was quickly filling with the enemy.
"We have to retreat, Wolf," Leon said, pushing the boundaries of his place as an underling.
Wolf watched the calculations on his HUD; odds were twenty to one. Twenty-five to one.
"Back to the tunnels," Wolf shouted, turning about.
The only exit from the room was being sealed off as they spoke. Honeycomb-checkered, the transparent wall was impenetrable by a small star-fighter. Star Wolf didn't have a crazy old hare to bust through with the team's mother ship either.
Wolf u-turned and faced the wall of Aparoids that were primed with their destructive bombs. It seemed like hundreds lined the far wall, forming a half circle of protection around the crucial hatcher.
"It's a good day to die," he muttered.
"That's easy for you to say," Leon said.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Wolf said, growing inexplicably angry.
"Why are we here anyway?" Leon pushed again, "So you can make sure Fox doesn't die so you can kill him, right? Well now we're going to die."
"Shut up!" Wolf shouted across the coms, hoping the chamaeleon could hear him from the Wolfen too.
"Fox is rubbing off on you, Wolf. All this talk of noble sacrifices is going to your head," Leon taunted. His specialty was torture and he was quite practiced in all forms of it.
Wolf, however, knew Leon's tricks, "You're free to walk out whenever you want, Leon. Be a madman on your own."
The HUD beeped persistently. Several smaller Aparoids, small spider-like ones, had emerged from small holes in the room's walls.
"Stay clear of the walls," Wolf said, "Unless you want to end up like Pepper."
"They're firing," Panther shouted.
One third of the round Aparoids fired their volley, and a wall of purple bombs shot towards the three Wolfens. Panther skirted left, while Wolf and Leon went right. Spider Aparoids exploded as the wall of bombs hit the other side.
The center third fired, and that volley was sent in the direction of Wolf and Leon. Panther fired his lasers at the bombs, taking out several and creating a hole in the group. Two Wolfens escaped through that gap.
By then, the first group was ready again, and both that group and the last third fired together. The bombs spread out to fill most of the space not occupied by the Aparoids.
"They're getting smarter," Panther said.
The panther shot for a gap that was closing, but he didn't make it and hit two bombs. His shields were reduced forty percent. Leon and Wolf also got too close. The three struggled to reduce the purple bombs and avoid the ones they missed.
Wolf began clearing a way around the less densely-packed outer edge while risking getting too close to the spider Aparoids.
"Computer, scan walls for thickness," he said after an idea occurred to him.
The HUD displayed a tunnel near the wall on the far side of the room. The thinnest portion was under the hatcher. How would they get through that?
Panther burst through the mine field and into Wolf's clearing, and right into Wolf's path. Instinct drew him away from the collision point as Panther pulled up to avoid. The rose-motif on Panther's Wolfen melted away as he hit a bomb.
"Apologies, Wolf," the panther murmured as he struggled to examine the exterior damage while avoiding more impacts.
Leon said, "They don't seem to be able to control the bombs now. If we block them from sending more out, maybe we can last until that idiot Fox delivers the program."
"Sounds like a plan," Panther said, "Wolf? Is it a go?"
His Wolfen was still prominently displayed on their radar, but there was silence on the com.
"Wolf?" Panther said again.
"Change of plans," Wolf said, static cutting into the transmission, "Blast a hole through the middle of those things with your bombs, and follow through. There's a tunnel on the other side of the hatcher."
Wolf's red Wolfen was covered with the spider Aparoids. Only the cockpit hatch was relatively Aparoid free.
"But you only have one bomb left. How will you blast through the hatcher and the wall?" Panther asked, not sure he wanted to hear the answer.
The red Wolfen stopped between the two others.
"Really, Panther. Must I explain everything to you?" Wolf asked.
Panther had no answer. Even Leon had no comment.
"Do it," Wolf said, "Now."
The two each fired two of their bombs, opening a hole to the hatcher. Wolf hit his boosters, flying towards the gap. The hatcher had already started reproducing replacements. Wolf fired his last bomb, taking out the new enemies and damaging the hatcher.
'Good,' he thought, 'It won't take much to blast through it. Won't hurt a bit.'
Panther and Leon followed their leader tentatively. A blinding flash lit up the room, and the whole room shuddered. The Aparoids around them shook and all burst in a small explosion. All over the room, the same thing happened. Even the hatcher spouted green liquid from expanding holes.
Blue dots quickly disappeared from the radars.
"I don't believe it. Those bumbling fools actually did it," Leon muttered.
"Indeed," Panther said.
Wolf sat stunned in his cockpit. It had taken over him so quickly, he hadn't even realized what he was doing. Leon's assessment of Fox putting the idea of noble sacrifices in his head seemed accurate then, but deep down, he knew that despite their flaws and strange habits, Panther and Leon were his only real friends.
'That's what it feels like... to do things for someone other than myself.'
Panther and Leon flew alongside their leader. His ship was tattered and sparking, but seemed flyable.
"Wolf? Are you dead?" Leon asked, a little more worried than he would ever admit.
That snapped him back to the old Wolf, "I guess asking you to have more faith in me is too much, Leon?"
The corners of Leon's mouth curled into a grin. Panther just laughed.
"Once again, we beat death," the panther said.
"Come on," Wolf said, "Let's blast our way out of here."
As they escaped the planet from the room that was to be Wolf's tomb, they saw the destruction happening planet-wide.
Wolf knew that war changes furs. The war against Corneria had toughened him more than he ever could have thought. But the war with the Aparoids brought back what he had thought he had lost years before either war.
Hope.