Fox was speechless. He'd listened to many such transmissions before, many of them gruesome, but none quite like what he'd just heard. He didn't know what to make of it.

"So, to recap," he said, voice slightly unsteady, "Dessler Coba was scouting for materials in the nearby asteroid belt when this happened?"

General Pepper's holographic presence looked as stoic as ever. "That's right."

"And after that transmission, he just vanished without a trace?"

"Correct."

"And there was no debris found which could have been the wreckage of an M-scouter not already accounted for by front-line casualties, or any evidence at all aside from a few blasted asteroids?"

"None whatsoever."

Fox mulled over the details in his head. This was troubling; if Andross was behind this, it meant that he had created a weapon capable of simply removing ships from the battlefield, and perhaps from the Lylat system entirely. Could any shield protect against such a weapon? What were its limits; was it only effective against small ships like arwings or were the massive Cornerian battleships at risk too?

Fox shook off these thoughts. It wouldn't be anything to worry about; not if he had anything to say about it. "Alright, General, what's our mission on our trip through the belt?"

"Your mission is to try and locate the whereabouts of Dessler Coba as you pass through the asteroid belt. If you discover any sign of a weapon which would be responsible for his disappearance, gather any intel you can and destroy the weapon. Remember, though; getting through the belt and attacking Venom is still priority one. If you cannot discover what caused the disappearance of Dessler, abort and continue moving towards Venom."

"Understood. We'll-"

"Hang on a minute!" Falco chimed in, interrupting his leader. "General, remind me again why we're going off chasing ghosts? Even if there is some Venomian warp-weapon behind this, it's just gonna go out of commission once we take care of Andross! All his army's orders come from Him!"

General Pepper maintained a completely stoic face in spite of this outburst. "I'm afraid you're wrong, Falco. We've known since the beginning of the war that Andross' soldiers are remarkably loyal to him; even if their leader is killed, they will continue fighting, albeit much less dangerous with no general. However, a weapon as dangerous as this would still pose a significant threat to the Cornerian army even without a general to guide it, which is why we need confirmation of whether or not it exists. Any more questions, Star Fox?"

Fox looked back and forth at the members of his team. Falco seemed satisfied by this rebuttal, and Slippy and Peppy didn't seem to have anything to say. "No more questions, General. We'll do our best to find out what happened to Dessler Coba!"

"Excellent. Good luck, Star Fox!" The hologram saluted at the team of four, and then faded out of existence.

The rest of the mission prep went by in a blur of familiarity. The team had done this a hundred times, and would do it again hundreds more. Ships were refueled and energized, weapons charged, systems pre-tested, pocket blasters prepped (just in case) as the Great Fox flew closer to the asteroid belt. The team stood ready until ROB64's robotic voice came on over the ship's P.A, "Enemy ships moving in to attack. "

Four arwings launched from the Great Fox's hanger, ready to clear the way for the team to continue on the path to Venom. The pilots within both hoped to uncover the mystery of Dessler Coba, and to avoid meeting the same fate as him.