All Father was the last one they said… you'll be done they said… DONE THEY SAID… hmph… they can't leave a watcher be… no no… now I have to come back and narrate another story. Thanks Ray… frickin' great. He doesn't pay me enough for this nonsense…

-Clears throat-

And so, a new story unfolds. A hero returns, but troubled memories and scarred wounds remind him of the war he wishes to forget. Leave a review if you'd like, and as always; enjoy the chapter!

The Trinity Council

~The morning sun came to brighten the Cornerian sky, and a transport shuttle came to pick up Marcus and Sierra form their apartment. The two of them boarded and sat together on a bench near a window across from a pair of Cornerian officers. The shuttle flew over Alpha City below, and Marcus and Sierra enjoyed the view. The two of them let their minds wander for a moment as the sight of the city at peace briefly put them into a daze. "Almost like a war never happened." Sierra softly said as she gently leaned against Marcus. "Everything is so clean, and peaceful."

Marcus loosely wrapped his arms around Sierra's shoulders and smiled. "It's what happens when three star systems' worth of people come together to rebuild." He said as he continued to stare out the window. "But I know what you mean. No violence below, no people crying out for help. It's almost like our little utopia."

"Um, excuse me?" One of the officers timidly asked. "Captain McCloud?"

Marcus and Sierra turned their gaze to the officers before them and smiled. A pair of young anthropomorphic leopards sat across from them, and they both took a moment to study the officers' timid body language. The officers appeared to be fresh out of the military academy, and to be riding with the leader of Star Fox must have made the officers nervous. "Yes?" Marcus asked.

"They didn't tell us much about our assignment." One of the officers said as he leaned forward. "We were told to escort you, but we weren't told where we were going."

Sierra gently leaned off of Marcus and directed her attention forward. "We're going to Ark City." She said to the officer. "We've been assigned as security chiefs for today's council session."

"The council?" The other officer nervously asked. "As in the Trinity Council? I didn't know we were going there."

Marcus and Sierra chuckled. Marcus leaned forward and held up his hand to calm the officer. "Relax my man." He said with a smile. "It's nothing too special really. Just politicians require a little bit of extra security. What're your names?"

"I'm Lieutenant Jack Cord." The first leopard responded.

"And I'm Lieutenant Nicholas Harth." Said the second.

Marcus leaned back in his seat and gave the two officers a graceful smile. "Jack, Nick, don't let us intimidate you." He cheerfully said. "I promise we don't bite."

"If anything we like meeting new people." Sierra added with a smile. "Despite what our reputation says about us, we're not cold blooded killers. We're people too."

Jack and Nicholas looked at each other and took a deep breath. "All right." Jack softly said. "So, what's the deal with the council? They didn't tell us much about it back in the academy."

Marcus sat up tall and took a deep breath. "Well, I'll start from square one." He said. "About a year after the war ended, and the restoration movement was well under way; General Toran of Corneria and Harbinger of New Lithon decided that there needed to be a governing body to preserve order in the three systems. So, after the Philat system formed their government, the Philat Congregation, the three governing systems came together to make the Trinity Council."

"Once a month, the council meets in one of the three systems to discuss tri-system politics. It is there they decide what regulations to impose, what laws they want to sign in, prosecute war criminals, things like that."

Sierra leaned forward to chime in. "What he's forgetting to mention is that there are a lot of people involved in the process." She said. "Each system has two marshal officers. One is the Commander in Arms, and the other is the Chief Ambassador. The Commander in Arms is in charge of all military responsibilities within their respective star system, while the Chief Ambassador handles all of the diplomatic responsibilities. Having the responsibility split between two offices allows for better focus on each task at hand, and the two officers who hold the positions can communicate their thoughts and ideals in two perspectives rather than one."

"So who's Lylat's two marshal officers?" Nicholas asked.

"Our current Commander in Arms is General Alex Toran." Marcus responded. "Since he's the general it was the most logical choice, and he actually created the position. He led the defense against the C.O.R. six years ago, and on top of that he's one of the council's founding members."

"Our Chief Ambassador is Lucy Hare." Sierra added. "Being the late General Hare's daughter, her name carried weight and her knowledge of political sciences made her the perfect candidate to hold the office. On top of that, she has connections to the diplomats in the Philat and Bikar systems. The integration process for her was a bit shaky at first, since the opposition wanted to point out her lack of experience in active politics. But with a good word from Star Fox, and Toran's personal approval; the people of Lylat elected her."

"What about the other two systems?" Jack asked.

"Well, the Lithonian Republic of Bikar elected Harbinger as their Commander in Arms. Their reasoning was similar to ours. Harbinger is their military leader, or their "ship master" as they call him. For their Chief Ambassador, they decided to elect a guy by the name of Sventus Tyrell. Lorenz was Harbinger's right hand man during the war, and the two of them have good chemistry and a good track record of getting things done. On top of that, they are working together to continue rebuilding their culture in the Bikar system. Tyrell has done a tremendous job working with the other diplomats, and Harbinger has done well to keep the peace."

"The Philat Congregation is a bit more interesting. They elected a brown panther by the name of Daniel Tahm as their Chief Ambassador. I've personally never heard of the guy, but for the past few years he hasn't done anything to cause suspicion. Although I've also heard he's kind of a jerk. The Philat Congregation's Commander in Arms is a snow leopard by the name of Laura Christie. She's perhaps the next youngest military leader I've seen compared to Toran, but don't let her age fool you. She's got more brains than most leaders I've seen to date."

"The last part of the council membership is made up by the senators." Sierra interjected. "There are twenty three senators from each government that accompany the marshal officers. Each of the senators own a district somewhere within their respective systems. With twenty five representatives from each government, the council totals up to seventy five people total. There is rarely a tie in voting practices, and the senators can chime in their concerns for their respective regions. Thus, the council does a good job at maintaining the peace while implementing policy."

"I think that pretty much covers everything we'd have to know." Jack said in response to listening to Marcus and Sierra. "Haven't really had the time to look into the council that much."

"It's always good to do a little bit of research here and there." Marcus added.

An alarm sounded off within the shuttle and Jack and Nicholas looked about the cabin. "Attention crew." A voice sounded off from a speaker. "ETA to destination is ten mikes. Air traffic is a bit denser over Ark City due to the council summit being held there."

"Ark City. That reminds me, isn't that city named after the Lithonian's titan?" Nicholas asked. "As in the same Ark from the battle of Corneria?"

"That's right." Marcus responded. "During the defense, the Lithonian titan-class warship, the Ark, was incapacitated while defending the planet. Lorenz Tyrell took the helm and managed to safely crash land the vessel a few dozen miles from Alpha City. What's funny is that the damage, even though severe, didn't really impact the Ark's. The internal structure remained intact, even the city inside the Ark. After tearing the roof off the ship, and realizing that the engines were well beyond repair, the Lithonians and Cornerians worked together to salvage the city inside. Ark City is the remnants of the Ark itself, and there lies the Lithonian Embassy on Corneria."

"A city inside of a ship?" Jack asked. "How big was this thing?"

"The Ark's dimensions were 6500 meters in length, and roughly 1400 meters in width." Sierra responded. "On top of that, the height was somewhere around 600 meters tall. It was the first ship to be categorized as a titan-class from our military, the largest ever seen."

"Titan-class?"

"Since the end of the war, the "titan" status is given to war ships whose dimensions span greater than a mile in length." Sierra looked out the window of the shuttle and noticed Ark City in the distance. "Only four titans have been known to exist: Ark, Purifier, Titan, and Archfiend. There has yet to be a fifth titan-class to be discovered."

"Damn. I don't think the three systems have need for another titan these days anyways."

"Surely scare the hell out of any bad guys though." Nicholas cheerfully added. "Hell I wouldn't mind driving a titan myself for a dream job."

Sierra smiled and gently leaned her head against Marcus once more. She reached out for his hand and held it tight. The touch from her organic hand soothed Marcus, and he gently leaned his head on top of hers. Seeing their display of affection eased Jack and Nicholas. "So, how long have you two been together?" Jack asked. "I mean, is it normal for members of Star Fox to have relationships with other members?"

Marcus and Sierra chuckled and smiled at Jack. "Freddy Toad is dating Abigail Hare." Sierra responded. "And I've been with Marcus since my earlier days on Star Fox. Relationships amongst us is what makes us stronger as a whole, and in all honesty; we're a family. We look at Freddy and Amanda as if they were our own brother and sister, and every past member of Star Fox is more than welcome back within the team."

"You guys have a lot of members come and go?" Nicholas asked.

"During the war, Star Fox totaled up to thirteen members. So to make sure we were efficient we divided our efforts into three teams. Blue team was comprised of myself, Marcus, and his parents Fox and Krystal McCloud. Gold team was comprised of Falco Lombardi, Katt Monroe, Isaac Doran, and Joey Todd. Red team was comprised of Freddy and Abbie, along with Freddy's parents Slippy and Amanda Toad."

"Our thirteenth member was a fox known as Axios Faxton. He's been more of a part-timer compared to the rest of the team. He had a shadier past, and to be honest his secrets ended up getting us into a great deal of trouble. But, he helped us through the past three wars, saved our lives more times than we care to mention, helped kill the leader of the Black Suns and the Crimson Organization, and we look at him as family."

"So, where's the rest of the Star Fox Alumni?" Jack asked.

"Well my parents are in retirement." Marcus responded. "Same with Freddy's parents. Axios, Joey, and Isaac took off for their own way, and by some miracle Katt convinced Falco to retire."

"If you don't mind me asking, how did you two meet?" Nicholas asked.

"Sierra tried to kill me." Seeing the look of shock on Jack and Nicholas's face made Marcus laugh. "Truth be told, Sierra used to be an assassin for the Crimson Organization. Her assignment at the time was to sneak into my house and kill me."

"Wh- what?!" Jack and Nicholas said in their surprise.

"It's a very long and complicated story." Sierra interjected. "Short version. Since I failed my mission, I had two options. Run or die. Any Crimson operative that fails a mission would be hunted down and killed. I was about to run, but Marcus spared my life and offered me a third option. After working with Star Fox, I was pardoned and he let me join the team full time. Throughout my time with Star Fox, he and I just got closer and closer. One thing just lead to another and now we're the happy couple that we are today."

"That's honestly the last thing I'd expect from a couple's meeting story." Jack said. "But, I mean, you two seem to be doing very well for yourselves. So congrats to you both."

"Thanks, we appreciate that." Marcus responded. "Well we can talk about ourselves all day, but we've got some time to kill. Why not tell us about you?"

Jack and Nicholas looked at each other and leaned back in their seats. "Not much we can say about ourselves to be honest." Jack responded. "Nick and I have had each other's back since our kid days, and we ended up entering the academy together. They trained us how to fight, how to be good cops, and taught us the ways of dealing with city life. How to interact with people."

"Damn good students too." Nicholas responded. "They cleared us for Cornerian Air Force training also. We got to fly the new ARW's, and that was surely a hell of a time."

"ARW's?" Sierra asked.

"Armed Response Wings. Just a fancier way of describing the new fighters."

"With the additional training, we had to log in at minimum a thousand flight hours before receiving our commendations." Jack added. "Took us an extra four months but it was worth it though. We're the only two in our class qualified to be recruited for military air force ops. Not that the military has had much need for wartime pilots these days anyways."

"Consider it a blessing that we don't have a need for wartime pilots." Marcus said. "After the last war, the three systems could use a period of peace."

"Come to think of it, didn't you two introduce yourselves as lieutenants?" Sierra asked.

"Yes we did." Nicholas responded. "After we got our flight commendations, we went back to the academy to begin officer's training. There was a little more paper pushing involved, but another year went by and we both obtained the rank of lieutenant. Since we did that we've been spending most of our time escorting senators and tending to the needs of higher ranking individuals. Kind of dull though the more I think about it."

"But, the benefits are better." Jack interjected. "So it's not all that bad."

Another alarm sounded off within the cabin of the shuttle. "Attention crew." A voice said over the loud speaker. "The Lithonian embassy has grounded all air traffic to clear us a path. ETA is one mike. Prepare for arrival."

Marcus and Sierra stood from their bench and Jack and Nicholas did the same. "Say, what are you two doing after we get dropped off?" Marcus asked.

"We're going to be heading back to Alpha City HQ and then reassigned somewhere else most likely." Jack responded. "Why do you ask?"

"Why don't you two come with us?" Sierra interjected from behind Marcus. "We could use more trust worthy faces when we run security for the council."

"Y- You want us?" Nicholas asked in his shock. "To help you? Security for the Council?"

"Why not?" Marcus cheerfully asked. "Give you a taste of our world for a bit. Besides, it'll beat being stuck behind a desk. We can clear it with your C.O. and you guys won't have to worry."

Jack and Nicholas looked at each other and smiled in their excitement. "Hell yea!" Jack responded. "It'll be our honor."

"Perfect." Marcus responded. "Give Sierra the ID of your C.O. and she'll take care of the rest."

Within moments, the shuttle arrived at the edge of Ark City and quickly approached the center. It moved towards a tall, circular building within the center of the old Ark shape. The roof had four doorways leading into the building, and a welcome crew awaiting the landing of the shuttle. After a few moments, the pilot carefully touched down on the platform, and the welcome crew approached it.

The doors opened revealing the crew inside to the welcoming crew. Marcus and his group looked upon an elder anthropomorphic eagle dressed in green Lithonian robes. They greeted the eagle with a smile and the eagle did the same. "Welcome, Marcus and Sierra of Star Fox." Said the eagle. "I am known as Cordain, and I am the emissary to Bikar's Marshall Officers."

Marcus and his crew stepped down from the shuttle and approached the welcome crew. He reached out and shook Cordain's hand and nodded his head. "It is a pleasure." He said. "The two behind me are Lieutenants Cord and Harth. They'll be assisting us in today's security detail."

"Understood." Cordain responded as he gestured Marcus towards the entrance. "All of the marshal officers are present, along with their senators. The summit will begin soon. Please, come this way."

The group approached one of the doorways and noticed the doors opened before them to reveal a large elevator. As they boarded and descended from the roof, Marcus pressed a series of buttons on his wrist communicator. A small hologram of the Lithonian embassy appeared over his wrist, and Marcus took that time to study the building structure. "Ok, before they start the session I want to go over a few things." He said to the group. "I want a pair of guards posted up at every building entrance. Both ground floor, mid docks, and roof. On top of that I want a pair of guards at each entrance to the council chambers. While the session is underway, no one gets in or out of this building without me hearing about it."

Cordain turned his gaze towards a member of his welcome crew and nodded his head. The crew member pressed a finger on his ear piece and relayed Marcus's commands to the rest of the security detail. "Understood, Marcus." Cordain responded. "What else would you have of us?"

"Nothing more than what is already in place." Marcus responded while working with his wrist communicator. "My team and I will post up in the council chambers. We'll be on the inside of the entrances while the guards post up on the outside."

"Very well." Cordain felt a vibration on his side and he reached into his robe to grab a small holocommunicator. He pressed a button and a small holographic rendering of Harbinger appeared before him. "Ah, ship master. How may I be of service?"

Seeing Harbinger's image stunned Marcus for a brief moment, and he smiled at the sight. "Cordain, I trust that young Marcus and his team are with you?" Harbinger asked.

"They are by my side at this moment, ship master." Responded Cordain as he looked to Marcus at his side.

"That is great news. The security detail has positioned more guards at the building entrances." Harbinger turned his head and looked up at Marcus. "I assume that was your doing?"

"One can never be too careful, Ace." Marcus responded. "A lot of VIP's are here. Gotta take precautions."

"In that, we are in agreement." Harbinger paused for a moment as a small holographic image of Tyrell appeared. Tyrell whispered into Harbinger's ear and Harbinger nodded his head. "The council can be delayed no longer. The session is about to begin." He said. "If you are going to enter the chambers, please do so quietly."

"Understood Harbinger." Marcus responded. "Good luck."

Harbinger nodded his head and his holographic image disappeared. As Cordain placed his holocommunicator back into his robe, the elevator slowed to a stop. The doors opened and the crew walked into a long, circular hallway with various entrances towards the council chambers in the center. As they walked, Cordain came to a stop at one of the entrances and gestured Marcus and his team inside. "You may enter the chambers through here." Cordain said to the team. "It has been an honor, Marcus of Star Fox."

"Thanks again Cordain." Marcus responded.

The team slowly entered the council chambers and Marcus created a telepathic link amongst the four of them. "Remember, no talking." He mentally said to his team. "Thoughts only."

Hearing Marcus's words in their heads shocked Jack and Nicholas. "Whoa!" Jack thought as he placed a hand on his head. "You can do that?!"

Sierra turned around and gave the two of them a look. "He is a telepath." She mentally said. "Perhaps the most powerful one to have ever lived. You'll get used to it, don't worry."

The team slowly continued onwards and finally obtained a view of the council chambers. The large, circular chambers were brightly lit from a dome light fixture above. The many senators within the room sat in three regions of the large, circular, theater style seating. Within the center of it all, four arc shaped tables rested on the ground with a holoprojector in the center of all of them. Each system's marshal officers sat at one of the arc shaped tables, and a council mediator sat at the fourth.

Marcus took a moment to study the environment and noticed three other entrances to the chambers. "Remember, keep it quiet." He mentally said to the team. "Sierra, I want you at that entrance to the left. Jack, take the one to the right. I'll walk around and head to the entrance dead ahead. Nick, you stay put here."

The team nodded their heads and they quietly walked to their assigned posts. A few senators noticed them walking on the floor but paid them no mind. Marcus and Harbinger briefly made eye contact as he made his way to his post. The two exchanged a quick nod of their heads before Harbinger turned his focus back towards the council. Similarly, Sierra shared a quick wave with Lucy and smiled at Toran before reaching her post.

As the team reached their posts, they listened in on the council. "Going back to the issue surrounding the trade routes within the Philat System." The mediator said. "Chief Ambassador Tahm had requested more armaments to be delivered for the Philat expansion efforts. Chief Ambassador Hare, your comments on this matter?"

Lucy took a deep breath and looked at Tahm. "Chief Ambassador Tahm, the Lylat Republic is well aware of the terrorist attacks on your trade routes. We have sent you troop transports, and weapons technology to help you combat the insurrectionists. Are the requisitions that we sent you not enough to combat this threat?"

Tahm leaned forward and locked onto her eyes in preparation for an aggressive response. "If the armaments you had already sent us were enough, I wouldn't have brought this matter to attention in the first place." He said in a low tone. "These terrorists are attacking supply convoys that are required to keep the Philat system in a state of balance. They have been a thorn at my side for nearly two years, and I for one am sick and tired of their aggression."

"Chief Ambassador Tahm." Tyrell interjected. "Your aggressiveness at these sessions as of late have been growing more tiresome and less amusing. The Lithonian Republic of Bikar has also sent warriors and arms to your system to assist in this matter, yet you have shown no progress in eliminating the terrorists on your own terms. Without seeing results, sending additional arms into the Philat regions would be a detrimental usage of resources."

"Results? You're asking me for results? Here are your results. Twelve supply convoys raided, five colonies attacked, and hundreds upon hundreds of innocents dead. That was within the last three months. These insurrectionists have proven more difficult to track. They attack, take their prize, and vanish as quickly as they came. We need more men."

Toran adjusted himself in his seat and sat tall. He looked at Tahm and brought his hands together on the table before him. "Guerrilla hit and run tactics are generally a most effective means of combat when a group is put against a larger force." Said Toran. "However, the number of colonized worlds within the Philat system now number five. Lylat and Bikar have sent some of the best weaponry we have along with men and women trained to use them. How is it that they have eluded the Philat army for this long when they have so few worlds to hide in?"

Laura leaned forward in her seat and locked gazes with Toran. "General Toran." She said. "My fleets have been scattered across Philat looking for these terrorists. Whatever their means, they are very good at eluding capture. Even though we only have five planets in our system, they are still planets. Massive in size, and plenty of places for an enemy to hide. If my Chief Ambassador says we need more men, it's because we need more men."

The marshal officers sat quietly for a few moments. They contemplated amongst themselves about what actions to perform. Meanwhile, Marcus continued to preserve the psychic link between his team. "This Tahm guy is a total dick." He thought.

"I'll second that statement." Jack responded. "He's got no patience with the other marshal officers."

"Based on what I can sense from them, Tahm has been like that since the founding of the council. Kind of sucks that our officers and Bikar's officers have had to deal with him. I wonder what his senators must think of him."

"I'm not sure." Sierra mentally said. "But to be honest I don't think I could care less."

"Agreed." Nicholas mentally added. "That being said, politics for me has always been a bit boring anyways."

"Guard duty has always been boring for you, Nick." Jack mentally interjected. "You hated all the posting hours."

"Yea because nothing ever happens." Nick stretched his arms up into the air and took a deep breath. "When was the last time we ever got involved with something-"

All of the lights within the council chambers quickly went dark, and all of the council members quickly stood within their seats and became distressed. Sensing something running afoul, Marcus quickly drew his blaster and rushed towards the marshal officers. The rest of his team did the same and quickly looked about the darkened council chambers. "Nick, you had to open your mouth." Jack hastily said.

"Shut it." Marcus quickly responded. "Power just went out. Stay put for the time being."

"Marcus, what's going on?" Toran asked as he stood from his seat.

"I'm assuming it's just a power outage. Not taking chances though. Just stay put for the time-"

Marcus cut himself off as he noticed the holoprojector in the center of the council chambers flicker on. A large holographic image of an anthropomorphic lion appeared. The lion sat on top of a stool within the hologram, and he twirled a butterfly knife in his hand. A black coat hung loosely over his shoulders, and his tactical pants held a pair of blasters and a chain of knifes along its legs. "Hello, members of the Trinity Council." Said the lion.

Marcus quickly looked at Sierra and pointed to her wrist gauntlet. He quickly remembered that Sierra had her wrist gauntlet updated with a new software patch that allowed her to trace communications. "Sierra, trace this now!" He quickly said.

Sierra quickly holstered her blaster and activated her wrist HUD. "I'm on it."

Marcus turned his attention back towards the lion. "Chief Ambassador Tahm is well familiar with me, but the rest of you will know me as Tanner Lloyd." Said the lion. "This isn't an active communication link, but a message to you ungrateful, ignorant politicians."

"I am the leader of the Philat Liberators, and I take responsibility for the recent attacks on Tahm's fleets. You may be wondering why, but the answer is simple. Tahm has done nothing for the sake of the people of Philat. He neglects the poor, the sick, the weak, and I would see him removed from office."

Marcus looked at Sierra again. "Sierra?" He asked.

"I'm working on it!" Sierra quickly responded.

"Take note of this, until Tahm is removed from his position, I will continue my raids." Lloyd continued. "My campaign will not stop until Tahm resigns. Whether or not it's on his own free will, or by force, he will step down. He has polluted the Philat system enough with his lies and his corruption, and he run the system as a dictatorship compared to a republic. "

"Someone turn this off!" Tahm angrily yelled.

"I can't." The mediator responded. "My controls to the system have been overwritten."

"As for the rest of you politicians, I have but this one message." Lloyd continued. "For allowing Tahm his position for this long, I find you all equally guilty of the same crime. Once I am done with the Philat system, my plans will take my forces outward. For every day that Tahm remains in office, I will strike out at both the Lylat and Bikar system as well. The choice is yours."

Marcus turned once more at Sierra. "SIERRA!" He yelled.

"I got it!" Sierra responded. "This- Wait, this can't be right."

"Where?!"

"It's being sent from the roof of this building!"

Out of instinct, Jack and Nicholas quickly ran from the center of the chambers. "Jack! Nick!" Marcus called out. "Where are you going?!"

"We're on it!" Jack responded. "Keep the marshal officers safe!"

Marcus became frustrated at the two of them running off, but quickly brushed off the emotions and focused on the council. As new security forces arrived within the chambers, Jack and Nicholas boarded an elevator to take them to the roof. Jack checked his ammo count within his blaster and readied it to fire. "You ready?" He asked Nicholas.

Nicholas readied his blaster and nodded his head. "Hell yes." He responded.

The elevator reached the roof top and the two quickly ran forward. They pointed their blasters around the area but there was no one to be seen. They noticed a pair of guards lying dead on the ground, and the sight of the two corpses put them on alert. "What the hell?" Jack asked. "Where is the-"

"Jack, look there." Nicholas said as he pointed to the center of the rooftop.

Nicholas and Jack approached the center and looked down upon a device. "This is a receiver." Nicholas said. "This is being used to relay the message from somewhere else."

"Someone must have planted this here recently." Jack said as he turned towards one of the corpses. "Poor bastard."

Nick continued to work with the receiver but quickly noticed a blinking light on the bottom. "Wait a second." He said as he reached towards the bottom of the receiver. As he examined it more closely, he heard a ticking sound and he panicked. "JACK! BOMB!"

Nicholas quickly stood up and pushed Jack away from the receiver. Moments afterwards, the receiver exploded and the small shockwave threw them towards the edges of the roof. Jack felt disoriented and a high pitch ring went off in his ears numbing his sense of hearing. His vision was blurred as he slowly looked around his surroundings, and he slowly rose back to his feet. As his vision came back to him, he looked around and noticed Nicholas lying on the ground motionless. "Nick?" He said. "Nick!"

Jack shook the starts from his vision and quickly approached Nicholas. He rolled Nicholas on his back and became mortified at the sight. Large, bloody wounds could be seen on his neck and arms, and a larger wound still was found on his back. "Nick!" Jack screamed as he held Nicholas. "Nick, wake up! Nick!"

A tall trail of smoke rose from the roof of the Lithonian embassy, and the entirety of Ark City went on full alert. However, from the rooftop of a building in Alpha City, a pair of black furred jackals watched the chaos unfold through a pair of binoculars. Using an advanced zoom feature, the two could see Jack holding Nicholas on the roof top a few dozen miles away. "Damn it." One said to the other. "That wasn't Star Fox."

"Lloyd isn't going to like this." Said the other. "But his message is clear now."

One of the jackals lowered his binoculars and sighed. "We need to get moving." He said. "Lylat will lock down the mega gates following this attack. We need to get out of here before that happens."

"No." The other responded. "The gates will already be sealed by the time we get to them. We'll go to the safe house, and use the long range transmitter to contact Lloyd."

"Fine. Let's get moving then."