As they traveled to the East side of Corneria City, Fox's communicator rang. He couldn't look at the ID while piloting, so he simply answered:
"Hello?"
"Fox! Where are you?! We were supposed to meet me at the Star Fox Headquarters!"
"Oh, uh, sorry, Lucy... We got sidetracked."
"Sidetracked eh? Whatever... where are you now?"
"On our way to the detainment cells on the East side of the city. Get a jet bike out of the hanger, take a back road, and meet us there."
"Oh, so you're actually going to be there this time?"
"I don't have time for this, just meet us there! OK?" Fox answered in a slightly angered tone.
"OK, Fox."
Fox closed his communicator, he and Bill could see the detainment complex ahead. They slowed to a stop and jumped off their bikes. The area looked deserted, several weeds were growing over the sidewalk and the metal parts of the doors were rusted.
Lucy arrived about five minutes later. Fox and Bill were taking turns trying to break the main door open.
"So, Lucy, how did you get here through all the traffic?" Bill asked casually.
Lucy ignored Bill's question and looked towards Fox: "So, Fox, why are we here?"
"I think Peppy is inside." He replied.
"Dad? Why?"
"I saw a note he left us on his communicator back in his office at the Capitol."
"OK, enough messing around with the door! Step aside!" Lucy yelled out as she pulled out a blaster and started shooting the lock on the door.
"LUCY! What do you think you're doing?! You're going to get us all killed!" Fox shouted.
Lucy kicked the door open. "Well, you guys probably wouldn't have made it in there by picking that rusty old lock."
The three entered the building. The inside looked just as bad as the outside, there was dirt on the floor and cracks in the ceiling; the bars on the jail cell doors were old and rusted.
"Peppy?" Fox called out.
"Fox! Over here!" A voice shouted in the distance. Fox, Bill, and Lucy ran towards the source. They found Peppy locked in an old cell.
"Am I glad to see you guys!" Peppy responded.
"We're glad to see you too, dad! Now, how do we get this lock open?"
Despite the fact that the jail itself was old, the lock was a new steel, key-activated lock.
"Peppy, how did you get in here?" Bill asked.
"I can't tell you here... Fox, do you have your command ship? We can discuss it as we LEAVE Corneria."
"Yes, it's back at the Star Fox Headquarters." As Fox finished his sentence, Peppy's eyes opened wide as he looked straight at Fox:
"Fox, we need to get out of here NOW. The Headquarters are NOT safe!"
Bill picked up a medium-sized stone lying on the ground and heaved it at the lock on the cell door. The lock assembly was unaffected, but the old iron bars shattered as the rock broke through them.
"Um, OK, that was easy... Let's go!" Lucy motioned to the others as she ran towards the exit.
Peppy rode on the backseat of Fox's jet bike. For Peppy's safety, they took several side alleys and old roads around the city to get back to the Headquarters. They piloted the bikes near the entrance to the command ship.
"Quick! Let's get going! It's not safe here!" Peppy said as he walked up the ramp of the command ship. The others followed, but were quickly distracted by an open knife that flew past Fox's head and struck the interior wall of the ship.
In one swift motion, Fox, Bill, and Lucy turned, drew their blasters, and began firing at a team of gangsters that appeared around the corner of the hanger. The gangster's that were close enough continued to throw knives at the team.
"Peppy! Who are these guys?" Fox yelled.
"They're from Venom!"
"So Dash is trying to take over Corneria after all?"
"Not exactly..."
"Shut up and grab a blaster old man!" Bill screamed at Peppy, who quickly grabbed a spare blaster from inside the ship and joined the others in the firefight.
"Bill, you get the ones advancing on the right; Lucy and I will take the closer ones on the left... Peppy, you..."
"Bill! They're advancing!" Lucy cried out.
"Get down!" Bill yelled as he hurled a flashbang grenade at the main group of gangsters. This slowed their advancement.
"Fox, we've got to get out of here. There's too many of them!" Bill shouted to Fox. Peppy radioed to ROB requesting that he close the door. The ramp began to rise and retract.
"ROB, just get us off the ground! Forgot the safety protocols on the door!" Peppy shouted over the intercom. The ship quickly levitated off the ground, the door was about half closed. Some of the gangsters had tried to jump onto the levitating platform, but none of them succeeded.
"ROB! Set a course for Sector Y. Travel outside Cornerian command space, and proceed for hyperspace travel." Fox requested.
"Affirmative, ETA to Sector Y, 94 minutes."
The team walked up to the bridge and sat down at the table.
"OK, dad, we're waiting..."
"Alright," Peppy sighed as he began his story.