Remastered 21/07/2014

'I can't do this. Fox is my friend.' Bill thought as he paced the length of his office. Everything was going to shit. Jack had called him and forced a report out of him. He hated speaking with the wolf. Nothing the young wannabe President said sounded legit. "Why did I let him get to me? In the academy we were trained to never give into mind tricks. But he had so much information, and knew so many secrets."

"Bill, ya there buddy?" Bill looked over to the projection and sighed in relief as he saw Falco's face. "What's up?"

"Falco are you sure we're doing the right thing?" Bill watched the question hit Falco like a brick.

Falco turned away from the bulldog unable or unwilling to show emotion. "We can't think of it as right or wrong Bill. In fact it's best not to think about it at all. Fox would understand given the situation."

"But how can we be sure? And Krystal's gotta be dealt with now too! She'll sense us coming before we even have a chance." Bill slammed his fist down as he rested in his chair. "Fucking hell. No one deserves this kind of treatment; we should be helping Fox not planning to kill him!"

"Shh, Beriul might be listening in!" Falco rubbed his temples, the headache he had now was going to be nothing compared to the pain he would be haunted by. "Pepper seems to know a lot of what's going on as well. He reprogrammed Rob so that now we can't even get clearance to leave! The Great Fox is locked tight until Fox gets back."

Bill smirked. "Looks like my end of the plan is going to fail." Finally Bill had some solace; some small form of redemption in this twisted web of lies. He wouldn't feel as guilty knowing he let Fox escape death by his hands.

"You going to tell Beriul?" Falco asked wearing his trademark grin. Bill smirked and shrugged before he cut the feed. The bulldog had a new mission and he'd be damned if some punk light years away was going to stop him.

"Cadet Officer, get me a land master. I've got guests to check up on." Bill walked swiftly from his office. 'I may not be able to stop Beriul but delaying him will have to do.'

"Slippy! Get Rob unplugged, we're going to have to do a master reset. It should get him back to normal." Amanda said as she set some plates of food down beside the toad.

"Pepper's got full control of him, hon. Even if we did that they would have backups reloaded into him within seconds." Slippy threw a wrench across the room in anger. "Pepper thinks we're out to kill Fox. He'll get word to Peppy then…"

"Calm down." Falco growled narrowly dodging the second wrench. "And it's a good damn thing you've got horrible aim that could have hurt!"

"Fuck. You." Slippy spat, turning to the food and eating it half-heartedly. "You weren't here when I told Fox what Jack made me do."

Falco's jaw dropped. "You told Fox about what you installed?!" He covered his face with his palm. "Why not just fucking tell him who's got the best damn merc team in the galaxy planning on capturing and killing their leader!"

"Falco, seriously, shut up!" Amanda yelled, glaring daggers at the falcon. Falco threw up his hands in defense.

"Fine, but don't come crying to me when Beriul finds out he's got a loose end." Falco stormed out of the bridge wishing he could escape the hell he was walking into.

"He's starting to crack." Amanda stated slowly munching at the food she prepared. "We should tell Jack." Slippy nodded. "That is, if Rob will let us."

"Rob can be counter hacked and I'll rather do it myself then let some kid fresh out of the academy touch him." Slippy stared a hole through the lifeless robot, wishing Pepper had kept well enough alone.

"Peppy, how is my favorite prisoner?" Jack laughed as he opened the cell door. He flicked on the lights revealing a rather large empty felt like it was more of an apartment then a prison cell. But to Peppy it could have been the king suite at the 5 star hotel; he was a prisoner, and this reflection of emptiness emulated his state of mind.

Jack's boots hitting the cement floor played the musical to which he directed. The wolf cackled as Peppy's emotionless face was revealed by the light. "Have you heard the news?" Jack grabbed Peppy's jaw effectively gaining the old hare's full attention. "Fox is on Fichina! Do you remember what that means?" Jack forced Peppy to shake his head from side to side. "No?" Jack let Peppy's face drop before punching him harshly. "That's for not remembering what we learned in school yesterday! It was a movie day! Isn't that what you kids like?" Peppy finally began to show live as he glared at Jack.

"You may look like a wolf Beriul. But you're a snake on the inside." Peppy held his defiant glare only to receive another punch for his efforts.

"I didn't see you raise your hand." Jack laughed, watching Peppy slump to the floor. "As for your comment I'm not the bad man here! This wouldn't have happened if McCloud would pay more attention to his young impressionable audience." Peppy spat the blood in his mouth as close to Jack as he could. "Oh you've never heard this version of the story? Well I've got a meeting to attend to so you'll have to make do with the short version. It began with-"A knock at the door interrupted Jack's story with an aggravated sigh he headed for the door waving the officer in. "Make it quick."

"Package for General Hare sir. It's from his daughter and is password encrypted." The officer saluted Jack and tossed the small box in front of Peppy, smiling as he left. Leaving the two alone once more.

"Sympathetic gestures, the most likely given to those bound by bars." Jack kicked the box out of Peppy's reach. "Like I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted McCloud was a hero to me in my younger days. Back when I was impressionable, and stupid." Jack walked calmly around Peppy enjoying the hare's silent suffering. "You see he visited my school before, the entire Star Fox team did. They promised the one thing fans crave. Autographs with a meet and greet for the top students in my school." Jack stopped, and for a second Peppy swore he saw a slight smile.

"Think about that Pep. To get an autograph from your hero, your idol is the closest thing you can get to becoming that person." Jack seemed to get lost in a daydream once more, even daring to crack a full smile. "But that day, my idol shattered my dreams because you guys deemed my school unworthy. The Star Fox team -the heroes of Lylat - made a fucking ten minute appearance then left. I never knew how self centered and money hungry mercenaries were before; but that day I learned who Star Fox really was." Peppy gasped but said nothing. Jack growled and kicked him hard in the stomach, his grin widening as he watched Peppy writhe in pain. "I spent all my years wanting to be like Fox McCloud, to be a leader of a great mercenary team. To save the galaxy and all that bull shit. But I learned that mercenaries are the lost form of scum on this rock they call a planet. Paid criminals and nothing more." Jack's watch beeped twice, signaling his meeting. "Oh look you've gone and made me late."

With a final kick to Peppy's stomach he left, the same smile he walked in with glued to his face. He flicked off the light, leaving Peppy to nurse his wounds in darkness and silence.

"All this because of a fucking autograph?" Peppy growled and forced himself to sit up. He slowly made his way over to the box the soft glow coming from it guiding his unsteady hands. Once he finally grasped the box the lid came off effortlessly. Clearly the guard who gave Beriul this box was misinformed. Peppy reached in the box, pulling out a single piece of paper that glowed the same color as the box.

'Sit tight old friend, we're coming to save you.'

Peppy smiled, laughing to himself. Jack was sure to hate this development, but by the time he knew Peppy would be long gone.

"Krys?" Fox whisper, rousing his fiancee from a light slumber. Krystal moaned and fought against the idea of moving. "Come on Krys, it's your shift." Krystal groaned and opened her eyes sitting up in spite of herself. Her mind was still tired but it was alert enough to trick her into action.

"How long was I out?" She mumbled as Fox began pulling off some of his gear.

"About an hour or two longer than we promised." Fox laughed as she threw a pillow at him. He knew she'd be a little bit upset, but he had his reasons. "And before you get too revved up about it, I notice you haven't been sleeping well. I figured you could use the extra hours since you seemed so exhausted." Krystal sighed, she hated keeping these secrets from him.

"Thanks, but you should have woke me up when we agreed, you're not going to get as much rest now because of it." Fox shrugged, Krystal knew then that her argument was a lost cause; he was still stubborn about her safety, though not near as bad as before. She yawned as she finished zipping up her suit. "Get some sleep Fox. And seeing how you let me get a few hours of sleep; I'll make some breakfast for us when I get you up."

"Sounds divine." Fox grinned pulled Krystal into a hug and kissed her neck before collapsing beside her on the bed. He rolled over; bathing himself in her scent as she finished getting ready. The sound of his rhythmic breathing signaled Krystal that it was all clear to cry. Tears steadily streamed down her face as she took up position with her sniper focused on the warehouse a few miles out.

'You don't deserve the punishment. I'm going to protect you as you have protected me. Sleep my warrior, the answers are coming.'

"Commander Grey to all frequencies, I repeat, Commander Grey to all frequencies. Fox, Krystal you there?"

Krystal wiped the tears from her face, and tapped her headset. "What are you doing out here Bill?"

"Krystal! Finally, now listen Falco has informed me that Rob has malfunctioned. It seems our old friend Pepper has instructed him to lockdown the Great Fox until Fox arrives back on it safe and sound."

"That's good news for us Bill but why come all this way to tell me that?" Krystal sensed pride in Bill's thoughts and smiled. He had abandoned Beriul's plan like she did. "Thank you Bill, that'll give us more than enough time."

"I wish I could do more. Give my best to Fox and tell him that," Bill took a steadying breath, still not believing the deeds he considered for a second. "I'm sorry. I'll get there as soon as I can with an evac. Until then keep with Beriul's plan."

"Will do, good luck Bill. Beriul will not be happy with you." Krystal tapped her headset again, cutting the link between them. She focused her attention back to the mission. She knew that the arms deal was a legit threat - that part of Beriul's plan was true - but the parties involved were very much fake. Random names placed on people so that Fox would kill an innocent Cornerian soldier ruining his reputation and causing an act of war against Corneria. Krystal refocused her sights before sighing, her telepathy would be more than enough to find these traffickers.

"Krys," Krystal froze moving as she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Who is Beriul?"