Star Fox:
War for Corneria
Chapter 7
I own an original story, this is not that story.
"The Seat does not acknowledge Corneria at this time." Vadik spoke as Atri strode in, flanked by a guard and tailed by general Pepper and another bodyguard. "Please, continue, lord O'Donnell"
"Not only would my men be grateful, but the people of Papetoon on the far side of Meteo would be too." Wolf preached what could be the end of a closing plea, "but don't take my word for the situation on board Saggrasso. Meet the newest addition to my staff."
The guard to Wolf's left, the one between him and most of the other occupants of the room, took of his helmet, to reveal a white muzzle against an almond brown fur. Green eyes scanned the room, as all eyes fell on him and a deadly silence enveloped the room.
General pepper was the one to break the silence by venturing a question, "Is that really you, Fox?"
"Affirmative, general" Fox replied, sounding confident as ever, "and before anyone asks, no, my brother did not hurt me physically or mentally in any way, shape or form." then he steps towards the projector. "I wrote a report on the base once during the aparoid invasion. This is the only source of information you have you consider reliable. Time changed many things since though, and I have had the chance to observe the daily proceedings of the base and it's inhabitants. It is a more suitable space station for travel east of Solar than the Beltino orbital gate. The crime rate is lower, and the service better than any space port in Lylat. I therefore recommend"
Then Arti cut in, "Fox McCloud, as the chancellor of Corneria I order you to stop sprouting this ridiculous propaganda and return home."
"Negative sir" Fox replied, voice remaining formal, but his bristling fur gave away his concealed anger, "I'm a resident of Papetoon with a permanent visa for Corneria, not a Cornarian. This means that I am only under your rule as long as I am on the planet. Any attempts to force me to return to the planet will be considered abduction, with these good men as my witnesses."
"Glad you see it that way" Wolf said with a smirk, at about the same time Arti declared, "if you wish to associate with terrorists, so be it," while rising from his chair.
"Are you really gonna leave without saying goodbye to your son, old friend?" Wolf replied with all the venom he had, while the second guard removed his helmet to reveal the face of a hybrid, a clear cross between a fox and a wolf, and by the looks of him, the other two representing Saggrasso here could have been his parents.
James had a look of confusion on his face, that quickly morphed into realization. "You mean to say this asshole is the man who dumped me as a kit? My biological father? Was I bad for your carreer or something? Typical."
"If he'd had a heart that might have hurt him, son" Wolf chided his adopted child, "But back to business, I'd like to call a vote on the matter of lifting the ban on trade with Saggrasso and acknowledging it as a trade station.
"Is there anyone who wishes to be heard before this vote?" the old turtle asked, greatly enjoying the fireworks in the conference room, although he did not show it.
"I do." Bill said as he got up after some furious texting with the Katina elders. "I think it would be good for both end customers and the economy as a whole if the Beltino Orbital Gate got competition in organized interplanetary travel. I won't lie here and say I trust O'Donnell, but if Fox testifies that Space Base Saggrasso is no longer a threat, I can believe that. He saved all our hides twice now. I think we owe him that much that we trust his word."
"Anyone else?"
"Yes." Arti replied from his position in the doorway, "I'd like to plead once again for the destruction of the pirate lair known as Saggrasso, along with each and every inhabitant that has a bounty on his or her head."
"If half of those had had a fair trail I might agree with you, Arti" Wolf replied, "but these have been declared outlaw without any form of legal defense, and often without a proven crime, like say, election fraud or something."
"Says Corneria's most wanted."
"Over one bad contract, though I saved your hides twice since."
"If you two are only gonna repeat the argumentations of the Katina meeting last month I call the debate closed. Everyone in favor of the destruction of Saggrasso, please rise."
Arti walked back to his seat to signify his vote. Upon realizing it was the only one though, he returned to his post by the door to witness. "Your vote has been noted. Anyone for maintaining the ban on Saggrasso, please rise."
After a few minutes of quiet, Vadik spoke up again, "and those in favor of lifting the ban, acknowledging Saggrasso as a space port?" despite his old age, the turtle himself was the first to rise.
Then an elderly feline behind a plate labeled Finchina stood. "As long as we can remember, our people have been unable to undergo direct trade with Corneria. For our economy to finally flourish, we need the trade lines through Meteo Saggrasso offers."
Bill had been texting furiously with the elders of Katina, before rising. "The Katina elders have agreed it is in their best interest to lift the ban."
That's when the Prime minister of Mcbeth, a mole, spoke up, rising from his seat. "Macbeth pays its debts, and we owe Wolf for his efforts in helping our people convert the Venomian war machine back into mining stations. Without his workforce and supplies, we would still not be operational again."
"Then majority has been reached. The Lylat wide ban on trade with Saggrasso is lifted. Next on the agenda is the Weapons Disassembly Treaty that we have been discussing to reduce the threat of war. Over the entire past year the discussion has been stuck. I was hoping a new face with new intel would lead to new arguments and ultimately a resolution."
"My intel suggests that this is neither the time, nor the manner to discuss such a treaty" Wolf says, grabbing his portable projector. "First off, there are no representatives of the armed world of Sauria, nor the army of Venom. Second, traders from beyond the outer reaches of Lylat report sightings of a massive army moving in our direction. Disarming now would only make it easy on these forces. I have friendly contacts with the saurians, so getting them into negotiations should be easy, but I have a counter proposal to reduce likelihood of internal warfare I propose that we relinquish our individual military might to this council, under the control of your best general. Maybe under your command, General Pepper, you have organized a successful military defense twice now against seemingly impossible odds, and they will be worse this time. On top of that, this council trusts you."
"We're leaving" Arti stated, pushing open the door he leaned against. "This man has no business knowing military secrets" he was quickly followed out by the two guards." He froze in the doorway when hearing a voice behind him.
"Bye Daddy"
"Seize them." was all he said. The two guards instantly swirled around. And were soon joined by four more, so that Fox, Wolf and James, each with two guns at their chests.
"This is an act of Treason and War" Vadik replied, while at the same time, Pepper stood, barring the lines of fire, saying "Have you lost your mind? Stand down troopers."
"Pepper" Arti spoke, his voice sounding icy while his hand went for his gun. "You are hereby found guilty of aiding the enemy and theft of government property. I sentence you to death." he shot, which was followed by a loud crash. Fox had grabbed a table segment and thrown it at the guards, while Wolf had dashed forward and caught the shot on his chest. "Ow well..." the white wolf spoke leveling another shot, "he won't be doing that a second time." and just as he was about to pull the trigger, he lost his stance, falling down causing the ceiling lights to shatter in a rain of glass.
As Wolf came back up from the leg sweep Vadik took another sip of his tea, which he had sielded from the glass, while he pushed a knee into an emergency button hidden below the desk. Wolf disarmed the downed chancellor and pulled him up pinned as a living shield, just in time to convince the guards not to fire. Then the flag of Zoness behind him was moved aside and ten armed reptiles marched in, and at the chair's signal, engaged the Cornerian guards.
Using the distraction, Arti stomped Wolf's foot, weakening his grip, which allowed the arctic wolf to break free and escape down the hall. "Damn," Wolf muttered, "And I am supposed to be Saggrasso's top Mercenary. I can't even keep a politician pinned down anymore. Fox, remind me to thank Slippy for the invention of laser proof vests."
"I guess there goes our alliance with Corneria." Bill muttered.
"I'm so sorry you had to see that." Pepper replied, "I guess this means Corneria's general so I guess I should leave, as I have no more place in this council."
"This meeting is in recess for 24 hours to adjust for the new situation." Vadik speaks up, "and someone make sure that weasel gets off my planet."
"Pepper, with us, please." Wolf stated as he marched out of the room, not doubting the broken man would follow.
A/N and once again, a chapter that took a 90 degree turn from the plan I had, but what else is new.
