Aftermath
---------Corneria---------
The next morning...
James could not believe his eyes, as he looked at the city. Almost all the buildings were completely destroyed, and the streets were covered in craters. Huge clouds of black smoke filled the sky, and fire surrounded the city. Corneria City was reduced to a wasteland.
People screamed at the sight, and some fell to the ground and cried. Who would do such a thing, they all thought.
---------Cornerian Army Naval Base---------
Surprisingly, the naval base was still intact.
"We've just received a message from five planets, sir."
"Show me," said General Bud Miller, a human. He was in his early 50's, and has been a general for five years.
The computer operator showed the message on the view screen for everyone to see.
Corneria:
We know what you are creating.
We will not stand for this.
If you do not stop the produvtion of this super bomb,
we will go to war.
Do not let it come to that.
Negotiations will take place tomorrow.
Zoness, Titania, Fichina, Katina, and Macbeth
People gaped at the view screen. They had no idea what they were talking about. They weren't creating any 'super bomb.' Nothing is in production at all. What is going on, they thought.
"What the hell do they mean by that, sir?" asked the Captain.
"No idea," replied the General. "I think somebody set us up."
"Andross. It's gotta be him."
The General sighed. "They will not take that answer."
"So what do we say to them? You know, we can lie about the bomb and say that it's been destroyed or something," suggested the Lieutenant.
"But what if they find out?" asked the Captain. "We'll be in a real bad situation there."
"This is a crisis. I do not want to go to war. But if they attack us, we will fight back."
---------Corneria---------
James saw Vixy sulking around the streets. He ran up to her. "Are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine," she said, managing to smile a little. "What happened?"
"No idea. Where's your dad? I gotta talk to him."
"He's at the hospital." She fell silent, and a tear glistened on her cheek.
"What is it?"
"He's...hurt bad," she said. "I don't know what happened, but he's in real pain."
James's heart sank, as he made a break for the hospital. Vixy followed, trying to convince herself that her father was still alright. They reached the hospital, which was still intact. They bursted through the door, and asked for Chief Reinard. Room 109, the nurse said. James ran through the hallway, Vixy behind him. They reached the door and went inside.
Vixy gasped at her father. He was unconscious and his whole body was bleeding excessively. "What happened?" asked James.
"He's been shot by one of those men," replied the nurse. "I'll, um, leave you three." She walked out, knowing what was going to happen.
Vixy walked up to her father, tears streaming down her cheeks. She kneeled down on the floor. The Chief's eyes opened up slightly. He smiled weakly. "V...Vixy..." he whispered. Vixy tried to smile, but couldn't. James watched, feeling pity for her. "I...don't think I'm... going to make it..."
"No...please don't...please don't go..." Vixy moaned. She layed her arms around her father. He rubbed her back, trying to calm her down.
"Don't worry about me..." he said, his voice getting raspy. "I'm just...glad that you're...okay. That's all...that matters...to me now..." He looked over at James, motioning him to come over. He walked over to the bed. "James...remember how...I told you to do...nothing until the right time comes?" James nodded. "I think...this is the right time..."
"Sir..." But before James could say anything else, the Chief's heartbeat flatlined. Vixy whimpered and continued to hug her father. James could not believe it. He looked down, not believing what was happening. He walked over to Vixy, and comforted her. They stayed there for a while.
---------City Streets---------
Peppy and Pigma were looking for James, when they saw him walking away from the hospital. "Hey James, what happened?" asked Pigma. James was silent for a while.
"James, what's wrong?" asked Peppy.
He told them. They were silent for a while. Peppy sighed. Pigma closed his eyes for a little bit. Then they saw Jim Edwards walking down the sidewalks. James walked up to him.
"You alright?" asked Jim.
"Yeah," lied James. He sighed, then said, "The Chief's dead."
"Yes, I know," said Jim, with a blank look on his face. "Where's Vixy?"
"She's at the hospital. She just wanted to stay there a little longer."
Jim sighed. "My God, this is bad. You know that we have five planets wanting to go to war with us?"
"What for?" asked Pigma.
"They think that we are creating some kind of super bomb to use against them. Well, we're not."
"Think we've been set up?" asked Peppy.
"My thoughts exactly. But they won't believe that."
"Sir? Do you think we'll really go to war?"
Jim was silent for a while. Finally, he said, "Yes. But I hope I'm wrong."
---------Cornerian Army Naval Base---------
The next day...
"Put them on the view screen," said the General. The view screen split into sections, showing five anthropomorphic animals from all five planets. Their names (not nicknames) were shown at the bottom of their given section. "What do you want?"
"We want you to knock some sense into those little pieces of shit you call brains!" shouted Harry Caroso.
"What he said," said William Black. "There is no sense in your plan to bomb all of us."
"I tell you, we are not producing any of these 'super bombs' you speak of," said the General. "This has all been a lie."
Bruce Brodie shook his head. "Oh, sure it is..." He held up the bomb that Andross had created (unknown to them).
General Miller was shocked. He had no idea this thing even existed. "And where did you get that from?"
"From a friend of ours. We know it's from you, because of this." The camera zoomed up to the bomb, and there was the General's signature.
By this time, everybody was confused. They knew that they weren't making anything like this at all, but how the fuck did the General's signature get on there?
"I'm telling you, this is all a lie," said the General, very nervously.
"Your persuasion isn't working, General Miller," said Grant O'Donnell. "We want to avoid war as much as you do, but we have no choice."
The view screen switched off. The General wiped the sweat off his forehead and sighed. "Sir? What do we do now?" asked the Captain.
He sighed once more, then responded: "Begin drafting an army."
To be continued...