The light of Solar glared off the sickly green cloud of gases surrounding the planet Venom. As dozens of tiny slipspace portals opened up miles away from the Bolse defense satellite, each pilot in each Arwing took a deep breath.

"This is it, boys," said captain Malzar. "All fighters report in."

"Gold seven, standing by," Fox heard a pilot say through his headset. Every pilot continued, reporting their squad color and number.

"Green three, standing by."

"Green nine, standing by."

Gold five, standing by."

"Red eleven, standing by..." the pilots continued on, Malzar listening intently for any pilot who wasn't there.

"Blue four, standing by," Fox heard Bill Grey report.

"Red eight, standing by."

"Blue two, standing by," Slippy said, adjusting the aiming sensitivity on his Arwing.

"Blue five, standing by," Fox called in.

Malzar nodded, seeing that everyone was present. "Lock stabilizers in free-maneuvering positions," he commanded the pilots. Slowly, the stabilizing wings on every Arwing were extended, revealing micro-jets on the inside of each wing that helped in evasive combat maneuvers. "The air duct is on the lower East side of the station, I repeat, lower east side," said Malzar.

The Arwings angled themselves downward once they reached Bolse, plunging towards the surface with their blaster cannons blazing. High powered defense batteries were manned from underneath the surface, blasting at nearby Arwings.

"Alright, red and blue squadrons, draw the battery fire away from Gold squadron. Green squadron, engage any enemy fighters that appear. Gold squadron, follow me to search for the air duct," Malzar said.

"Affirmative," said Fox, angling his Arwing across the surface of Bolse. "Alright, Bill, Slippy, follow me. Most of the batteries seem to be trying to keep Gold squadron away from that area about a mile down. That's gotta be where the air duct is."

"I'm with you, Fox," said Slippy, boosting his Arwing forward so that he was flanking Fox's left side. Bill followed suit.

Fox drove his Arwing into a steep dive towards the batteries, blasting at them with his own laser cannons. They turned away from Gold squadron and began firing torrents of blaster fire towards his Arwing, which Fox looped, spun, and barrel-rolled to avoid.

Slippy bravely swooped down over the batteries, blasting one apart with a burst of blaster fire. "Got it!" he laughed, flying back upwards. Unbeknownst to him, three of the batteries turned towards him and began charging their cannons. They were just about to shoot Slippy's Arwing down when Bill fired into them, blowing all three of them up.

"You better watch yourself Slippy. Those things can turn around, you know," he said.

"Oh... sorry guys. Thanks, Bill," said slippy sheepishly.

"Don't mention it."

Fox dove down towards the batteries again, furiously blasting laser burst after laser burst at them, trying to conjure up the awful memory of Cain slaying Peppy to fuel his rage. The batteries he was shooting at exploded, along with part of the surface of Bolse. Inside, one of the service corridors exploded, sending burning bodies and androids hurtling into space.

"Fox, pull up!" Bill cried.

Gripping the control yoke tightly, Fox pulled it back as hard as he could until he could feel the veins in his neck bulging with strain. The Arwing scraped the surface of Bolse briefly and passed through the white-hot flames caused by the explosion, but emerged from the smoke okay.

"You okay, Fox?" Slippy asked nervously.

"Yeah, I'm okay. My shields got a tad cooked, but my ship's fine," Fox said, laser-wiping a thin layer of soot off the windscreen of his Arwing.

Meanwhile, Gold squadron was making its way through the battery fire towards a small outlet on the surface of Bolse, where Captain Malzar had picked up strong carbon monoxide readings with his Arwing's scanner. Malzar barrel-rolled in front of one of his teammates, deflecting a laser back at one of the batteries and destroying it.

"Stay tight, fellas, we're going in," said Malzar, arcing his fighter into a dove towards the air duct. He fired three rapid laser bursts at the vent, but to his surprise, all of them were deflected. Malzar seemed confused for a moment, then his eyes widened. "Pull up!" he shouted, pulling his Arwing out of the dive quickly. "There's a shield there, pull up!" Malzar cried.

The other fighters followed him quickly, flying away from the vent. "What do we do now?" asked Gold seven, alarmed.

"There has to be some kind of deflector tower powering that shield," said Malzar. "Green team, get your asses over here, there aren't any fighters. Find the deflector tower powering this shield and destroy it!" he said.

The five Arwings in Green squadron turned and spiraled toward Gold squadron, beginning to scour the surface of Bolse for a large deflection tower powering the shield.

"There it is, I see it," said Green three. He led the other fighters towards a large, metal column rising from the surface of Bolse. All seven of the fighters in both Green and Gold squadrons opened fire on the base of the tower, blasting apart the metal paneling and wires, until finally the tower collapsed into the station.

"Thanks for the assistance, Green squadron," said Malzar. Then a small blip on his radar screen made him frown. "Looks like you better get back up there, Greens, Venomian fighters are inbound," said the grizzled old captain.

Sure enough, five dozen Venomian fighters came swooping down onto the scene, blasting at the Arwings with their twin laser cannons. After the escape of the Eagle's Eye from the Venomian flagship, Captain White had hastily returned to Bolse to inform the personnel of a possible attack, bringing all of his fighters and pilots with him. With White came Cain, bringing his very own, customized starfighter to the battle.

"Alright, now we can take care of this," said Captain Malzar, once again plunging towards the air duct. He and the other members of Gold squadron sank half a dozen blaster bolts into the air vent, blowing it apart. They flew into the air ducts speedily, soaring into the tight tunnel in single file. Soon, other tunnels began branching out from the main one, and the main tunnel widened until Malzar could fly side-by-side with Gold five.

"Almost there," said Malzar, reaching up to a button on his headset. Before he could press it, however, three Venomian fighters came hurtling out of the side tunnels, following closely behind the three Arwings of Gold squadron.

One of the Venomian fighters fired two quick shots, immediately disabling one of Gold seven's stabilizing wings. With a howl of dismay, the pilot's Arwing smashed into the bottom of the tunnel and exploded.

"Evasive maneuvers, Gold five! We have to reach the core!" shouted Malzar. Both Gold five and Malzar flew erratically from side to side in the tunnel, desperately trying to avoid being shot down by the Venomian fighters.

The leader of the Venomian starfighters had a ship that looked slightly different from the others. It was smaller and sleeker, but no less deadly. The pilot of this ship was none other than Cain. Anticipating the movements of Gold five, Cain depressed the firing button on his control yoke, blowing apart the engine of Gold five's Arwing. The fighter immediately burst into flames, tearing itself apart with explosions.

Breathing heavily, Malzar pressed the button on the side of his headset, extending a green scouter over his right eye. Still jerking his fighter around the tunnel wildly, Malzar targeted a large cylinder that he was quickly approaching: the shield of the core. A small, red circle appeared through the scouter, marking the plasma vent, and Malzar released his smart bomb, letting it fly towards the cylinder. "Smart bomb away!" he cried joyfully.

He turned his fighter and began flying down a different tunnel, hoping to escape that way. He turned back to look at the cylinder, but to his dismay there was a large explosion on the outside of its armored surface. "Negative," he reported into his headset. "It didn't go in." That was the last thing he managed to say before Cain's fighter blasted his out of the air.

Over the surface of Bolse, things weren't going much better either. Green squadron was almost wiped out by the onslaught of Venomian fighters, the last of the Greens preferring to fill in the vacant fourth position in Red squadron than go it alone.

"Fox," Fox heard Bill say frightfully into his headset, "Malzar and Gold squadron are finished. You're the only squad captain left here. What do we do?" he asked.

Fox gritted his teeth. "Red squadron, you do your best to survive out here. Draw as many Venomian fighters as you can away from the air duct. Bill, Slippy," Fox took a deep breath before continuing, "let's close it up. We're going into the core," he said.

Red squadron obeyed, blasting at any Venomian fighters that attempted to follow Blue squadron as they entered the air ducts. "Stay sharp," Bill said. "There were fighters waiting for Gold squadron, their probably still waiting for us."

Fox led Slippy and Bill through the tunnels warily, watching for any signs of fighters. "Closing in on target: two thousand meters to go," said Slippy.

"Bill, Slippy, stay far behind me. If those fighters get between us, you may be able to blast them," he said.

"Sure, okay," said Bill. But before either he or Slippy could make a move, the three Venomian starfighters came out of nowhere, their laser cannons blazing.

Fox cursed and pointed the nose of his Arwing down to avoid getting blasted. Behind him, neither Slippy or Bill seemed to be faring very well.

One of the Venomian fighters clipped the side of Slippy's Arwing. It wasn't much, but Slippy began getting readouts of fuel draining from his ship. "Agh! I'm hit, guys. I don't know if I can stay with you," said Slippy, struggling to maintain control of his Arwing. "I'll try to–"

"No, Slippy. Just get back to the base, if you stay you may not be able to make the jump through slipspace," said Fox, grimacing at the loss.

"Sorry," mumbled Slippy wholeheartedly he turned into another side tunnel, trying to find his way back up to the surface to blast back to Fortuna.

"Let him go, stay with these two," commanded Cain to the two fighters flanking him as Slippy flew off. He lined up his sights with Bill's fighter.

Fox pressed the button on the side of his headset to extend his scouter. One thousand meters left to go.

"Hurry up Fox!" Bill said, panicking.

"Almost there, just hang tight there Bill!"

"No, I can't- Ahh!" Fox heard Bill scream through his headset, then the radio shorted out.

"Bill?" he asked. Then louder, "Bill!" But there was no answer. Gritting his teeth in fury at the loss of yet another loved one, Fox concentrated on reaching the core of Bolse. Eight hundred meters to go.

Cain fired at Fox's Arwing numerous times, but he couldn't get a clear shot. Fox was too quick. "I see this one has real talent," said Cain, grinning behind his helmet. "You two, stay behind me. I want to take him," he commanded the other pilots harshly.

"Yessir," they responded, falling back.

Cain nudged the crosshairs on his targeting computer closer to the rear of Fox's Arwing. There was a brief moment of slipperiness where the computer wouldn't lock on, but then it did. "I've got you now," chuckled Cain, his finger hovering over the firing button on his ship.

Suddenly, a huge, dark shadow swept over them, obscuring the dim lights of the tunnel briefly. With a curse of frustration, Cain glanced up, along with the other Venomian pilots, to see a blue and red painted freight ship come hurtling at them out of one of the tunnels branching off from the main one.

It was crazy. No logical person would ever try a maneuver like that with a ship that size, especially in the cramped quarters that they were in. The pilot had to either be asleep, drunk, or insane.

But the fact was, the pilot wasn't any of these things: he was wide awake, more or less, and straight sober as well. Nor was he insane (well, perhaps slightly touched), but he was flying straight towards them anyway.

"Look out!" one of the Venomian pilots screeched, trying to pull out of the group of three fighters. He accidentally snagged the stabilizing wing of Cain's fighter, sending it spinning out of control.

It ricocheted off the walls of the tunnel, bouncing into a side tunnel and almost all the way back up to the surface of Bolse. Cain was somehow able to regain control of the fighter and began heading back towards the core, but then turned around and began to soar out away from Bolse as quickly as he could, flying towards Venom- he had a bad feeling that Bolse was doomed.

Back in the tunnel, the final Venomian starfighter lingered for a moment in uncertainty, then broke off into a side tunnel after realizing that the odds were stacked against him.

Fox blinked in amazement. Had some guardian angel come to save him? Or was it Peppy or his father returning from the grave to save his life? He soon realized that it was neither, and a grin began to spread across his face after recognizing the paint job on the freighter, and the familiar flashiness that the pilot expressed while flying.

Falco whooped loudly into his headset from the cockpit of the Eagle's Eye, pumping one fist up and down in the air. "Yeah! That's how Falco Lombardi does it!" Falco laughed. He leaned back in the pilots chair, acting if their work was done. "Well it looks like your all clear, Fox. Let's blow this thing so we can go home, huh?" he asked.

Fox grinned at the bird, then looked back towards the cylindrical blast shield surrounding the core. It wasn't over yet. He peered through the scouter over his right eye, waiting for the red circle marking the plasma vent to appear. Suddenly he hesitated.

Trust your instincts, the voice that had whispered to him during their escape from the flagship said. Your father could do it. So can you.

Fox wrestled with his own feelings for a moment. He only had one shot at this- did he really trust himself enough?

"What's wrong?" asked Falco.

Fox blinked, then shoved the scouter away from his face. "Nothing," he said. "I'm... I'm alright. I'm relaxed."

Fox closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying not to see where the plasma vent was, but to feel its presence. And suddenly, as though there was a built-in scouter in his mind, he did see it, clearer than any scouter could mark it. He aimed the smart bomb briefly, then let it fly.

There was a brief moment of tension, and then Fox opened his eyes. The bomb went in.

"Yes!" Falco shouted. "Well, I don't wanna spoil your victory, but we should really get outta here before the fireworks start," he said to Fox.

Five minutes later, Fox and Falco were leading the six remaining Arwings away from Bolse. They all entered slipspace simultaneously, just before Bolse exploded in a shower of flames and sparks. The Cornerian rebellion had triumphed.

***

One Day Later...

It was completely silent in the rebel base on Fortuna. Not a soul was wandering in the hallways, be they living or robotic. Everyone was gathered in the great hall of the temple, standing and facing the front of the room. There were two groups of people in the room, with a narrow aisle between them for two figures to walk down. At the moment, these two figures were standing outside the door of the great hall.

"You nervous?" Falco asked Fox.

Fox was no longer garbed in his rugged farm tunic, but a green rebel jumpsuit, polished combat boots, and a cream colored flight jacket with a red scarf around his neck. Falco was dressed in his normal brown trousers, white flight boots, and flight jacket, all of the clothes pressed and ironed neatly.

Fox blinked at his friend. "No..." he said slowly. "Well, yeah, kinda," he admitted after a moment.

"It's okay, I am too," said Falco. Then he frowned. "What foot do we start on when the doors open?" he asked.

"I don't think it matters."

"Seriously? I thought they told us to–"

Before Falco could finish, the thick metal doors in front of them slid open and rebel soldiers began blaring triumphant celebration music with golden trumpets. As quickly and diplomatically as possible, Falco and Fox marched down the aisle between the two groups of people, trying to contain their smiles as every man and woman they passed saluted them.

As they stepped up to the front of the room, Fox saw four figures waiting for them. The first was General Pepper, who firmly shook both Falco and Fox's hands and grinned at them. The second was Slippy, clothed in a freshly cleaned, yellow mechanic's outfit and standing next to the third figure: ROB. The android had been polished and oiled the entire morning, and was so shiny that Fox could see his own face in ROBs chest plate.

The fourth figure was Krystal, dressed in a blue, Cerinian ceremonial gown and holding two medallions emblazoned with the glittering, fox-shaped symbol of the Cornerian rebellion.

Standing in front of the crowd of rebels, both Fox and Falco bowed down, receiving their medallions over their necks. As they looked back up to the crowd, the rebels broke their stiff composure, cheering and clapping for the two heroes wildly. Both Fox and Falco grinned from ear to ear, and out of the corner of his eye, Fox saw ROB turn to Slippy and begin squeezing the toad in a massive bearhug.

Fox laughed out loud, then looked at Krystal. She was smiling at him.

Still smiling softly, Fox looked up towards the glittering lights in the ceiling, remembering how he once looked up wishfully at the stars from Katina. And then the voice spoke to him once more, and he finally recognized it as Peppy's.

Your father would be proud, Fox. Your father would be proud.

THE END

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Author's Note: Well thanks everyone for reading! It may take a while to get them up, but I am planning on making a Star Fox-ized version of "The Empire Strikes Back" too. Again, thanks!