Chapter 13: Waltz With the Dead
A/N: Hello everyone! Just wanted to drop by and give a warning that this chapter contains disturbing events so it's a bit darker than the norm. If anyone who reads this feels that I should up the rating from T to M let me know, if enough people are concerned I will do so. Please carry on and read at your leisure. Also, check out my profile to see a link to a picture of my next tattoo, (hint: it may or may not be Star Fox related)
"What do we have here?" Dash asked, rising from his chair.
"You're nothing more than a shadow of Oikonny, a pathe…" A soldier began to shout, but was silenced by one of the android's hidden blades through his wind pipe. The machination withdrew its weapon and the soldier collapsed to the floor in a pool of his own blood.
"Now if you would be so kind as to tell me what you hoped to accomplish by infiltrating my ship I would be more than happy to help you get back to where you belong."
Meanwhile on Fichina…
Falco stepped onto the bridge of the Great Fox II now that its repairs had been finished. He took a quick inventory of the ship's new features and weapons to see what he would be dealing with when the battle against Dash began. Katt entered the room and the avian spun around. "Falco, something seems off today. Bill left three days ago and we still haven't heard anything back from them. I'm starting to fear the worst." Katt said.
"I won't lie, but I kinda have too. It's not like Bill to be completely quiet on stealth missions."
"Incoming transmission from William Grey." Rob chimed.
"Put it on the screen." Falco said.
"Hey Falco, the mission was an utter failure. We got within twenty kilometers in stealth and that ship detected us. We lost most of our long range communications and our ships got caught in crossfire, we're close to Fichina orbit. We'll meet you up here." Bill said, and without letting Falco respond the transmission ended.
"Something isn't right. That wasn't like Bill, he's spooked about something." Katt said.
"You're right, he'd never be that calm about anything like that especially after a dog fight, he would have been more high strung." Falco replied.
The two sat and studied more about the modifications to the Great Fox.
Down in the hangar Slippy was checking out the modifications to the Arwings and the Wolfens. "Seems like the CDF went through a lot of credits just to outfit one team with the best gear available." The toad mumbled to himself.
"Don't worry toad, Corneria knows that without us they're screwed." Wolf called from the top of his Wolfen.
"What's your take on this Wolf?" Slippy asked.
Wolf hopped down from his ship, "This whole thing doesn't make sense. Bowman going crazy like his grandfather is natural, it runs in their family, but Fox not being here makes our whole fight seem pointless. I mean seriously, two of the saviors of the Lylat are absent from battle, plus one of the best commanders of the CDF are AWOL. I mean sure my team is enough to replace em, but then they send Bill and a stealth squadron to try and deal with the problem before we go into an all out war, this just doesn't add up." Wolf said.
"You're definitely on to something Wolf, it just seems like we've got more problems than solutions right now and the biggest problem is something capable of destroying a planet." Slippy said, heading towards the door. "I'm gonna go see what Falco thinks of the new upgrades. You may want to check your Wolfens to see what you got."
Wolf nodded in understanding and hopped into his Wolfen to see what was what.
Meanwhile…
Peppy paced back and forth in his quarters on the Great Fox, still debating whether or not he made the right call by following orders and sending Bill and the stealth squadron. His data pad flashed on his bed signaling that he had an incoming transmission. "This is Peppy." The hare answered.
"Hey papa, I just wanted to ask you something before the Great Fox leaves for battle." Lucy said cheerfully.
"Oh and what's that?" Peppy inquired.
"I want to be up on the Great Fox with you guys and fighting..." Lucy began but was cut off.
"No, absolutely not, under no circumstances will I have my little girl risking her life when we have plenty of other soldiers to do so!" Peppy yelled.
"Damnit papa I'm not a child anymore! Ever since mama died you've been so damn over protective of me. Sure, you never had to worry about me following in your footsteps and become a merc, but it only makes sense for me to fight side by side with friends and family over the fate of the entire Lylat system!" Lucy protested.
Peppy was at a loss for words, he knew very well that his daughter's logic was sound and quite undeniable. "Lucy, I'm sorry." Peppy started as he wiped his eyes, "For everything, I'm sorry for the death of your mother, I'm sorry you had to grow up without a father to raise you through most of your life, I always tried to be by your side whenever I could but I failed you as a father. I don't want to see you hurt, but if you want to fight, I won't stop you, it's in our blood to fight." Tears were now streaming down his face.
A look of guilt overtook Lucy's face. She always appreciated the fact that Peppy looked out for her in every way even if he couldn't be there to raise her himself since she was ten, yet she felt as if she had gone too far. "Don't cry papa. I was out of line there and I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. I'll just stay planet side and help out from down here." Lucy said, feeling guilty.
"No, you're right. I have been over protective and it's time I respect what you want. Fly on up here." Peppy said.
Lucy smiled. "Alright papa, I'll see you in an hour or two." She said, ending the transmission.
Peppy sat down on his bed and looked out into the vastness of space. "Fox I really hope you know what you're doing, because we don't have a snowball's chance on Solar against Venom this time." The old hare said softly.
Meanwhile…
Bill Grey and the stealth squadron docked in the Great Fox. Slippy was still tinkering with his Arwing and Amanda was nearby to help him with the tools. The pilots had gotten out of their ships and took a look around. From the other end of the room Slippy observed their actions and kept tinkering away. Something felt off about the soldiers to him. He recalled them being more outgoing instead of being quiet and secretive like they were right now. "It's probably nothing." He thought.
The next thing Slippy heard was a blood curdling scream from behind him. The toad quickly spun around and saw one of the stealth pilots stabbing through Amanda's abdomen. The pilots of Star Wolf quickly ran over from their Wolfens and began to fight the pilots. The stealth pilots were moving faster than anything Leon had fought hand to hand before. The lizard's opponent dodged and weaved waiting for an opening to strike. A blade descended from the soldier's wrist and attempted to pierce Leon, yet it passed through him as if he wasn't there. The soldier stood confused trying to process what happened until he felt his neck snap. "You missed me." Leon shouted.
He let the body drop to the floor and noticed black blood pour onto the deck floor and then quickly realized that their opponents were merely assassin androids. Wolf and Panther had their hands full with two of the androids and Slippy was struggling to fight the one who had murdered Amanda. Bill took off towards the door and Leon tried to intercept the fleeing canine. The lizard felt the massive force of bionic limbs knocking him hard against the wall of the hangar which was a mere fifty feet away. "Wolf, Panther, behind you!" Leon called out, gasping for air.
The lupine and jungle cat ducked and rolled out of the way. Wolf put himself in between the two androids attacking him and used the blades on their forearms to spear the two droids in the face. The lupine spun around and watched Panther perform a similar trick and then they turned to see the last remaining android run through the door. "Wolf, stop that thing before it gets to the bridge. Clearly they were sent here to stop Star Fox from fighting in the war!" Panther shouted.
Wolf nodded in agreement and took off running as fast as his body would let him. Panther and Leon walked over and saw the bloodied corpses of Slippy, who was killed by a strike through his jaw and the back of his neck, and Amanda who was stabbed through the stomach and bled to death.
Meanwhile Wolf sprinted down the corridors of the Great Fox and tackled the last remaining android before it could make it to the elevator. Wolf flared his claws and delivered a strike straight into the machination's face, which collapsed artificial skull, crushing the neural computer that kept the android operational.
Meanwhile on the bridge…
Bill Grey appeared in the doorway unnoticed. Falco was reading over the report that Bill and the stealth squadron had written up on their way back to Fichina. Katt was studying the radar seeing signs of Venomian infantry slowly creeping towards Fichina. Peppy had stepped into the war room to speak with the commanders and generals of the CDF. Bill was essentially invisible to the Star Fox team.
Falco looked up from the report and noticed there was an incoming transmission. "Why didn't ROB let us know we were being contacted?" The avian thought to himself.
Falco answered the hail and stared into the soulless eyes of Dash Bowman. "Falco Lombardi, it's been years. How have you been?" Dash asked sarcastically.
"Look you wretched little ape! Grandpa failed, Oikonny failed, what makes you think that you've got a chance against us?!" Falco shouted.
Dash gave no response. The deranged ape simply stepped to the side and out of the camera's eye. What Falco saw caused his stomach to knot up and almost forced him to vomit. There were bodies of CDF stealth pilots littering the floor. The avian sharpened the image and saw that they had been skinned, but whether or not they were skinned alive or if they were dead first was the question. Then a platform lowered into the pile of the dead. Upon it rested a bloodied body with no skin, nor fur upon it. "What the fuck did you do to them you sick fuck!" Katt screamed.
"Why don't you ask your friend William there behind you? He's already blocking your robot from functioning within the ship, I'm sure he'll be happy to tell you what else he's up to before he ends your life." Dash said.
A deafening scream echoed through the transmission originating from the squirming mass of flesh on the platform. "I AM WILLIAM GREY! THAT THING IS AN IMPOSTER!" He was then silenced by a shot to the skull.
Falco and Katt spun around and noticed the Bill Grey on their ship had a large blade protruding from his arm, originating from above the wrist. "Target's acquired. Falco Lombardi, Katt Monroe. Peppy Hare absent. Engaging targets." The android spoke in Bill's voice and primed an electrical charge through its blade.
"Get down!" Falco yelled.
Falco pushed Katt out of the way of the attack and intercepted it himself. The android's blade dug into the avian's shoulder and rendered him unconscious from the volts of electricity.
Peppy heard the commotion and ran out of the war room holding a blaster. "Get the hell away from them!" The old hare shouted, firing a shot to switch the flesh covered robot's attention to him.
"Target Identified. Peppy Hare, General of Cornerian Defense Force. Threat level escalated, lethality of force increased." The android chimed.
Peppy fired shot after shot into the android's torso but to no avail. It smacked the gun out of the hare's hands, breaking them in the process. The android raised its blade to execute Peppy but found itself stabbing the floor instead. Katt had managed to deliver a dropkick into the imposter's back and temporarily disabled it. "Peppy get out of here! If you die then Corneria has no true leadership!" Katt cried.
Peppy quickly hopped over the android and ran off the bridge. Katt drew a knife from her boot and readied it to attempt fighting the android. "C'mon you piece of shit show me what the best in Venomian tech can do against me!" She taunted.
The android launched itself off the ground and immediately went on the offensive against the feline. Katt parried each strike with ease but the android only got faster. "You are poorly designed for this" The android spoke.
Katt planted her knife into the android's chest and kicked into it for further effect. The android merely staggered and removed the foreign object and observed it. "You have left yourself disarmed. Now you have lost."
Katt embraced her end and prepared herself for the android's execution strike, but it never came. Instead she heard a large crash and noticed Wolf O'Donnell standing with the android's head in his hands. "A machine can't prepare itself for an assassination, a machine has no senses other than what it's programmed for, not like a living creature." Wolf said, dropping the head to the ground.
"What's the damage in the hangar? Bowman killed every last one of them! They could have…" Katt was rambling and was beginning to cry thinking of what could have happened.
"They got Slippy and his wife. We weren't quick enough to realize what was going on. We're now three pilots and an entire stealth squadron short." Wolf said solemnly.
"That's not all your short on." Dash spoke, and Katt realized the communications line was still active.
"It's good to see you again Wolf. I'm surprised at you though, why wouldn't you want to relive the glory days under a Venomian contract?" Dash asked.
"Because your grandfather was insane. I may not have the greatest moral compass but I know who I would lead and follow into battle and Venom has been off my list for quite some time now." Wolf replied.
"Well isn't that a shame. And before I forget, the one thing you don't have, is time!" Dash exclaimed, laughing maniacally.
"PROXIMITY ALERT! SENSORS INDICATE ONE THOUSAND OF VENOMIAN SHIPS, ONE FLAGSHIP, THREE DREADNAUGHT CLASS WARSHIPS, APPROXIMATELY 996 FRIGATES AND THOUSANDS OF FIGHTERS AND NON PILOTED CRAFT!" ROB began to sound, beginning the alarm for the entire CDF.
Falco was slowly recovering and stood back up, hearing everything about losing Slippy and Amanda. "Ah good to see you haven't met your end yet Lombardi. You aren't Fox but you'll do just as well to fulfill my need for vengeance against this pathetic star system. You stand no chance against my armada!" Dash shouted, cutting off communications between the two vessels.
"ROB Open a fleetwide broadcast immediately!" Falco ordered.
"Broadcast open, begin when ready." ROB replied.
"This is Falco Lombardi of the Star Fox team. Venom has decided to make the first move in this battle. Everyone who can fight is to report to Fichina Orbit within the hour! We make our final stand here and if we fail now, we've doomed the entire Lylat System. I may not be the leader type nor the heroic type but I will be damned to the final circles of hell before I just bow down before another Andross wannabe. I know we've lost many good souls over the course of this war, we've lost beyond the count of grief. This is why we must fight! Rise up in defiance of this deranged madman and put a stop to his tyranny for all those who are lost. Star Fox lost two of its members from a plot to murder General Peppy and the rest of our team, and we will not go quietly into the afterlife. Let's give these bastards hell! Everyone to battle stations! Launch all ships!"