Star Wolf Adventures : Galaxy War

(Version 1.2)

Chapter Twenty-One :

A Reunion and a Meeting

"Captain's log... Yeah, I finally remembered. Well, we're on our way to Venom, in fact, we ought to be seeing it soon. It feels good to be going home. Not that it's been much of a home to me, but considering my past there, and my father's past... Well, anyway, it's not going to be 'home' for long. Not now that Andross knows I'm not under his thumb anymore. Venom's not safe anymore... Star Wolf is going to have to find a new home planet."

Wolf ended the recording, and sighed. So much had changed in the last... How long had it been? Weeks, months? He'd lost track. But everything he had known had become something else. His business... His team... His own feelings toward life.

"And the worst is yet to come," Wolf murmured.

"Not necessarily."

Wolf swiveled his chair around, and raised an eyebrow. It was Josh, the 'messenger'.

"What're you doing here?" he asked.

"Well, technically, I'm not supposed to be," Josh replied, leaning against the door of Wolf's cabin. "I just wanted to check and see if you've given any thought on your next move."

Wolf nodded, leaning back in his desk chair.

"Yeah, I've given it plenty of thought," he replied. "I still don't have a clue what to do, though."

Josh laughed.

"I assumed as much," he said. "That's why, even though I'm not really supposed to, I wanted to sort of... Point you in the right direction."

Wolf shrugged, arms spread, palms facing upward.

"I'm listening, kid," he said simply.

"Well, let's recap," Josh suggested. "You're facing two major problems, right?"

"Scales and Andross."

"Exactly," Josh said. "And, knowing you, you're probably trying to figure out how to take them on, one at a time."

"It had crossed my mind," Wolf told him. "Why?"

"Well, did you ever think that maybe one could help you with the other?" Josh asked him.

"Okay, yeah, I could throw in with Scales, and then work with him to take down Andross, but he wants me to kill Fox and his team... And this new conscience I'm sporting won't let me do that!" Wolf shook his head. "I don't see how that's a possibility, anymore."

"I never said it was, Wolf," Josh said, rolling his eyes. "Look... Imagine this... The armada that Scales has built, attacking Andross, with you leading the charge... And yet Fox is alive and well. Sound nice?"

"Sounds like a fairy tale, kid."

"Just give it some thought," Josh said. "And remember... Sometimes doing the opposite of what someone evil tells you to do leads to something good." He smiled, and gave Wolf a wave. "Later." And then he vanished in a flash of light.

Wolf frowned, thinking about what Josh had said.

"Doing the opposite of what someone evil tells me to do," he murmured. "Scales wanted me to eliminate Fox, and get him out of the way for good. I wasn't planning on doing that... Although, not doing it might not be the opposite of that scenario. But..." He paused, then nodded. "I think I get it, pup... I think I get it."

*****

"Exit hyperspace now!" CT64 called out.

Wolf, who wanted to fly his dream ship home himself, was seated at the main controls.

"All right, there's Venom," he said, as the murky planet filled the viewscreen. "Home, sweet home."

"I miss my kitchen," Kay-Tee said. "Although, this one isn't bad, for a ship."

"Mumbo want to work on Nutsen," Mumbo said. "Mumbo think thruster need overhaul."

"I want to... Err... Test something out," Dox said, mysteriously. In all the excitement, no one had remembered the dream he had told them about. Wolf had arrived before he could test his theory. But he had to know if he really had those powers.

"I just want to kick back and relax," Andrew said. "This mission has been stressful."

Kay-Tee looked over, and smirked.

"You weren't even a part of it for the first half," he said.

"I was too!" Andrew said. "Just... On the other side. Don't forget I got blasted out of the air... By you, I might add!" He stopped, and straightened his collar before saying, "And then I saved Wolf's life."

Wolf snorted, as he started bringing them down through Venom's atmosphere.

"Keep telling yourself that, pup, and maybe someday you'll believe it," he said. It was already becoming a running joke, to downplay Andrew's heroism. They didn't want him getting a big head, after all.

"Unidentified ship, you are nearing Star Wolf base... State your business, or turn away. Failure to comply will result in me firin' mah lazers!"

Everyone started laughing.

"Lazlo, you overgrown marshmallow, it's us," Wolf said, smirking. "Now relax, and keep away from the air defense weapons."

"Oh! S-sorry, boss! I guess I got a little carried away... But, welcome back!"

"Thanks. We'll be landing momentarily," Wolf said. "Great Wolfen, out."

In minutes, the Great Wolfen had touched down beside Star Wolf base's hangar. Wolf had to laugh at the fact that his new flagship was far too big to fit into the hangar.

"Guess we need a bigger hangar, eh, chief?" Dox asked.

"No," Wolf said, shutting down the engines, powering down the systems, and lowering the exit ramp. "We won't." He didn't explain further, though Dox and the others looked confused. "Come on, let's go... There's a lot to discuss."

*****

Arti was waiting inside the main doors, comfortably housed in his indoor mech suit. He had been having a heated inner debate, that had went largely unresolved. In a nutshell, one part of him was thrilled to see his teammates again, and the other side was persistantly warning him against caring too much. He had to consider his past, after all.

No matter the indecision, he couldn't help grinning as his team walked through the main doors.

"Welcome back, everyone," he said.

"Arti!"

"Dude!"

"Art Man!"

"Hiya, Arti."

"Greetings, Master... I mean... Articerile."

"How's it going, kid?" Wolf asked.

"Fine, Captain, fine," Arti said, with a quick nod. "The base is now secure."

"Are you going to tell us what happened now?" Dox asked.

"Well, we'd better go get Lazlo, since he played a part in it as well," Arti said. "Come on."

Minutes later the group was gathered in the computer room. Everyone greeted Lazlo warmly (although, warmly for Wolf was to smirk and nod), and they all sat down to hear the story.

Lazlo told them what happened with Panther and Mafefe, then what happened as the SharpClaws arrived. Arti then took up the tale, occasionally interrupted by an excited outburst from Lazlo, telling of how they defeated all but two of the creatures, and sent those two away.

Wolf was deep in thought, as the others all praised Arti and Lazlo for their great work.

"And we thought we had it bad with the Ancient Minister, and Lo Mo No," Andrew said.

"We did have it bad," Dox said, rolling his eyes.

"What happened on Lom?" Arti inquired.

They gave him a brief outline of events, Kay-Tee grimacing as they mentioned Bluey's death. Dox looked over at Wolf and said, "The chief never did tell us what happened in the tomb, though."

Wolf looked up, and blinked.

"Hmm? Oh, it doesn't matter," he said, shrugging. "I just went in, got what that idiot president wanted, and left." He shrugged, then said, "I'd like to hear that message from Kain Frederick, Lazlo."

"Sure thing, boss!"

Moments later they were all listening to the recorded conversation between Lazlo and Kain...

"Star Wolf base? This is Kain Frederick."

"Gro ruhged, Grain Fwedick... *cough* Go ahead, Kain Frederick. This is Lazlo at Star Wolf base!"

"I have that info I promised Dox. Apparently Icis Mazza, Gled and Grye Jinnore, SUB36, and Queen Madara, are all very powerful people, from around the universe. They seem to know each other, yet, apparently, each has their own realm that they govern."

"Right, so... How is that important to the boss?"

"Well, your boss might like to know that those five are teaming up with General Pepper, Star Fox, and the Cornerian forces."

"Why?"

"To take on Andross, apparently... From what I gathered, Andross has gone off the deep end in a big way... Bigger than usual, actually. Icis Mazza seems to think that he's even dipping into the occult now... Black magic, and the like... Look, I'd better go, I don't want to get caught divulging information to one of McCloud's worst enemies... They might lock me up for treason, or something. I'll message back if anything new happens. Kain Frederick, out."

Wolf was frowning so hard that Kay-Tee thought his face might fold up. Finally the Star Wolf captain sighed, and stood up. He knew he had to let the others in on what came next.

"Team... I have a lot to tell you," he said slowly. "First of all... We're going to have to leave our base behind, soon. Probably for good."

The others exchanged glances. They'd expected this, but not this soon.

"I'm not totally sure where we'll set up shop next," Wolf went on, "But we can make the Great Wolfen our temporary HQ. It's big enough to hold all the machinery and junk we own... And there's room enough to live on it, for a while." He shrugged. "It'll do."

The others nodded, and Mumbo said, "Go on, Wolf Man. Mumbo think there is much more."

"You're right, shaman, there is," Wolf replied. "Well, as you know, we're on Andross' hit list now." Andrew tried hard not to cringe, but didn't quite manage it. "So, this place isn't going to be safe for long. Aside from that, I'm sure you're all wondering about this business with General Scales and his lizard-men. That's a sort of a mess that I got us into... But I think I can get us out of."

"Is it about what that SharpClaw said? You having a mission to accomplish for Scales?" Arti asked.

"Yeah," Wolf replied. "I got greedy... I hadn't quite had the, err, change of heart I recently had about things, and... Well, he was throwing a lot of denari at me."

"To do what?" Kay-Tee asked.

"Kill Fox, disarm his team, and then lead Scales' armada against Andross."

Everyone glanced at each other with widened eyes.

"Hold on," Arti said. "Let me get this straight. You were to kill Fox and take down his team, and then lead a bunch of lizards in battle against Andross?"

"That's what I said," Wolf said, shrugging. "Although, the lizards are the ground troops... I was to lead the space armada."

"Then who would be flying the ships? They'd need big cockpits, if it were the SharpClaws," Dox remarked.

"Pirates, mercs, smugglers... Whoever Scales could throw denari at, and get them to risk their lives," Wolf told him. "We were to be the point team. I'd be the overall armada commander, second only to Scales, when giving orders."

Andrew let out a low whistle.

"Scales really thinks he can take Andross down?" he asked. Everyone noticed that it was the first time he'd said the name without almost saying 'Uncle' before it.

"Honestly, he has a good shot," Wolf said. "Or, at least, he could get close. It just depends... You have to have the right allies, the right firepower, and the right plans."

"Why do I get the feeling you're still interested?" Arti asked him.

Wolf reached up and plucked at his eyepatch absent-mindedly.

"I am, in a way," he said, slowly. "You all know that my original intent was to overthrow Andross... And take down Fox. That's why I wanted to start fresh with this group."

"Wolf Man change sides now," Mumbo said. "Wolf Man become good guy."

"Yeah, I've been wondering when you were going to let us in on that," Dox spoke up. "It's been kind of obvious that you have a different agenda these days."

"Is Star Wolf out of the criminal enterprise, boss?" Kay-Tee asked.

Wolf frowned, looking at each of his team members.

"Maybe we should take a vote on it," he said. "If you think we should go straight, say yay... If not, say nay."

"Yay," Kay-Tee said, without hesitation.

"Mumbo think yay," Mumbo said.

"I hope we still get exciting missions," Dox commented. "Oh... Yay."

"It's as it was destined to be," Arti said, mysteriously. "Yay."

"I'm for it, yeah, err, I mean, yay," Andrew replied.

Wolf glanced at Lazlo and CT64.
"Well? The whole team has a say in this," he told them.

"I would do as everyone else did," CT64 said. "But if you're actually inquiring of my opinion, it would seem to me that less innocent sentients would be harmed if we veered away from criminal acts." He paused, his photoreceptors blinking twice. "In other words, yay."

"I never knew we were criminals in the first place!" Lazlo exclaimed. "But, yay."

"Majority vote, the yays have it," Wolf declared. "That's settled then. Now-"

"Oh no you don't, chief," Dox interrupted. "You need to cast your vote. We'll revoke all of ours if you don't." The other echoed this, though with far less ambition than Dox was showing.

Wolf smirked.

"You wanna know what the great Wolf O'Donnell has to say, eh?" he asked. "You wanna know if I think we need to walk the straight and narrow?" Dox nodded, so Wolf said, "Fine. The truth is, I'm different than I was a few months ago. I'm not the same guy anymore. Part of the reason for that is that I basically died and came back... And the other part is... You guys."

"Us?" Lazlo asked, surprised.

"Yeah, you, all of you," Wolf said, glancing away. "It'd been a long, long time since I had teammates like you... Friends like you." He cleared his throat, and added, "But that doesn't mean I'm that attached to ya, so if you don't pull your weight around here, you're history!" Wolf said this last part whole looking each of them in the eye, trying hard to look the stern merc part.

"We get you, boss," Kay-Tee said, grinning. "We won't let you down!"

The others cheered, and Wolf smirked again.

"Well, you'd better not," he said. "So... With the unanimous decision to clean up our act made, our new mission is in front of us... Defeating Andross. And I have a plan to do it."

"What's the plan?" Arti asked.

"Well, it's still just beginning to form," Wolf replied, "But it basically has to do with using Scales' army to defeat Andross' army, and give us an opening, a slim chance, at taking down Andross."

"But Scales wants McCloud dead," Dox countered. "And... Well, you're not doing that, right?"

Wolf shook his head.

"The time for revenge has passed, finally," he said. "No, I won't be killing Fox."

"Then how will you get Scales to let you lead his armada?" Kay-Tee wanted to know.

"I'm not planning on having his permission," Wolf told them. "Besides, we don't need to replace one tyrant with another. No... Scales needs to fall, but in a way that puts me in a position to benefit from it the most."

The others exchanged glances. They had no clue what he was getting at.

"I still need to work out some things," Wolf said, dismissively. "And I don't have long... My deadline is nearly up, and I'm sure Scales isn't real happy about his lizards getting fried." He paused, as the others snickered, then said, "And... There's someone I need to talk to."

"Who?"

"An old... Friend."

*****

It was the same as before. Walking into that cantina on Shelkonwa, hearing a number of the patrons call out his name, ordering the same drink, heck, even sitting at the same table. Wolf had to chuckle at how much the same it all was, and yet, how different.

Two main differences were present, actually... One, the reason he was there had nothing to do with getting rich, and everything to do with saving the galaxy from a madman... Actually, from madmen. Two, he wasn't meeting his contact... He was meeting someone else.

"Hey, Wolf," the person said quietly, sliding into the chair opposite him. He was wearing a hooded cloak, to disguise his features, just as Wolf had requested.

Wolf nodded at him.

"Saying it's good to see you would be a stretch, so why don't we just skip the pleasantries?" He paused, as the person gave a quick nod of agreement, then said, "I need your help with something..."

The other person, who we'll call Cloak for now, laughed.

"That's the funniest thing I've heard in a while," he said. "I thought that maybe, just maybe, you might be wanting to help me. I should've known better."

"If you help me with this, it will be greatly beneficial to us both," Wolf countered.

Cloak was quiet for a minute, then shrugged.
"I'm listening," he said. "What do you need help with?"

"It's got to do with Scales."

"Scales? But he's-"

"Back, and packing more of a punch these days," Wolf said. "He's amassed a huge army, apparently, made up of SharpClaws, as well as an armada made up of mercs and space pirates. And he plans on taking down Andross."

Cloak laughed again.

"He doesn't have the resources or the brains for a war against Andross," he declared.

"That's where you come in," Wolf declared.

"If you think I'm helping Scales, you're crazy," Cloak said, shaking his head. "Then again, maybe you are. But, even if I would, he'd never accept help from me."

"That's where I need the help," Wolf told him. "I have a plan."

"Your plans usually don't work, Wolf," Cloak said, sounding amused.

"I wonder why?" Wolf shot back, glaring. "Just listen, will ya?" He lowered his voice, Cloak leaning in so he could hear, and laid out his plan, which he'd been working on since his last talk with Josh. When he was done, he sat back, and waited for Cloak's response.

"I dunno, Wolf," Cloak said, after thinking it over. "It sounds risky, full of holes, and unlikely to work in a million years."

"You in?"

"...Yeah."

Wolf smirked.

"Just like old times," he said.

"Hopefully not."

*****

Aboard the Great Wolfen, a highly important project was nearing completion. The entire team (minus Wolf who was on Shelkonwa, Lazlo who was eating ice cream in the ship's kitchen, and Dox who had claimed to need 'time to himself') was grouped together, working as one unit.

"This is tricky... We don't want to fry the circuitry," Arti was saying.

"Yeah, I know," Andrew replied. He secured another wire, then sighed. "It's too bad we didn't have enough time to buy one of these."

"No kidding," said Kay-Tee, handing Arti a tool he needed. "This is one of the most complex things I've ever worked on."

"Mumbo agree with Kaz Too Man," Mumbo threw in, scratching his skull. "Seem easier to make invisible than make look different. This more difficult than Pair of Socks Man's stealth shield."

"Much more," Arti agreed, tightening a coupling. "And it's possibly even more important that this one works... Dox might have been discovered by Emm, or the Gruntling, but the person wearing this will be standing before a horde of SharpClaws. Not exactly comforting if it shorts out and reveals them." Especially if I'm the one wearing it, he added to himself.

The biggest positive was that they were only in need of the one... Wolf's plan had called for two, and apparently his 'friend' had one, and not of the homemade variety.

"I believe it is concurrent to the schematic we downloaded," CT64 commented. "In fact, we may be improving on certain areas."

"Well, I think Andrew and I programmed the imagery pretty well," Kay-Tee said proudly.

"It's spot on," Andrew said with a grin.

Arti got up from kneeling, and stretched tiredly. More and more he was spending time outside of his mech suit, unconsciously growing slightly more comfortable in his own skin.

"Well, that's the best we can do," he announced. "It's done... We just have to hope it works."

"I'll try it on," Andrew offered, but Arti shook his head, and said, "No, I'll do it... Chief engineer on the project, and all that." And so he slipped into what looked like an ordinary, pilot's space suit. Well, ordinary if you ignored the wires and glowing circuit cells that spiderwebbed across the material.

"Here's goes nothing," he muttered, entering the initiation command on his wrist computer. Suddenly he heard the others gasp, and saw Andrew take a few steps back.

"Geez, Arti... I helped make the imagery, but it still gives me the jeggies," the apish pilot muttered.

"Art Man scary sight," Mumbo agreed.

The others eched this, and then began congratulating one another on a job well done. Arti walked over to a nearby vidscreen, which was showing data of various forms, and said, "Vidscreen... Reflection mode." Even he was taken aback. Instead of his own familiar features staring back at him, a rather horrible sight was there instead.

Arti stared for several seconds, then entered the command to end the projection. He looked into the screen again, and saw himself looking back. He turned to look at his comrades, and smiled.

"Now all we have to do is hope that it doesn't give out part way through the 'performance'," he said. "But, good job, everyone. This was a real team effort."

The others gave a cheer, then helped him out of the Chameleon X, or C-X, as they had dubbed it. When it was safely stored away, they had a round of Sunkist Floats to celebrate.

"Here's to subterfuge," Arti said.

"To subterfuge!"

*****

"This is ridiculous... How does one discover if he has secret powers? If they're hidden, how am I supposed to find them?" Dox sighed. He'd been pacing his quarters on the Great Wolfen, straining his brain, trying to remember everything that had happened in his 'dream'.

It was all so hazy, now... After everything that had happened, his mind was filled with many other thoughts. He had to try and wade through them, and discover rather he had the 'powers' or not. If he did, they would be a major asset in the coming disturbances.

"Wait... I had something in my hand," Dox said, suddenly remembering. "It was... Something the reaper gave me. I think it helped to control the powers. But... What was it? And do I still have it?"

*****

"Wolf to Great Wolfen..."

"We read you, boss, go ahead."

"I'm on my way back, Kay-Tee," Wolf said. "Everything is a go."

"Copy that... Awesome news."

"I'll be there in a few minutes... Wolf, out." Wolf closed the comm link, and started to climb into the original Wolfen. Something stopped him, though... The eerie feeling that someone was watching him too closely for his liking. He spun around, his eyes scanning the area, but nothing out of the ordinary revealed itself.

He saw a number of people milling about, entering or leaving cantinas, shops, and the spaceport in general. No one seemed that curious about Wolf, in fact, very few even glanced his way.

"Funny," he murmured, then shrugged, and climbed into his ship. Moments later, he was blasting off, out of the atmoshphere.

As his ship disappeared from sight, a small figure moved out from behind a ship's tail section. He gazed skyward, then turned to look at his companion.

"He felt us watching him," he said. "He's very aware of his surroundings, isn't he?"

"Oh, quite," the other being said. "A little too aware for my liking, I must say."

"Afraid?"

"Of course not! Don't be foolish, boy... And don't forget who the senior member of this partnership is!"

The smaller one laughed in a way that infuriated the other one.

"Don't you forget that you are on your last chance," he said, smirking. "I, on the other hand, am relatively safe."

"That, my little annoyance, is not written in stone."

"Is that a threat? My father-"

"Is merely another lackey in the crowd, don't delude yourself," the larger one snapped. "The fact that his last mission was somewhat successful by no means makes him special. And, in turn, makes you just another pawn in this game."

"Then we are both pawns," the smaller one countered, "For you seem to have no control over your future, either."

"We'll see about that, boy... We'll just see."

_End of Chapter Twenty-One_