-Hello Star Fox fans! The battle continues, and a hidden truth is being shared. Leave a review if you'd like, and as always; enjoy the chapter!

28. Doubts

~In facing his greatest adversary, what does a soldier do? Does he immediately resort to violence, or does diplomacy take control?

The events on the ground were mutually exclusive from the events transpiring in space. The Star Fox team knew not what Axios was doing planet side and Axios knew very little about the events in space. He did not know about the second Shroud canon, and he did not know about the amount of struggle the Star Fox team was enduring to eliminate it. But regardless of what side knew about the other, their battles continued on.

Within the cockpit of the Widow, Sierra was struggling to maintain her composure as she was being pursued by a trio of Crimson fighters. While she was being fired upon from the back, she was also firing upon another pair of Crimson fighters at the front. "I need some help here!" Sierra called out. "I have a trio of fighters behind me and I can't shake them!"

Noticing the Widow under fire near the Shroud, Marcus slammed on his booster pedals and darted the Arwing II towards Sierra's pursuers. Within a matter of moments, Marcus locked on to the leading fighter of the trio and fired a charged laser round eliminating the Crimson fighters entirely. "Sierra, you're clear!" Marcus said as the Arwing II flew past the Widow.

"Thanks Marcus!" Sierra responded. Sierra took that window of opportunity to lock onto her two targets. She squeezed her triggers and destroyed the two fighters midflight. Upon doing so, she looked to her side and noticed an energy reading coming from the Shroud as it displayed on her HUD. "Guys!" Sierra called out. "This thing is charging up again!"

"Then get clear!" Fox called out as he saw the reading appear on his HUD. "Regroup away from the Shroud and we'll strike the cores together!" Following Fox's command, the team quickly distanced themselves from the first canon. Once they were a safe distance away, they quickly regrouped and held off another wave of Crimson fighters. However, they watched as the massive canon fired its laser and destroy another Cornerian destroyer. Though the sight of losing comrades saddened them, the team noticed the four cores expose themselves on the exterior of the canon.

"The cores are exposed!" Marcus called out. "Move in now!"

The team slammed their feet on their booster pedals and they locked onto the cores on the first canon. As they neared the canon, they noticed another massive energy reading appear on their HUD's. "The second canon is powering up!" Fred announced. "We need to make this quick!"

With the Crimson fighters already thinned out by the Star Fox team, there was little protection that the first Shroud's AA turrets could provide. Marcus, Fox, and Krystal targeted the first core; Sierra, Falco and Katt targeted the second; Fred, Slippy, and Amanda targeted the third; and Isaac and Joey targeted the fourth. With their combined laser fire targeting all the cores at the same time, the team was successful in destroying three of the four cores on their first attack run. "I've got one down" Fred announced.

"One core down." Sierra announced.

"Ditto." Isaac responded.

"Good job guys!" Marcus said. "Now let's get clear! The second Shroud is about to fire!"

Following his command, the team quickly sped away from the second Shroud as it was nearing its full charge. Marcus looked over his shoulder however and noticed that the fourth core form the first Shroud had retracted back into the canon and vanished. He was frustrated as he and his parents could not destroy their target while the rest of the team succeeded. However, he brushed the thoughts aside as he noticed the second canon fire and destroy another Cornerian destroyer. "This can't be happening…" Marcus thought to himself.

"Well it is Marcus." Krystal telepathically said. "Don't lose sight of hope!"

Marcus did not realize Krystal heard his thoughts. He looked to his side and noticed the Cloud Runner forming up alongside him. "If we don't' finish those canons then many more people will die!" Krystal said. "We can do this!"

"Target those cores!" Fox said as he noticed the second set of cores appear. "Let's take this canon out with one run!"

Seeing the rest of the team form up behind Fox's Arwing II, Marcus took a brief moment to shake off his previous doubts. When his mind was relieved, he slammed his foot on his boost pedals and followed his father. Assuming the same groups, the team opened fire upon the four cores simultaneously. As they continued to close in on the cores, Marcus squeezed his triggers as tight as he could and strained his face. "Come on!" Marcus yelled as his fighter continued to rain laser fire upon the core. "Blow up already!"

To his delight, the McClouds were successful in destroying their target. With all of their targets destroyed, the Star Fox team quickly flew their fighters away from the Shroud canons. "Woo hoo!" Falco called out. "All right, that's one canon down."

"I'm reading a zero percent power output on the cores and the coolant system!" Fred announced. "If that thing fires again, it'll overload and self-destruct!"

"Then let's not be around here when that happens!" Fox responded as he formed up with the rest of the team. "Let's regroup and-"

"Fox!" Joey called out. "I've got a bogey on my tail! And this guy isn't an amateur!"

The team looked to the side to notice the Havok being pursued by a trio of Crimson fighters. However, the team recognized the fighter at the head. "He's being tailed by the Ravager!" Fox called out. "It's Scyther!"

"I'm on him!" Marcus said as he sped his Arwing II towards the Havok.

"We got your back kid!" Falco responded. "We'll flak to the right and-"

"Falco, wait!" Fox interrupted. "Krystal, Sierra, and I will back him up. Take the rest of the team and finish off the second Shroud!"

"Fox! He's Crimson elite! His buddies are probably-"

"We'll handle the Shroud." Katt interrupted. "Take care of Joey."

Katt flew her Cat's Paw in front of the Skyclaw to cut Falco off from flying with Fox. With the team now split, they were able to focus on their objectives in two fold. At the moment, Marcus had just locked onto Joey's pursuers and charged his laser round. "Got you…" Marcus said to himself. Following the release of his charged laser round, the Ravager activated its stealth drive to vanish from view while the other two fighters were destroyed midflight. With the Havok relived of pressure, Joey regrouped with Marcus.

"I owe ya kid." Joey said as he formed up on Marcus's wing.

"Don't worry about it." Marcus replied. "I'm activating my trackers, let's find Scyther."

"Marcus, it's not Scyther." Krystal said as she placed her fingers on her forehead. "There's a different pilot in the Ravager!"

"What?! If it's not Scyther, then who is it?"

In response to his questions, the group received a call from Falco. "Guys!" Falco called out as the Skyclaw was flying away from the first Shroud canon. "We've managed to take out the last core on the first Shroud, but Scyther just popped from his cloaking and he's giving us trouble!"

"We're coming Falco!" Fox replied as his group sped towards Falco's group. "But be advised! Scyther is not the one piloting the Ravager!"

"What? Really? Then who is it?"

As the two teams regrouped, Marcus's trackers successfully caught the Ravager and the fighter was now being seen on the team's HUD's. They managed to scan the fighter and they noticed the pilot was masked. "You've come too far this time Star Fox." Raynor said.

"Raynor!" Marcus called out as he recognized his voice. "I figured we'd run into you sooner or later…"

"Smart kid. You're treading on my master's territory, and I've been ordered to eliminate you."

"That's not going to happen." Fox responded. "You're outnumbered Raynor; just surrender yourself to the Cornerian military and we'll give you a fair trial for treason."

Raynor continued to circle the Star Fox team and noticed they were quickly approaching the second Shroud canon. Knowing that his cloaking has been rendered useless, he initially decided to keep his distance from the Star Fox team. "Star Fox…" Raynor said. "Don't think you're going to simply take me alive!"

The team was caught off guard as they noticed Raynor speeding directly towards them. He gripped his triggers and opened fire upon the Star Fox team forcing them to break their formation. As the group scattered, they noticed that the first Shroud canon was preparing to fire once more. "That canon is about to fire with no cores!" Fox called out. "Break off now!"

The team quickly sped away from the Shroud canon as it prepared to fire. However, Raynor had managed to lock onto Marcus as he was fleeing the canon. "Not now dammit!" Marcus thought to himself. With Raynor now opening fire upon the Arwing II, Marcus slammed his foot on his boost pedals and quickly sped away from Raynor.

"Get back here!" Raynor called out. "I'm not finished with-"Raynor silenced himself as the Ravager started to violently shake form looked over his shoulder and noticed that the canon was glowing within the inside of the primary barrel. After a brief moment, the canon attempted to fire one last round at the Cornerian fleet. Knowing what would happen; Raynor broke off his attack on Marcus and quickly sped away from the canon.

"She's gonna blow!" Falco called out.

"Get clear!" Katt called out. Within moments, the Shroud canon attempted to fire but quickly overloaded its coolant capacity. The main laser failed to fire, and instead triggered explosions throughout the internal structure of the canon. After a series of explosions coming from the interior, the team watched as the Shroud canon self-destructed. The massive explosion engulfed the entire canon and even engulfed the second Shroud canon floating right next to it.

"That explosion just swallowed up the second Shroud canon!" Fox called out.

"Ha ha!" Falco responded. "Talk about killing two birds with one stone!"

"The secondary explosion is about to happen!" Fred called out. "Let's get out of here!"

The team quickly regrouped in their formation and the sped away from the rear of the Crimson fleet. They looked over their shoulders and the noticed that the second Shroud canon had started to self-destruct. With both canons destroyed, the Cornerian fleet was free from any more canon fire. "This is Star Fox to all Cornerian ships." Marcus called out. "We've eliminated the Shroud canons, you guys are in the clear!"

"Now that's what I like to hear!" Bill responded form the bridge of the Shepard. "Husky fleet, proceed to eliminate their second line! Fighters, give them the cover they need!"

"Engagement fleet, divert your fire at the four destroyers at our two o'clock position." Toran commanded. "Give our fighters some more breathing room."

"Excelsior fleet, mop of their remaining cruisers on their first line and proceed to the next." Peppy commanded. "I'm tired of seeing their ships in my windshield."

It was only a matter of minutes when the Star Fox team regrouped with the rest of the Cornerian fleet. They noticed their destroyers bombarding the Crimson fleet's first and second line of destroyers, and they watched as multiple cruisers were being destroyed. "Looks like the battle up here is ours." Marcus said.

"Don't lower your guard Marcus." Fox responded. "Have you noticed where Raynor is?"

Marcus started looking through his radar and his scanners and noticed that Raynor had completely disappeared from their space zone. "ROB, where did he go?" Marcus asked.

"Scanners are indicating that Raynor has fled to the planet." ROB responded. "It's likely that he has been recalled to join their last line of defense."

"Then I'd say we don't keep them waiting." Falco said. "Let's clean up this mess!" Following his words, the Star Fox fighters quickly U-turned back towards the Crimson fleet. Knowing that Raynor was no longer in space, and the Shroud canons have been destroyed; they were free to engage the Crimson cruisers directly.

"Star Fox here." Marcus called out. "We're assaulting their cruisers directly."

"Give them hell kid!" Bill called out.

The team scattered themselves the moment they reached the first line of Crimson ships. Marcus and Sierra remained together as they started their attack on first cruiser. Seeing that the cruiser had several AA turrets on the exterior, Marcus and Sierra were putting their fighters through a strenuous test of mobility. "Sierra, let's get rid of those turrets!" Marcus called out.

"I'm right behind you!" Sierra responded. The Arwing II led the Widow as the two fighters quickly started a bombardment run on the exterior of their target cruiser. The two of them rained laser fire from above, and whatever turrets Marcus did not destroy were destroyed by Sierra. With their first bombardment complete, they left the cruiser with only two more AA turrets on either side. "Marcus, I'll take the right."

"And I got the left." Marcus responded. The Arwing II and the Widow separated as Marcus and Sierra both locked onto their targets. They squeezed their triggers and eliminated them both simultaneously leaving the cruiser completely defenseless. "Peppy, I've marked a cruiser for you." Marcus said as he and Sierra sped away from the cruiser. "It's all yours for take down!"

"Understood, well done." Peppy responded. "Destroyer Hephaestus, lock onto the marked cruiser at your one o'clock and destroy it." Following his command, Marcus and Sierra looked over their shoulder to notice their target cruiser being bombarded. Within moments, they both saw the cruiser self-destruct from internal explosions.

"That takes care of that." Marcus responded. "Team, give me an update!"

"This is Fox, Krystal and I have just eliminated a destroyer." Fox responded as he and Krystal sped away form an exploding destroyer. "Moving to the next."

"Ditto on my end." Falco responded. "Katt, let's take the one in front of us."

"I'm on it!" Katt responded.

Marcus looked up and noticed the Skyclaw and Cat's Paw II fly by and he smiled. "Freddy, Joey, Isaac; give me a sit rep!" Marcus called out.

"Just took out another cruiser with my parents!" Fred responded. "We're coming to form up on ya!"

"Isaac here, Joey and I just eliminated a destroyer's defenses." Isaac responded. "We're marking it for the fleet now."

Toran noticed another marker appear on his terminal's HUD and he grinned. "Destroyer Marksman, a target has been marked." Toran said. "Eliminate it." Toran watched as the destroyer to the side of his capital ship opened fire upon the marked destroyer. He smiled as he saw the destroyer explode multiple times from the inside. After a brief moment, the entire destroyer self-destructed. "Excellent work Marksman."

Seeing the battle in space fall heavily in their favor, Peppy took a deep breath and decided to continue with the next phase of the mission. "This is Peppy to Star Fox." Peppy called out. "Cease your attack on the Crimson fleet and head towards the planet."

"Are you sure you want us to leave right now?" Marcus responded as he shot down a pair of Crimson fighters. "There's still more we can do up here."

"And there's even more that needs to be done planet side. Remember son, we need to find Axios and the Crimson Star. It's time to begin phase two of the operation."

"Roger that. Ok you heard him guys, make for Vogar. It's time to save Axios!" Marcus and Sierra slammed on their boost pedals and sped past the Crimson fleet towards the planet of Vogar. The two of them were quickly joined by Fox and Krystal, followed by the Toads, Falco and Katt, and Joey and Isaac.

"This is Great Fox II." ROB announced. "I will be joining you momentarily until the last cruiser is destroyed. Until then, your tactical support will be limited."

"Understood ROB." Fox responded. "You heard him guys, watch your backs. We don't know what the planet is like down there."

"Well we're about to find out." Marcus responded. The team continued to fly towards the planet knowing they had completed their mission in space. They mentally prepared themselves for the trials that awaited them within the planet itself, but they only cared about achieving one objective.

Throughout the duration of the battle in space, there was still a conflict in the facility. Axios was still on edge about his confrontation with Cadeus, but his curiosity had been peaked when Cadeus referred to the All Father. "What do you want to show me then…?" Axios asked as he continued to aim his blaster at Cadeus.

Cadeus pressed several buttons on the arm rest of his throne to activate multiple floating holographic monitors around Axios. "Here is why you stand no chance…" Cadeus responded as he pressed another button. "These are the Crimson Organization's records of our conflict with the All Father."

Axios quickly looked around him to view all of the holographic monitors around him. The first monitor showed him images of black and red colored war ships. The ships were all roughly the size of a Cornerian capital ship, but they all contained twice the fire power. He also saw an image of a destroyer which had four mini-Shroud canons attached to the exterior as its primary source of damage. "No…" Axios said. "That's… impossible."

Axios turned and looked at another monitor and saw the schematics of a fighter. The Children of Red equip all of their fighters with a tri-core booster. The booster amplified the power output of the fighter's shields, lasers, and speed. But the feature about the fighters that stunned Axios the most was micro-Shroud laser canon mounted in the front of the fighter.

The next monitor that Axios saw was details about the fleet size of the Children of Red. He saw that a single fleet contained nearly fifty ships in total. That number is mainly comprised of fleet destroyers, and the capital ships that were included housed nearly two hundred fighters in total. To add onto his despair, Axios noticed that the Children of Red contained nearly a dozen fleets; all of which were roughly equivalent in numbers to the single fleet Axios had just read about.

"Now do you see…?" Cadeus asked Axios. "The Children of Red is the culmination of the largest fleet in existence. They have spent hundreds of years building and adding onto their size. Eliminate one fleet, and two more will be built in its place." Cadeus pressed a button on his arm rest to deactivate all of the monitors surrounded Axios. "But Axios, this file alone is one you need to see."

Cadeus pressed another button on his arm rest and brought another monitor before Axios. He was looking upon the file that described the All Father himself. The first thing he noticed was an image of a masked person dressed in black robes. The robes had multiple red decals running along the side and two large red bans circling the robe from top to bottom. The figure also wore a mask bearing the Black Sun emblem above the Crimson Organization emblem, and both symbols were surrounded by a red and black helix. There were three more lines underneath the helix that appeared to have been scratched into the symbol.

"This can't be right…" Axios said as he was reading the file. "Why do they bear the exact same emblem as the Black Suns and the Crimson Organization?"

"Because the Black Suns and the Crimson Organization originated from the Children of Red." Cadeus responded as he deactivated the monitor in front of Marcus. "Long before you joined the Black Suns, the Children of Red decided to expand their numbers. To do this, they created two major parties to explore new systems: The Black Suns, and the Crimson Organization. At First, the Black Suns were given a portion of the Children of Red's fleets and were told to explore the Lylat System. While the Crimson Organization took their portion of the fleets to explore the Philat System."

"Then where did the Children of Red make their home?"

"The Children of Red reside in the Bikar System, a solar system comprised of three stars and nearly two dozen planets. It is a completely robust system where the planets are caught in a trinity field of gravitational movement. They orbit all three stars in a trinity triangle pattern, and while one sun sets; another rises."

"Then how did they get to Lylat and Philat?"

"Originally, the Children of Red started their own construction on a mega gate to get them to the Philat and Lylat systems; but they failed. And so the Black Sun fleets and the Crimson Organization fleets traveled at light speed towards the two systems. However, their journey took them many years to complete, and so the people underwent an extended period of cryostasis to survive. However, there was one major side effect towards an extended period of cryostasis…"

"Memory loss…" Axios responded as he slowly lowered his blaster. "They forgot about the Children of Red, and what they were originally sent to do."

"Indeed. Therefore the Black Suns and Crimson Organization elected their own leaders upon the arrival of their systems. The Black Suns found Lylat after a hundred and fifty years of light speed travel, and the Crimson Organization found Philat after two hundred. From then on the two factions pursued their own agendas; to achieve absolute control over their systems. The Black Suns sought to rule Lylat and establish their first empire, but Star Fox and the Cornerian military had defeated them before their goal was reached."

"And now we're about to do the same with the Crimson Organization in their home system." Axios raised his blaster once more and aimed it at Cadeus. "How do we get to the Bikar System?"

"Through either the Lylat or Philat Mega Gates of course, but I ask of you; would you seek them out, or let them come to you? You are impossibly outnumbered Axios, charging into the Bikar system would be guaranteed suicide."

"If what you say is true, then why haven't they come through the gates already? What aren't you telling me?"

"They have not come because they have not been signaled to." Cadeus stood from his throne and reached for the collar of his robes. He undid a button slowly started to remove the top portion of his robe. Axios noticed that Cadeus had multiple cybernetic implants embedded into his left shoulder. As Cadeus completely exposed his left arm and left half of his torso, Axios had seen the truth.

Cadeus's entire left arm was mechanical, and the left half of his torso was also mechanical. But Axios noticed a glass chamber around Cadeus's heart and realized that Cadeus was kept alive by an artificial heart. "Do you see Axios?" Cadeus asked. "Do you see what has happened to your father?"

"My god…" Axios softly said to himself. "What the hell did you do…?"

"My son… that day many years ago… I did actually die. But my body was never found because it was taken by the Crimson Organization. I was brought back to life with artificial organs and advanced prosthetics under the command of the All Father himself. Since then I have spent the years recovering, and I assumed leadership over the Crimson Organization just five years ago."

Axios was completely stunned by the sight of Cadeus's condition, and he was even more stunned with Cadeus's words. But Axios still had his thoughts on his father's previous statement. "What do you mean they haven't been signaled yet?"

"By my death." Cadeus responded. "You had already killed Mr. Black, giving them the first signal to ready them for war. Should you kill me, then you will give them the second signal to proceed through the mega gates and begin their assault on Lylat and Philat. With the head of the Black Suns and the Crimson Organization dead, there will be no one to stop them."

Axios grew furious as he felt trapped within a bind. He did not know whether or not Cadeus was telling the truth, but he dared not risk the safety of Lylat and Philat. "Fine." Axios said. "I won't kill you…" Axios aimed at his father's shoulder and pulled the trigger on his blaster. He watched as a blaster round pierced his father's shoulder and his father falling back into his throne. "But that doesn't mean I won't hurt you."

Axios started to walk towards the throne but was stopped as a black robed assassin came from above to stop him. Standing only a several feet away from Axios, the assassin quickly drew a blade and pointed it at Axios preventing him from taking another step. "You'll stop right there." Raynor said.

"You…" Axios responded as he pointed his blaster at Raynor. "I remember you. You tried to turn Star Fox over to Roberts…" Axios looked at Raynor's cybernetics and grew irritated. "I see you've gotten a few upgrades…"

"I've been made perfect by the hand of the Crimson Star."

Axios looked over Raynor's shoulder and noticed Cadeus slowly rising form his throne once more. "You're out of time Axios." Cadeus said. "And now I'll leave this place knowing my son perished for not following me."

"Go ahead!" Axios angrily responded. "Run, I'll give you a head start." Axios watched as Cadeus moved around his throne and started to walk to a pair of large double doors at the end of the throne room. Seeing his father disappear behind the doors, Axios focused his attention on Raynor. "I won't hold my breath." he said.

Axios fired a blaster round at Raynor's head but Raynor quickly ducked underneath it. Raynor quickly stepped towards Axios and swung his blade towards Axios abdomen. Axios pulled out his own short blade to block Raynor's just at the last second before he would have been cut. Raynor quickly tried once more and swung at Axios's throat but his second strike was blocked as well. The two quickly distanced themselves after their second clash for a moment of reprieve. Realizing that Raynor's upgrades were giving him an advantage, Axios became weary. "This could be a problem…" Axios thought to himself.

While Axios and Raynor continued their duel within the throne room, the Crimson defenses were being eliminated bit by bit. While Axios was confronting his father and Raynor, the Star Fox team had broken through the atmosphere and eliminated the first wave of Crimson fighters. At the moment, the team was flying in unison as they traversed the volcanic landscape. "The coordinates of the facility put it two dozen kilometers to our north." Fred said.

"Then let's make it fast." Marcus responded. "And watch your altitude. Volcanic eruptions and lava will rip our fighters apart if we're not careful."

"Hey Foxie, remind you of anything?" Falco asked.

"Solar, don't remind me." Fox responded.

As the team continued to fly towards the facility, they picked up a radar signature in the distance. Realizing that they have located the Archangel, the team quickly snapped into attention. "Axios!" Fox called out. "Axios, do you read?"

"Star Fox." Sigma responded as he was piloting the Archangel. "Axios is inside the facility and he has located and identified the Crimson Star."

"Sigma?" Marcus asked. "You're remote piloting the Archangel?"

"I was instructed to. But the situation has changed; Axios now needs your help."

"Well if that hot shot didn't jump the gun then we wouldn't be in this situation!" Katt angrily responded.

"Not now Katt!" Fox called out. "Hit those boosters and let's get to the facility. Sigma, what are the defenses like?"

"There are very little AA turrets since I have been destroying them. Crimson fighters periodically emerge from the main hangers, but nothing that requires all of you to stay air borne."

"All right then." Marcus responded. "Falco, Katt, and the Toads keep the skies clear. The rest of us will move in and save Axios."

"Fine with me." Falco responded. "Just move you tail kid."

Within moments, the team arrived at the facility and they saw its structure embedded within the canyon side. As they were able to visually see the Archangel harassing the facility form above, they noticed the main hanger was open and releasing more Crimson fighters into the air. "This is it!" Marcus called out. "Clear a path into the hanger!"

The team divided into their according groups and started their attack on the facility. The McClouds, Sierra, Joey, and Isaac unleashed a barrage of laser fire upon the entry of the hanger clearing a path for them to enter. As the last fighter of the immediate wave was destroyed, the group managed to infiltrate the hanger. They noticed several dozen Crimson fighters docked and robotic pilots moving towards them. "Target those fighters while they're still docked!" Marcus commanded.

Following his command, the group put their fighters into a hover and opened a barrage of laser fire within the hanger to eliminate all of the remaining Crimson fighters. After the hanger was clear, the group docked their fighters and dismounted them. "Falco, come in." Marcus said. "We're in the hanger."

"Copy that kid." Falco said as he was pursuing a Crimson fighter. "We'll keep the skies clear up here, hurry up and find Axios."

"Got it. Joey, Isaac; you two stay here and guard the fighters."

"Right." Joey and Isaac responded.

"Then let's get going." Fox said.

"Sigma, do you have any idea where we should be heading?" Krystal asked.

"Axios infiltrated the facility through the roof and located a tram system that brought him to the Crimson Star's throne room." Sigma responded. "I can guide you there, but you need to hurry."

"We're on it." Marcus responded. "Let's move guys!"

Following his words, the McClouds and Sierra started to move into the facility on the hunt for Axios. Knowing that Star Fox had infiltrated the hanger however, Cadeus became alert to their presence.

"Master." a soldier said to Cadeus. "Star Fox has infiltrated the hanger."

At the moment, Cadeus was moving towards an escape shuttle within another substation located behind the throne room substation. He was accompanied by a squad of Crimson guards as he started to board his escape shuttle. "Did they now?" Cadeus asked. "Very well, we need to delay them. I'm going to release Scyther and Capital from their restraints and activate their regulators. Send a message to any remaining Crimson personnel warning them to flee. Scyther and Capital are going to kill everything in their path."

Cadeus pressed several buttons on his wrist communicator and opened a trap door within the throne room. At the moment, Axios and Raynor were still in a sword battle with each other. As they swung their blades at each other once more, they both blocked the other and were forced into a stall. However, they both noticed a large, circular trap door open to their sides and they both realized something big was coming. They both quickly jumped away from each other and the both looked at the pit. As they both heard a large growl come from below, they both knew what was coming.

"Oh no…" Axios thought. Axios and Raynor both gave themselves a look of concern as they saw a black and green claw grab onto the edge of the pit. They first saw Scyther emerge from the pit in his large, black beast form followed shortly by Capital in his large beast form. Knowing that they stood no chance, Axios and Raynor slowly started to back away from Scyther and Capital.

"Raynor?" Axios asked as he continued to back away. "Temporary truce?"

"Is that even a question?" Raynor fearfully asked as he continued to back away. "Which one do you want?"