Chapter 29 The Clearing Skies, or Another Storm on the Way?

Everybody made their way back to the Great Fox II without difficulty and when they were all finished with investigating their peculiar fighter, to see if they could perceive any type of visual damage to craft after the conflict. When they were done with that task, they all all knew that their next stop was to go the bridge, where Peppy was to tell him had happen and what had not happen.

"I'll stay here and work on the fighters," said Slippy.

The vulpine leader, Fox, nodded his head at that and with that Slippy went to work by heading to one of the supply closet. When he got there he pulled out a bunch of tools and data pads that the rest of the team only assumed would be able to help the repairs of the fighters.

"Everybody else, I think we should tell Peppy what we all went through, what didn't happen, and what we have to do if we want the Bacterian thing gone," said Fox.

"Agree," said James.

Everybody nodded their heads in agreement to what the blue fox had said about this and after that they all went to the elevator. Then with a couple of seconds of waiting the elevator came for them. After that the entire team filed into the elevator and when everybody was inside of the machine. It was Krystal that did the honor of pressing the button that would close the doors of the machine and take them to their next destination, which was the bridge of this ship.

"So," started Fox. "Who do you think that person used to be? The person that was converted into that brain thing?"

"Are you talking to me?" Asked James."If you are, I don't have the faintest idea who they were?"

"No, I was talking to Krystal," answered Fox. "Did you sense anything that could of told you who that person used to be?"

The blue furred vixen close her eyes to aide her in trying to recall what happen in that battle and if she was able to sense anything from that thing that would told her who that person use to be. As she looked back in the past of her life, she was able to recall the entire battle to smallest detail and all of the action that the team did. But, as she tried to recall her feelings and what her sixth sense had told her about the thing she found out that she didn't extend that apart of herself during the fight. Because of that she had missed the chance to see what this thing used to be and thus leaving that question unanswered for all them.

Krystal shook her head at this. "I'm sorry, but I didn't used my telepathy on that thing during the battle in fear that I might be trap inside of that thing's mind forever while you guys were fighting that thing."

As much as Fox would of loved to known what that thing used to be when it was a person, he also understood why Krystal was a little hesitated from entering into the mind of that thing, which was a risk that he wouldn't take no matter what. "Understood, I just have to tell Peppy that we didn't fine out that origin of that thing while we were inside of the ship."

"You know that the old man won't be to happy with the fact that we miss that," said Falco.

This had caused Fox to do a little smile at that, for he knew that his avian partner was right about that. "But, I think he would be happy with the fact that we have came back alive to tell him what had happen to us while we were inside of that thing."

Falco just rolled his eyes at what Fox had said to him. "Whatever."

Seconds after that the elevator that they were on stopped, the doors of the machine open up for them and when that happen they all found out that they had made it to the bridge of the Great Fox II. Seeing that they all walked out of the small room into the much bigger room that was the bridge of this ship, to see that ROB and Peppy were there, waiting for all of them to arrive to this spot.

"I see that almost all of you have made it, with the exception of Slippy. Where is the guy?" Asked Peppy.

"He is down in the docking bay, taking care of our fighters, for they took quite a beating," answered Fox.

Peppy nodded his head at that. "What about the Dark Void? I thought that if we destroyed that ship, we would of rid ourselves of the Dark Void, but as you can see it, the thing is still there and I would like to know why?"

"And it would of, if that ship had the real Controller," answered James.

Peppy narrowed his eyes on the blue fox, for he didn't like where this was heading at. "What do you mean by that?"

"Exactly, what I said. That ship didn't housed the Controller of the Bacterian units in this area and because of that the Dark Void is still there," answered James.

"If that is so, what did you guys destroy on that ships and where is the real Controller at?" Asked Peppy.

"We destroyed a fleet commander, which is no small feat, and the real Controller is somewhere inside of that Dark Void," answered James.

"If that is so, then why in the name of Solar didn't you go into that place to finished the job. It's not like you, Fox to leave a job half finished!" Demanded Peppy.

The sudden outburst of anger that came from Peppy, stunned Fox a little, for Peppy was the type of person that wasn't prone to these sudden outburst, even during the time of the Lylat Wars when things got hairy to the point that none of them thought they would make it out with their lives, he managed to kept his calm. Because of that they were able to withstand the difference onslaughts that the Venom forces threw at them.

"Peppy, calm down, if I could of enter into that place,I would of. But, our fighters are not at 100% and if we want to survive for at least an hour inside of that place, we needed our shields to be at 100%," said Fox, hopping that would be good enough for the rabbit to calm down and see things from his point of view, to see that he was forced to head back to the Great Fox II.

After what seemed to be a lifetime, everybody was able to see that Fox's words did the trick, for they could see that the elderly rabbit had calm down to the point that he might be able to see what Fox was talking about and that what Fox wanted to do. "You are right about that, but I didn't like the fact that thing is still there, for it feels like we didn't do anything."

"Yes, I know, it dose feel like we didn't do anything to the Bacterian, but trust me, we did do something to the Bacterian," said James.

"Like how?" Asked Peppy.

"While, they don't have a huge battlecruiser that will attack Corneria while you are out on another mission, which means at this time they are on the defense until they create another one of those ships again. So that means we have some time to draft out yet another plan and repair our fighters before we go into the Dark Void," answered James.

Listening to what James had said about that, Peppy was forced to agree to what he said about that and to showed that he agree to what the blue male fox had just said to him he nodded his head at what he said to them. With that out of the way, the only thing that they now had to worry about was the fact that they had to come up with a plan to attack the real Controller that was hidden somewhere inside of that Dark Void.

"But, the real kicker in all of this, what type of plan are we going to think of," said Peppy.

"Yes, I know," said James.

Then out of the blue they heard a beeping sound that was coming in the direction of where ROB was sitting at, that caused everybody to turned their body in that direction of the terminal to see what it was all about.

"ROB what is it?" Asked Fox.

The robot tapped a few buttons that were on his display to see what it was and in a matter of seconds he was able to see what had triggered the alert, for it was a transmission that the Great Fox II was picking up. "We are picking up an incoming transmission."

"Who is it and where is it coming from?" Asked Fox.

Once again everybody that was on the bridge was able to see that the robot was keying in a few more commands into the terminal to get the answers that Fox wanted. The robot was able to get the answers that Fox wanted and from what he was able to see, he knew that the leader of this team wasn't going to like it. "I can't tell who is sending it, but I can tell you where it coming from?"

"Where is coming from?" Asked Fox.

"From the area that you call the Dark Void," answered ROB.

"What? Put it on!" Demanded Fox.

For the third time the robot imputed a few more commands in to the computer terminal that was in front of him to do what Fox wanted of him. Seconds after that they were able to hear a voice that sounded like it was a mixture of both male and female voices that was telling them that it was stunned by the fact that they were able to destroy that thing as fast as they did. Because of that it was asking if they would want to have some type of peace between the two of them or if they want to continue on this path of war that they were currently on.

"What is the hell is that thing?" Demanded Fox.

James slightly cocked his head at that to see if he was able to tell what that thing was and in a brief time the blue Gradian fox was able to tell what that thing was, for it was the voice of the real Controller of the Bacterian forces that were in this system. "Its the voice of the real Controller of all the Bacterian forces that are in this system."

"Are you sure?" Asked Fox.

"Yes," answered James.

"If that is true, then why is asking for peace?" Asked Fox.

"Maybe it has finally seen the light and that we are going to kick its ass if it continues to fight us," answered Falco.

"No, I don't think that is the reason that is behind this," answered James.

"If that isn't the reason, that is behind all of this, then what do you think this is all about?" Asked Fox.

James shook his head at this. "I don't know, for this is the first time that the Bacterian has pull sometime like this, I hate to admit it, but this is all new to me, but I would add that I don't trust this thing one signal bit."

Fox noted this, but he did what to know more about this message to see what the leader of the Bacterian was offering to them as a way to show the Lylatians that this thing was serious about this peace that it was offering to them before he would make any type of judgement about the thing.

"ROB is there anymore of the message?" Asked Fox.

"No, it is just repeating the same message," answered ROB.

With that leader of the Star Fox team knew that the leader of this group was expecting an answer from somebody that would act as the voice of all of the Lylatians. Because of that he knew that him, himself wasn't a person that was best suited for that job, despite the fact that they were the ones that were closest to the thing, but Fox did know there was somebody that was on this ship that could do that job for them right now. That person was Peppy, because he held high position within the government.

"And that means that thing wants an answer to its message," started Fox. "And as much I would love to talk with the thing, I don't think that I'm the right person that should be speaking to it at this time."

"Who do you suggest?" Asked Peppy.

"You of course," answered Fox.

"What?" Asked Peppy, that was clearly socked by this. "Fox, I'm no diplomat, I'm military leader. I think we should forward this to the President and let the career politicians deal with this instead of me."

"And that's the reason, why you would be better at this then me, you can at least temporality speak on behalf of the people here, before the government send out somebody that has been trained in this," said Fox.

"Alright," said Peppy that was resign in the fact that he was going to do this no matter what.

"ROB open up a channel to that thing," said Fox.

ROB did what Fox had order him to do. "The channel is open."

With that Peppy stood up, took a quick look at all of the people that were on the bridge to see what type of emotion that they had at this time, so he knew what to say and not what to say at that thing. With that out of the way he cleared his throat and spoke on the open line.

"This is General Peppy Hare of the Cornerian Defense Force speaking on behalf of the Cornerian people, responding to your earlier transmission that you are considering a peace between the two of us," said Peppy that hopped that this was good enough to at least get a line of communications between the two of them open and if that worked, them they might be able to go a little deeper into what this thing wanted from them, what it was willing to give up to grant them that wish, and what they are willing to give up as well if they wanted this peace as well.

After a few seconds of painful silence from the thing, they were able to see that Peppy's first statement, was well received by that thing, for the thing had spoken back to them. "Yes, we are, General, and we would like it to come as fast as your people can pull off."

That was the hook that Peppy had hope that the Bacterian leader would catch on and now it was time to slowly reel them in. "That goes the same with us as well." The rabbit paused for he knew that the next words might be the thing that would either make or break this thing for them, but the rabbit knew that he had to reminder what this thing had done in the past and why his people might not be completely trusting of what this thing had to say.

"But, you must consider the fact that there are some forces that are in my government and her people that might not be completely trusting of you on this peace thing that you are promising to us."

"That is understood of you and I expect that as well," it said.

That was fast thought Peppy at this and with that a thought of worry crossed his mind about this, maybe this thing did expect this from anybody that was from the Cornerian government. If that was the case then it would mean he would have to changed up his discussion to this thing about what it wanted from them.

"That's good, but I would like to know what you are giving to us and what do you expect of us to give us for this peace that you are offering to us," said Peppy that cut to the chase with the thing, he knew that he was stepping over his position right now, but he knew that it was something that he had to do to get this thing speaking about its terms of peace.

"Cutting to the chase, good that is something that I like," the thing started. "And to prove that I'm serious about this. I'm going to give up something that you have lost so many years ago."

"What? What is he talking about?" Asked James, uncaring about the fact that the leader of the Bacterian was able to heard his voice at this time.

Seconds after that they all received an alert from the computer terminal that ROB was sitting at and that caused everybody to turned their attention in the direction of where the robot was at.

"ROB what is it?" Asked Fox.

Not saying anything, ROB keyed in a couple of commands into the computer terminal to learn what was causing that alert and waiting for a couple of seconds for the computer to response to his command, the robot was able to visualize what was causing that alert.

"The Dark Void is once again in flux," answered ROB.

"No, not again," said James that didn't want to deal with yet another Bacterian Battlecruiser, especially in the condition that their fighters were in at this time, for he knew that they were in no shape to fight yet another one of these ships no matter what shape the battlecruiser might be in.

"If that is another Bacterian battlecruiser, we are royally screwed," said Falco.

"Put it on," ordered Fox.

With that ROB tapped a few more buttons that changed the view of the screen from the typical standby gray screen to one that showed the starless Dark Void and they all saw that their ship's sensors were telling the truth about the Dark Void. It was indeed in a state of flux, much in the same way that it did when the huge Bacterian battlecruiser came out of that thing and because of that, they all anticipated that they would all see same thing that they saw before, which would mean, which would mean that all of this was a lie. But, they were quite amaze by the fact that they didn't see another huge Bacterian battlecruiser come out of that dark spot of space, but some thing that was much more smaller than a huge capitol ship, almost the size of a fighter-like craft.

"What is that thing?" Asked Fox.

"Magnifying," said ROB as he tapped a few buttons that brought up a square box that look like a targeting box, that moved to the area where the small ship was coming from and when it did that ROB tapped yet another round of buttons that made the image become a bunch of pixels, but as time pass by the image started to clear itself up for all of them to see and when that happen they were all able to witness that they were right about the fact that the ship that came out of the Dark Void was indeed a fighter sized ship. But, that wasn't what had caused everybody to open up their mouths in socked at what they saw, it was the fact that they were looking at a first generation Arwing that was coming out of the that place that had caused them to act like that.

"That can't be," said Fox at the sight of that thing, he had hopped that thing wasn't an Arwing, but an illusion crated by the Bacterians. "ROB, can you confirm that is an Arwing? I don't want to be fooled by these Bacterians once again."

ROB nodded his mechanical head at what Fox had ordered him to do and after that he tapped a few buttons that ran the image of that thing to all of the known image of all of the known ships that they had in their database to see if that was really an Arwing or not. Like before he waited for the computer to give him an answer to that question and in a matter of seconds he was able to get his answer. He found out that the thing that they thought was an Arwing was in fact an Arwing and not a illusion.

"Yes, that object is an Arwing," answered ROB.

Dam it thought Fox at this. It was in fact an Arwing and not an illusion, like he hopped it would be.

"Are you serious about that?" Asked Fox.

"Yes, it is an Arwing," answered ROB.

Fox just shook his head at that, he couldn't believe this, that this was happening, it was impossible. But, there it was staring back at him, mocking him with the fact that it was there despite the fact that Fox wouldn't believe that it was there. It had to be something beside the fact that it was an Arwing that the Bacterian were putting up to convince them that they were telling the truth about this peace deal they were talking about and just what happen when he first saw this thing he was brought back to the vision that he saw that had Andrew in it that was telling him that this was the shape of things to come. At that time he didn't know what to make of it when he first saw it, only the fact that Andrew was with the Bacterian and that was the only thing that he could make of it. But, seeing this thing for a third time he was starting to have second thoughts about what was the true nature of that vision and maybe that vision wasn't one of war, but one of peace. If that was the case, he wondered why did they attack them in the first place if they wanted peace with them in the first place.

"ROB can you confirm that is an Arwing an the same object that we saw earlier?" Asked James that wanted to make sure that was the object that they were all looking at, was in fact a real Arwing.

The robot faithfully followed the orders that came from James and in a matter of seconds ROB was able to get an answer for the blue furred fox. "Yes, that is the same object that we saw earlier."

Before James could say anything at the sight of this, another sound was heard that caught the attention of everybody and before anybody could inform ROB about this, the robot was already on top of the task. "We are getting a another transmission from the craft."

"What?" Asked James. "Can you tell what type of language that it is speaking in?"

"Our own language," answered ROB.

"What is it saying to us?" Asked Fox.

"It wants to talk to us to see who we are," answered ROB. "And do you want to put that craft through?"

Curious about this thing and what this entity wanted from them. "Sure, I would like to know what this thing look like."

"That goes the same with me as well," said James.

After that ROB did what he was order and a couple of commands into the computer so that the rest of the team would be able to see who was this thing that was behind all of the chatter that was coming from that craft. They all saw that the thing that was in control of that thing was in fact a person that look like that they were of Lylatian origin, but that was the only the beginnings of the socks that the people that were on the Great Fox II were going to experience. For when they were able to get a better look at the Lylatian pilot they were able to see that he was an orange furred fox just like Fox and that made them all wondered why didn't the Bacterian that was inside of that place be killed at the present of him. With that they all started to wonder if this person was really a Lylatian, but a Bacterian that was taking on the appearance of a Lylatian like what happen with Peppy's aide.

"Well hello there," said the fox that was on the Arwing. "It is nice to see that I'm really in the Lylat System and that I wasn't lie to by the leader of the Bacterian."

With that they were able to hear this fox's voice for the first time and when they did they first thought that it had the same voice of Fox. But, with everything that was associated or came from the Bacterian it was something that they had to double check to make sure that they were right about the thing. So they knew that they had to get the fox to speak again to them.

"That's good to hear, but we wold like to know how you were able to survive being in that void and how the Bacterian itself wasn't destroyed when the two of you contacted each other? Because we know for a fact that vulpine's blood is toxic to the Bacterian and we know that if there any type of unprotected craft enter into the Dark Void it will be consumed by the environment itself. So I ask again how where you able to survive?" Asked Fox.

"Ah, very clever, I expect nothing less of the person that is my son," answered the other fox.

That revelation had caught everybody off guard and it took everybody a few seconds to realize what was just said to them.

"What did you just say?" Asked James.

The orange furred fox did a little half grin on his face at the sound of the question. "You heard me, Fox. I'm your father."

With that a sound of a pin dropping could be heard on the bridge of the ship, for it wasn't the thing that they had expected to hear from the mouth of this other fox, that it was in fact it was Fox's long thought dead father.

"James, is that you?" Asked Peppy, who took it as his job to break the silence that was on the bridge.

"Yes, Peppy it is me," answered James, still maintaing the same smile that was on his face.

"James, there is a ton of questions that you need to answer," said Peppy. "Like what happen to you over the orbit of Venom and how you were able to survive that long with the Bacterian for the reasons that Fox had started."

"Yes, I know and all of your questions will be answer when I come on board your ship," said James.

"Now do you see that I'm serious about this peace between the two of us," said the voice of the Bacterian leader.

"Yes, we do," said Peppy. "When can we start?"

"As soon as you let James onto your ship," answered the Bacterian leader.

With that Peppy nodded his head at that and turned it toward ROB, the only being that was on this ship that was unaffected the presence of James McCloud. "ROB, tells James that he is allowed to come on board."

The robot nodded his head at that and imputed the commands that told James McCloud that he was allowed to dock with the Great Fox II. When James McCloud received the notification that the robot sent to him. James McCloud nodded his head as a sign that he had received the transmission that was sent to him. After that he ended the transmission that was between the two of them and when that happen they found out that the transmission that was coming from the Dark Void also ended.

"Fox, I want you to come with me when you father's Arwing docks with the Great Fox II," said Peppy.

Fox nodded his head at that.

"Peppy, I would like to come with you as well, I would like to see the Flying Fox in person," requested James. "Considering the fact that he is a major figure in both my people folklore and religion it would be a major miss opportunity for me if I don't see him."

With that done, James MacCloud followed Peppy and Fox as they headed out of the bridge, but before he could do that, James found out that he was being monition to by Krystal. Seeing this James knew that the telepathic vixen wanted to speak with him about something that she didn't want the other two people that he was with to hear and that was something that caused the fur that was on the back of his neck to stand on end. Because of that he knew that it was something that he needed to head.

"Guys, can you wait for me, Krystal wants to talk to me about the importance of James McCloud in my people's culture," said James. "And, yes, I know, I was the one that wanted this, but since Krystal wants to know more about my people, since they are the only fragment of her people that are left in the universe."

Peppy sigh at this and once again he was forced to comply to his request.

"Peppy, don't worry about him, if Krystal wants to know more about his people, let her," said Fox.

"But, don't be to long," said Peppy before the door of the elevator close in front of him.

So with that one obstruction out of the way, he knew that it was time for him to talk to Krystal about what was on her mind and he figure that it was about the appearance of James McCloud, the very same thing that was on his mind. So James made his way to where the azure telepathic vixen was located at to see what she wanted of him.

"What do you want?" Asked James.

"I don't want to talk about it in this place, to may ears," answered Krystal and then she pointed in the direction of where the briefing room was at. "I would like to talk about it in that room."

James nodded his head at that and without a second thought the two of them walked off the bridge without anybody else noticing that they had left that area, which was what they wanted to do. When they got into the briefing room, Krystal tapped a few buttons that she hopped was the right combo that would lock the door and when she heard the sound of what she thought was a mechanical lock she knew that she had imputed the right combination in.

"What is that all about?" Asked James.

"To make sure that nobody comes walking in here to see what we are talking about," answered Krystal.

"Paranoia a little, anyway what is this all about?" Asked James.

Krystal took a little sigh at this, for she knew what she was about to say would come quite of sock to the blue fox, but she knew that it was a deal that must be done if they wanted to win this conflict. "It is about James McCloud or the Bacterian creation that is taking the form of Fox's father, he is not to be trusted and I fear that if I tell Fox about this it might break him. Which, is something that we don't need at this time."

James did a half smile at that, it was the same thing that he was warned about from the real James McCloud before they headed off to Fichina. "Don't worry about that, I was told about this from the real James McCloud about this creation before we headed off to Fichina."

That was relief to Krystal for she thought that would break the will of James MacCloud, considering the fact that he was a major element in their culture, but she was happy with the fact that it did nothing to Jams. "Thank you."

"For what?" Asked James.

"For not going all nuts on me about this, I thought that you would call me a heretic," answered Krystal.

James shook his head at that. "I might be devoted to my religion, but I'm not a zealot. I won't push my religious beliefs on other people that don't believe in what I believe, for I think if they want to come to that religion they will come to that religion on their own. Anyway, this is not the point, the point is how are we going to handle this? Are we going to tell Fox about this?"

"I don't think that would be wise, because of all of the strong emotions that I got when Fox found out that this father was still alive it might break him," answered Krystal.

James slightly nodded his head at this and he understood her reasons behind this, but he also knew that Fox was going to fine out that he wasn't his father, but something that was made to look like that. If that happen, James wondered how Fox would react to the news that the two of them knew about and didn't tell him about it. "I understand where you are coming from, but I think Fox should knew that isn't his father and it is a creation of the Bacterian, the very thing that he is fighting."

"No, we kept this to ourselves, plus we have to convince that thing that we believe that is the real James McCloud," said Krystal.

"Okay, what about Peppy? Do you think he should know about this?" Asked James.

Krystal paused to think about this for a slight moment and unlike with Fox, whom idolized his father, Peppy was close to the man, but didn't idolized him like Fox did. Because, of that Krystal knew that he would be able to handle the idea that this thing that they thought was James McCloud was in fact a Bacterian creation that was made to get close to them or worst. But, while Peppy would be able to accept the fact that James McCloud wasn't the person that he thought he was, she also knew for a fact that since Peppy was Fox's Godfather, he would be obliged to tell Fox about this no matter what. So she knew that the rabbit would have to be kept in the dark about this, until she felt that it would be a good time for him and Fox to know about this.

"Yes, I do think he should know about this, but not at this time for I know for a fact he will tell Fox about this," answered Krystal.

James just sighed at this for he didn't like the idea of lying to people that were allies, even if it was for their benefit. "I just hope that you are right about this, because you know what will happen to the two of us when Fox finds out that we kept this from him."

Krystal communicate her agreement to this by nodding her head at this. "Yes, I know and that is the one thing that I am willing to risk if means keeping Fox's heart in the battle."

James slightly cocked his head at this. "Well, good luck to you with this. I also think that it time for me to leave before I raise any questions with either Peppy, Fox, or that thing that is masquerading itself as Fox's father."

Krystal understood what James was trying to do and to show that to him she nodded her head at what James had just said to him. Without saying another word the blue telepathic vixen went to the door and tapped in the code that unlocked the door for the two of them. When that happen the two blue foxes walked out of the briefing room and onto the bridge of the ship. In doing that they knew that the two of them might be assaulted with a bunch of questions from Falco about what they were doing in that room that required them to lock the door. So they braced themselves for the questions and they found out that they didn't get any type of questions from Falco about what they were doing behind closed doors, which made the two of them relieved that they didn't have to lie to him as well about what they knew.

Not wasting any time the two of them quickly parted their own ways before any thing would happen to them with Krystal taking her seat on the bridge and James heading back into the elevator. When he did that he tapped on the button that would take him back to the docking bay where that thing would meat Peppy and Fox.

Let's hope this isn't a bad idea thought James as he hear the elevator move.

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The Bacterian created James McCloud was delighted at the fact that Fox had fallen for him just like his leader said he would, but what he didn't expect was the fact that Peppy Hare, James McCloud's life long friend and founding member of the first Star Fox team had fallen for him as well. Which meant that they had token the bait that was casted out in front of them, just like they had planed, now it was time for him to reel in these Lylatians in like a skilled fisherman would whenever he would get a bite on their line. But, James McCloud knew, like any skilled fishermen, they just like a fish that was hooked on a line would fight with everything that they had inside of them to stay alive and not be somebody's meal. So with that thought on the back of the Bacterian creation's mind it knew that it would have a fight on its hands when dealing with the Lylatians and so he braced himself for a fight that he knew that was coming.

My Master, I'm about to board the Great Fox IIthought James.

Good said the voice of his Master inside of his head. Now, stick to the plan and avoid the three people of James MacCloud, Krystal, and Wolf.

The Bacterian created James McCloud nodded his head at that. Agree he thought back to his Master.

After he said that the Bacterian created James McCloud no longer felt the presence of his Master in his head and because of that he knew that he was safe to think to himself about anything that he wanted. It also meant that the voices the ones that belong to both the real James McCloud and the personification of his own self doubt would be able to slide back into his mind, which was something that he didn't want to have happen, not at this time, when he was on something that was so crucial in their plan.

So you have finally came this far said one of his voice.

With that he knew that this was the other voice, the one that was his own self doubt that was talking to him, the one voice that he didn't want to hear at this time. Like before the Bacterian created James McCloud paid no attention to what this voice was saying to him, instead he started working on the docking process that the Lylatians used and he found out that the process haven't changed from the last time that the real James McCloud had used.

But, have you come far enough continue the voice, unaware or uncaring about the fact that he wasn't listening to what it was saying to him.

Once again the Bacterian creation that went by the name of James McCloud opted not to give this voice any of his time while he was trying to dock with the Great Fox II. That seem to do the trick, for he found out that this voice had stopped its efforts in harassing him for the time being and when he found that out he was happy with that fact, for he feared that if the voice had kept on talking to him, it might of broken him down him to the point that he might start talking back to the voice despite the fact that he knew that it was a product of his own mind. At least with the real James McCloud he knew that the image and the voice that belong to his image was real, that talking to him he won't be considered crazy like if he was talking back with a voice that no body else would be able to heard. But, even with that he knew that he had to get back on point and the real reason why he was docking with the Great Fox II in the first place, with that he found out that his mind that was full with a jumble of thoughts about the whys and the why nots he should continue on this path where all gone, just like he wanted.

When he did that he found out that it came from just in time for he saw the Great Fox II had open up the docking bay for him and with a couple of adjustments to his Arwing's path he was about to enter into the Great Fox II without the slightest bit of trouble. After that he active the landing gear of the Arwing and after that he landed the craft down onto the floor of the docking bay.

He took the time to take a quick glance out of the glass window and he discovered that he was greeted by two people. One of them was an orange furred fox just like he was that was dress in some type of flight uniform, he didn't know what to make of it and personally he didn't care about that, for the only thing that he cared about was the fact that this was Fox McCloud. The other person that was in there with him was an older white rabbit that came complete with a pair of glasses that were hanging low on his face and he was also dress in some type of uniform as well just like Fox was, Like with Fox he didn't care to know what this was about, all he care about was the fact who this person was in the grand scale of things. So he pulled all of the memories that the had about James McCloud and he found out that this white rabbit was Peppy Hare, James's very close dear friend. Not waiting to tick them off about the fact that he wasn't the real James McCloud, he quickly, but carefully got out of the Arwing to greet the two of them, that were the only family that he had left. Because of that he didn't know which person that he should of greet first, the person that was James McCloud's own son, Fox, of the person that was the best friend to the real James McCloud, or maybe the should wait and let them tell him what he should do at this time.

"Hey, James, what is up with you? Are you going to at least say hi to your son, for he had a quite matured into a fine leader and you would be quite honor of him with all of the things that he has done in the years that you have gone missing," said Peppy that sounded socked at the fact that he didn't make any type of compassionate move toward the other fox.

"Oh, nothing, it is the fact that I'm really here in my own homeworld and not some type of reality prison that make me think that I'm home," answered James. "And that's the reason why I'm so hesitated in embracing the two of you, which I'm sorry about."

"Don't worry about it, trust me, we are as real as you are and we aren't some type of illusion to make you think we are real. So embrace your son and see if he real or not," urged Peppy.

As much as the Bacterian created James McCloud was hesitated about doing that due to the fact that he would be touching another fox, the thing that meant depth to anything that came from his kind. He also knew that it was only happen if their blood got on them or was injected into their body would it be fetal to his kind not physical touching their undamaged body. So he knew that touching him wouldn't be fatal to him and plus it would only further increase the fact that he was in fact the real James McCloud. So without a second thought he went toward Fox and before he knew it he gave Fox a huge hug that he could tell by the body language of Fox was socked by this fact that what he thought was his father would give him quite big of a hug.

"Jeez, James, you would think that you haven't seen him before," said Peppy at the sight of this.

Peppy didn't know how right he was about this, for the Bacterian created James McCloud has never seen Fox McCloud in person before and he thought that he wouldn't be so emotional about seeing him, but it seemed that seeing Fox in person had stuck a cord in the memories that the real James McCloud had about his son, how much he loved him after the death of his wife, Fox's mother. Because of that the Bacterian created James McCloud felt the sense of relief at the fact that he was still alive despite all of the dangers that he had faced in his life and then he felt another type of emotion full him up, which was joy that he was alive.

"I'm just both happy and relieve that my son is still alive despite the dangers that this type of lifestyle that he had opted to live," answered James that was still hugging Fox.

"Hey, Dad, that's nice to know that, but I would like to move," said Fox.

"Oh," said James and with that he let go of Fox.

"Now, that is all over with I would like to know what happen to you after you save me over the orbit of Venom?" Asked Peppy.

With that the Bacterian created James McCloud knew that it was time to get back to business and while he knew about what happen to the real James McCloud due to the memories that Peppy had about that event. In the chaos that happen in that battle with the fighters and laser beams flying all over the place he was able to see that the real James McCloud had somehow took a direct shot of some type of energy beam that look like that it had consumed the real James McCloud in some type of vortex that had sucked the real James McCloud into the Event Horizon that almost sucked Peppy into it as well. But, because Peppy was on the side of the Event Horizon he was able to escape the pull of the thing, but not without getting damage from pulling out of it, for one of Peppy's Arwing's wings was ripped off before the thing close up with the real James McCloud in the middle of it. Before Peppy could do anything to figure out just what the hell just happen to his best friend, the rabbit found out that he was being chased by a bunch of fighters that were the Wolfens and the ones that belong to the Venom army. Seeing that and knowing that he was seriously outnumbered with this, he knew that the best thing that he had to do was to get of this place with his life, so that the would tell what happen here to General Pepper, to see what he would have to say about this, which he did. The rest of that story was the Lylat Wars and all of the actions that took place in that campaign that the Star Fox team did under the leadership of Fox. But, what really did happen to the real James McCloud when he enter into that void was only know to the real James McCloud and that wasn't him. So in turn he knew that he had to come up with a plausible story that would fit the known facts about the real James McCloud. Like the fact that he was still alive after going through that vortex, so much in fact that he was able to have children and have another life after Star Fox, to top that all of, was the fact that he was on a higher level existence that anybody else in this solar system. But, that fact about the real James McCloud didn't need to be known to these people.

"After I was suck into that vortex after I took that direct shot, I found myself inside of some type of worm hole that not only dump me off to another part of the universe, but in another place in time," answered James.

"Let me guess that other part of the universe was where Gradius was?" Asked Fox.

"Yes, how do you know?" Asked James.

"We have a fox that comes from that world that told us about what you did for them around 400 years ago," answered Fox that paused to take a look to see if James MacCloud had made his appearance and he found out that the blue fox didn't show up. With that Fox wondered what had happen to him. "And, I think he should have been here."

"Don't worry about him, I think I will see him on my travels on this ship and by the way what is his name?" Asked James.

"His name is James MacCloud and I promise that I would allow him to see you," answered Fox.

James MacCloud that was one of the four people that I was warned about thought James at the answer.

"Oh, I see why he might want to see me, because he share a similar name to me, but again it is something that you don't need to worry about, I know for a fact that I will see him eventually, so you don't need to delay anything because he isn't here."

"That is nice to hear that you have survived that, but you didn't answer our question about how you were able to survive being inside of that Dark Void and that goes the same with the fact that the Bacterian themselves were not killed in the presence of you," said Peppy.

"I was going to get that point before the conversation drifted away that," he paused and he could see that nobody had enter into the room that the three of them were in. "Anyway after spending sometime on Gradius I found myself being draw back to the Lylat System despite the fact that 400 years in the past, but despite that I knew that I had to fine a way to get back to that system and I said good bye to my wife before heading back into space. Out there I encountered the Bacterian and despite my best efforts they managed to disable my Arwing. At that time, I knew that my time had come and that there would be no escape depth, like I did over Venom. But, like before, I found out that my luck once again had saved me. For, the Bacterian didn't kill me, like I thought that they would, instead they lock me into one of those ships to study me, to see why we are so feared by them, and before I knew they put me into some type of status in the hopes that they could in the future fine out about our hidden genetic code.

"If that was the case, why did they bring you out of stasis right now?" Asked Peppy.

"Quite honestly, I don't know and I don't care 'cause I'm home," answered James.

"Also, with that thing that you call 'Stasis' what is that all about?" Asked Fox.

"It is like a form of hibernation, but you don't age nor do you sleep during that time and that also explains why I look the way that I do," answered James. "After that the only thing that you need recall is the time, that you are put in and when you are token out of it."

Fox and Peppy nodded their heads at this as a sign that they understood what James was speaking about, even if they had no clue what it was all about. They did this to persuade him that they understood it and not have to try to explain it the best way that he could with his lack of knowledge about the subject matter.

"So with that of the way, I think we should head to the briefing room of this ship and by the way what happen to the Great Fox? I thought when I was officially declare dead that the ship would be given to you, Fox," said James, that already knew what happen to that ship, thanks to the Aparoid part of himself that had direct contact with Peppy. But, he played that part as the fool in regards to this convince the two of them that he was James McCloud.

"Umh, that is a long story, one I think would be best told by Peppy," answered Fox.

Peppy was about to say something about that when he was stopped when he heard the sound of the doors of the elevator open themselves up and when that happen they were about to see the person that was behind this. That person was James MacCloud and when that happen it has caused two different reaction to the two of Lylatians that were in that room. For Fox and Peppy they were happy with the fact that James MacCloud had finally showed up after talking with Krystal about this people that were on Gradius. But, for Bacterian created James McCloud it was the feeling of dread at the fact that he was face to face with one of the people that could destroy their plan with his knowledge that he had about the real James McCloud and to make matter worst it was the fact that he was about to greet that person in front of the two people that he was trying to fool.

"Hey, James I see that you have finally made it," said Peppy.

"Yes, I know," he paused and took a quick look at all of the people that were in this room. "Krystal ask me a lot of questions and trying to be nice I found out answering all of her questions as best as I could before I had to tell her that I had to come down here before you all moved to the next phase. If that happen, I knew that I wouldn't be able to see you."

"And you made it just in time," said Fox. "For we were about to leave, and oh how rude of me, I'm almost forgot to introduce the two of you."

James MacCloud just nodded his head at the sight of this, despite that fact that he knew that thing wasn't what it said it was, but he didn't want to give a hint to that thing nor Peppy or Fox about this he knew this. "It is a honor to finally meet the person that is this father of Fox, the founder of this great organization, and the person that has help my people in the early days when they found themselves on Gradius."

That caused the Bacterian created James McCloud to do a nervous laugh at the honors that the blue fox had bestrode on him for he thought that it would be the something that the real James McCloud would do at the same thing, plus he had expected him to gravel at the present of him. "I'm pleased that you think so highly of me, but I was doing what I thought was right and what any other person would want to do in their life."

Clever thought James MacCloud at this. He is using nebulous terms that could fit in any situation, much like I doing.

"Anyway, as you can tell, dad, that is James MacCloud, a lieutenant in the Gradius military and the person that has been helping us at with this Bacterian," said Fox.

"It is the pleasure to meet you and I much that you have doing a great job in using pretty clever ways in defeating the Bacterian to the point that they are forced into a peace with the people here," said the Bacterian created James McCloud.

"Thank you," said James MacCloud at this and he could tell that most of that statement was said as a way to convince Peppy and Fox that he was really one them the point of the statement that was about the way that he defeat the different Bacterian forces sounded like it was the real deal. "But, it was about thinking of things that the Bacterian didn't think of and taking advantage of some mistakes that they have made.

"So nothing special, ah?" Asked the Bacterian created James McCloud.

Dam cursed the Bacterian created James McCloud at this. He is good and now I understand why he is so dangerous.

"Hey, James this is getting us nowhere, do you still want to know what happen to the Great Fox?" Asked Peppy.

"Yes, I would like to know what happen to the ship that cost me so much money that I had to put out a 80 year loan on the thing," answered the Bacterian created James McCloud.

This put the rabbit on the spot, he knew that James wouldn't like the idea that it was destroy on purpose and to show his fear of telling James that he let out a nervous laugh. "While, that is a long story and a bit complicated."

The Bacterian created James McCloud crossed his arms. "And what dose that mean?"

"In other words, she was destroyed last year," answered Peppy.

The Bacterian created James McCloud was token back at this and he didn't know why. To him it was just a memory of something that was in the collected pasts of General Pepper, Peppy, and Pigma, something that he never actually saw, but despite that he still felt like it was a part of him family that was lost. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, he is sure, I saw it happen with my own two eyes," answered Fox.

The Bacterian created James McCloud found out that he was able to recover at this to point that he was able to speak again. "How was she destroyed? I hope that it was in a middle of a battle and not dismantle after she was repossessed because the two of you couldn't kept up with payments?"

"Yes, she wad destroyed in battle for it was the only way that we were able to get into the core of the Aparoid Homeworld," answered Peppy. "And, I know that wasn't the way that you wanted the Great Fox to be destroyed."

"Is there anyway that you would like a ship to be destroyed?" Asked a mocking James MacCloud.

"James!" Exclaimed Fox at the sudden change of heart that the blue fox had all sudden. "All of the people, I thought that you would be the one person that would be happy to see the person had save your ancestors."

If that was the real James McCloud I would be happy said James MacCloud. "Trust me, I'm, but I think all of this small talk is getting us no where I would like to know the terms of this 'peace' that the Bacterian is talking about."

"Down to business, anyway are you authorizes to speak on the behalf of Gradius?" Asked the Bacterian created James McCloud.

"Officially, no, but because of the way that I got to this star system, contacting my government would be kind of hard to do, so unofficially this time yes," answered James McCloud.

"Then, if that is so, what your interest in this matter?" Asked the Bacterian created James McCloud.

"One, to see what the times are and to see if these terms can be used in our current conflict with the Bacterian," answered James.

This was something that the Bacterian created James McCloud didn't expect to happen, but it was something that he would have to deal with. "Oh, I see." He turned away from James MacCloud and back to Fox. "I'm sorry, that we couldn't talk longer, but I have to get back to business."

Fox just shrugged his shoulders at this sound of that and allowed his father to get back to work.

After that prompt James, Peppy, and James McCloud walked out of the docking bay into the elevator.

Wolf O'Donnell, the leader of the Star Wolf team had fully dress himself up in his dark clad armor-like clothing and was making his way to his room that he consider his office Sargasso Region, still had thoughts of what the image of James McCloud had said to him about his son. It still stuck with him despite the fact that it had happen a half hour ago and he thought that he was the type of person that would take any weight to this supernatural things, for he thought that he was the type of person that would take more weight into the things that he could prove were real with normal means. But, now for he was seeing himself believing in things that couldn't be proven with technology no matter what it was.

What is going on with you, Wolf? You are not the type of person to believe all of this occult stuff the lupine said to himself. Snap out of it, all you saw was you mind playing tricks on you. Yes, that's it, now let's get back to work and see what Fox's team has done while I was sleeping.

With that thought, he found out that all of those thoughts that he had about the meeting that he had with the long thought dead James McCloud and the warning that he had about the person that look like him were all gone. Replaced by the thought that he had about the real conflict that they were having with the thing that was called the Bacterian and what happen to them. So with that he walked into his office and saw that there was nothing out of place, which was good. What wasn't good was the fact that there was somebody else that was sitting in his chair and seeing this he knew that it was time to tell this person that this was his office, thus this was his chair.

"What are you doing?" He demanded at the person.

The harsh voice of Wolf caught the attention of the person that was sitting there.

"Yes, boss, what is it?" Asked the person.

"You are in my chair," answered Wolf. "And because of that, I think it will be best, if you get out of it."

The person that was sitting in Wolf's chair got up from the chair at the order of his boss and quickly made his way out of the room before he would do anything that he thought would offend his boss any more than he did. But, before he could do that he saw that Wolf had put up his hand and because of that he knew that this time with Wolf wasn't over yet, which meant that he had done something that Wolf had thought offend him.

"What is wrong?" He asked.

"Did you see anything that is about the Dark Void while you were in my chair and if you did what did you see?" Asked Wolf.

The person paused to think about what he did while he was in that chair and he found out that he recall a beeping noise that came from that computer terminal, but since he knew that he shouldn't touch that thing, he didn't. "I don't know for sure because while I was in your chair I heard a beeping noise come from the computer terminal and since I know not to touch that thing, I didn't. Is that all?"

Wolf put his hand down at the news of this, for he was for more interest in what was in the computer than what he would do with this person for sitting on his chair. So he made another gesture that told him that he could leave this room, which he did and after that Wolf to sit down to see what was on his computer that had made it beep like that.

He tapped on the holographic keyboard and brought up all of the notification that was received by the computer. He found out that there were about three dozen of them that were general about the different routine maintenance of the station that did require him to take a look at to see if the worker that maintain this place did their job, but it was something that didn't require him to look at this at this moment, so he pass them up to the other notification. So he scrolled down through the various different notification to find something that he thought would be out of the normal and after the numerous notification about message that were regular maintenance he found the thing that he was looking for. The notification that was about the Dark Void and the Bacterian Battlecruiser, which caused Wolf to open up that presentment. When he did that he found out that he person that had told him about the destruction of the Bacterian Battlecruiser was correct and that meant that Fox's team did do that. But, as he read further to into the text he found out that the Dark Void didn't disappear as James MacCloud said it would when the ship would be destroyed.

It was that Dark Void that was the subject of the next couple of paragraphs that he had told him that it had sent out a transmission on all of the known signals that were known to the people of this system. That caught the attention of the lupine and so he continue to reading and found out that the subject of the transmission was about peace. With that the warring that James McCloud had given to him came storming back like a headache and because of that he couldn't ignore what his rival had said about this. He just hopped that nobody in the system would go for this and just ignore it, but his hope about this was dashed by the fact that somebody in the Lylat System had responded to it. If that wasn't bad enough for the lupine leader to take it was the fact that it was the Star Fox team had responded to that transmission, the very same team that was fighting this thing.

"Why? Why would do that Fox?" Asked Wolf. "That is the very same thing that you are fighting."

Even with that he continue to read and because of that he found out the reason that was behind that. If was the fact that there was an object that came out of the Dark Void that was correctly identified as the same Arwing that they had seen earlier and with that he knew what was the reason why Fox had answered the call from this thing, despite what it was, for he thought his long though dead father was on that Arwing even if that Arwing came out of the Dark Void. Once again he heard more of the vision that James McCloud had told him about this, that he should be on guard about the false prophet that brings peace that speak and look like him. With that he knew that he should put more weight into what he saw in his room about a hour ago and maybe all of this spiritual stuff did have some base in fact.

Because of that warring, Wolf knew what was about to happen next, they were going to let that Arwing on their ship without talking to the ship and who they were. But, he found out that they did have enough sense to talk to the person that was on the Arwing to see who they were and what they wanted. Looking at that he wondered what were talking to each other about, but whatever it was, it was good enough to induce Fox and his team that he was the real James McCloud for he saw that they had let the Arwing onto their ship.

Seeing this, Wolf just shook his head at this, knowing that they had just let the enemy into their heart. "No, you fool, what have you done? Don't you know what is that thing really is?"

Wolf got no answer from his question and he knew that he wouldn't get one for he was talking to them to in real time. He was reacting to a recording of something that had already happen and there was nothing that was in his power to stop this from occurring. But, despite that, he knew that he still could get a hold of something that was on that ship and tell them what was going on with the person that they had let on and if he was able to do that he might be able to lessen the damage that was already done.

So in a flash in keyed in another command that he knew would send out a coded transmission to Fox's ship and he hopped that there would be a person on the other end of the line that would have enough command sense in their head to know that he wasn't the enemy at this current time. When all of this was over with that might change,but that all was hinged on how their efforts in this fight would be recognized when this was over with.

In a matter of seconds he found out that he had connected with Fox's ship and Wolf was slightly relieved at this fact that this was somebody that was listening to his call. But, that sense of hope was dashed when he found out the person that was at the other end of the line wasn't Fox or somebody else that had a cool head on their shoulders that would flip out at the news that he was about to drop on them. Instead he found out that it was Falco, that hot shot avian pilot that had on going rivalry with his fellow team member, Leon. With this he knew that this wasn't the person that he wanted to take to about what he had on his mind and he assumed that the avian didn't want to speak with him either. But, even with that he knew that he had to do this and get this over with, so he signed at this.

"Ah, I see that old Wolf had called to check on us, like a little old woman," said Falco.

That insult made the lupine growl and if he didn't announced that there was a temporality truce between the two of them, he would of ended the transmission right here. But, he did and while he didn't look like the type of person that was bounded by his word, he was, and thus he was forced to comply to this, something that he knew he wouldn't of done if this was a normal day.

"Yes, I did and you should be happy at that fact that I'm because I saw that you did with that craft that came out of the Dark Void," said Wolf.

"You mean the Arwing, don't worry your tail off," said Falco.

"Why?" Asked the lupine.

"Because, Fox's long thought dead father is back and it prove that you didn't kill James like you claim you did," answered Falco.

Shit thought Wolf at this and it only confirmed what the vision that he had of James McCloud had told him about this.

"And all of those taunts that you throw at Fox during the Lylat Wars were nothing but hot air," continue Falco.

Once again Wolf was forced at hold his breathe and his thoughts about this while the avian continued to insult him.

"Are you quite done?" Asked Wolf.

The avian paused a little to think about this and Falco found out that that there was nothing that he could think off that he could insult the lupine leader of Star Wolf. "For now, and what do you want?"

"I wanted to tell you that 'Arwing' isn't safe, even if it dose have Fox's father on it," answered Wolf.

This made the blue feathered avian laugh. "You are being paranoid with this thing. I can assure you that this is quite safe and to add to that is the fact that Fox's dad is here to show to us that the Bacterian are quite serious about a peace between the two of us."

What? Are they serious did they really buy this thought Wolf at this. "Are you serious about this?"

"Yes," answered Falco. "Why?"

Wolf slightly paused at this, he knew that he had to word this carefully not to tick off Falco that he was aware of something that he wasn't and that wasn't something that the lupine didn't want to have happen for a bunch of reasons. "Because, I just don't trust them and anything that come from them."

Falco just rolled his eyes at this. "As, I said before, you are being paranoid."

"That might be so, but my paranoia had kept me alive for this long and I suggest that you do the same," said Wolf and after that, the lupine leader ended the transmission between the two of them, not knowing if his warring about the two things that came from the Bacterian got through that thick brained Falco.

But, considering that fact that he had bushed off the warning that he had about these two thing, he had the feelings that Falco didn't even listen to what he said about those things and if that was so, there were more questions in the back of his mind that Falco wouldn't even mention the fact that he had call them when he was asked if he had anything to report.

Wolf signed at this, he knew that he had did his best and tried to warn them about the Arwing, now the only other thing that was left open to him was to physically confront this thing that was acting itself as James McCloud. To put that thing on the metaphorically spot and tell that thing that it knew what it was, but the lupine knew that he wouldn't be able to do that without any type of physical proof that the Bacterian creation wasn't James McCloud to back his claim up. So he knew that the best thing that he could do at this time was sit back and wait to see what will happen down the rode, to see what it will spilt out for him to took take hold of.

Slippy had enter the bridge of the Great Fox II and saw that Falco was still sitting in the Captain Chair, the same spot that Slippy had left when he was forced to use ship's restroom after he fix up the fighters. But, while he heard that Falco was talking to somebody else and at first he thought that it was Krystal, for he had thought that she would be up there with him. But, he found out that the blue telepathic vixen wasn't there and when the frog saw that he was all by himself with ROB the only thing that he could speak to. Even with that Slippy knew that wasn't the case for the frog knew that Falco wouldn't talk with ROB no matter how disparate he was to have a conversation with somebody beside himself.

"Hey, Falco who were you talking to and where did Krystal go?" Asked Slippy.

"With Krystal I don't know, she didn't say where she was going and you wouldn't believe who just call me?"Answered Falco.

"Who was it?" Asked Slippy.

"Wolf off all people and he was warning us about James McCloud and the Arwing that he was in," answered Falco.

"Did he say why?" Asked Slippy.

"Yes, it was something to the fact that he doesn't trust them and I told him that he was being paranoid in regards to them," answered Falco.

"I don't blame him with the Bacterian, considering what they had done and what they almost did to his base. If I was him I would act the same way with them," said Slippy.

Falco just rolled his eyes at what Slippy had just said about this, he couldn't believe the fact that he was even agreeing with the leader of rival group, despite the fact that the two of them had a temporality truce between the two of them. "Slippy, don't you know he is the leader of our rival group and yes, I know about that he is currently helping us with the Bacterian thing, but we all know when this is all over with, he is going back to what he is good at. Which is being a criminal and breaking our backs."

"Yes, I know that Falco! Those things almost turned me into a cyber brain, the very same thing that we fought earlier and I don't care if he is a criminal our our rival. I think his paranoia is this thing is well founded and if he dose not trust them, I think we at least should take his warring to heart," exclaimed Slippy.

Falco just waved his hand at this in disgust. He did understand Slippy's and Wolf's feelings to those things, but they didn't understand his feelings of wanting this thing to be true. "Fine, fine, to each his own."

With that Slippy went to his station and logged into this computer. After that the two of them reacted to the sound of the doors of the elevator opening up and out of the thing room came Krystal that looked as good as she ever did. Before she enter onto the bridge she found out that she was about to be ask why he had left the bridge shortly after James McCloud had left to go to the docking bay. She told the two of them that she was a little worry about Slippy, that the green frog might do something that might hurt himself, which was a half lie. While she was in fact worry about the frog after what could of happen to him if Fox wasn't with him when that Grave thing tried to take him back to the Dark Void. She was forced to leave the bridge when she felt a sudden clock of darkest cover the vail of her vision and the only thing that she knew that would help was her deep meditation that she had learn while she was a child on her homeworld of Cerinia.

Slippy was a little surprise at the fact that Krystal had thought that he would hurt himself after what he had been through, for he felt no sense of dread and hopelessness, a clear sign of that a person was depress to the point that they felt that their only way out was to kill oneself. Yes, he was upset at the fact that he was selected to be a cyber brain for the Bacterian, but not to the point that he would kill himself, so he wouldn't face the fact that it might happen again.

"Are you serious? You think that I might kill myself of what almost happen to me?" He asked stunned that Krystal would think that he would do something like that to himself.

"I don't know, but what I have experience with your guys, I've learn that anything is quite possible," answered Krystal.

This caused Falco to laugh at this for he knew that just like Slippy, the green frog didn't show any of classic signs of a person that was seriously thinking of killing oneself. In fact he seemed to be the same to be the same cheerful happy go lucky hopeful green frog that was happy with the fact that he was with his team that included his best friend with no signs of trouble in his mind. "Trust me, Krystal, good ole Slippy is doing quite well."

"Yes, I know that you don't have to worry about me," said Slippy.

Krystal nodded her head at this and allowed her mind to open up, so that she would be able to tell if Slippy was telling the truth about this. She found out that he was telling the truth about this and she also found out that he also had doubts about this peace that the Bacterian was pitching to them. A clear sign that there was another person that they could talk about the Bacterian created James McCloud and what they knew about this thing.

"Yes, I know that you are doing quite well," said Krystal.

"Okay, now that little problem is over with, I think we should go back to our normal routine," said Falco.

After that Krystal went back to her seat while she was doing that both Falco and Slippy went back to their duties as well.

Waiting a couple of seconds to make sure that Falco wasn't watching what was going on Krystal tapped a couple of buttons into her computer terminal that she knew would open up a private secured channel to Slippy. When she got an alert that told her that Slippy did get the message that she had sent him and had return the message with one of his own that was in the nature of what did she want that required her to use the private message system instead of talking to him face to face, which he preferred. Seeing that she responded to that because she felt that this was the best way to do this with the fact that Falco was here and that it was best that he not to hear what she was about to say, for she knew that he was the type of person that would tell Fox about this as soon as he heard this. Like the pervious time she got a private message from Slippy that was of the nature that ask her what was this information and Krystal told him it was about the visit of James McCloud. That he wasn't the real James McCloud, but a creation of the Bacterian that was sent here for reasons she was unclear about and because of that he shouldn't be trusted.

Not waiting for a text message from Slippy, she look in the direction of the green frog to see his reaction to the news of this and saw that the green frog wasn't to happy with this news for he put his face in his hand.

I'm sorry, Slippy that has to be done thought Krystal at this. She knew that Slippy was a life long friend of Fox and that anything that affected him also affected the green frog as well.

The she got a presentment that Slippy was able to regain his compose to the fact that he was able to response to her with his worries of this and how were going to handle this. How would they tell Fox, why did this Bacterian do this and why did she opt to tell him about this. Reading this she knew that she had to tell him the reasons why she was doing this and that what she did for him. She told him that they were not going to tell to them, but since it was from the Bacterian they would think that it was some type of diabolical reason and she explain to him the reason why she told him that because he had his doubts about this.

Once again she pop up her head to view the physical reaction that came from the green frog and once again she could see that the green frog wasn't to happy with the news of this. Like before he managed to fine the inner strength to strive on and accept the fact that this was the truth, no matter how much he didn't like this. But, even if he didn't like the fact that this was the truth he knew that he had to response to what Krystal had told him and that what he did. He told Krystal that he was glad with the fact that she had told him about this and that he would kept his mouth shut about this despite the fact that Fox was his best friend. Looking at that she knew that he was with them on this and with that out of the way she knew that the only thing she had to do was wait for the right time to tell Fox about this, which she told Slippy to do.

Before Slippy could so that the green frog had heard the sound of the elevator opening up, which caused the frog to twisted his body around in the direction of the noise and he could see that the rest of the people that were on the bridge did the same action when they had heard the same noise that he had heard. In doing that, Slippy like the rest of the people, could see that Fox, the Bacterian created James McCloud, James MacCloud, and Peppy were here, he knew that this was the time for him to stop the private messaging that he had with Krystal, not to arise any type of suspicions from any of them. While he was dong that, Falco got up from the chair at the sight of Fox.

"Oh, Foxie, I see that you are back," said Falco. "So what is up with these peace talks?"

"Nothing much, as I told Fox's dad, James, that the Great Fox II isn't the right place to talk about this, we need to head to Corneria for a better place and people that were trained in this delicate art, to which everybody agree to," answered Peppy.

Falco nodded his head at this and allowed Fox to sit back in the Captain Chair while the rest of the people were able to take their seats on the bridge. Which resulted in James MacCloud and the Bacterian created James McCloud sitting next to each other the very thing that none of them wanted to do.

"ROB set a course to Corneria," said Fox.

The robot nodded his head at that and second after he did that, the robot imputed the command that made the Great Fox II to fired up her engines. After that the robot tapped in yet another series of commands that would tell him the ETA of their trip, for he knew that somebody that was on the bridge would ask that as soon as they felt the engines of the ship fire up.

"ROB what is the ETA to Corneria?" Asked Peppy.

"About three hours," answered ROB.

"Is there anyway that you can push this ship any faster? You would think that the fact that a legend as myself with the words of peace on his lips would want you to get back to Corneria as fast as you can?" Asked James McCloud.

"That is the fastest that we can go, the only other way to get to Corneria is we use Beltino's Space Gate," started Fox and then with that the leader of the Star Fox team had an idea that could get them to Corneria faster, which was that they used Beltino's Space Gate. But, that plan only hinged on the fact that they had reposition the gate.

"Fox do you have an idea?" Asked Peppy.

"Yes, I can used Beltino's Space Gate we may be able to get to Corneria a lot faster if we used the Great Fox II's engines, despite the fact that they were upgraded, but there is one small problem with the plan," answered Fox.

"Isn't there always a problem with your plans? What is it?" Asked Falco.

"I don't know if they were able to realign the gate and get back to the right spot after it was move in response to that fleet of Zelos attack us," answered Fox.

"I can check that out," said Peppy that started to work on his computer terminal so that he would be able to sent out an encrypted transmission to the commander of that station and fine out if he was able to move that thing back in the correct spot that would bring then over top of the Lansldie Continent, which housed the capital of this world.

"Thank you and I hope that our friend over there was able to do that for us," said Fox.

While this was going on, the Bacterian created James McCloud had accessed the memories of both Peppy and Pepper to see what this Beltino Space Gate was. In a matter of seconds he found out that thing was, which that it was the first of it kind in the Lylat System that would allow then to have faster than light, travel and that it was developed by Beltino Toad, Slippy's dad, which was the reason why it had his name of the thing. He also found out that it was the site of a battle of Aparoid Invasion, for it was the only way that the Lylatians would be able to get to the homeworld of the Aparoid within their lifetime. Which was the reason why it was targeted by the Aparoids for if that thing was destroyed or disable the Lylatians would have noway in completely stopping the Aparoid Invasion. Thinking about this the Bacterian created James McCloud thought that it would be used by the Lylatians against his group, the Bacterian, despite the fact that they were in their own system while the Aparoid on the other hand, where in what the assumed was another solar system.

"Dave, its me Peppy," said Peppy and the sound of the rabbit brought the Bacterian created James McCloud back to reality.

"Oh, sir, I must congrats you and your group on the defeat of the huge Bacterian battlecruiser," said Dave Aster.

"Thank you, Commander, but I've got a few questions for you," said Peppy.

"That's goes the same with me as well," said Dave.

"What is it?" Asked Peppy.

"I would like to know why hasn't the Dark Void that is around Titania disappeared? I thought that since you destroyed that ship it would of gone away," answered Dave.

Oh how nice it would be if it was that easy thought Peppy. "Because we haven't destroyed the thing that controls the whole thing and this leads me to my other questions. For the fact, that we are caring a special envoy that is from the Bacterian that wants to talk peace with us and thus we would like to know have you reposition the Gate back to its regular spot?"

"Yes, we have and you don't need to worry about asking permission to use the Gate because I can justified the use of the Gate to these elected officials with the fact that you are carrying a possible end of this fight," answered Dave.

With that Peppy nodded his head at the wonderful news that they would be able to use the Gate instead of using the Great Fox II's engines to get back to Corneria. "Thank you."

"I just have to get your location." Dave paused as the sound of some electronic buttons being tapped was heard over the open line. "There, we got it and it will be a couple of seconds before we fire up the Gate. As you know you will be out of communications while you are in transit, do you understand that?"

Peppy knew that the black feathered avian commander was only going the standard warring as a way to protect himself and/or the station if anything went wrong in the process. But, even with that Peppy could sense that Dave was a little concern for them and would of preferred that they went the other way that had them use their ship's engines rather than this way, for if there was anything that went wrong they would be able to get a hold of them to see what was the problem. That wasn't the case if that happen, while in transit with the Gate, for it something did go wrong during that tiny window they would have to wait until the ship had completely exited the void before they would be able to find out what happen with the ship.

"Yes," said the rabbit that echoed the same answer that he give to the commander at the time when they used the gate for a second time when they reached the homeworld of the Aparoids.

"Alright, then," said Dave as another series of electronic beeps was heard on the end of where Dave was. "You should be able to see the energy vortex forming in another couple of seconds."

Right on queue everybody that was on the bridge was able to see that a green circle vortex that look like that it was a puddle of water appeared in front of them. Without another word from anybody the Great Fox II headed into the vortex, knowing all to well that while they were inside of that thing that would be out of communications and this time it wasn't due to the fact that it was a busted wire, it was due to the fact it was the envelope of energy that was surrounding them at this time.