Star Fox:

War for Corneria

Chapter 35

I own an original story, this is not that story.

"General Peppy, I am not gonna dispatch majority of my force to bail out one planet that isn't even formally an ally." Wolf growled. Both Peppy Hare and George Pepper flinched. They were in the War room, with Peppy being represented in a hologram, joining the conversation live. Other than that, Chase, Storm, Fox, Ice and Silas, the tiger in charge of the first division. Also, Dash joined them by hologram. Everyone but Ice was He decided some compassion called for in this case. "But, as a token of my good will, I'll have both Starfox, and the Second Division, led by Dash Bowman at your disposal." then he noticed a red light flashing at the base of the projector, "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a war to win." and Wolf ended the call with Peppy, only to replace it with a new projection. "What's up, Slippy?" he asked the toad that appeared on the screen.

"Requesting Permission to take a holiday to check up on my fiancée on Aquas, Wolf. I have not heard from her in two days now, while I usually talk to her while tinkering away in my lab." Slippy asked, "I know we're in the middle of a war, but please, I need to know she's okay."

"Wait a second." General Pepper intervened, "Did you say not heard from her in two days?"

"Could be a knockout of communication." Wolf said, catching on too, "Silas, take Slippy and the First Division, and make sure his fiancé's okay. And while you're at it, use short-range communication to establish contact with the local government, and help them repel the invaders if need be. Also, I want Chase's third division to check up on our nearest neighbor, Fortuna. I haven't heard back from the forest people in a while. General Pepper, Coordinate the War effort from here. Ice," Ice looked from his terminal startled, killing the screen before turning around, "I want you to organize the fourth devision and arrange the station's defense. Storm, Starwolf and the Wolf Guard head for Finchina. I want them driven from this side of Solar by the end of the week. Any objections?" No one answered. "Okay then, what are you still here for? Go do your fucking jobs!"

Ice waved Chase over. Chase had learned long ago not to question the secrecy and knowledge of this man. "While you're over at Fortuna, I need you to do something for me. A pick-up at these coordinates." He said, handing over a sheet of paper, "You know the drill, trust no one, and don't save the data on your navigator, cause if I can use it to track where you've been..."

Chase never had understood this man's insistence that papers in a save were so much more secure than data on a computer, but rather that than to have this man work against him. "Will do." Was the reply. He did not mind running this man's errands, but he'd for once like to know all there was to do it before going to do it. "One of these days you're gonna explain to me why all the cloaks and daggers, Ice."

"You got my word, do this for me, and I will." Ice said, for once actually sounding honest.

- Kai's base, Fortuna—-

"Damn it!" Shade said, getting frustrated. The entire base was locked down. The blue bandicoot had managed to activate a fucking self-destruct system before his head was chopped off. According to his scanner, the only other exit was through the second entry of the mine, which every mine had to enable ventilation in the mine. And so he was cutting his way through several centuries of cobwebs, trying to escape the coal mine to get out of the blast range of the base.

He'd done it. Killed a Shadow. His quest was complete. The Elder who had ordered the death of his family was dead. Only one question remained unanswered. What now? Corneria would never look at him the same again, as he'd left a trail of murders that by now had made his old career impossible to pursue. Maybe he should ask asylum at Saggrasso? Work for them as a diplomat? Or just focus on rebuilding the Shadows? Could they even still call themselves that? The death of an elder had disproven the old dogma that they were immortal. Apparently the old ways had failed to keep them together. The file he'd picked up was proof of that. He would have to find a way to unite his brothers more properly. As true brothers perhaps. A blood oath to replace the old stuffy initiation ritual. O yeah, he was brimming with ideas, now if only he would get out of this infernal mine shaft! And just like that, he rounded a corner, stepping out into the forest.

He grabbed his watch, an old style mechanical one with arms, and checked the time as it had been when he entered the base. Then he looked for a suitable tree, and scaled it, looking over the sea of green to get his bearings. Not seeing anything significant, he determined that the highest point of the sun was at about 12.30 on his watch here, and determined south with a trick with his watch. "long live the old technologies" he muttered, as the tree suddenly shook with the blast force from direction of the base, before the trees to the east of him caught fire.

Shade took a leap of faith, before grabbing on to a vine, swinging south-west, away from the fire and towards a small village. The village where he'd grown up. Below him, animals in large numbers ran away from the fire.

- Saggrasso Space Zone-

Fox was quickly making his way through the halls of Saggrasso to the O'Donnell residence. As he approached, he heard loud groans and whines coming from one of the bed rooms. He rolled his eyes, as he unlocked the front door. Immediately, the smell of sex penetrated his nostrils. Behind him, the toilet lights were on. He opened the door to James' room, and immediately wished he hadn't. He did not need an image of his student, chained into his bed, balls shaved and swollen, dry-humping the air. He instantly grabbed his com and snapped a picture for Wolf. He hit send, just as he heard the toilet flush behind him. "Team." He spoke up, "We have a mission. You have one minute to get ready to depart for Greatfox."

James, startled, scrambled to cover himself, while Damien strolled by, and started collecting clothes, walking around in full nude. Fox changed through the menu in his com and called Wave. "Report in."

He heard a heavy metal clang before Wave replied. "Wave here. What's up?"

"Report at Greatfox in ten minutes maximum." Fox said, talking to the huskoon.

"Negative sir. I currently am in the Greatfox' hangar, repairing the Arwing prototype." Wave replied, mechanical sounds filling the background. "Estimated repair time, 83 hours of maintenance. Ending communication, so I can help install the new windscreen." and Wave hang up on Fox. James and Damien, by now, dressed in a mis-match of eachother's clothes. Fox could not help the chuckle that escaped him. "Okay love birds, let's go."

- Fortuna airspace-

Chase cursed his luck. The planet swarmed with hostiles, and the local tribes had no ships whatsoever. He had already taken down four mother ships, but there was just no end to them. Then a battleship, white as fresh fallen snow, peeked through the treetops. "You look like you could use some help." the pilot, an arctic fox, said. Then the sky distorted with thousands of warp tunnels, as ships of all styles and makes cluttered the sky, doubling Chase' numbers in a matter of seconds. "The Shadows to war." the arctic fox called.

"Flames and Shadows" the entire army echoed. That's when a blast shook the ships, and a large part of the forest below them caught fire.

A part of the armada broke off and started dumping water onto the forest below, while the rest engaged the anglars. In the chaos, no one noticed the small unmanned pod Chase sent down to the planet by remote piloting, to the coordinates he had received, nor the small number of fighters that was among the fire fighters, before descending into the forest, ahead of the fire.

- Down on the ground -

The village kept a ring of clear field around it, wider than the highest trees to prevent forest fires from reaching it. As Shade walked into it, all he could think of was, good to be home. People around him greeted him with a happy smile. They were sad for his loss, but happy to see him alive and well. These were his people. Why he'd ever played for leadership of a planet that wasn't his home, he could hardly understand right now. He knew now what he had to do. After taking a few minutes to chat up with his people, he headed unto the sanctum in the middle of the village. He sat before the fire that was always kept there, and closed his eyes to meditate.

He woke up when someone shook him by the shoulder. A pod had landed with his name written onto the front glass. He walked up to it, and noticed it was person sized. Inside was a note from Ice. "I thought you would go back here, so I sent you a transport, in case your transmitter got damaged or your fighter went out of range. I wanna hear of your discoveries, and I'd like you to initiate someone into our fold. Well done, my friend. You have felled one of the most fearsome warriors alive. Please let me know you're okay. Signed, a concerned friend." Shade entered, and the pod quickly took off to the sky. He had work to do.