Anklor's Fist: "I want to congratulate all of you in our first victory of many. Soon we will conquer the Lylat System and nothing and I mean nothing will stop us," said Anklor to his troops over the comm. system. The troops everywhere cheered and Anklor switched off the system and turned to A.I.ndrew.
"Not a bad demonstration of our power if I do say so myself," he said.
"True if was good, but we need to expand our influence to Corneria," said the hologram.
"Yes but how?" asked Anklor.
"I have an idea," said A.I.ndrew. The hologram held up a newspaper which read: President Greg Parlow will give a public statement about the attack on Zoness in Central Park at noon.
"Go and make your arrangements," said Anklor turning towards a giant table full of food. Anklor rubbed his hands and dug in. A.I.ndrew left the room to make his arrangements.
Venom: A group of barn owl scientists and mice soldiers stood outside the crashed Red Hammer warship.
"Do you really think you'll find anything in the main computer?" asked Eric Grey (a mouse),
"We won't know until we try," responded one of the scientists.
"Be careful that you don't trip any autodestruct devices. I don't want this blowing up in our face," said Eric.
"We'll try our best," said another scientist. The scientists entered into the ship and headed for the main bridge. Eric turned to a soldier.
"This is so stupid. My dad Bill would never have had to baby-sit some scientists as they rooted through information in an abandoned enemy ship," grumbled Eric.
"Who knows, maybe something important will happen," said the soldier.
"I doubt it," responded Eric.
Corneria: One Saruzin warship surrounded by five Zeram-Class cruisers exited from warp above the planet. A lone humanoid battle robot emerged from the Saruzin and zoomed to the planet below. Two Tripods and two Invader III fighters that had launched from one of the Zeram class cruisers escorted the robot to Corneria
Central Park, Corneria City: Greg (a gray wolf) was arranging his notes on a pedestal in the middle of the park. All around the president were hundreds of spectators and news crews. An aide ran up to him.
"The Star Fox team and General Pepper just left for Anklor's Fist. They'll get there in about three hours," said the aide. Greg nodded and faced the audience and the flashing cameras.
"As I'm sure you're all aware, the planet Zoness was the site of an unprovoked attack by the Red Hammer at 7:00 a.m. this morning. The people on the planet were mercilessly slaughtered by dozens of Venomian fighters. The worst part of this assault was the use of chemical warfare. After the first assault, three tankers, whose purpose was to fight forest fires, dumped over a thousand tons of a genetically engineered plague called Viral Weapon X-7 on the population. The remaining survivors were forced to endure incredible pain as the virus quickly worked their way through their body. Instead of dying painlessly they experienced one moment of true pain and then were gone. 2,250,000 people died this morning.
Now I'm sure your asking what are we going to do about it? The answer is simple. We're going to retaliate. I've decided to mobilize the fleet and prepare to deliver a gigantic blow to the Red Hammer. Sometime soon, we'll attack and obliterate the Red Hammer once and for all! I've also ordered the building of an artificial ring around Corneria made up of Umbras that will be completed by the end of the week. This will unfortunately mean we'll have to raise taxes to pay for them. Don't worry because I'll be paying them also. If we stick together, we will prevail and destroy the Red Hammer!" yelled Greg. The audience clapped and cheered after every statement. Then a roar was heard and Greg was tackled to the ground by the secret service with their blasters drawn. Everyone scattered as the humanoid robot landed on the ground in front of the podium. The robot briefly glanced at the civilians and then at the president before devoting its attention to the crowd.
"I come with a message for the Cornerian people. You have seen the power of the Red Hammer and what we can accomplish. We don't wish to see the same fate happen to the Cornerians so we offer you this ultimatum. Surrender unconditionally and you won't experience the same fate as those on Zoness, the X-7. We will give you one week to respond. In the meantime, any attack on the Red Hammer will not be tolerated. We've placed a Gorgon in orbit. You won't see it because it's temporarily in another dimension, but if any Red Hammer base is attacked you can be sure that it will reappear and use its hyper laser to destroy Corneria City," said the robot before blasting off back to the fleet. Greg stood back up and watched as it flew away. In frustration he grabbed one of the secret service men's blaster and started firing at the departing robot. The shots hit it, but its armor was too thick so it didn't explode. Greg merely growled as it flew away. He then turned to the crowd.
"Andrew, Anklor, mark my words. You don't ever threaten me or the Cornerian people, we will destroy you and don't you forget it," said Greg before leaving the podium and into his limousine.
Anklor's Fist, three hours later: Anklor and A.I.ndrew watched the newscast of the event.
"No doubt many people have been frightened by the reports that a Gorgon may be in orbit above Corneria and is ready to blast away any major city. However most people have sided behind the presidents decision to continue preparing the fleet for a massive attack on the Anklor's Fist," said the newscaster.
"Worked like a charm," said Anklor.
"The people are frightened by our claims of a Gorgon in orbit. Those fools are willing to believe anything. Any sane individual would know that the Gorgon used in the Lylat Wars was the only one of its kind ever built. Idiots," muttered A.I.ndrew.
"It's for the best that way," responded Anklor.
"Yeah but what good are future slaves if they're incompetent?" asked A.I.ndrew. A freighter approached the launch bay below and landed. The ramp opened on the ship and a dozen creatures walked out.
"Who're they?" asked Anklor.
"New recruits," responded A.I.ndrew.
"I hate to say this, but I'm not entirely positive that we could withstand a full fledged barrage from the Cornerian Air Force," said Anklor.
"True, that's why my uncle positioned several double agents in the CAF. After years, their descendants constantly became part of the CAF waiting to be reactivated. I've contacted the agents and they're ready to place incendiary bombs in key locations and blow up part of the spaceport," said the hologram.
"What about X-7? I think it would be fun to have those ships in orbit but not be able to access them," said Anklor.
"I don't want to risk the lives of these loyal agents. I think that an explosion will frighten the Cornerian people. Besides, the wreckage will eventually fall to Corneria and devastate several cities and towns," said A.I.ndrew.
:"Go with what works," agreed Anklor. The two started laughing maniacally.
Bay: The Star Fox team and Pepper were heavily disguised so that no one would notice them. They walked into the bay and immediately stood in line with the other new recruits. The transport they had arrived on blasted off leaving them with no form of escape. A drill instructor (a bulldog) walked up to them.
"You are the sorriest bunch of recruits I've ever seen! I don't know how you managed to join the Red Hammer, but you must have bribed your way in. You're pretty old," said the instructor to Pepper.
"I've decided to finally ally myself with the right side of the war instead of staying behind and doing nothing on Corneria," said Pepper defiantly.
"Very good! No then, you'll receive your assignments and you'll be expected to report for duty…today! We don't allow for slackers so as soon as you receive your roster go and do your duty!" yelled the instructor. A general (a chinchilla) walked up to the drill instructor and whispered something in the instructor's ear. The instructor looked shocked and then whispered something back only to receive a nod from the general. The instructor faced the recruits.
"Well! It appears some of your reputations proceeds you. Kro(Jeff), Salt(Pepper), Kandy(Karrie), Maguire(Jerry), and Morgan(Jennifer), you've just been assigned to General Custer here. Now as for the rest of you move out!" yelled the instructor. The recruits scattered in different directions while the Star Fox team and Pepper approached the general.
"I have a special assignment for you, if you'll just follow me," said Custer. The group walked down to several corridors before finally entering into a conference room.
"The sun is shining," said Custer.
"But the ice is slippery," responded Pepper. Custer nodded and pulled out a giant bag.
"Here's your explosives Pepper and I've obtained a map to show you the key points to place your bombs. Who're your friends?" asked Custer.
"They're the Star Fox team Bob. How long have you been here?" Pepper asked.
"I've been here for the better part of three years," responded Custer.
"Wow," said Jennifer.
"Yeah it stinks but the intel business pays well so I can't complain," explained Custer. A map appeared on the main viewscreen with several red dots clustered around a central area.
"Your explosives should be set around the main power reactor. It's kind of similar to the ancient Bolse satellite that was around Venom. If you can destroy the cooling vents you should be able to make the core meltdown thus destroying the station. Unfortunately I can only get you there in a week," responded Custer.
"That's cutting it close to when the CAF attacks this base," observed Jennifer.
"I'm hoping that the chaos caused by their attack will allow you to plant the bombs and get out unnoticed. In the meantime though you do have to work, but it'll be easy odd jobs. I wish you luck," said Custer.
"We'll never forget what you've done Bob," said Pepper.
"You'd better not," said Bob jokingly. The team then filed out to their assignments.
Next day, Corneria: The ground briefly rumbled as a gigantic explosion tore through a portion of the CAF spaceport high above. The explosion took out twelve cruisers, the fighters they contained, killed over a thousand workers, and over a thousand miles of dry-docks. Greg awoke to see the wreckage of the spaceport slam into the ground inside Coastal City. The wreckage destroyed several buildings and roadways.
"How did this happen?" demanded Greg.
"We can only assume that descendants of Venomian sleeper agents planted in the CAF were reactivated by Andrew. They must have planted the explosion to blow up the port," said Gen. Powell (a descendant of the Gen. Powell killed by Mantia in TLOM2).
"How badly will this set us back?" asked Greg.
"We're looking at least several months if not a year if we want to repair those ships. We're looking at a loss of 15% of our forces and the destruction of five Umbras," responded the general.
"Unacceptable. We're still going to launch in a week. I want those Umbras replaced and offer cash to whoever gives up their ships for use in the war. I also want you to contact the local mercenary groups and offer money to whoever agrees to fight with us against the Red Hammer," said Greg. Suddenly the whole building shook as part of a cruiser slammed down next to the building.
"And scramble the CAF fighters to destroy the larger pieces of wreckage," ordered Greg. Powell nodded and ran off while Greg contemplated this turn of events.
Anklor's Pride: "Oh no," said Jennifer. She and the team were working in the mail delivery service when Anklor showed up on the viewscreens and showed images of the destruction of the spaceport. She joined in the cheers around here from the workers but inside she felt horrible for the workers involved. She also thought about whether this would delay the CAF's attack on Anklor's Pride. She decided to talk about this with the group after hours. Pepper meanwhile had received a note instructing him to a different room for a special assignment. Pepper glanced at Jennifer across the room and noticed that Jennifer hadn't received any notice so he just shrugged not wanting to stick out. Pepper then went to the room and went inside. He noticed that the room was empty and was about to leave when the floor opened below him and he fell down a series of slides before finally emerging in a prison cell.
"Hello Pepper," said A.I.ndrew outside the cell and in the hallway "You didn't think I'd forget about you did you?"
Venom: Eric and the troops had started taking potshots at the tumbleweeds and creature's that inhabited the desert. The troops had been stuck guarding the ship for the past day and half since they're replacements hadn't arrived. Eric speculated that they thought it was pointless and were going to laugh at him and his troops when they returned. Eric was about to take a shot at a tumbleweed when a scientist ran out of the ship.
"We think we've found something," said the scientist before running back inside. Eric ran after him towards the bridge. Eric emerged to see wires and panels open everywhere with scientists poking through each one. A single screen was activated and the scientist ran over to it.
"Most of the main memory is gone but we've come across a reference to something called Macduff," said the scientists. On the screen were several garbled lines of letters and then the word Macduff.
"Well my father told me about a gigantic mountain on Corneria's sixth moon called Macduff. All that's on that mountain is a monastery near the top. Lately several climbers in that areas have disappeared but that doesn't mean anything, it could merely be that they're lost. What on Corneria would the name of a mountain have anything to do with Red Hammer unless… How soon can you get this ship armed and ready for takeoff?" asked Eric. The scientist looked at the bridge before turning back to Eric.
"With your soldier's assistance I'd say half a day. Why?" the scientist asked.
"We're going to finally locate and destroy the Red Hammer secret base of operations," responded Eric running off to get his troops. The scientist shrugged before heading off to talk with his scientists.
Anklor's Base: Who's Pepper? He's not me," said Pepper calmly.
"I'm not stupid Pepper. Your secret name is Salt and you've got the same build and height of Pepper. You're definitely him," said A.I.ndrew.
"I'd say you're crazy but since you lead us I won't," said Pepper.
"Pepper, we've been enemies for an entire century. I think you'd assume that we know each other well enough to pick each other out of a crowd. We're like Yin and Yang. We're completely opposites but without the other half we'd just spin out of control. Still though, I was hoping the CDF would send someone of a challenge to find. Oh well, get him," said the hologram. The jail door sprung open and several guards ran in. They restrained Pepper as A.I.ndrew injected him with a strange substance. The Red Hammer exited the cell and A.I.ndrew slammed the door behind him.
"What've you done?" demanded Pepper.
"I've injected you with the X-7 antidote. Make no mistake Pepper. You will die. But when that day comes you will die by my hand and not some ridiculous virus that you yourself created that destroyed my life," said A.I.ndrew leaving the prison. Pepper looked around at his surroundings and noticed that the other jail cells were empty and that the Star Fox team wasn't there. Pepper breathed out a sigh of relief. Apparently A.I.ndrew hadn't discovered the Star Fox team and truly believed that he was the only one the hologram thought had infiltrated the station. Pepper let out a laugh before deciding what to do next.
Offices: Jeff looked up at the nearest viewscreen to see A.I.ndrew on it.
"Greetings my compatriots. I have good news. We've captured the infamous Gen. Pepper attempting to infiltrate our base. I hope this shows you are efficiency in capturing criminals. Anyway, carry on your business," said the hologram. Jeff growled knowing that it had been a mistake to bring the decrepit general along. Jennifer would be probably become distraught but it serves her well for trusting other especially old generals he thought cruelly. Jeff returned to his business and continued delivering letters.
Venom, 22:00 hours: "That's as good as it's going to get," said the scientist. For the past several hours the troops and the scientists had been working double time to get the warship to be at least partially operational.
"She flies and has weaponry available as well as partial shields and operational engines. I hope you don't plan on taking this ship for any advanced combat maneuvers because the ship won't take it will break apart under the stress," said the scientist. Eric clapped his hands together.
"Okay folks. What we're about to do hasn't been cleared by the CDF or CAF or anybody. We're going to take this ship and head for Macbeth's sixth moon. Once we're there we will fly to Macduff and locate this secret base. Once we're inside we're going to blow it to kingdom come. I can't force any of you to do this, but if we don't strike now unannounced it won't happen at all. If we tell the CDF, the decision will merely become bogged down by procedures. The opportunity to strike will be lost and I don't want to see that happen. Anyone who wants to leave can go now," said Eric. Everyone looked at each other hesitantly but no one left.
"I thank you. Keep in mind that we might not return from this mission but we'll at least stop the Red Hammer from launching another sneak attack on Corneria. Let's get a goodnight's sleep because we'll all need it," said Eric. Everyone headed out to the campsite outside the ship and bedded down for the night.