I've decided to move away from the Star Fox genre. It's been a wild ride, but at first all I was going to write for the Star Fox genre was Star Fox: The Search for the Star Fox team and nothing more. Now I've written several stories and it's just starting to get redundant. I'm going to move on to the Pokemon genre and write stories there. Feel free to read some of them. I'll never forget the writing lessons that I've learned here and I'll occasionally pop back and right a story or two. Thanks for reading my stories based on Star Fox. If you want to use any of my characters or relate to any of the events just e-mail me and ask. I'll be more than willing to let you use them. Not that any of you want to but still I had to give you that option.
Venom, 7:30 hour: The alarms went off around the camp and the team of soldiers and scientists got up and stretched their limbs. After drinking a round of coffee they packed up their stuff and moved into the Red Hammer warship.
"Why did we get up so early?" groaned one the scientists. The group had stationed themselves on the bridge and the engineering section.
"I don't wish to be shot down by our own forces. Getting up this early means a delayed response from the local CDF and CAF forces. It's for the best. Once we enter warp you can catch a few more Z's. Engineering room, what warp can we achieve?" asked Eric.
"Let's put it this way. It'll take us five hours to get there. We're looking at speeds that were achieved back in the really old days. It takes the Great Fox three hours to cross the entire system for gosh sakes!" came the response.
"Fine we'll live with what we get. Activate repulsorlifts and let's get free of this desert," commanded Eric. The ship's engines turned on, the ship strained and pulled and shuddered but it didn't go anywhere.
"We're pretty much stuck," said one of the scientists.
"I don't care. We can't be stopped by this one setback. Activate emergency power!" yelled Eric. The ship continued to groan and strain while it attempted to escape the planets surface.
"This is Main Engineering. We can't keep this up much longer. We've got fifteen seconds of emergency power before the reactor shuts down," said a soldier over the comm.
"Keep trying to escape," commanded Eric. The ship continued straining against the forces of the desert.
"Shutdown in five seconds," said the soldier. Eric finally was about to admit defeat when the ship managed to dislodge itself from the desert and float above it.
"Shutoff the emergency power!" yelled Eric into the comm. The emergency power shut off and the ship started to descend to the surface when the reactor finally kicked in again and the ship hovered off the surface of the planet.
"I think it's time to go. Head for Macbeth," said Eric sitting back in the command chair that Anklor himself had sat in less than a week earlier. The ship had just risen above the horizon and was heading into the rising sun when three CAF fighters zoomed over a nearby ridge towards them and opened fire.
"Oh no. I was hoping to avoid this situation," groaned Eric. The ship continued blazing forward under attack by the fighters.
"What do you want to do?" asked one of the troops.
"I'm not going to attack our own forces. Push the engines as fast as they'll go. We'll try to outrun them," said Eric. The ship started pulling away from the fighters but they didn't relent in their barrage. Suddenly an alarm blared.
"We've got a bomb incoming!" yelled a scientist.
"Johnny! Do we have any countermeasures?" asked Eric to a nearby soldier.
"I can't make heads or tails of this workstation. I'm hoping that this button activates the flares or else we're in trouble," said Johnny. Johnny hit a couple of buttons on his control panel and a lone flare flew out of the ship streaking away. The bomb hit the flare and exploded. The shockwave slammed into the ship and blasted it into space. The shockwave also hit the fighters and one of them streamed to the ground on fire.
"Oh no," said one of the scientists.
"It couldn't be avoided," Eric managed to say. The two fighters, enraged by the loss of their comrade, continued firing with even greater intensity.
"Now what? Should we go straight to Macbeth or try to take an alternate route?" asked Eric.
"Eric, ever since we entered space, this red button has been flashing and its getting annoying," said Lara at the pilot station.
"I don't see what we can loose at this point. Press it," said Eric. Lara pressed the button and the ship leapt into warp leaving Venom and the CAF fighters behind.
Anklor's Fist: A.I.ndrew paced the room as Anklor watched him from behind his desk.
"I hate waiting for the enemy to show up. It's like the calm before the storm," said the hologram.
"I say the longer they wait the better. Besides they've still officially got five days until they need to give us their response. If it's yes, hey what's the problem? If it's no then X-7 and our attack force will give them our reply. It's all going according to plan," said Anklor leaning back in his chair.
"It's just not easy waiting that's all. Perhaps I'll go taunt Pepper," said the hologram when suddenly the whole station shook.
"What's going on?" he demanded. A.I.ndrew ran to a viewscreen and looked at it. He then whirled around smiling.
"And I thought today was going to be boring! The game has begun!" he said before leaving the room. Anklor watched him leave confused and then looked at the viewscreen. On the viewscreen it showed dozens of Cornerian warships approaching the station.
"So it has, so it has," said Anklor before running off also.
Space outside Anklor's Fist: Greg was leading the fleet from his own personal yacht.
"We've got to press the advantage and hit them hard and fast. Activate attack pattern Omega 7. Let's hit them back for Zoness," Greg said. A dozen ships flew over the disk shaped space station and fired dozens of bombs as it. The armor survived the beating, but several dents were formed. After the first barrage several Venomian Cruisers and fighters appeared.
"Launch all ships," commanded Greg. Over a hundred fighters flew out of the Cornerian warships and the two fleets advanced on one another. Then the battle commenced as hundreds of fighters flew all over the area firing on one another. Hundreds of explosion filled the space as several fighters accidentally collided with the warships. Suddenly two warships ran into each other and blew up taking several fighters from both sides with them.
"Listen up folks, this Commander Krane. We'll split up our fighters into two waves and converge on them in a pincer maneuver. Execute," said Krane, a crane, who was in charge of the CAF fighter fleets. The fighters broke off into different directions and converged on a small wave of fighters.
"Watch the cross fire and I don't want to see any friendly fire unless it's Venomians firing on Venomians," said Krane. The two halves of the fleet opened fire on the enemy wave and obliterated it. Above them a flaming cruiser flew overhead and exploded when it hit the Anklor's Fist.
"Intel," said Krane. A fighter flew right next to him.
"What's up?" asked Intel. (Intel is essentially a robotic fighter that receives information from various ships and reports)
"What's the status on the station?" asked Krane.
"Its shields have just failed but the armor is so extensive that not much damage has been done. Possible tactics are being considered but right now it appears that the station will stand up under quite a beating," said Intel. A large explosion occurred nearby.
"Well at least we can take this fleet out," said Krane returning to the thick of the battle.
Inside Anklor's Fist: The Star Fox team had managed to regroup despite the fact that even though on the outside everything appeared fine, inside everything was full of panic.
"I just found out that Pepper is being held in a cell on board the Red Hammer's new Zeram-Class flagship down in the bay," said Jerry.
"We can't go rescue him now. The fleet up there will be destroyed if we don't take out this station. We're going to have to storm the reactor room and blow up the cooling vents," said Custer.
"Alright," agreed Jennifer hesitantly.
"Look. I want to rescue Pepper just as much as you do, but we've got to do what's best for all Cornerians, not just one. We'll try and rescue him after we plant the explosives and before the station blows," said Custer taking off for the reactor. The Star Fox team chased after him.
5 hours into the space battle: "We just aren't do enough damage to the station to truly yield any results and we've already lost a significant portion of our fighters," said Powell. The general was holed up in Greg's cruiser. Greg stood up and straightened his uniform and then took it off to reveal his old pilots outfit underneath.
"Then I guess there's only one thing to do," he said. Greg then walked off to the main hanger bay with Powell chasing after him.
"What're you going to do?" he asked.
"I'm a pilot and I always have been. I can't sit by and do nothing. I'm joining the pilots out there who are risking their very lives to help us," said Greg. Greg approached his fighter and started the engines up and went through the preflight check.
"General you can't," said Powell before Greg closed the cockpit sealing off Powell's voice. When the preflight check was completed Greg sat back in his chair and placed his hand on the cockpit's side.
"We did it once old friend back when Star Wolf attempted to invade Corneria and we can do it again can't we," said Greg. The engine gave a brief sputter and Greg merely nodded. Greg then activated the engines and flew out of the bay and into the fray.
Fighter Fleet: "Intel, how many fighters do we have left?" asked Krane.
"Current projections indicate 75. The enemy has 150. However, enemy battleships are down to 16 while Cornerian battleships are at 30," said Intel.
"Great! While our cruisers have the advantage, our fighters have the disadvantage. The worse part is that our cruisers aren't exactly prepped for taking on fighters while the Venomian ones are. It's like five on one out here," complained Krane. A Venomian fighter appeared and was about to fire when it was suddenly destroyed.
"Thanks," said Krane. The fighter that had destroyed the enemy fighter took up a flanking position.
"Care to make the odds a little better?" asked the pilot opening fire and destroying a couple more enemy fighters.
"What's your name pilot because I sure don't recognize your ship and no mercenary groups agreed to help us out so who are you?" asked Krane pulling his ship through some tight barrel rolls.
"Names Greg Parlow and I just joined the fight. You'll have to excuse my late arrival but I was holed up on one of the cruisers and I decided that I couldn't wait any longer," said Greg.
"But that means. My pres," began Krane.
"I don't know who you're talking about. You must have me confused with someone else," said Greg cutting Krane off. Krane contemplated this and realized that it was the president and if he mentioned it then it was possible that his communiqué would be listened to and the Venomians would be on him in a second. Krane was about to order him back to the warship when he realized the Greg truly did want to help and who was he to refuse.
"What do you say we regroup and plow the road?" asked Krane.
"Delighted," responded Greg. The two fighters flew through the hulk of a warship and the fighters chasing them ran into it and blew up.
"Not too bright," observed Greg.
"No, but their superior numbers are a problem. I'm sure that the cruisers still have a few of them left still parked in their bays and I haven't seen any launch from the station so who knows how many there are," responded Krane. The two fighters managed to pick up several more Cornerian fighters and proceeded in a straight line towards a group of battlecruisers.
"Let em have it!" yelled Greg. The fighters opened fire on the cruisers in their paths and severely crippled them. Then a wave of Venomian fighters appeared and opened fire on the line, destroying three fighters.
"Break up into Finger Fours and return fire!" yelled Krane. The fighters split up and Greg found himself in command of a group of three other fighters. Together they flew in a prism formation.
"Okay let's give a sweep over wave 37 and then we'll try and regroup with the fleet," said Greg. The four fighters zoomed back and forth through fighters and other cruisers before finally reaching wave 37. The fighters released a couple of bombs, which destroyed the enemy and flew off as a Venomian cruiser began to bear down on them.
"Let's make a quick hit and run on the Fist and then try and regroup with the fleet," said Greg. The four fighters skimmed over the base and dropped several bombs. Behind the group a Cornerian warship, which had been almost completely demolished, slammed into the base blowing a chunk of it away.
Inside the base: "I suppose you're admiring your comrades handiwork," said A.I.ndrew. The hologram was watching the destruction on a video screen with Pepper still locked in the jail cell watching behind him.
"We will defeat you," said Pepper no longer holding up the 'I'm Salt, not this Pepper person' charade.
"Not when you see what I'm about to do," taunted the hologram. A.I.ndrew pulled out a radio.
"Anklor, I think it's time that we invoked Plan Trojan Horse," he said into the radio.
"I was just thinking the same thing. I'll tell our fighters to pull away from the designated cruisers," said Anklor. On the viewscreen, dozens of fighters scattered away from several of the cruisers.
"Go for it!" said Anklor enthusiastically. The hologram casually pulled out a control box, extended the antenna, and pushed the only button on it. Nothing happened.
"So much for that," said Pepper confidently.
"Just watch," responded the hologram. On the viewscreen, one ship blew up, and then another, and another, and another, until a whole section of battlecruisers exploded. Pepper just watched shocked.
"How?" he asked softly. The hologram turned to face him.
"After we destroyed part of your pitiful spaceport, Greg put out a contract for any cruisers that could be spared to fight the enemy. We secretly gave him some laden with explosives and a remote self-destruct device that could be activated by this little box. You've just lost 2/3 of your remaining cruisers. We've won this war with tactics so complex that even you couldn't anticipate them. Now if you'll excuse me, we're getting to the good part," said A.I.ndrew turning back to the screen.
Reactor Control Room: Custer knocked on the door to the reactor control room.
"What do you want?" asked a voice.
"This is Custer, let me in," said Custer.
"Sorry Custer, you know the rules. No one is allowed in or out during a battle," said the voice. Custer pointed to the door and Jeff merely nodded. Jeff ran into the door at full speed and burst in. The reactor core personnel looked at him shocked, but before they could reach for the alarm, Jeff pulled out his blaster and shot them.
"Clear," he said. The team entered and Custer handed them two charges each.
"Plant these over every yellow panel that you see," he said. The team moved out.
"Why no guards?" asked Jennifer.
"They probably left the reactor because if it was hit, they'd be the first dead," responded Custer. The team continued planting charges.
Space battle: Greg watched in horror as ten Cornerian warships suddenly exploded. Greg keyed his comm. system.
"Krane did you see that?" asked Greg.
"We saw it, we might have to rethink our strategy because that severely cost us. We're looking at 10 cruisers and 25 fighters. The enemy has 7 cruisers and 37 fighters. I just hope that the station doesn't have any more forces or we're in trouble," said Krane.
"We'd better regroup everybody and see what we're going to do next," said Greg. The fighters flew off to the battlefleet.
Macbeth: The Red Hammer warship emerged from warp after making multiple warp jumps.
"That's murder on the stomach," said Johnny.
"You're telling me," responded Lara.
"It was obviously a system designed to elude anyone who was chasing the ship. It looks like we've finally reached our destination. Head for Macuff," said Eric. Suddenly the ship leapt into warp again and a half second later the ship emerged from warp.
"This is getting ridiculous!" complained Eric.
"Well we're above the sixth moon," said Lara.
"Let's head for the surface as quick as we can and pray this thing doesn't enter warp again," said Eric. The ship dove towards the surface of the moon.
"If we enter warp now we're dead because no ship can survive warping through a moon, not even the Great Fox," said Lara. The ship broke through a layer of clouds and emerged facing a gigantic mountain.
"Say hello to Macduff," said Johnny. The ship hovered at the base of the mountain.
"Now what?" asked Eric. Suddenly the ship started to rise.
"Lara what are you doing?" demanded Eric.
"I'm not doing anything. This ship is moving by itself!" she responded angrily. The ship continued to rise at an astounding rate and stopped right underneath a monastery. Then it started to move towards the mountain underneath it.
"Oh crap! We've got to evacuate," said Eric getting ready to leave.
"Wait! Why would this ship fly all this way if all it was going to do was crash into a mountain? Why didn't it just fly here and slam into the ground? No. Something more is at work here," Lara said. The mountain opened up and swallowed the ship. The troops and soldiers watched as the ship entered the mountain and the door closed behind it.
"We've entered the belly of the beast," said Johnny. The ship flew down a large tunnel toward its destiny.
Inside Anklor's Fist: "All the charges have been set. Let's move," said Custer. The five of them ran out of the room and straight into a group of guards.
"What the," said one of them who then looked at the open reactor door "Sabotage! Open fire!" The troops opened fire on the team and Custer as they dove for cover. They returned fire as creatures scattered everywhere.
"We can't be held up by this. Not now," groaned Custer. Custer looked around and saw a closet and he pointed it at it with his blaster.
"Behind that door are four environmental suits. You put those on and exit this worthless station and walk along the outside and make your way to the bay. Enter a ship, power it up, and use this remote to activate the charges on the cooling vents. Then don't look back and blast your way out of here," said Custer.
"What about you?" Jennifer asked.
"I've got to hold off these troops or else they'll dislodge the charges and this station won't blow up. Now go!" yelled Custer. The team ran off to the closet and put on the environmental suits. They then entered the nearby fully pressurized area to the outside. The team then entered the cold harshness of space. Karrie was the last to exit the stations interior.
"What now?" she asked. Jeff turned to face her.
"I'm thinking we were better off inside," he said. The team saw the space battle continuing to rage. The team started walking along the outside of the station as dozens of explosions raged throughout the sky.
"Whoaa!" exclaimed Jerry. A gigantic battlecruiser on fire flew right over their heads and slammed into the station. Then a Venomian fighter that flew right above their heads exploded as a couple of Cornerian fighters wizzed by. The team had to run as fast as they could as the fighter's remains pelted the station.
"Odd weather we're having," observed Jerry.
Battle: Krane and Greg's fighter formations flew together.
"You didn't happen to see some figures outside of that station during our last flyby did you?" asked Greg.
"It's a good thing you noticed it too or else I thought I was going crazy," responded Krane. Suddenly one the fighters in the group exploded as six Venomian fighters flew by.
"Greg, I don't want to have to say this, but we're looking at almost 100% loss of both fighters and cruisers. I think it's time to evacuate," said Krane.
"We're not leaving until we're all dead. Until the last ship has been destroyed there's still hope," said Greg pressing on into the battle. Krane merely pursued after him.
Exterior of the spacestation: "This was a mistake," said Jeff. The battle was getting extremely intense above them as both sides attempted to press on despite the overwhelming odds.
"Look, we've got to press on. The destruction of this station will mean the end of the thorn in the CAF's side, the Red Hammer," said Karrie. Another fighter streamed overhead on fire.
"How much longer until we reach the hanger bay?" Jerry asked.
"I wouldn't know," grumbled Jeff. Then the bay suddenly appeared.
"Oh," he said. The team managed to enter the bay undetected since no one was expecting anyone to enter from the outside of the bay. They removed their environmental suits.
"Come on let's try and locate a ship to stowaway on," said Karrie. The team then looked around at the ships in the bay and decided which one to hide in. Behind them several fighters zoomed by outside.
Battle: "I've just had an idea," said Krane.
"What?" Greg asked. The two fighter groups performed a couple of barrel rolls to dodge a Venomian battlecruiser that was attempting to ram them.
"I think it's time we went on the offensive for once," said Krane.
"I thought we were," responded Greg.
"No, we've merely been defending ourselves. We're going to finally strike a major blow on the Anklor's Fist," said Krane.
"Agreed but where?" asked Greg.
"I'm tired of waiting for the fighters to launch from the base and destroy us once and for all. Let's relieve them of that option, and let's blow up the main hanger bay," said Krane.
"I like it," responded Greg.
Main Hanger Bay: "What ship should we choose? The all look fine to me," said Jennifer. Jerry just stared into space in shock.
"What's up?" asked Jeff.
"I think we've got something else more important to worry about than some ship to stay on," he said. The team looked out into space.
"Oh no," said Jeff sighing. A large Cornerian battlecruiser was maneuvering itself to attack the bay from the outside.
"Run for it!" yelled Karrie. The team ran along the large bay as dozens of laser blasts spewed from the cruiser and into the bay. Dozens of smaller ships were destroyed and several mechanics were mowed down by the blasts. The Star Fox team ran past several ships as laser blasts flew on the side of them and on top of them. A laser blast struck a fuel tanker and it exploded throwing everyone to the floor and some unsuspecting mechanics who were near the bay exit out into space where they died.
"I think we're dead," said Jeff.
"I hadn't noticed," responded Jennifer. Then the laser blasts stopped as a Saruzin class warship slammed into the cruiser from the side and pushed it out of range of the bay. The cruiser continued firing and raked the side of the station until it's power core blew and took out both ships.
"I've had enough of this," said Jeff. Jeff pulled out the control box and pressed the button.
Reactor: Custer slumped back against his cover. He had been shot in the stomach and knew that he wasn't going to survive to see the next day. Custer sat up and looked out with his remaining strength towards the reactor vents. He noticed that the charges were blinking. He then began laughing and finally passed away. The guards finally reached his corpse when the charges exploded and the reactor immediately melted down. Explosions then started rocking the entire station.
Battle: Krane and Greg watched as explosions started blowing out portions of the station.
"Way to go Krane now I'm going to have nothing to do this weekend," said Greg.
"Sorry but I had no choice," responded Krane. The Venomian ships stopped firing.
"Looks like we've got them demoralized," said Greg.
"Let's answer the surrenders," ordered Krane.
"Open fire!" The Red Hammer warship opened fire on the secret underground base for the Red Hammer. Troops, mechanics, and monks ran everywhere.
"Run and tremble. You allied yourselves with the enemy and now you face the consequences," said Eric as several ships blew up and dozens of creatures were mowed down.
"I've got a red flashing light again," said Johnny.
"Press it, third times the charm," said Eric. A large metallic noise was heard and a low rumble began. Instantly a rapidly blinking light went off on Eric's chair.
"What's up?" asked Eric.
"This is Gary down in munitions. Do you have any idea as to what you've just done? You've just launched a Copperhead missile!" yelled Gary. Everyone looked up shocked as the gigantic missile flew off towards the large wall of barracks and stores. The missile bored into the wall and exploded inside the munitions area. The expanding wall of energy flew outward destroyed everything in its path. The energy started to approach the ship.
"This is not good!" exclaimed Eric.
Macduff: The monastery exploded throwing rubble and monks everywhere. Out of the fire of the monastery a lone Red Hammer warship, trailing fire, burst out and zoomed into the atmosphere and beyond that, space.
"We're alive!" exclaimed one of the scientists.
"Yeah but if we don't get to a planetoid now we're in trouble. This ship isn't going to hold together much longer," said Johnny.
"Can we make it back to Venom?" asked Eric. Johnny consulted a few screens.
"Just barely, but we've got to go now," he responded.
"Lara punch it!" yelled Eric. The ship vanished into warp.
Flagship of the Red Hammer: The whole ship started rocking back and forth. A.I.ndrew activated a comm. system.
"What's going on?" he demanded. Anklor appeared.
"The base's cooling system has been sabotaged. The core is melting down and I've just received reports that our base on Macduff was destroyed by one of our own ships," said Anklor.
"Everything balances out in the end," said Pepper still in his cell.
"We'd better evacuate this base and return to Venom. With the X-7, no one can stop us," the hologram said.
"All right. I'm on board the bridge and we're blasting off," responded Anklor.
Space: The remaining Venomian warships had all surrendered and Greg and Krane watched as the station blew up.
"What a pretty sight," said Krane.
"Yeah but that isn't," said Greg. A lone warship emerged from the station a split second before it exploded. The ship burst through the ragtag CAF fleet and fled into warp headed towards Venom.
"According to Intel that ship was the flagship of the Red Hammer," said Krane. Greg pulled his fighter around and zoomed after it.
"Pursuit course. Powell, take care of the surrenders," said Greg. The two fighters entered into warp headed for Venom.
Red Hammer flagship: The Star Fox team had plenty of lacerations and cuts from the shrapnel of the spacestation. Somehow they had managed to enter a ship and since it hadn't been destroyed they figured that they'd somehow survived. However, Jeff had a large piece of metal sticking through his leg and it had now become bloodied.
"Come on let's get you to the medical center," said Jerry. The team hoisted Jeff off the ground and carried him to the hospital.
Medical Bay: "You're very lucky my friend. The metal hasn't pierced the bone, only the muscle. I'll remove it, repair the muscle, and give you a cast. The cast should be removed in about a couple of weeks and then you'll feel a little stiff. Now I can't have any distractions so you'll have to leave," said the doctor (a female fox) named Simone. The Star Fox team filed out hoping that Jeff would be okay.
"What now?" Jerry asked. A.I.ndrew who was walking down the hallway, noticed them.
"You will accompany me to the bridge," he said. The Star Fox team looked at each other wide eyed and followed the hologram to the bridge. They entered an elevator and emerged on the bridge. Anklor spun around in his command chair and faced them.
"E.T.A. to Venom?" A.I.ndrew asked.
"Five minutes. I see you've found some troops," said Anklor.
"Yeah they were down by the medical bay. Where should they be stationed?" asked A.I.ndrew. Anklor pointed to some workstations on the left side of the bridge. The Star Fox team approached the stations and sat down.
"I can't believe that I'm working in the presence of two of the Lylat Systems most deadliest foes," thought Jennifer trembling.
"Calm down soldier we'll be fine. Soon the Lylat System will fall to Red Hammer," said Anklor to her. Jennifer merely nodded.
"Greg?" asked Anklor.
"Two minutes," came the pilot's response.
Med. Bay: "There you go all fixed," said Simone. Jeff looked at his leg.
"That was fast," he said.
"I'm that good," said Simone washing up.
"I've got to ask. Why did you join the Red Hammer?" asked Jeff. Simone shrugged.
"My parents were to poor to send me to a good medical school. I desperately wanted to become a doctor and the Red Hammer weren't discriminating against who was to join them so I did. I've really gotten better through the years and I'm the best there is. You can go now," she said. Jeff hobbled to the door.
"Yes but at what expense," he said before exiting.
Venom: The Zeram-class Red Hammer flagship emerged from warp and flew down to the planets surface.
"The journey begins and ends here," said Anklor. Behind the ship, two fighters emerged from warp.
"Let's take it out," said Greg.
"Much obliged," responded Krane. The two fighters opened fire on the cruiser but the armor was too thick on it.
"Do you have a plan B?" asked Krane.
"Yeah. If we can't blow it up then let's force it down. Take out the engines," said Greg. The two ships fired several bombs at the cruiser as it flew above the planet's surface. The bombs hit home and the engine blew out.
"There goes the main engine. We're going down!" exclaimed Porpoise.
"Just like old times," said Anklor. The ship slammed into the ground and skidded for several feet.
"Come let us leave. The bunker is a long trek away," said A.I.ndrew. The personnel on the entire ship exited and formed a line outside the ship.
"I'm amazed as to how easily you can run your ships with such few personnel," commented A.I.ndrew.
"You can never know how many personnel you have so one has to rely on a lot of automation," responded Anklor. In front of the ship were Anklor, A.I.ndrew, Greg, Samson, Porpoise, Jennifer, Jerry, Jeff, Karrie, Simone, several mechanics, and Gen. Pepper whom A.I.ndrew had dragged out of his jail cell.
"Let's move out," said Anklor.
"I don't think so," said Greg. Greg and Krane appeared from around the side of the ship with their blasters drawn.
"The two of you seriously think that you can defeat me and my minions?" asked Anklor. The Star Fox stepped away from the ship and face their former friends.
"Not without our help," said Jennifer.
"Who are you guys?" asked A.I.ndrew.
"We're Star Fox," responded Jeff.
"You'll never defeat us. Pick your targets and go. Pepper you're mine," said A.I.ndrew. Samson, Porpoise, Greg, and Anklor all rushed the Star Fox team and Greg and Krane. The mechanics though ran off into the desert in fear.
"What's your name soldier?" asked Greg.
"Greg," came the response.
"Well what do you know? My name's Greg also. However you've allied yourself with the enemy and for that you will pay," said Greg. The two pulled out a pair of dueling swords and went at it. Porpoise took Jennifer, Samson took Jerry, Anklor took Krane, and Karrie tried to assist Jeff. Pepper and A.I.ndrew faced off against one another.
"It seems you have the advantage," said Pepper. A.I.ndrew chucked a blaster at Pepper and pulled out a staff.
"This still doesn't change anything because you're a hologram and you can't die," said Pepper.
"Wrong. Inside my body is a small projection device that travels throughout my entire body. If you manage to hit it then I'll deactivate, it's as simple as that," said A.I.ndrew. Pepper shot the blaster at the hologram. A.I.ndrew merely dodged it.
"Of course I'm not about to stand still and let you kill me now will I?" asked the hologram. A.I.ndrew leapt up into the air and landed on the ground behind Pepper. He swung the staff and hit Pepper in the side causing him to kneel over.
"I want a better target than this. I expected a harder kill. Pepper you disappoint me," said A.I.ndrew. The two continued to fight on.
"You should now that I alone control the galaxy," said A.I.ndrew. He jabbed at Pepper yet again. Pepper tried to blast him, but A.I.ndrew easily avoided the shot.
"It is foolish to come against me," he said. Pepper finally hit him, but the shot merely went right through his body.
"You will die just like James McCloud whom you sent to his death at the hands of my uncle," said A.I.ndrew. The hologram slammed the staff against Pepper's face causing his mouth to start bleeding. A.I.ndrew leapt up once more into the air. Pepper realized that there was only one option left to him. Pepper pulled out something from his pocket and thumbed it on. Pepper then collapsed on the ground. A.I.ndrew landed on top of him and looked down at the fallen general.
"For shame," he said. Pepper then looked up at him and stood up defiantly.
"You forgot one last proverb of Andross," said Pepper.
"What's that?" asked A.I.ndrew. Pepper pulled him close so that they were face to face. He then held up what was in his right hand, a charge meant for the cooling vents. The charge had started blinking.
"If I go down I'm taking you with me!" exclaimed Pepper. The charge exploded and took them both. Jennifer watched just as the charge exploded.
"Pepper no!" she exclaimed. Porpoise slammed against her causing her to fall to the ground. Everyone watched as the explosion took the hologram and the great general.
"For shame. Oh well, at least I can return to the bunker, use the X-7, and have supreme control over the Lylat System!" exclaimed Anklor. A loud explosion sounded in the distance. Everyone looked to see an out of control ship heading right for them. Dozens of escape pods launched from the ship as it slammed into the ground and skidded towards the group.
"I recognize that ship! It's mine. I abandoned it here. What has been done to it?" demanded Anklor. The ship continued sliding and slammed into the other Red Hammer flagship.
"My other ship!" exclaimed Anklor. Little explosions occurred on both vessels.
"They're gonna blow!" exclaimed Krane.
"Run for it!" yelled Greg. Everyone scattered all over the place as the two ships exploded. The shockwave threw everyone all over the place.
"Looks like I'll have to steal yet another ship to escape again," groaned Anklor. A blaster barrel touched the back of his head.
"I don't think so. Anklor, you are under arrest for killing countless individuals on the planet Zoness and for leading a failed attack on Corneria," said Krane. The Star Fox team looked at the large crater left by the explosion.
"I guess all that's left is too clean up the mess. We'll have to locate the bunker with the X-7," said Jerry.
"Yeah. It's over," said Jeff.
"This has been a dark week in the history of Corneria, I just hope that we can rebuild again. Goodbye Pepper, your sacrifice may have saved us all," said Greg.
Venom, 2 weeks later: A memorial was held for Gen. Pepper. His tombstone read:
Gen. Pepper
"He gave his life to save us and may he never be forgotten throughout history, we salute you"
Greg Parlow