Chapter 11

The trouble with thinking logically is that you can be outwitted by anything that thinks at least as logically as yourself.

-Douglas Adams, Mostly Harmless

"Is this a good idea?" Fox asked, crawling through the ventilation shaft.

"Yes." Said Mind.

"You're sure about that?"

"Yes."

"But didn't I just leave here?"

"Yes."

"And now you think I should try to get back in?"

"Yes."

"Is it worth it to ask you to explain?"

Mind paused, as if gathering herself for a daunting task. "Okay, you've just escaped from here, right?"

"Go on." Fox said.

"So that means that they are looking for you."

"Still with you."

"But, you were seen on Aquas, which confirms the instinctive guess Andross has as to what you'll do."

"And that guess is?"

"That you'll get as far away from here as you can."

"C'mon," complained Soul, "can't you explain and crawl at the same time?"

"I thought you said that I'd go back to the other prison."

"Ah, found our voice again, have we?" Leon said briskly, "how wonderful."

"I thought you said that I'd go back to the other prison." Katt repeated dully.

Leon shrugged. "I lied."

Katt looked up sharply, suddenly frightened again. For five days now she hadn't been either awake or asleep; a dull, throbbing ache had taken the place of both. But now she was suddenly alert again, and what she saw only made her more frightened.

Leon hadn't opened his suitcase. It lay unregarded in the corner of the cell. He was instead sitting on the metal bench, eyeing her speculatively. She felt his gaze traveling up and down from her feet to her face, and the fact that she was securely fastened to the wall did nothing to ease her distress.

"I think I see now." Leon finally spoke, "For the longest time I couldn't imagine what Lombardi saw in you. You have no class, no dignity, hardly any personality. One would be tempted to think that your only interests are combat piloting and seducing elite mercenaries, and that in the end you only valued piloting as a means of seducing elite mercenaries. If it weren't for Lombardi, I probably wouldn't even have looked at you even once." He stood up and began pacing in front of her, never taking his eyes off her figure. "But now, yes, there is something. Not much, but there is something. I think I can tell what Falco saw in you."

Kat swallowed heavily. She'd seen Leon with his face covered in blood, laughing quietly at some prisoner's suffering. This deadly calm he now displayed was scarcely any better.

"You're really quite desirable in a low, contemptible sort of way," the torturer said, leaning forward so that his face was mere inches from hers, "but then I have never backed off from what I wanted merely because it was low and contemptible."

She closed her eyes, trying not to picture what she knew he was thinking. She could feel his breath on her neck; it smelled awful.

"Commander Powalski," the PA buzzed, "Commander Powalski, please report to the main control room immediately."

Leon straightened up, disappointment etched on his features. He stood for a moment, considering, then spoke. "Consider this an intermission. As soon as I have attended to the affairs of the moment, I shall return. I look forward to becoming-" he paused, "much more closely acquainted with you, Miss Monroe."

His steps faded down the corridor. After a few moments, Katt began breathing again.

"What's up?" Wolf asked as he strode down the hall.

"Alarm went off in sector 5." The security officer answered, "Powalski's been sent in from sector 6, and Dengar from sector 4."

"We're going straight down the center, then? Good, I could use some exercise."

Leon motioned one of the security personnel forward, seething inwardly. It was just like thieves to break in just when he was about to start something else. He let his mind drift back to that 'something else,' and so wasn't quite paying attention as he and the rest of the guards moved down the corridor. By the time he looked up sharply at the black-cloaked figure that dropped from the ceiling, it was too late.

"There's nothing here." Pigma observed around a mouthful of chewing gum.

"Thank you, Pigma," said Wolf dryly, "I think I'd already figured that out." He kicked at a desk in frustration. "First chance of a fight in months, and there's nothing! Stupid, cheating, lousy- Hey where's Leon? Wasn't he supposed to be here, too?"

"Uh, Yeah, I think," grunted Pigma, shoving another stick of gum into his already dangerously overloaded mouth. "What does it matter? Wolf?"

His commander wasn't listening. He was staring at the other end of the room, where a squirrel dressed in black leaned nonchalantly against the doorway. Seeing he was observed, the squirrel smiled and approached a few steps.

"You really need to get sturdier soldiers. Those ones went down like tissue paper."

"?" was all Wolf could think to say.

"Though I suppose tissue paper isn't a very good metaphor. I ought to think up something better."

"?"

"Cardboard cutouts, perhaps. Yes, that sounds much better, doesn't it?"

"Get him!" ordered Pigma through his gum.

The soldiers charged, raising their rifles. For a split second, the squirrel stood perfectly still, looking Wolf in the eye and smiling. Then he jumped sideways, somehow slipping between the blaster shots. He landed behind a potted fern and crouched down. Two of the soldiers paused, and then advanced toward him. In a flash, the squirrel jumped up from behind the plant, landed with one foot on each of their heads, and shot three more guards before again rolling sideways and through a pair of double doors. Retreating footsteps echoed behind from behind them.

Wolf blinked and snapped out of his reverie. With an enraged roar, he gave chase.

The squirrel, at any rate, was not difficult to follow. He left a trail of toppled furniture and bewildered soldiers. It was as if the spy were more interested in doing acrobatics than escaping. Wolf managed to catch a glimpse of black cloak rounding a corner ahead. The guards had been left far behind, and of course Pigma had no hope at all of keeping up, unless the chase went into a mess hall.

It did.

Wolf was amazed at the chaos that reigned in the cafeteria. The squirrel had leapt from table to table across the room, scattering various meals as he went. A full two divisions of troops sat dumbstruck, covered in their lunches.

"After him!" Wolf ordered, picking his way as well he could across the besplattered floor, "He's a rebel spy!"

The troops came out of the mess hall into a long, wide hall. The squirrel was ahead, making for the elevators. Wolf drew his gun and began firing; the troops did the same. The squirrel ducked, rolled, jumped sideways and somehow avoided every shot. It was as if he knew beforehand where the shots would hit.

The spy had drawn his own gun, but wasn't turning around, he continued to dodge as he ran, and shot three times, blowing out the panels for the elevators. He jumped inside the last open elevator, a second before the doors closed.

"What are you doing?! Don't hurt me!" shouted the panicked secretary already in the elevator.

"Calm down." The squirrel smiled. "I have no intention of doing anything to you." He pushed the button for the top floor, then took out a can of spray paint from under his cloak.

Wolf stopped, looking at the elevator. It began moving up, then stopped between the two top floors of the compound.

The spy had pushed the stop button, Wolf mused, he's stalling for time. He turned to one of the soldiers, who was wiping mashed potatoes off his arm. "Get maintenance. Tell them to lower all the elevators to the bottom floor. I'll be waiting there."

"Katt? Katt, wake up."

Katt jolted awake, afraid that Leon was back already.

"Hey, calm down, it's me." Fox said.

She looked around. Fox and a mink were in her cell, undoing the clasps on her arms and legs. The door was open.

"They said you were dead." She said weakly, "Are you?"

"No."

"Falco is." Katt said quietly.

Fox stopped, clenching his jaw for a moment. Then he shook his head. "Dang. Well, you aren't dead, so let's just get you out of here while we can. All done?"

"Ready." The mink answered.

Andrew gripped the gun handle nervously, hoping the tip's shaking wasn't too obvious.

Two maintenance workers pried the elevator doors open. As soon as they started to open, Wolf pushed past and stopped.

The only person in the elevator was a nervous-looking mouse, clutching a briefcase. But spray painted on the back wall was a message and an arrow, and the vent on the top was open.

"I WENT THAT WAY." It said, pointing up.

Wolf looked up in time to see a black shape jump from the cable to an air vent leading to the roof.

"Are you all right?" Fox asked.

"Yes, I suppose so." Katt said, staring out the window of the transport. "I've had plenty of time to cry already, if that's what you mean."

"It isn't." Fox said, "I meant, do you think you can handle flying again, without Falco."

Katt didn't answer.

"I know it's going to be hard, going back to where you have memories of him. And believe me, I understand. But remember that what happened to you will keep happening to more and more innocent people if we don't stop it."

"I was afraid you'd say something like that." She looked up sharply at Fox. "I want a piece of Leon."

"Save a couple for me." Fox said, smiling ruefully, "Are you in, then?"

"Yes, I'm with you."

"And by the time you'd gotten to the roof, they were gone?" General Opprimus asked.

"Yes, sir. Guards reported one of our transports lifting off from the roof about that time, but they thought nothing of it at the time." Wolf said dully.

Andross sighed heavily. "If this continues, Wolf, I don't think you'll like the consequences. Dismissed." He turned to his new general. "I'm instituting encryption on all internal transmissions. It looks like we have at least one elite spy against us."

"Yes," replied General Opprimus quietly, as if he were thinking about something else.


Chapter 12

Westley: I told you I would always come, why didn't you wait for me?

Buttercup: Well, you were dead.

Westley: Death cannot stop true love. All it can do is delay it a little.

-William Goldman, The Princess Bride

"Hang on, land down there." said Fox a few hours later.

Katt opened her eyes slowly, wondering how long she'd been awake. She stood up slowly, her body complaining with every motion. "Where are we?" she wondered out loud as she entered the cockpit.

"En route to Meteo," answered Soul, "but currently descending towards Venom. Only Fox knows why."

"Venom? But there's nothing there now but a bunch of prison camps…"

"I'm ready." Fox's voice said.

"We're landing now," announced Mind, guiding the ship under the cover an outcrop of rocks. "What next?"

"Just wait here," Fox said, opening the rear hatch. "If I'm not back in five hours, head to Meteo and have Bill lead the rebellion." He buckled an ammo strap securely over one shoulder.

"What do you mean?" said Katt, becoming a little angry, "The whole system is depending on you! You can't go off alone!"

"There are some things," Fox answered, turning away, "that are more important then the whole system. Goodbye, for now at least."

"Sir, I wonder…"

"Yes, General?"

"If these spies," began General Opprimus, "are, in fact, freeing everyone connected with the Starfox team, then…"

"Continue."

"Then I suppose it would be best if they were localized. Here."

"True," Andross mused, running a finger absently through his beard, "True. Take care of it."

"Thank you, sir." Said Victor, "I will."

It was foggy. Fara hated it when it was foggy.

She hated it when it was sunny too, and when it was raining, and when it was snowing, and when it was cloudy, and when it was sleeting, and when it was thundering, and when there was a tornado she hated it too. Not there ever had been, but she knew that if there were, she would hate it.

She hated the work. She hated the guards, she hated the days she and she hated the nights.

And the food, she definitely hated the food. Look on the bright side, she tried to tell herself, at least you don't have to worry about your weight.

She hated the bright side, too.

"Phoenix!" yelled Steve, "get over here!"

Fara looked up. The overseer was only a few feet away.

"I've got a blip in the fence, in sector 5," he belched, "take care of it."

"Isn't that a job for the maintenance crew?" She said.

"Yeah, well, it's too much bother to call them." Steve yawned. "You're available, you do it."

Trying not to scream, Fara turned and stomped toward the exit and sector 5.

"And if you aren't back in five minutes, I'll put you on half rations!" called Steve after her.

She picked her way through the fog, slashing at the obscuring vapors. She imagined that they had Steve's face.

She finally found sector 5. Steve hadn't given her a map, she only knew it was sector 5 because the lights on the fence weren't flashing. That meant total loss of power. It was tempting to vault over the top and be gone. Very tempting, but she knew it was foolish. What could she do, in the outside world? Where could she go, without…

She shook herself out of her self-pity and looked for the cause of the power outage.

he found it, ten feet away. Someone had cut the five lowest wires and bent them back around the pylons, leaving a gap about six feet wide. She couldn't see it very well, because the fog seemed almost thicker around the hole-

Was that a smoke bomb on the ground there?

She advanced cautiously. Suddenly she was grabbed from behind.

"Phoenix! Where are you?" raged Steve, "When I catch you, I'll beat you black and blue you little- urk!"

Fox eyed the overseer coldly, holding him in one hand by the throat. "Unless I am very much mistaken," he said through clenched teeth, "You would be Steve. Fara's told me all about you." He drew back his other fist, but someone restrained him.

"Allow me." Said Fara, smiling at Steve.

Chapter 13

The path that I have chosen now has led me to a wall, and with each passing day I feel a little more like something dear was lost.

It rises now before me, a dark and silent barrier between

All I Am

And all that I would ever want to be, it's just a travesty.

Towering,

Marking off the boundaries my spirit would erase.

-Kansas, The Wall

"Just what the hell happened?" Leon demanded.

He was lying in a hospital bed with a cast on his leg and an IV in his arm, glaring at Andrew and Pigma.

"I dunno," shrugged Andrew, "There was this spy, I think, but I never saw him. Wolf seemed awfully angry about it, though."

"I saw him," Pigma said. "He killed four soldiers and knocked out another one, and I don't think we even touched him. Wolf chased him, but I couldn't keep up."

"You," Leon snapped, "couldn't keep up with a slug. Unless you were trying to eat it." He sighed. "Any idea what he was after?"

"Yeah, we're pretty sure they were trying to rescue Lombardi. Good job you executed him."

"And how do we know that?"

"Oh, cause Monroe is gone. They got her out."

Leon sat for moment with his mouth open. Then he closed his eyes. "Go away." He said, and rolled over.

Wolf was sitting in the hall, looking out the window at nothing. "How is he?" he asked without turning around.

"He'll be fine in a couple weeks." Andrew answered, "Uh, Wolf?"

"Yeah?"

"What's with you? You've just been sitting around for days now, you never do anything but wander around the base, and you won't talk to Leon." Andrew narrowed his eyes, as if suddenly suspicious. "Something's wrong, isn't it?"

"Brilliant, Andrew. You're a genius." grumbled Wolf, getting up and leaving.

"98," said Wolf through clenched teeth.

"99," he groaned, closing his eyes to keep out beads of sweat.

"100!" he shouted, and let the weights rest back on the supports. He didn't bother sitting up, he just lay on his back and fumed. Usually a good work out erased any doubts he had about Andross, which was why, perhaps, Wolf spent so much time in the gym.
It hadn't worked today. There was something going on in Corneria City, something that was altogether wrong. Okay, said Wolf to himself, let's just think about this. What, exactly, do I have to be upset about? He couldn't think of an answer, but that only made it worse. There was something wrong, he could almost taste it. Not the simple straightforward wrongness of a conqueror and tyrant, that Wolf didn't mind, at least not too much. This was twisted, convoluted, elusive. It made you feel as if everything but you were in it; in on, well, in on whatever it was.

"OK," he tried again as he stepped into the shower, "What does Leon have to do with it?" That was tough. He'd known Leon for ages, almost forever it seemed like. They'd met back when he was pirating, and his crew got into a barfight with Leon's street gang. From then on Leon would go on raids with him, hang out on the ship. He turned out to be a damn good pilot, too. And a pretty good commander, so it wasn't very long before he was second in command.

Then Wolf had found out about the torture.

He'd been inspecting the prisoners one day, and noticed odd marks on their arms. And legs. And shoulders. Since the only other person who had access to the prisoners was Leon, it didn't take long to figure out who had done it. Wolf hadn't bothered anyone about it, it seemed easiest that way. When they were hired by Andross, Leon had made it a rule to torture at least once a week. He'd taken out patents on one or two devices, and acquired a terrible reputation among the troops. Wolf still hadn't cared about it, it didn't really bother him much, and it was stupid to object to things over which he had no control, anyway. On occasion, he'd even enjoyed watching. McCloud, for example. That had been fun, showing up the little snot for all the times he'd humiliated Starwolf. But he couldn't deny that lately, in fact all along, there was something about Leon that seemed wrong, especially when Monroe was brought in. That was just wrong, Wolf couldn't explain it, it was just wrong.
He stepped out of the shower, frustrated. Okay, he'd figured out where he stood with as to Leon, but so what? What did that have to do with what was wrong with the whole thing? He pulled on his pants and shirt inattentively, not noticing at first that he'd put his shirt on backwards.

There was something wrong here, he fumed as he stormed down the corridor, and he was going to find out what if it-

He passed by a black panther wearing a general's uniform. The general didn't speak; he nodded briefly in Wolf's direction, and continued walking. Wolf himself stopped, staring into space. After a moment he looked down the hall after the panther.

Wolf was a creature of instinct. What most people would have dismissed as nerves or deja vu, he sensed, understood, and acted on. It was a great advantage as a pilot, less so in normal life, so he tried, sometimes, to ignore his instincts. But now they had all jumped up and were screaming in his face. He couldn't ignore them and he didn't want to.
He looked down the hall at the panther again, and shuddered. At least now he knew what was wrong.

Chapter 14

Bastien had shown the lion the inscription on the reverse of the Gem. "What do you suppose it means?" he asked. "'DO WHAT YOU WISH.' That must mean I can do anything I feel like. Don't you think so?"

All at once Grograman's face looked alarmingly grave, and his eyes glowed.

"No," he said in his deep rumbling voice. "It means you must do what you really and truly want. And nothing is more difficult."


-Michael Ende, The Neverending Story

"Aren't you going to ask her?" asked Bill.

"Uh, ask who? Ask what?" Fox said, very quickly.

"That," Soul remarked, "was perhaps the least convincing deception I've ever seen."

"Guys," whined Fox, "please, I don't know who you're talking about."

"Yes you do!" they said in unison.

"What, you mean Katt?" Fox asked, grasping at straws, "Why Katt? I mean, why in the world would I ask Katt to marry-"

"Who said anything about marriage?" crowed Soul, smirking triumphantly.

"Um…" Fox whimpered, stalling for time.

"What are you two doing to him?" Rita demanded, coming around the corner suddenly. "The only one who's allowed to embarrass Fox is me."

"Thanks, Rita, now-" began Fox.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you from them." She said, sidling closer to him. She rested her cheek against his shoulder.

"Uh, Ri?"

"Hmm?"

"What are you doing?" Fox said nervously, glancing at Soul who was grinning even more wickedly than before.

"Snuggling you." She answered, "What's wrong with that?"

"Well, aren't you kind of my sister?" He said, backing up a step.

Bill blinked.

"Oh, Fox, don't be silly." Rita giggled. "You know that-"

"Message for McCloud, Fox." Bleeped ROB64 stridently.

"Uh, thank you, I'll take it here."

"Take. It. Here. Analyzing… Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha..."

"Play message!" Fox shouted, over the computer.

A voice masked with static cut off ROB's joviality. "This is Alistar Phoenix of the Fortunan resistance. I was told this frequency would reach you. If you get this message, please reply at exactly 22:00 Cornerian time. If you are who I'm told you are, then I have no doubt you and I have a great deal to say to one another. Phoenix out. Message repeats- This is Alistar Phoenix of the Fortunan resistance. I was told-" the speaker blinked off.

"22 hundred," Fox mused, "What time is it now?"

"Nine thirty-five." Soul said.

"We'd better get to the station then." Fox said, gesturing. "Thank goodness!" He added, under his breath.

"Right behind you." Said the squirrel.

"Wait for me!" said his sister.

Bill watched her for a moment, then followed without saying anything.

"Where is everybody?" Fara wondered, putting her head around the doorway of the station control room. Everyone else was standing around the main monitor, staring at it. Mind had her finger poised over a switch, and Soul stood next to her counting quietly.

What's going on?"

"Fara? Good, we couldn't find you anywhere." Fox called, taking his eyes of the static filled screen for a moment. "You'll probably want to watch this."

"Watch what?" she asked, putting her arm around his. Rita glared at her for a moment.

"Couldn't you be doing that with the computer?" Bill said to Mind.

"No. It's better this way." She answered without moving her finger.

"10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5," said Soul.

"Here goes nothing." Fox said.

"3, 2, 1," said Soul.

Mind pushed the button, the screen rolled, and then cleared, revealing a sandy-hued fennec fox, surrounded by a great many tough-looking persons.

"Dad?" asked Fara.

"Well, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised to see you there," The rebel leader said dryly, "but business first. McCloud, can you guarantee absolutely that you will overthrow Andross?"

"No. I may die while trying."

"That will do for now. Now, we of the Fortunan resistance wish to make certain arrangements with you, and then afterwards perhaps there are other things we should discuss."

"Dad…" Fara blushed.

"Man, I cannot believe Fox!" Bill said incredulously nearly two hours later. He got up and paced around the couch, then changed his mind and sat down again. "All that time, it was just 'yes,' 'no,' and 'I will.' Nothing of interest!"

"You have to admit, though, he made a great deal," Soul said, opening a can of soft drink, "money, weapons, personnel, ships, info, you name it, they offered it to us!" He paused, as if thinking. "What, exactly, did we give them in return?"

"Hope, maybe." Bill grunted. "Fox didn't really know, but the General always saw him not so much as a soldier but as a sort of publicity and morale icon. Kind of a mascot, really." He smiled. "I remember some of my pilots didn't want to fly when he wasn't under contract with the army; they said it jinxed us, not having him on our side."

Soul shrugged. "Maybe that's what they needed, then. A contract. Hope. What were you expecting Fox to say?"

"More than he did, at least."

"How so?"

"In case you haven't noticed," said Bill, "We have very little chance of winning here. And Fox's dad had very specific instructions for what to do in a situation like that."

"And you think Fox isn't following these instructions?" asked Soul, raising an eyebrow, "what were you expecting him to do?"

"I was expecting him to mention Fara."

"Okay, now we've gotten to the part I don't understand. Fara's that girl we rescued the other day, right? So what does Fox have to do with her?"

Bill shot him a withering glance. "Didn't you think it at all odd that Fox insisted on going to get her alone?"

"Well why shouldn't- Oh, I get it now!" the squirrel nodded. "But what about that Rita girl, she seems a bit more, well, outspoken."

"That doesn't mean a thing." Scoffed Bill, "To Fox, she's still just his little sister. She might wish he would, but he'll never go farther than feeling protective." He finished vehemently, and realized he was sweating. He swallowed. "Fara's the one. Fox has adored her since high school."

"And that was her father we were talking to just now?"

"Yeah, and that's really weird. He's the absolute last person I'd expect to be leading a revolution of anything bigger than a departmental org chart."

"A man who hath no music in his soul?"

"Exactly. He objected to Fara's associating with any of us." Bill said, "not because of any class difference, but because Fox refused to do advertisements for his company, Firebird Translines."

Soul leaned back and shrugged, "Well, getting conquered and having your family enslaved can change a person. And, hey, just as long as he's helping us out, I won't mind how involved his 'issues' are." He stood up, yawning. "See you tomorrow morning."

Bill went to bed a few minutes later. When the whole station was silent, Fox wandered out of the shadows to the window. He spent three hours looking out at the stars.


Chapter 15

"Treachery! Seek it out!"

-Shakespeare, Hamlet

"Are you quite sure of this?" Mind said, sitting alone at the computer console.

"Yes." Mr. Phoenix answered, his voice distorted by distance and static. "They convoy was supposed to be heavily guarded, but most of the troops were recalled at the last minute. We'd take care of it, but we don't have enough ships capable of getting there in time."

"And you know this how?"

"Luck, mostly." He smiled, "We're fortunate enough to have someone with us that the imperial governor trusts."

"I see."

"Indeed." His smiled faded. "Could I ask of you a favor?"

"Of what sort?"

"Could you tell my daughter, tell her not to get too- close to McCloud? Tell her that I don't think it's wise."

The mink stared for a moment. "Very well. I doubt, however, that she will listen."

"Ah, yes." Alistar sighed. "Tell her, then, that whatever happens, I only wanted what was best for her. Fortuna out." The screen lost feed and resolved to a mass of static.

Mind sat for a long time, considering. Then, she switched off the screen and got up.

"He said there was a convoy out here, unguarded?"

"Not just said." Mind answered, "he showed me very convincing evidence. Copies of official orders and photos."

Five Arwings and two protectors hovered behind a Titanian mesa. Fox had wanted Fara and Rita to stay behind, but they'd shouted him down. Rita declared vehemently that she had her own ship, and no one told her what to do with it. Fara asked sarcastically what he rescued her for, if she wasn't supposed to help out. Fox winced, covered his ears, and then let them come.

The convoy was supposed to pass through the valley below, before rising to atmospheric exit levels at the end. The best point for a surprise attack was to come from the sides as the cargo carriers began their ascent.

"An unguarded convoy," Fox mused. "either Andross doesn't want anyone to suspect I'm alive, or he doesn't think I'm a threat."

"There's one more possibility." Said Mind.

"What's that?"

"Oh, nothing. Never mind."

The Convoy was unguarded, as promised. It was also empty.

"-the hell?" Bill shouted as another ship went down without dropping any cargo or debris. "There's nothing here! Why the heck would Andross send a convoy with nothing in it."

"Only one reason." Soul said darkly.

"It's a trap," Fox finished, "Get out now!"

As if on cue, Imperial Fighters appeared all around on the horizon. Fox dove under a cascade of bolts. He lobbed bombs into the clouds of approaching fighters, then tore through them with lasers blazing. At the back of the swarm he paused to look around. Bill's and Katt's planes arched away safely. Mind and Soul were almost out of the area as well. Fara's plane emerged from the fighter cloud a moment later.

"Fox!" she said, sounding panicked, "I couldn't get Rita to leave! She's still in there!"

"Damn!" Fox cursed, "Get out of here, Fara!"

"Fox, what are you- No! Don't!"

She watched his Arwing turn back into the cloud and shoot down at least twenty enemy planes before being hit. Rita had fled, not knowing her brother's plight, but Fara saw all too clearly a smoking wreck plow into the ground beside the mesa.

"Fox!" she screamed, and dove after him.

Fox finally shook himself free of the parachute. He'd never get used to those things.
His arwing was a wreck, that was certain even without examination. Fox was slightly surprised at the size of the crater it had made. Sighing, he turned on his comlink; hopefully he could evade the Imperial troops long enough for someone to come and get him.

"That won't work, the whole area's been seeded with broadcast jammers." Said Mr. Phoenix.

"What are you doing here?" Fox asked without turning around.

"Fulfilling a contract, I'm afraid." The company manager said, "I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to put your hands up and turn around."

Fara stumbled over a cactus. "Fox!" she called, becoming hoarse, "Answer me!"
She finally spotted him down in a crevice. That was very odd, she thought, he's not doing anything, just standing there with his arms up. And who's that with him? She jogged a few paces closer but then stopped. "Dad?"

"Fara, come here." Alistar said emotionlessly.

"What's going on," she glanced down at the object in her father's hand. "Why are you pointing a gun at Fox?" she asked hesitantly, beginning to feel queasy.

"I'm sorry, Fara. It was the only way."

"The only way? What, what do mean?" She was sweating furiously, but not from the heat.

"I made a contract, Fara." Her father explained, "Andross has guaranteed me and one other person of my choice passage out of his territories, with no questions asked."

Fara felt sick. For a moment she couldn't hear anything.

"I didn't want it to be this way." Alistar sighed, almost apologetically, "but this is beyond my control. If there is one thing I've learned, it's that you have to take your chances when they come. Andross gave me a chance, and now I'm taking it."

"What's the contract say you have to do?" she asked, though she knew what the answer would be.

"Kill McCloud." He said. "I'm sorry."

"No," she whimpered, "oh, no no, please-"

"You can start in new life in some other system." Her father tried to console her, all the time keeping his eye and his gun trained on Fox. "The only other way is slavery and death for all of us."

"No, no, no, it can't be-"

"Fara," said Fox, swallowing hard, "do what he says."

Fara stopped abruptly, feeling suddenly numb.

"If what he's saying his true," Fox paused, "then it's your best chance to be happy. Don't waste it because of me."

"No!" she shouted, all trace of self pity erased from her voice.

The distinct hum of a charged blaster sounded behind Alistar. "Put down the gun, dad." Fara said.

Alistar turned to face his daughter, with sadness in his eyes. "Fara." He said.

She bit her lip and tried to hold the blaster still.

"You aren't going to shoot me." He said.

"But I might." Fox announced as a second blaster hummed to life.

Alistar watched the Arwing take off and pass overhead. Fara was entirely beyond his reach. For now at least, he was glad of that.

He sat on the rock for a moment, and then stood up. He had the ship he had come in; he could get away alone at least. The arrangements he had made to get to the next system should still work. Perhaps, though, it would be best if he didn't stop at the next system.

A nondescript private cargo ship drifted away from Titania. Alistar sighed. If he squinted, he thought he could just make out the Arwing, going the opposite direction.

Well, Fara, he thought, you made your choice. I hope that it's made you happy.

Goodbye.

He swung the ship around and engaged the hyperdrive.

"Goodbye, Dad." Fara whispered, staring into space.

"Did you say something?" asked Fox.

"Nothing." She answered, then laughed softly. "We have something in common now."

"What?"

She paused, then said, "We've both lost our fathers."

The fighter shot towards Meteo, where there was safety.

For now.

Chapter 16

Again she fled, but swift he came.

Tinuviel! Tinuviel!

He called her by her elvish name;

And there she halted listening.

One moment stood she, and a spell

His voice laid on her: Beren came

And doom fell on Tinuviel

That in his arms lay glistening.

-J. R. R. Tolkein, The Lord of the Rings

"I'm afraid His Ultimacy can't see you right now." Said the secretary primly, not looking up from her typing.

"Like Hell!" Wolf shouted, "I'll see him then!" He threw open the doors and stormed into the Emperor's office.

"Hmm?" Andross said, without looking up.

"What the heck is this?" Wolf shouted, flinging an official looking folder on the desk. The edges looked as if they'd been twisted or crumpled, in rage perhaps.

"Hmm?" blinked Andross, glancing around vaguely as if trying to figure out what was going on.

"The heck does 'transferred from active service mean?!'" Wolf continued to rant, "Am I supposed to just wander around all day doing nothing? They won't even let me out of base anymore, just gave me some crap about invalid passes! Just what are you trying to pull-"

"Huh?" Andross looked at Wolf finally, entirely without recognition. "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?!" screamed Wolf. "What the Hell do you think is wrong?! Half the battles we won we're won by me, and now that we've won I'm being shunted out! That's what's wrong!"

"Oh." said Andross quietly, letting his eyes become unfocused. "I'll have Victor take care of it, he can handle things. Yes, Victor will do it. Yes, Victor…" He trailed off, no longer taking any notice of Wolf.

"Andross? Hey, what's with you?"

The Emperor stared straight ahead, with his mouth hanging open. After a moment he looked up and said, "Hello, who are you?"

"Never mind." Wolf said, and edged out of the room without taking his eyes off the former leader.

"Fara?" Fox called.

"Yes?"

"There's… there's something I want to ask you."

She didn't say anything.

"For a moment back there, I, I thought I'd lost you."

"I thought I'd lost you too." She whispered.

"It comes to the same thing." Fox took a step towards her, then stopped, looking out the window. Corneria was just visible between the asteroids. "We're probably both not going to last long fighting this war, I don't see how it's possible that we can win." He laughed quietly. "When I was a kit I used to wonder what I would do if I was ever in a fight I couldn't win. One day I asked my father what to do."

"And what was the answer?"

"He told me," Fox began, and then paused, turning to look at her, "he said, 'Son, if you can't win a war, first fight well, then die well.'"

Fara sensed the tightness in his voice and didn't respond.

"I've lost everything to Andross." Fox continued. "My family, my home, my friends. I don't want to lose you."

"Fox, I…"

"I always meant to say this to you; I didn't want to have to do it this way, but it's better this way than not at all." He closed his eyes. "Before I… before we lose each other, there was something I wanted to ask you. I know we haven't got much time left together," He drew his face close to hers, "but what time we do have, would you spend it with me, as-"

"Oh, Fox…" was all she could think of to say.

Rita came around the corner, and saw Fara in Fox's arms. They were lit from behind by a view of Corneria, with the sun rising at the edge of the planet. She watched for a moment, then bit her lip and turned away.


Chapter 17

"Don't, Will, silence! Remember you have a wife now, and may have children too."

-Robert Bolt, Man For all Seasons

"Damn!" shouted Bill uncharacteristically.

The computer's statement of 'access denied' remained unaffected by the expletive.

"Stupid piece of lousy stinking garbage…" he muttered.

"I take it that means you've no more luck than anyone else?" asked Mind from the terminal across the room.

"I've had just as much luck as a black cat knocking over a mirror underneath a ladder on Friday the thirteenth."

"Hey!" protested Katt.

"I may be wrong," Soul interjected, "but I think I should say that typing in totally random words and numbers, as I've been doing, is probably not going to lead to success."

"Well, what do we know?" Fox yawned.

"Not much."

"And we've been at this how long now?"

"Two and a half weeks, about."

Fox stood up. "I'm worn out and fed up. I'm going to bed." He yawned. "Maybe our luck will change tomorrow."

Bill turned back to the screen once he'd gone. "Yeah, sure. You're tired. That's why you're leaving." He sighed heavily. "I wish the girls would go after me for once."

"You," Soul announced, "are jealous."

"Really, you think? Just because my best friend has had to fight females off every time he goes outside? Just because he's married to a girl who could have been a model if she wanted and I can't even get a female to look at me? Why should I be jealous?"

Soul looked thoughtful for a moment. "That was sarcasm, wasn't it?"

Bill, Katt, and Mind blinked at him.

"I thought so." He said, and returned to hacking.

Fara McCloud was sitting in a warm, sunny room on Corneria, holding her son wrapped in a blanket. She closed her eyes and hummed softly, as much to herself as to the baby.

"We meet again." Said a sinister voice.

She looked up. Leon was standing in the doorway, holding Fox's head. He dropped it and it rolled towards her, coming to a stop at her feet.

She looked back at the chameleon. He had drawn a knife and was cutting his throat, no his whole neck. After he'd cut all the way across, he pulled the edge up and began peeling his whole face off, revealing the face of Alistar Phoenix underneath. Her father pointed to the baby, and she pulled aside the blanket from its face. Her son had the head of a black panther, with blood red, glowing eyes.

"Fara!" someone said, and she opened her eyes.

"Are you all right?" Fox said, bending over her, "You were screaming and crying and…"

"Fox," she gasped, "you're here." She pressed her face against his chest and cried softly.

Fox pulled his wife close to him, "Yes I'm here, don't worry." he whispered to her. "It's all right. I'm here, and I'll always be here." She stopped crying slowly, and relaxed. "Go back to sleep." Fox said. "I won't leave you."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

She curled up in his arms and went back to sleep.

"I'm pleased to announce that we've made absolutely no progress." Soul announced.

"How late were you guys up?"

"Most of the night, I think." Bill said. "I fell asleep a couple times. Of course, some of us," he looked darkly at Fox, "didn't even get any hacking done, they were too busy-"

"Ahem." Rita cut him off.

"I wouldn't say that we haven't made any progress," Mind began quickly, to keep Bill from venting any more frustration, "We did find out a few things. The new security system is very complicated. There are six passcodes that must be entered correctly before you gain access to the final security block. After you get through that, you're home free."

"So what we need now are the codes." Fox said.

"Very much so."

"Any way we could hack in and get them?"

"None at all. Everything is on the other side of the codes, now. You can't get so much as the cafeteria menu without them."

"Then we'll have to get them the old fashioned way."

"I'm not letting you go." Fara said, crossing her arms.

"Why not?"

"Why not? Why not let you go back to same place you've only barely escaped three times? Why not let you practically throw yourself back into prison? Why not let you get killed?! Why do you think I married you?"

"Fara," Fox said, "I think you're overreacting."

"Oh no, not yet. Now I'm just panicking. Give me a minute to calm down, and then I'll start overreacting."

"Are you sure about that?" Rita said to Bill.

"Yes," he answered. "I can't count all the times Fox has gotten me out of more trouble than I'm worth. It's time I returned the favor."

"Good luck, then." She said, uncertainly, "You'll need it." She walked away and sat down next to Katt. Bill looked over at Fara, who was somewhere between shouting and tears, then back at Rita, and sighed heavily.

"Fara, I have to do this." Fox said. "I promised to avenge my father and I will."

"And what about what you promised to me?" she said quietly.

"Have we decided yet?" Soul asked to the whole room.

"I'm sorry, Fara," Fox began, softly, "but-"

"I'll go." Bill said. Everyone stared, except for Rita who shifted uncomfortably and looked away. "Don't bother saying anything," he said, "I've already decided, and I'm going."

"But, Bill-" Fox began.

"No, Fox." Bill said firmly. "You have to be safe. Every rebel in the system is counting on you, not to save them, but to remind them to save themselves. You're their hope. You've got to stay safe." He smiled grimly, "Or as safe as reasonably possible."

"Bill," Rita said, her voice uncharacteristically soft, "but, you, you…"

Bill looked at her. He seemed about to speak, but didn't say anything.

Chapter 18

"Nicaragua has been conquered like Athens. Nicaragua has been annexed like Jerusalem," cried the old man, with amazing fire. "But my country is not dead. Nicaragua is an idea."

-G. K. Chesterton, The Napoleon of Notting Hill

It was time for the guards to be changed. O'Donnell came in with them. He'd been hanging out in the prison a lot, now that he wasn't allowed outside of the base. Maybe he felt sympathetic.

Christopher A. Pepper, formerly general and commander in chief of the Cornerian army, watched the guard at the hall door. He'd been watching the codes carefully every day almost since their inception, and he nearly had a complete list. Not that he ever expected it to be of any use, but it was better than just sitting in his cell all day. The guard had to enter seven codes at each checkpoint; Pepper knew every one but the sixth and the seventh.

"A-N-A-T-H-E-M-A. Got it." He whispered to himself, then drew back as the next shift of guards came in.

Bill trudged past the security door, sweating as the captain glanced at him.

He wished fervently, and often, that he'd been disguised as someone who had access to the passcodes, but it would have been too difficult to arrange for the disappearance of an officer. Nobody took any notice of the common soldiers. And so, he was on guard duty in the prisons, with no possibility of either getting what he came for or contacting the others. Grumbling to himself, he looked around.

The man in the cell he was guarding was General Pepper.

Perhaps he wasn't so badly placed after all.

"General?" he whispered, first making sure that the hall was empty.

Wolf was puzzled. The soldier outside Pepper's cell was behaving very oddly.

He squeezed past the sleeping guard to the control panel. After a moment or two of searching, he found the controls for the security cameras and zoomed in on Pepper's maximum security cell. He and the guard we're whispering furtively, as if they were planning something.

He shifted the camera to the guard's face. It looked familiar, but not enough. It reminded him of going to a movie and recognizing an actor but not being able to figure out where you'd seen him before.

Wolf growled with frustration. The smallest thing, a guard's slight resemblance to someone Wolf had once known or perhaps merely seen, and he was nearly driving himself mad over it. If only- Wait!

The guard had turned, looking over his shoulder. Perhaps he'd heard something and wanted to make sure he wouldn't get caught gossiping with prisoners. As he turned, the shadow of his helmet fell across one eye, obscuring it in a patch of blackness. Almost as if the guard were wearing an eye patch, and one that didn't fit.

That was all Wolf needed to see.

Wolf let his jaw hang open for a moment, then got up stiffly to report. An escaped rebel in the base, disguised as a guard. If this didn't get him back into Andross' good books, then nothing would…

Hang on a minute. Wolf stopped in the middle in the hallway and frowned. What the hell did he want with Andross' good books? Were they even Andross' books anymore? The Empire of Lylat had used him, humiliated him, abandoned him, and then imprisoned him. Why would he even consider trying to get back in? But if Grey was in the base, then maybe…

Wolf turned and headed back to his quarters. He had a few ideas.

"I can't give you the codes now." Whispered General Pepper, "They'd see it on tape, and they'd come and get you."

"But I'm not going to be here again!" Bill insisted. "They rotate the guards every day! Tomorrow I'll be at a different cell!"

"Give me your ID number, and I'll get the codes to you somehow."

"General, that's-"

"That's the only way you're going to able to get them out of here."

"I'm not letting you throw away your chance of escape! I'm getting you out, I'll-"

"You will not!" Pepper snapped. "That's an order! Now turn around and don't argue."

Bill opened his mouth, then closed it again and obeyed.

"Trust me. I'll get you the codes. I may not get out, but the codes are more important." The general paused, and when he spoke again his voice was oddly rough. "and Grey, when you see McCloud again, tell him from me that he's a credit to the Cornerian Academy, and tell him to smack Andross upside the face for me." An alarm blew through the prison. "There's your signal. Get going, commander."

"Yes sir." Bill said quietly, and left.


Chapter 19

"My only regret is that I have but one life to lose for my country."

-Nathan Hale, last words.

"O'Donnell's been making trouble again." Victor announced as he entered the throne room.

"Huh?" said Andross vaguely.

General Opprimus rolled his eyes. "Wolf O'Donnell. The mercenary pilot you hired. The one who got in my way and you demoted."

"Wolf?"

Victor growled in frustration, and closed his eyes as if in frustration. Andross blinked.

"Wolf O'Donnell needs to be either restored to active service, effectively imprisoned, or given something to do."

"Oh." Murmured Andross.

"I think," said General Opprimus, speaking very slowly, very clearly, and very loudly, with his face less than a foot from the ape's, "that I will have O'Donnell oversee executions. Not only will this give him something to do besides slouch around the base, but it will free me from doing so, and allow more time to spend on more important things."

Andross looked positively terrified for a moment, like a small child who didn't understand his kindergarten assignment. As the general talked, his face sank slowly back into torpor. "Good work." He said sleepily, then began amusing himself by pulling the stuffing out of the arms of his throne.

General Oprimus shook his head and left. As he left, the Emperor began playing with the drool on his cheek.

General Pepper berated himself mentally as he was marched down the hallway. Why hadn't he given the codes to Gray? Why had he delayed? Now it was too late. He had the full list of the codes, but in a few minutes it would die with him.

He barely paid attention as he was strapped to the metal chair. He didn't really notice when all but one of the guards left. He wasn't paying attention when Wolf came in, fuming, and wasn't really listening when he told the last guard to leave.

He only began to take an interest when Wolf said that he supposed he was wondering what was going on.

It suddenly occurred to General Pepper to do so.

"I just wanted to talk to you for a moment," Wolf said, "about your friends."

"Uh, I don't understand." Pepper said nervously.

Wolf glanced at the security camera behind him. It stared back impassively.

"Uh, well," Wolf said, "about the magic words."

Pepper stared.

"The magic words to turn to grey." Wolf made a typing motion in the air with his hand.

"You, you know about Gray?" Pepper whispered incredulously.

Wolf nodded quickly.

"Then why isn't he in here too?"

"Because I'm the only one who knows."

Pepper glanced at the camera, then swiftly tapped his hip pocket once with his elbow.

"Uh, now what?" said Wolf, painfully aware of the camera over his shoulder.

Pepper nodded his head toward it.

Wolf turned. The camera was not facing them, it had swiveled around to search the rest of the chamber. Slowly it began turning back.

Wolf shot his arm out, and grabbed the codes, knowing for sure that he wasn't going to make it, that the camera would catch him with his hand in the criminal's pocket, the pocket containing vital security codes.

Wolf shook his head. "Damn," he muttered, and turned to face the camera.

It wasn't on.

"You idiot!" shouted the head guard in the security control room.

"Hey, shut up, man." The guard who had tripped over the power cable protested.

"Yeah," agreed the other guard, "it's not like anything's gonna happen in there."

The head officer scrambled under the table, frantically searching for the plug. "But if they found out about this, it'll be our necks. You guys wanna find what it's like in that chair?" He sighed with audible relief as the screen flickered back to life, showing Wolf opening the door and leaving the prisoner alone. "Let's not tell anybody about this, huh?" he said.

The guard who'd 'accidentally' unplugged the security cameras, one William Grey, smirked quietly as he agreed.

Pepper slumped sullenly as a faceless uniform poured over the official notice of execution. He let his mind wander back to Corneria, to the park where he used to play as a boy, to his wife who'd been killed in the conquest, to the children they'd never had. He paused for a long time at the view from the balcony of his office, remembering the way he was able to see over the entire city, and the plains and lake outside it, all the way to the forest covered mountains, that were always cloaked with mist in the mornings.

It was still there, he realized. The lake, the plains, the mountains and the forests; Andross couldn't destroy them, couldn't rule them. Maybe they were gone forever for him, but for someone, someone's children, they'd be waiting.

He came back to the present to hear the soldier asking if he had any last requests. He began to shake his head, then stopped.

"Could I have a lollipop?" he asked.

Through a plexiglass sheet, Wolf watched the room fill with toxic fumes. His thoughts dwelt primarily on a scrap of cloth in his pocket with seven words on it.

Bill forced himself to watch the entire execution, then excused himself, claiming he needed to use the restroom. He went to the end of the hall and just stood, looking out the window, for a few minutes.

General Oprimus glanced into the execution chamber a half hour later. He found nothing out of the ordinary there, then made arrangements for the body to disposed of.

Chapter 20

And though it's always been with me I must tear down the wall and let it be.

All I Am

And all that I was ever meant to be

In harmony.

-Kansas, The Wall

Deep in a slum of Corneria city, across the river from the Imperial palace, there was a bar. This bar was located on the ground floor of a semi-decrepit tenement, with three or four floors of disreputable apartments above it. These were generally filled with drifters, criminals, fugitives, and other undesirables.

Tonight was no different.

A light came on in a window of the top floor. A figure could be observed inside, walking back and forth. Sometimes the figure opened a large box and unpacked it. Sometimes it paused and stared out the window. It seemed almost as if he were waiting for something, and none too patiently.

Nearly an hour later, the light went out. Though it could no longer be seen from the street, the figure stood at the window, staring malevolently at the imperial palace.

Wolf stomped down the corridor as had become his habit. Nobody took any notice of him, his prowling around the base had been observed and dismissed by everyone.

He fumed as he passed a platoon of guards. If he didn't get in touch with Grey he would be in trouble. It was only a matter of time before someone found out about that sheet of codes that he wasn't supposed to have, and he didn't want to think about what would happen if they did. Leon would be involved, he was fairly sure.

His train of thought was abruptly interrupted when the next to last man in the patrol crashed into him, nearly knocking him over. The guard stammered an apology and dashed off after the rest of the platoon. Wolf stared. After a moment, he realized it had been Grey. After another, he realized that a note had been pushed into his hand.

Bill was waiting in the back corner of the only bar inside the palace complex, that is, the only one Wolf was able to get to.

"It's been a while, Grey." He said, sliding into a seat across from his. "How've you been?"

"First things first." Said Bill, holding out his hand.

Wolf laughed and pulled out a sheet of paper from his pocket. He looked at it for a moment, then spoke again. "These aren't free, you know."

Bill raised an eyebrow. He tried to speak nonchalantly, though warning bells were sounding in the back of his mind. "What's that?"

"I want in." Wolf said, not loudly but very firmly.

"In?"

"With you." Wolf explained, "with the rebellion."

Bill was taken aback. As he tried to recover, Wolf continued. "I fought you guys for three reasons. One was that I was fighting for my life. I was a wanted criminal on five planets, all five of which were against Andross. The second is that I was paid. The third…" he trailed off.

"The third?" Bill prompted.

Wolf shrugged. "It was fun. But now things are different. I'm practically a convict here, even though I've never broken one of Andross's laws. I haven't seen a cent of what's owing to me, even though I've got four or five contracts guaranteeing payment. And let me tell you something, Grey. Being imprisoned in a military base is not at all my idea of fun."

Bill thought for a moment. "How do we know we can trust you?"

"You don't, really." Wolf said, "but isn't that what trust means?"

"I don't know."

"Neither do I. C'mon, you remember me from the academy, you know darn well I can't stand being on the authority's side. I'm an eternal rebel."

"All right." Bill said, accepting the sheet of codes from Wolf. "But what side have you been on then, all these years?"

"My own." Wolf grinned.

"So what side are you on now?"

"Whichever side," he said, "that's trying to get rid of Andross."


Chapter 21

You'll love again

I don't know when,

But if you do I know that you'll be happy in the end.

-Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, Trilogy

"Calm down." Mind admonished. "I know the codes are important, but you won't make them arrive any faster by driving yourself insane."

"I know. But I can't help worrying about, well, just how things are." Rita fumed, pacing back and forth frantically. "If he doesn't, I mean, if we don't get the codes, then, then, well then what?"

"We'll try some other method. Eventually something will work." Mind said matter-of-factly.

"You're sure?"

"Absolutely."

Rita made an aggravated noise and stormed out of the room.

"I don't see what you're so worried about!" said Katt.

"Oh, it's Bill, and the codes, and, well, I don't know!" Rita said. "If he gets caught then what will happen?" She glared in Katt's general direction. "Bill's already been through hell with Leon before, I don't see how he can keep himself from telling about us. And even if he doesn't, and gets himself killed, we'll be right back where we were before, except we won't have Bill anymore." She trailed off, then turned and left.

"Look, Ri, I'm worried about Bill too," Fox said, "but I don't think you're helping him or anyone else by worrying yourself sick about him."

"Well what am I supposed to do, then?"

"Get ready." Her brother said. "We've got Peppy and Slippy still to get out, and we're going in as soon as we've got the codes. There's nothing you can do now to help Bill, he's beyond our reach. He's on his own until he comes back."

"But, but, what if he doesn't come back? What if he's-"

"Ri, don't you realize that if Bill dies, it is not going to be long at all before we join him?" Fox said, raising an eyebrow. "Either he'll succeed and we'll have a chance of winning, or he'll be killed and we'll have a couple months before we're exterminated."

"So what should I do?" she asked, almost pitifully.

"Take care of anything you still have to do. Things you have to say or tell someone. Why do you think I got married so quickly?" Fox said, turning to the doorway. "Like I said, just get ready." He left, and she listened for a moment to his footsteps receding down the corridor.

"But what if it's already too late?" she whispered to herself.

It was dark in the hanger, under the dormant fighters almost impenetrably so. Only almost, for a figure could still be vaguely seen darting from shadow to shadow.

Bill was unused to darting. It had been years since he had used anything he'd learned in his mandatory espionage course. Not for the first time, he wished that he'd let Fox do this. Then again, Fox would have been recognized and arrested within two minutes if he'd come.

He finally found a fighter that had the same identification as the key Wolf had stolen for him. He started the engine and hoped that Wolf really was sincere about defecting.

If he wasn't, this would probably be a very short trip.

Wolf watched from the window as a scout ship lifted out of the hanger and skimmed low over the perimeter of the compound. It dropped altitude again, flying between the very tops of buildings, to minimize exposure to other aircraft and to people on the ground. At times it would double back, wind around a particular building, or dive down an alley to emerge heading in a different direction.

He certainly knew how to fly evasively, Wolf mused. Time for him to put paid to the pursuit.

He turned and headed for southeast corner of the palace.

General Opprimus had a funny feeling. He didn't like it when that happened.

He glanced out over the city, most of whose inhabitants would be delighted to strangle him if they could.

That wasn't it.

He considered the soldiers, who he humiliated daily and whose lives he was planning to let bleed out on a hundred battlefields to further his own megalomania.

That wasn't it.

He contemplated the prisoners, rabble-rousers, revolutionaries, the antisocial, the disliked. All by their very nature dangerous to his plans, now their lives were a paler shade of hell, thanks to him.

That wasn't it.

He reflected on the rebels, dedicated to his utter annihilation. Some of them lacking parents, wives, husbands, children, siblings, friends, whole families, and with him to thank for it. In their ranks were elite mercenaries, shock troops, fugitive army officers, some of the most formidable tactical minds in the system, highly trained, all bent on his destruction.

That wasn't it either.

He thought of his pursuers, the inevitable avengers that he knew were hunting him relentlessly, and of the confrontation that would come when they did at last find him, the battle for which he was even now preparing without rest.

That still wasn't it.

For a lack of anything else, he turned to the computer and called up random security tapes. Not that there would be anything of interest on them, his brilliant code system would see to that, but he needed to watch something to take his mind off the irrational premonition it seemed to have contracted.

There was a great many guards wandering around, businessmen coming and going. There was an exceptionally boring shot of the Emperor staring into space. Dengar and the emperor's intolerable nephew were arguing in another, and once he came across a very entertaining shot of Powalski in the dungeons. On the whole, however, it was a great deal of nothing at all; long shots of empty corridors and vacant rooms. Eventually he let his mind return to scheming and paid very little attention to what was going on on his screen.

He very nearly missed what he wanted to see.

He wouldn't have noticed anything if not for the cut off. It was showing a perfectly normal scene when suddenly the image disappeared in a mass of static. This was certainly not what was supposed to happen. He rewound the tape hastily.

On second viewing, it seemed much the same. O'Donnell was overseeing the execution of a defeated Cornerian officer. Nothing odd about that, then suddenly the camera stopped recording, and when it resumed O'Donnell was leaving the chamber, just as he should. He watched the tape a third time. Things began to look decidedly suspicious; O'Donnell seemed to be gesturing in a very strange way, and the prisoner was certainly much more talkative than he should have been.

On a hunch, Victor called up the tape of the security room. And there it all was. The guard, ID number 327, sliding his foot under the power cord and then jerking himself forward. The captain immediately replaced the cable, but the damage was done. There was something that that particular guard had not wanted anyone to see, and it had not been seen.

Frantically, Victor paged the guard's C.O. He didn't know where he was. He tried other officers, central information, security. Nobody knew where guard #327 was.
Even more frantically, he called up the logs of the hangers. There was an unauthorized departure of a light spy ship from the northwest hanger, but it seemed the alarm there had somehow been disconnected.

Even more frantically, he grabbed for the general alarm. If nobody knew where this guard was, then he'd just have to be found.

Wolf reached the base of the radio tower and pulled open the door of a small, corrugated steel shed. He was now at the heart of the Imperial communication network.

The single guard inside stood up, yawning. He paused in mid yawn when he noticed the long dagger Wolf held.

The dagger point made a simple twist, and the guard fell dead.

A speaker in the corner blared, "Attention all personnel. This is General Opprimus. Fighter squads E9, E10, E11, F5, N24, and special squads Starwolf, Saph-"

The general's voice died out in a crackle of static as Wolf proceeded to smash the communication equipment.

"The heck was that?" Pigma said, holding up a hoof to stop the argument.

"Wha? Oh that?" Andrew said, glancing at the speaker. "I dunno."

"Some kind of drill?"

"I guess."

They shrugged and resumed the argument.

Everyone in the base was very puzzled at hearing an order begin and stop halfway through. After a moment they dismissed it as a technical difficulty and went about their business.

"-to hangers and to apprehend and destroy a light T-class ship stolen by a rebel spy. That is all." Victor sat back and waited for the fighters to pour out and annihilate the interloper. He waited for the scream of engines and laser bursts to mingle with the scream of a dying enemy. He waited for the rush of feet towards the ships as they launched themselves into the dying sunlight. He waited for the nitros boosters to shriek like predatory birds as they hunted.

He was very upset when he realized he was waiting in vain.

He repeated his orders. There was no effect. He threatened. Nothing. He screamed. Absolutely nothing happened. Not one of the soldiers paid him the least mind.
He was even more upset.

Bill had gotten about a mile outside the city when he decided to contact the station.
Rita, who had the current watch, jumped at the voice out of the computer speakers. "Bill? BILL!?" She shouted.

"Ow," Bill said, "you don't need to blow out the speakers."

"You did it!" she shouted, sounding as if she were trying to keep from laughing. "You really did it!"

"Yep, I-" he broke off suddenly as his wing exploded in flame.


Chapter 22

"Goodbye, my love. A thousand times goodbye."

-Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

Bill shot an apprehensive glance back over his shoulder. A single jet was following him, swerving from side to side. Bill prepared to swing around and engage the pursuer. He gripped the control bar firmly and banked sharply.

"Eat this!" he shouted, squeezing where the trigger should have been.

That was when he remembered that spy ships usually didn't have weapons.

Another round of shots peppered the ship. He rolled sideways, and prayed that he still had the edge in speed.

Victor Opprimus was of the opinion that anything was possible, given enough power. If you had the strength, you could do quite literally anything. That, presumably, included piloting a fighter and shooting down spies. Whether he currently had enough power for that, he'd soon find out.

So would the spy.

Bill swore under his breath. The pilot chasing him wasn't particularly skillful, but he was relentless. Without being able to fight back, there really wasn't anything he could do besides dodge and hope that the other pilot wasn't a very good shot.

Victor allowed himself a grim smile as he scored another hit. Really, this was quite enjoyable. He ought to do this sometime without interplanetary secrets riding on his success or failure.

Something on the spy plane began smoking densely. Victor decided to experiment with the 'lock on' function labeled on the control stick.

The distinct warning beep of an enemy lock sounded in Bill's headset. He somersaulted automatically. He stared hoping it hadn't been a bomb when he was halfway through the loop.

It hadn't. He was fine.

For now.

The pursuer hit him again.

"Ha!" shouted General Opprimus. "If you want something done right, do it yourself!"

A warning light over Bill's head began flashing insistently. Eventually he figured out that it meant his nitros tank was pierced and was leaking. Without that he couldn't use the boost.

He'd lost his only advantage.

"And this is Bill." Fox said as he came in the door.

"Nice to meet you, Cadet." Said James McCloud.

Bill felt his eyes bulge out of his face. He'd gotten used to being the roommate of his childhood hero's son, and arguing with his daughter, but that didn't stop him being amazed.
"Wow." Was all he could think to say.

The ship was beginning to resist turning left; he did a barrel roll to force himself out of the line of fire, then tried to wrestle the stolen ship back under control.

He'd managed to stammer out his name, and, lacking anything else to say, asked his hero for some advice for his life.

James smiled enigmatically. "Well, what do want to do?"

Ignoring Fox's fatuous expression, Bill said he guessed he would probably be in the military.

The ship was listing heavily now. He felt every blow on the hull when the enemy pilot's lasers inevitably found their mark. A general alarm began blaring but he shut it out, he didn't need to be told he was in trouble.

"I'll tell you just what I told Fox," James had advised, " 'When you're in a war you can't win, fight well, then die well.' The next best thing to good victory is a good death." The mercenary smiled. "Just get what you need to do done. Then worry about surviving."

Okay, thought Bill, then I know what I need to do.

Rita had been listening to nameless explosions when Bill's voice cut through the static. "Rita, I'm in trouble. I'm going to read you the codes."

"What?" she shouted, panicking slightly.

"Don't argue! It has to be this way, I have to do this!"

She didn't respond.

"I'll read the codes now. Write these down! Inflammatory, frozen, stronger-"

The ship was rocked by another explosion.

"deny," he continued, "worshipful, anathema-"

He dove and banked barely missing a radio tower.

"-archon." He finished. "There's just one more thing."

One of his engines began to fail.

"I know you love Fox, and wish that he loved you." He said slowly, "I know I could never hope to deserve you, and so I've kept this hidden from everyone until now."

"Rita, I love you."

Two more laser bolts impacted on the ship, and a long crack appeared in the windshield. It seemed to Bill that there was a strange rushing in his ears.

"There's nothing you can do for me; there's nothing I need from you. I just wanted you to know that I loved you, more than you'll ever know."

"Wait, Bill-" she began.

"I can't, Rita. My time is up." He said heavily. "Goodbye."

The spy ship was slowing drastically. Victor lined it up carefully in his sights, and laughed.

He'd always enjoyed killing things.

Lasers flashed through the ship as it fell apart in a ball of fire. A few fragments reached the ground, but most of the debris was disintegrated by the explosion.

When Soul got up ten minutes later to take his shift on the console, he found Rita, clutching a piece of paper with seven words on it, crying her heart out all over the controls.

Victor landed the fighter he'd hotwired carefully, breathing heavily. He was thoroughly exhilarated. He'd have them make this ship into his personal transport.

Let's see, he mused, the first thing was to get the communications back up, and then decentralize them. Under no circumstances was something like that ever to happen again.
The next thing was to deal with O'Donnell. He allowed himself to dwell on a number of amusing possibilities, most of them involving equipment borrowed from that Powalski character. And then it hit him, the perfect thing to do to a traitor.

Nothing.

As long as Wolf was still in the base, which he always had to be, Victor had a link to the rebels. They would certainly contact him again, probably they'd use him to try smuggling the codes out again, as he had so brilliantly killed their spy.

He decided to be ready when O'Donnell was ready.

Why settle for one traitor when you could have the whole nest?

Chapter 23

Who can say if your love grows

As your heart chose?

Only time.

-Enya, Only Time

"Where are they?!" Leon demanded, becoming angry.

"How should I know?" Peppy managed to whisper, "Even if I did, why would I tell you?"

Leon snatched the knife backwards out of the aging pilot's arm and turned to the opposite cell, his eyes flashing.

"Mrph!" Slippy said, and promptly fainted.

Leon glared at Peppy and stormed out of the prisons.

Victor brooded in his office. The exhilaration of last night's fight had worn off, and left him worried. Someone had gotten into the base; someone had tried, likely unsuccessfully, to get a hold of the codes. Andross's administration had deadly enemies.
The thing that worried Victor was that he did too.

He knew they were following him and hunting him; they always were. They'd been after him for years now, and it was foolish to hope they'd be put off by the Imperial armies. They'd probably beaten more formidable challenges as kids. It was only a matter of time before they found him, and the inevitable confrontation came.

Every thought in his mind was geared to either avoiding that fight, or winning it.

There was one thing he dreaded, though. He knew Andross had enemies, it was obvious. One doesn't become Emperor of a solar system without making quite a few of those. He knew those enemies were competent; you didn't get that close to stealing valuable security codes if you weren't. The one thing that could spell certain doom for him was the union of Andross's enemies, and those that were hunting him.

He decided it was time to begin the final stage of his plans, before the hunters did.

The sun set over Corneria city, dragging the shadows of the buildings out over the slum.

In particular, they dragged over the roof of a tenement, and over the figure standing on that roof.

The figure had spent most of the day in the bar on the ground floor, attempting to forget the reason he was here through the heavy use of liquid stimulants.

It hadn't worked very well.

After that he'd tried going over his equipment and guns, of which he had enough to stock a small army. All that this accomplished was to make clear to him how much he'd just drunk. And so he was up here, on the roof, staring at the skyscraper that rose above Andross' palace. In there, he thought, is the person responsible for what's happened to me, and for what I am now. That's the place where I settle this. I wonder if he knows I'm coming? I doubt it.

The figure stayed on the roof for another hour, until he noticed the moon beginning to rise. Then he went in.

Rita stayed in her room for four days, only emerging to seize small portions of food and disappear again.

On the fifth day she left the door open.

Fox entered cautiously, hoping he wasn't going to get beat up. "Ri?"

She was sitting on the edge of the bed with one foot crossed under her, staring at nothing on the opposite wall. She looked up as her brother came in, then turned away. "Go away." She said, both quietly and vehemently.

"There's nothing you could have done, Ri-" Fox began, but she cut him off.

"Shows what you know." She snorted, "As if I'd stay in here for half a week over a fit of guilt."

"Then what-?"

"Stupid!" she said, jumping up and facing him, "Bill loved me! He's dead, and he loved me!" her lip began quivering, but she managed to keep herself angry. "There, happy now? That's my problem, and you can take that, and wallow in it, and go tell it to your, to your, wife!" she spat. She swayed for a moment, clenching and unclenching her fists, and then something inside her snapped. Rita burst into tears and fell into her brother's arms.
Fox held her for a moment, then set her back on the bed. She continued to hold on to his hand, crying frantically. Fox hesitated for a moment, then sat down next to her.

"Shh. Don't worry," he told her, "If Bill really loved you-"

"IF?!" she screamed, angry again.

"-then he wouldn't care if you never even saw him. He'd still try, of course, but that wouldn't matter. What he would have wanted was to go on thinking about you. So all you need to do is to go on thinking about him, and you'll be making him happier by that than if you spent the rest of your life in here."

She pushed him away and sniffed back a fresh round of tears. For a long time she didn't say anything, and Fox got up and went to the door. "For the longest time, I thought it was you I was in love with." She said, "Maybe I only wanted to be in love with you, or with the idea of being in love with you. Maybe you replaced Dad for me."

"And what about Bill?"

"I always thought he was nice, and considerate, and really kinda cute, but I didn't realize I loved him until it was too late…"

Fox looked at her for a moment, then left.

"Is it done?" Fox said.

"Not quite," Mind answered, "We'll be through in a moment."

Katt looked around. "Where's Fara?"

"In bed," Fox said, "She offered to take over Rita's shift for the last few days."

"We're getting through." Mind said.

The screen lit up, filled with static slowly clearing. The face of an aging female badger became clear through the static, the sort of face you'd expect on an unmarried aunt who perhaps wrote an advice column. It wasn't smiling.

"Hmm," commented Mrs. Alexandra Trine from the screen, "I see the rumors are true, then."

"Rumors?"

"Of your escape, which is one of the things I want to talk about."

"I take it, then," Fox said, assessing the leader of the Katinian resistance, "that you've been expecting me to call."

"Yes. And I've got a few things to say to you. But you go first; you called me."

"I will." Fox stood up. "We, my organization, are entering the final stages of planning for our assault on Andross. We called you because we have reason to believe you have contacts with nearly every rebel organization in the system."

"Oh, so you have someone who can find these things out, do you?"

"We especially need to get in touch with the Fortunan Resistance, and quickly."

"Which one?"

"Which one? I thought there was only-"

"There's the People's League of Fortuna, the New Dawn Society, and The Sons of Fortuna."

"And which of those is headed by Alistar Phoenix?"

"None of them. What are you blathering about?"

"Never mind, then." Fox paused. He was a little perturbed by the tone she seemed to be taking. "We want to organize a simultaneous, system-wide-"

"Okay, that's enough from you, for now anyway." Trine cut him off, "Now you listen to me. So far as I can tell, you've done nothing but sit there making wild assumptions about Fortuna. You've destroyed no bases, assassinated no generals, raided no convoys."

"We were about-"

"I even see here," Trine shouted him down, "That two of your wingmen are still in detainment in Andross's complex on Corneria."

"What's your point?" asked Fox, beginning to get angry.

"I don't intend to risk the lives of any of my people or those on other planets on your plans until you give some proof that you're capable of leading. You seem to have got some fame, justify it. End transmission." The screen blacked out.

"In other words," Fox said told the blank screen, in a cold fury, "You won't help me until you think I don't need your help."

The opening door woke Fara. Fox was so angry that he didn't even notice.
After he'd stomped around the room a few times, flung his shirt into the corner, flopped down on the bed, kicked off his boots and snarled at them, and thrown his head back on the pillow he seemed to feel a little better. "I take it the call didn't go well?" She asked.

He glanced sideways at her, scowling. "No, it did not." He growled, "Trine seems to think one becomes an elite mercenary by lounging around spaceport bars and trying to get other people to do your work for you." He snapped off the end of the sentence as if he wanted to break it.

"She's got you mixed up with Falco, then." Fara said, "Oops. Sorry, Hon, I didn't mean-"

"That's okay. It's probably the sort of thing he would have said." Fox sighed, "Everyone seems to think I'm either an instant cure for any problem or a conceited idiot who keeps getting in the way."

"I don't" She said quietly.

"Oh?"

"Nope." She said, running one paw through the fur on his chest.

"What do you think I am?" he asked, putting his arm around her.

"Fox McCloud, My husband." She pulled him closer to her.

"You know what?" he said.

"Hmm?"

"I love you."

They didn't talk much more that evening.

Leon went up to Andross's office to report that there was nothing to report. Peppy still refused to give any information and Slippy had the nerves of a sack of wet sugar. He went to pieces and started blabbering nonsense whenever Leon was present. There was nothing to be gained from either one.

The secretary told him to go in, and he prepared himself for the usual interminable wait at the end of a line of suppliants, sycophants, and supplicating sycophants.

Andross wasn't even in the room. The imperial throne was vacant, and there was a general of some sort sitting in a chair to the right, filling out forms.

Leon approached slowly, unsure of what to do. "Excuse me, General, uh?"

"General Opprimus. What is it?"

"Just a routine report, sir." Leon said, indicating the file he carried, "I'm supposed to give this to Andross…"

"I'll take that." The general said tartly, "His Ultimacy isn't well; I'm deputizing."

"I see." Said Leon. He left without giving the form to the General.

Victor watched him leave, and returned to the forms with less than all of his attention.

Fara woke up the next morning with her head on Fox's shoulder. He was looking at with something like laughter in the back of his eyes.

"Thanks. I feel much better now." he said, snickering.

By the time she'd thought of a suitable comeback, he was up and getting dressed.

"What happens today?" she asked, yawning.

"Trine thinks she can blow me off by telling me to do the impossible." He shrugged. "We'll have to call her bluff."

Chapter 24

The knight shook his head firmly. " 'Tis ever thus. When the time comes that matters must be settled, then all who fight do gather together, though they must come from the ends of the earth."

-Christopher Stasheff, Her Majesty's Wizard

A figure disappeared into its room just a few minutes before sunset.

It came out again with guns, grenades, lockpicks, flashlights, flares, homing devices, ammo, and a surly disposition.

It went to the roof and mounted a small hoverbike, which it headed towards the center of town and the Imperial palace.

Tonight was the time it had been waiting for.

"Everything ready?" Fox asked.

"For the tenth time, yes." Said Soul, "But we can't leave yet."

"I know, I know. I just don't like to wait."

"You and me both." Soul grumbled, "But hey, it's only till tonight."

Victor looked up. Was that the time?

He stood up quickly. Can't be wasting time, he thought, I've got a lot that has to be done tonight.

"Wolf!" shouted Leon, who was beginning to suspect his commander was ignoring him on purpose.

Wolf's only response was to get up and leave the room.

Leon decided his suspicions were confirmed.

Wolf was walking as quickly as he could without looking like he was trying to walk quickly. Leon, not caring whether he ran or not, sprinted after him and grabbed his shoulder. "Wolf! We need to talk!"

"Really?" Wolf growled, "Got bored with your creepy torture thing, have you?"

"Will you shut up about the torture?! This is important!"

Leon pushed a somewhat surprised Wolf along the corridor and into the bathroom at one end.

"Uh, Leon?" Wolf said, looking around cautiously. He went from cautious to downright alarmed when Leon locked the door.

"I don't want to be overheard." Leon explained, making sure the room was completely empty.

"And so we came in here?"

"Nobody ever bugs a restroom."

"Okay, then." Wolf said, exasperated. "What did you want to say?"

"First, I'm not about to apologize for the torture. I like doing it, and you have nothing to do with that." He stopped "And anyway, it doesn't mean I'm a bad person, does it?"

"Well, since bad people are people who do bad things-"

"But that has nothing to do with what I wanted to tell you." He looked very hard at his commander, as if willing him to understand. "Wolf, something's wrong here. There's this general Opprimus, and he seems to have gotten Andross under his thumb. He's keeping him under control somehow, drugs maybe. I did some digging around and he's got no background, no history at all, he just showed up at the enlistment office on MacBeth one day. If we get some concrete evidence that he's trying to take over to the other generals, they can stop him. And I wish you'd quit trying to interrupt when I'm talking."

Wolf closed his mouth, deciding it was easier to just let Leon finish.

"What we need to do is this. You shadow him this evening. He hardly ever leaves the base, so you don't need to worry about that."

"And you?"

"I'll sneak into his quarters and look through documents, see if I can get some concrete evidence. That's why you're following him. If he starts to head back to his quarters, you tell me on the coms."

Wolf prepared to tell Leon he'd known about General Opprimus for months. He got ready to tell him that it was his fault he hadn't been able to do anything about it. He was about to say that this plan was one of the stupidest thing he'd heard of for years, when someone rattled the door of the bathroom.

Leon glanced over his shoulder and reached for the lock. "We'll talk more tonight."

Andrew opened the envelope nervously. Usually when he got sent one of these it meant that his uncle was mad at him for something, like getting drunk with Wolf or yelling at some general or something. The more official the envelope looked, the angrier his uncle was. This one looked disturbingly official.

Inside there was nothing but a short memo, on nondescript stationary. Andrew started sweating. This was the most official thing he'd ever seen. He hardly dared read it.

The message itself, however, was scarcely threatening- "Mr. Orkiney; please come down to storage bunker G-14 on level B-5 tonight at 20:00 hours. All will be explained." There was no signature.

Andrew frowned. All will be explained? All of what? Oh well, in case it was a trap he'd take along a bunch of guards, and if it wasn't, hey, at least it would be something to do.

The figure glanced around and dropped from the hoverbike. He'd leave it here. If he came back to it, well enough. If he didn't, then he probably wouldn't be needing it anymore.

He loosened most of the screws on a rooftop air vent. For once he was glad for all the training they'd made him take that had seemed so superfluous at the time.

He inspected the mouth of the vent carefully. In less than an hour he'd be in there, fighting for his life, hopefully until he reached the one responsible for what had happened to him; to all of them. He had no doubt that most of the rest were dead, he was most likely the only one left.

He didn't intend to disappoint them.


Chapter 25

"We hate dying," said Turnbull, with composure, "but we hate you even more."

-G.K. Chesterton, The Ball and the Cross

Andrew tried to stride along the corridor purposefully, they way Wolf did. He didn't really succeed. He could tell the guards behind him knew what he was doing, and were laughing behind their paws at him. Stupid soldiers! He'd show them to snicker at him, he'd have them demoted and court-martialed and-

He realized suddenly that he'd nearly walked right past storage bunker G-14. It didn't exactly stand out. None of the storage rooms did.

He went in, letting two of the guards open the door first. He couldn't see the corners of the room; the only light in the room came from a brazier in the exact center of the floor. He could make out a large flat rectangular object, about six feet long. Also the seemed to be an arch on the far wall, made of rough stones set directly against the concrete.

"Mr. Orkiney." Said a voice, "Good of you to come."

A black panther in a general's uniform stepped out of the shadows. Andrew thought he looked familiar. Of course, he was the one who had been helping Uncle Andross lately. What was his name again?

"What's going on here?" he challenged, "Why did you call me?"

General Opprimus didn't answer. He merely stared disinterestedly in the general direction of Andrew and the guards. Andrew blinked in puzzlement, but the guards stiffened; one of them swallowed heavily. The one nearest the door closed it, locked it, and gave the key to the panther. The rest grabbed Andrew and held his wrists.

"A word of advice, Mr. Orkiney," said the Panther, "always make sure those you trust aren't on your enemy's side." He glanced at the guards. "Prepare him."

"I'm in position." Reported Soul's voice through the com. "What now?"

"You put in the codes?"

"Of course."

"Do what you do best." answered Mind, "Create confusion."

"Gladly," Soul grinned, his eye lighting on a skylight ten feet away.

John Tevrels, security officer, was firmly convinced that his job of security officer was much safer than going into the military proper.

Ten seconds later he was beginning to question some of his assumptions.

Lounging behind the front desk of the northeast entrance foyer, his favorite place to lounge, he had an excellent view of the black-cloaked figure that crashed through the skylight two and a half stories up. He had an excellent view of the way the person dispatched the entire regiment he landed on, without firing a single shot. He was able to examine every detail of the way he knocked out three of his fellow security guards who were firing from behind pillars and in corners. It was really a shame that he was too frightened to appreciate it.

He hid under the desk and hoped the black-cloaked figure didn't have an excellent view of him.

"You sure?" said Soul, puzzled, "I would think we wouldn't want that to happen."

"Just do it already!" Mind shouted.

"Well excuse me! Sheesh, keep your hair on." Soul said, "I'm doing it," and he pressed the button marked 'alarm.'

A shadowed figure froze in his progress through the air vents as the intruder alert went off. He assumed they'd found him, and nerved himself to take as many Imperial soldiers with him as he could. He nerved himself for several minutes, when the 'all-clear' signal blew.

The figure relaxed, took a deep breath, and continued.

Mind removed her hands from the keyboard where she'd hacked the alarm system controls to set off the 'all clear.' Coolly, she signaled Fox to enter the complex.

She turned to Katt sitting next to her. Fox had insisted someone be left with the ship to pick them up if necessary. Since Katt had by far the least hand to hand combat skills, she was chosen, or as she put it, stuck. She was currently facing the window with her shoulders slumped, refusing to respond to anything.

Mind took her computer and dropped out the bottom hatchway. If Katt wanted to sulk, let her. As long as she did her job, she could sulk as much as she wanted.

Wolf paced back and forth in front of the door to Storage Bunker G-14. He knew General Opprimus was in there, but the problem was that Wolf wasn't. He couldn't watch him if he couldn't see him, could he?

"Wolf?" said the radio Leon had given him. "I'm outside the room now, I'll be going in soon. Call me if he goes into the north wing."

"Right." Wolf muttered, wishing he could use a similar device on the General. Hey, wait a minute.

He dashed to the security room, and punched out the guard there. He gloated slightly as he sat down. With these controls, he could watch everyone in the base at once.
He called up the camera for G-14, and sat back to make himself comfortable.

"I seem to be spending an awful lot of time down here." Fox said, as they turned the corner to cells 14.9 and 5.9 and he punched in the seven codes, "This is becoming repetitive."

Fara shook her head and put a finger to her lips. She opened the cells with a key card Mind had made for them.

Fara undid Slippy's handcuffs and shook him awake. "It's you, isn't it?" he said slowly, blinking, "Oh, g-good, I was afraid it was Leon ag-g-gain." Then his voice cracked and he fainted.

Fara sighed heavily.

Fox was appalled at the state Peppy was in. He was covered with cuts and bruises, some of them looked quite serious. But then, he reflected, he himself probably hadn't looked much better himself after Leon's ministrations.

"James?" Peppy whispered as he awoke.

"Nope," said Fox, "just me. Let's get you out of here."

Soul was beginning to get bored, Fighting for his life was fun and all, but these soldiers were so ridiculously predictable. They would simply run at him, maybe try a couple shots which invariably missed because of the simple fact that they were still running, and they'd go right past as he dodged to the side. Sometimes they'd go over on their own, if not, it rarely took more than a single blow to knock them out.

He decided that the essence of confusion was unpredictability, and that he'd produced enough of both here.

He shot out all the security cameras, knocked over one last guard for good measure, and took off down a hall.

Wolf was watching General Opprimus with growing distaste. Not that he particularly liked Andrew, but this was ridiculous.

The panther looked around the room, walked off-camera for a moment, then returned. He glanced at the camera, and frowned.

The screen went dead. Wolf panicked.

Fox heard the sound of fighting up ahead. This was not according to plan.

"What should we do?" he asked to no one in particular.

"Go back?" ventured Fara, sounding unsure of herself.

"Split up." Peppy said firmly.

"Hide!" Slippy squealed, diving behind a doorway.

They followed his example as a platoon of soldiers rushed past. Fox followed them a short distance. The sound of their feet could be heard for a short distance, then turned to gunfire and the sound of fists and feet making contact with persons. This too stopped abruptly, to be replaced by a single pair of boots coming towards them.

Fox backed up, to the others. Slippy was looking around frantically, Fara was chewing her lip, and Peppy looked grimly determined. Fox turned back to the footsteps, which had almost reached the corner, and slowly drew his blaster.

Soul stepped out into the hall. He watched them stare at him for a moment, then said "What?"

Katt looked out the window, bored out of her mind. It didn't help that she was continually envisioning the others being found and killed brutally.

She noticed that Pigma was running across the compound below, at the head of a very large body of troops (who didn't seem to have to work very hard to keep up.) She noticed he had a very specialized sniper rifle over his back.

She grabbed for her com, only to remember that she hadn't brought it.

Cursing herself with expletives she would have smacked anyone else for using, she dropped out of the ship and went to find the others.

Leon was disturbed. His com wasn't working. Neither was his radio, his computer, or his watch. Every electric device he carried had stopped working as soon as he had set foot in General Opprimus's quarters.

That wasn't all. The door had locked itself very firmly behind him, and defied any attempt at picking or forcing. It was if it had some sort of conscious ill will toward him.

That wasn't all. The front room of the General's Quarters was normal enough, but the bedroom, kitchen, and bathroom were downright creepy.

The kitchen was bare. There were no dishes in the cupboard, no food in the refrigerator. Not even an ice cube.

The bathroom was ice cold. The tiles were frigid to the touch. The pipes were covered with a light dusting of frost.

The bedroom was the worst. The bed hadn't been slept in for weeks, there was actually a thick coat of dust on it. Several hastily installed bookshelves covered one wall, these were full of books written in some language Leon had never heard in letters he'd never seen. The only thing on the table was a corroded copper dish, too shallow to be a bowl and too deep to be anything else. In the bottom were some brownish-red stains Leon recognized all too well.

Leon decided he didn't want to be there when the General returned. What bothered him was that he didn't seem to have any choice.

He wished he were still in touch with Wolf.

Wolf had spent the last three minutes running back and forth in front of the door to G-14. When that hadn't worked he leaned against the wall and tried to calm himself down. He didn't succeed anymore there than he had in convincing the door to open.

On a hunch, he went back to the control room. Though the camera he'd been using was still dead, he noticed Fox, the cool squirrel, and some other people on another monitor. He watched them split up and head down different hallways.

It occurred to him that he was on their side now.

He hoped they realized that.

Chapter 26

"Then this filthy abomination," said Doctor Dimble, "is real—not only a dream."

-C.S. Lewis, That Hideous Strength

When Andrew came to, he discovered that the low oblong object he'd seen on the far side of the brazier was an altar.

What worried him was that he was tied to it.

From here he had an excellent view of the arch on the wall. Unfortunately he could make nothing more of it now than before. It looked like a stone arch, about eight feet high, which was built against the wall. There were a few markings written above it, but other than that it was bafflingly ordinary.

Further speculation was cut off by the appearance of General Opprimus and Andrew's former guards. The brazier lit his face from below with a dull, red, unsteady light that made him look even more threatening. The panther smiled, and held out his hand.

One of the guards put a knife into it. Andrew became very worried.

Soul walked easily down the hallway. He had plenty of time, everything they'd come to do had been accomplished, and he intended to amuse himself before they left. He wasn't sure what he would do, but it would be reckless, foolhardy, and daring, he decided.

Wolf stepped out of a door ahead and blocked his path.

Soul decided he'd just been provided with his entertainment.

"I'm coming with you." Wolf said quickly, to forestall the rebel's attacking him.

"What?"

"I'm coming with you!"

"Really?" asked Soul, puzzled for a moment. "Oh, I see. You're the one who gave the codes to Bill, aren't you?"

"Yes. But before I go…"

"Is there a catch?"

"We have a score to settle." Wolf growled. "First you tied me up in my underwear, then you humiliated me in front of my troops." he adopted a fighting stance.

Soul was silent for a long moment. "Very well," he said, throwing off his cloak, "You have courage, and that is one thing I respect."

Most pilots, Andrew and Pigma for instance, never bothered much with ground combat training. Wolf thought this stupid to the point of ludicrousness. He believed in fighting to his absolute last breath, and there was no way he could do that if he was unable to fight when on the ground, was there? Though no master, he was arguably formidable at hand to hand combat, the more so because most people did not expect him to be. He hoped the cool squirrel was no different.

Wolf started by trying a simple punch. That was blocked. He tried a feint and cross combo. Blocked. A quick one two three combined with an uppercut. Blocked. A spin kick with frantic sucker punches. Blocked. He tried moves he'd only seen on TV, and moves he thought up on the spur of the moment. Blocked. He tried them all again, then tried them backwards, then combined them.

Blocked.

Effortlessly blocked.

The squirrel stepped back and smiled. The smile made it utterly unbelievable. Wolf could imagine someone taking an attack like that, but not smiling afterward.

Then the squirrel went on the offensive. Wolf didn't properly see what happened. He could tell that his opponent was attacking, and then there was a sort of whirlwind in front of him. He tried to block it, but it seemed like his hands were moving in slow motion. He punched forward, hoping the fury of the squirrel's attack would leave his guard down.

His foe was no longer there.

Soul landed behind Wolf, spun around and kicked.

Wolf stumbled and fell to one knee, but he kept his guard up. Soul was impressed. "You do have courage." He said.

Wolf didn't answer. He was trying to decide whether to be angry or awed.

Soul drew back his fist.

"What do you think you're doing?" Mind shouted.

Soul turned to her. "Uh, fighting?"

"Why?" said the mink, raising her eyebrows belligerently.

"Well, I-"

Mind made an impatient noise in the back of her throat. "You two stop wasting time and come with me." She suddenly reminded Wolf irresistibly of his fifth-grade teacher. "And stop being idiotic." She stomped out of the room.

Soul shook his head and followed her. After a moment, Wolf did too.

General Opprimus muttered something sonorous under his breath. The guards all stood at attention; hardly even seeming to breathe. Andrew didn't breathe either, though probably not for the same reason.

"-and if thou hast the power, then thou canst tear the veil." Victor recited to the air. "I shall gain the power and thou shalt employ it."

He flourished the knife and Andrew whimpered. He was not gagged, but his fear did just as well.

"The Flame that Destroys!" intoned Victor, and cut Andrew's right ankle, just above the veins.

Andrew screamed. The knife had stung like acid. An itchy numbness went crawling up his leg from the cut.

Victor didn't wait for the screaming to die down. "The Despair that Benumbs!" and he stabbed Andrew's left wrist. "The Hunger that Corrupts!" and stabbed his right wrist.

Andrew writhed as much as the bonds allowed. This was worse than anything he could have imagined.

"The Weight that Smothers!" The left ankle was bleeding now. Andrew saw the knife approaching his face, and made a supreme effort to break through the pain. "No! No, please!" He gasped.

"The Void that Obliterates!" Victor hissed, and ran the knife across Andrew's throat.

Andrew felt himself growing dizzy; he was having definite trouble focusing his eyes. It was all wrong, what they said about dying, Andrew thought, the pain doesn't just fade. It dies with you. He thought he could vaguely make out Victor's form moving the knife downward once more.

"The Shadow that will Conquer!" said General Opprimus, and drove the blade into Andrew's heart.

The guards impassively watched Victor dip a single finger in the blood that pooled on the top of the stone slab. He traced some sort of glyph on the wall inside the arch, then stepped back and studied it. After a long time, apparently satisfied, he turned and strode out of the room, rubbing the back of his hand as if it itched. He let the door slam behind him.

One by one, the soldiers slumped to the ground, dead.

Peppy stopped short when they came to the main throne room.

Fox had intended to avoid this room and get back to the vent, but now there were soldiers between them and their escape. He hoped they could take a longer path to the same place and avoid fighting. "C'mon," he urged, "We need to get going!"

"This, this room…" Peppy said.

When Andross had first relocated to Corneria, he'd left the building plans to his staff. What were they there for if not to do his work for him? That's what they were paid for, wasn't it? The only exception was this room, which he directed to be an exact duplicate of the corresponding room in his former palace on Venom.

Which meant that it was the same room in which Peppy had watched Andross torture James McCloud to death, six years ago.

Peppy shook himself free. He had to go on. "Yeah, sorry Fox." he muttered. He took a couple steps forward, then collapsed backwards with his hands pressed to his stomach.

The second shot everyone saw.

Leon was standing in the center of the main room when General Opprimus came back.

They both looked at eachother for a split second, then Leon made a dash for the door.

Victor gestured, and it slammed in Leon's face.

Leon swallowed hard. "It's not what you think," he began.

"I'm sure it's not." Said Victor, "But on the whole I really don't care very much. Have a seat."

Leon found himself flung against a chair in the corner. He saw Victor advancing toward him, and tried to move. He couldn't. His arms and legs seemed held down, as if they were tied there.

"You believe in pain as a teacher, am I right?" Victor was saying. "An excellent philosophy. One I often find very useful myself." He raised his hand.

Leon felt himself lifted out of the chair and slammed down against the floor. Victor smiled. Leon flew up against the ceiling, and then again to the floor where he lay breathing heavily.

General Opprimus gestured, then clenched his left hand around the back of his right, as if it hurt.

Leon found himself pulled up by nothing and thrown against the wall where he stuck. His hands flew back to it and he found he couldn't move forward at all. It was almost as if a giant fist were trying to crush him into the wall. Panicking, he stammered, "How is this possible?"

General Opprimus stepped forward and stopped with his face mere inches from Leon's. "This? This is nothing. You can't even imagine the things of which I'm truly capable." he whispered.