Twisted Shadows:
A New Star Fox Saga

By Wolf O'Donnell

Author's Note: Here goes! It's another one of my What-happens-next-after-Andross-dies' fic. Once again, it's set in a different dimension from the other of my fanfics. And once again, it features characters from the Dark World. The swearing has been censored, once again, with little asterisks that hides the second and third letters of the f**king swear word!

~ * ~

Chapter 3: Not Tomorrow
There is nothing quite like war. It is a beautiful experience, the ultimate expression of our species' primal instincts perverted by modern life. It is the ultimate display of survival and of the Laws of Nature. It is a display of our very nature, of the Selfish Gene, of which we all have. To fight a war without living anthropomorphic beings is to take away its horror and its beauty. We must never forget when fighting a war that the person on the other end of your weapon, is just like you.

Lord Jingoist
The Beauty of War

They all walked down the corridor and into the hangar, where Katt's pink ship awaited her.
"I can't thank you enough for saving me," thanked Slippy with a grateful expression on his face. "And I know the others are grateful for what you've done for us."

"We sure are, Katt," exclaimed Fox, as he walked towards the two. "You sure you won't stay with us a while longer?"

"Yeah, I'm sure," replied Katt. She looked out towards the end of the hangar, her gaze passing over the Arwings and then towards her own ship. "It won't be long before we're all called into action against the Trade Guild." A thought suddenly hit her, and she reached into her pockets. "Here, you'll be needing this," said Katt, as she brought out a disk and handed it to Slippy. "It's got all the schematics I could find of Trade Guild technology."

"Oh no, I couldn't take it," said Slippy, as he handed it back to the pink-furred feline.

"Don't worry," said Katt, as she pushed the disk back towards Slippy. "I've got a copy myself. Keep it. You'll need it." She looked at her watch and then sighed. "Well, I guess I've got to be going. There's plenty for me to do out there, and so little time to do it in. I'll see ya' guys later, 'kay?" She turned round and went towards her ship, walking lightly across the metal. It was long before she was in it and flying well away from the Great Fox and into the direction of Zoness.

Lord Jingoist looked out of the porthole with a self-satisfied smile on his face. He had been standing there, as still as a statue, for the past two hours, not moving one inch. He was starting to worry both his bodyguards, Actoi and Morgue.
"Sir, is something wrong?" asked Morgue with a worried expression on his face, as he advanced towards Jingoist.

"No, Morgue, nothing's wrong," replied Jingoist, as he continued to stare out of the porthole and into the desert. He lifted a finger and pointed out towards the horizon, "Do you see that large and unforgiving desert?"

"Of course, sire," replied Actoi, who was wondering where this was going. He looked out towards where Lord Jingoist was pointing and towards where he was looking. "Why'd you ask?"

"Somewhere out there, according to the information Oikonny stole from Andross' computer, are the Shadows of Abomination," hissed Jingoist in reply. "Andross found a map that pointed to Titania, but couldn't quite find out where the Shadows of Abomination were. This weapon, the Shadows of Abomination, are something that I desperately need to find, if I am to become sole master of this pitiful Universe." The lizard turned round and walked away from the porthole. "It is imperative that I find this dark weapon for my revenge to be complete." Jingoist's eyes narrowed and his hands clenched tightly into fists, as he remembered the event, seven years ago just after the Lylat War had started.

* * *

Wolf O'Donnell looked at the pitiful soldier, as he knelt before Emperor Andross. The soldier, a racoon, was desperately trying to plead for his life, begging for the Emperor's forgiveness. He then turned his attention towards Leon, who stood on the other side of the Emperor. He too was feeling nervous and the lupine could tell from the look in the chameleon's eyes.
"No more excuses, General!" exclaimed Andross angrily, as he rose up from his throne. "You have failed me for the last time!"

"But, sire, I've managed to capture Titania for you!" exclaimed the racoon. "And in one day!" he added. "Is that not good enough?"

"Your failure has outweighed your successes," replied Andross. "You are incompetent at everything, including begging for your own life!" His eyes narrowed, as he pressed a button on the underside of one of the throne's arm. Wolf looked on, as the General fell through a trapdoor in the floor and most likely to the rotating blades that Andross had had installed down at the bottom of the pit. "That General didn't deserve to live." A hissing chuckle made Andross, Leon and Wolf turn round, as the trapdoor closed up again.

Someone walked out of the shadows of the sides of the throne room and into the light that shone dimly from the chandeliers.
"Really, Andross, that was very uncalled for," chuckled Jingoist, as he walked into the room, arms crossed behind his back. "So he was slow in capturing planets; I am a patient man, I could have waited." The lizard laughed. "Oh, what a waste of life that was!" Andross moved away from the throne, and Jingoist sat down in it complacently. "Well, my dear Lieutenant, how is your Empire expanding?"

"My Empire?" exclaimed Andross. "It's doing very well, I might add. The planets are available for plundering. Today, we've managed to mine 20 tonnes of coal from Titania for you. I trust the Trade Guild will be able to sell it?"

"I'm afraid there isn't a demand for coal any more," replied Jingoist, as he glared into Andross' eyes. "There is a great demand for oil, however, and I hear that Zoness has plenty of it."

"That is our next target, sir," replied Andross respectfully, hoping that that remark would please his master. He knew that Jingoist was powerful enough to kill him, and that no matter what he did, he would never be able to harm Jingoist. How he regretted the day he joined the Trade Guild. The Guild had provided him with all the things he had ever wanted, the resources and technology for his experiments. However, in return, he had to create bio-weapons for the Guild. When one got loose, it was curtains for his secret project. The bio-weapon destroyed major Cornerian cities, and it was soon found out that he was its creator. He was captured and charged with treason. That was curtains for him. He was exiled, but the Trade Guild still had use for him. They had made him the Emperor of Venom, and had given him the weapons and technology to conquer Lylat for them. The only thing that stopped him from being the true Emperor was Jingoist. He had heard about the last Emperor' that had defied Jingoist. That Emperor was liquefied and his DNA sold.

"That is good to hear, Andross," hissed Jingoist. "But let me tell you this. When you are finished, I want you to search for the Shadows of Abomination. It is the ultimate weapon and I know it is hidden somewhere in Lylat. That is why you must conquer it completely. I shall use that weapon to completely annihilate all my enemies, and then I shall be sole Master of the Universe. I trust you won't fail me in that matter, will you?" The Emperor' shook his head. "Good."

The doors to the throne room suddenly burst open, and a fat pig wearing the uniform of the Star Fox Team, walked into the room, followed closely by two soldiers that held a prisoner in between them.
"Dr. Andross, I have a little present for you!" exclaimed Pigma proudly, as he displayed James McCloud to the Emperor. "It's James McCloud, just as I promised."

"Dengar! Can't you see I'm in a meeting?" exclaimed Andross angrily.

"Andross, how many times have I told you not to loose your temper?" hissed Jingoist calmly. He looked towards James McCloud and then grinned. "If I remember correctly, wasn't it him and his team that ruined our efforts to take Aquas?"

"Yes, it was, sir," replied Andross, as he turned to look at Jingoist, but found that the lizard was no longer sitting on the throne, but walking towards McCloud. He watched as the pig stepped aside, and Jingoist advanced towards the fox. "Lord Jingoist, would you" The lizard immediately turned round to glare at him, and Andross silenced himself.

"So, you are the famous, James McCloud," hissed Jingoist. "Do you know who I am?" The fox shook his head in reply. "I am Lord Jingoist, Master of the Trade Guild and all that I survey. It is my Guild that is responsible for the weapons that Andross uses and responsible for the Aquas attack that you foiled two years ago. Do you remember that, McCloud?"

"I do," replied James, as he looked up at Jingoist with a defiant expression on his face. "You monster! How on earth could you order your troops to commit pure genocide?"

"Quite easily, actually," replied Jingoist. He bent down, hands on knees, so that his face was level with the kneeling McCloud. "I have a proposition for you. Why don't you join us in the Trade Guild and serve me? We could use a talented pilot and soldier like you." The smile on the lizard's face widened. "You'd be paid handsomely and protected under my Treaty, just like Andross is."

"I'll never betray Corneria," replied James.

"Have it your way then," said Jingoist, as he straightened. He turned round and then started walking away. "If we can't have you on our side, then you can't be on the enemy's side either. Terminate him." The lizard heard the fox struggling to get free of the two soldiers that held him, but knew that would be futile. Suddenly, he heard the sound of two heads clashing together. He turned round, just as James started to run away. Jingoist smiled and stretched out his arm. The fox was suddenly stopped in his tracks by a powerful telekinetic force and was then lifted off the floor and floated towards Lord Jingoist. "You weren't thinking of running away, were you? I do so hope not, 'cos I was about to give you a second chance to live."

James tried desperately to struggle out of Jingoist's telekinetic hold, but wasn't able to. It was a futile struggle, but he knew that he had to get out of the lizard's grasp somehow. He reached for his sheathed knife around his waist as discreetly as possible, as he struggled to breathe, as Jingoist's telekinetic hold on him tightened. There was a flash of steel, and then the lizard's face started to bleed from where James had cut him. A wide red streak suddenly dribbled with blood from across his cheeks.
"So, you really think that could have made me let go of you?" laughed Jingoist, as he wiped the blood away from his cheek. "I'll make you pay for that." He raised McCloud up into the air and then threw him down into the stone floor, knocking the wind out of the vulpine.

* * *

Jingoist turned to face Actoi and Morgue, who had been listening to him all that time.
"And before I could kill that wretched fox, he plunged that knife one last time towards me," finished Jingoist. "Luckily, it did not go through my scaly skin, but it destroyed a disk that I was carrying at the time, a disk containing information that could have given me Clinical Immortality. Since we stole that disk from the Stomata, I had to get my scientists to start on the project from scratch, and they still haven't got close yet." He turned to look out of the porthole and towards the night sky of Titania. "I want you two to remember this; I am Lord of this Universe. All things shall die and crumble into dust, whereas I shall remain. I, like the Universe and the Darkness, am Eternal and shall live forever!"

As Fox looked through the files that Katt had downloaded off the Darkstar, he couldn't help but feel a little bit bored. The fox cubs back at home were bound to be missing him, just as he did his dad when he was younger. He just hoped that his cousins would be able to look after them properly while he and Fara were away. A horrible thought suddenly crossed his mind. What if he and Fara were killed? Who would then look after them? He abruptly shook that thought out of his mind, not concentrating on it. He would try his best to ensure that neither would perish at the hands of the Trade Guild. Fox finished looking at the schematics for the Darkwings and the Usurper Jets that the Trade Guild used, and moved on to the bios of the Hercules Team. The first name he saw was Kofu Tarragon. He suddenly realised why that voice had seemed so familiar to him, the one that belonged to the pilot who captured Slippy. Kofu had been one of his old friends from the Cornerian Flight Academy.

* * *

"That was a great trick, Fox!" exclaimed Kofu with a smile on his face, as he and his vulpine friend walked through the sunlight corridors of the CFA (Cornerian Flight Academy). "How'd you come up with that one? Do a barrel roll right next to a ship and you'll smack it right off course? Bet the pilot of that ship didn't see that coming!"

"Yeah, but it was pretty risky," said Fox seriously, as he and his friend walked down the corridor to the mess hall. "I could have taken off my entire wing, and that would have put a damper on my steering." They passed several other cadets, as they made their way to the mess hall, including a blue avian that Fox would meet later on in the year. "The shield gauge on my ship went down so much 'cos of that move, I was almost wetting myself!" The two pushed past the double swinging doors and entered the hall, where they were suddenly greeted by the sight of a long, long queue. "Whoa! We've got to get here earlier!"

"I know what you mean," sighed Kofu. "Let's just hope they're serving something decent this time. You remember that stuff they served us yesterday? Roast chicken, they called it. Well, looked more like Boiled Parrot to me."

"Mine looked like a bun," said Fox. "Tasted like a bun too." He looked towards where the queue was staring to move. "Wonder what they're dishing up this time? Spare ribs with no meat on them? Roast rat? Oh, wait! I know! They're serving up huge suspicious looking sausages with Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam and more Spam!"

"Fox, just shut up will you," exclaimed Kofu. "If you suddenly start singing the Spam Song, I swear, I'll kill you! You know how much I hate that!" Suddenly, he felt a light tap on his shoulder. He turned round to see a short, green frog standing behind him. "Yeah? What do you want?" he asked in his most intimidating manner with the most intimidating look he could muster. The frog looked at Kofu without any visible fear on his features, and then at Fox, before he looked back at the lion.

"Are you Kofu Tarragon?" asked the frog in a croaking voice that sounded very podgy. The lion nodded in reply. "The name's Actoi Curare. I'm the new Counsellor and I'd like to have a word with you."

"A word with me?" asked Kofu with a frown.

"Yes," said Actoi with a strange smile on his face. "Why don't you book a time to see me, and we'll have a nice chat about your future in my office?"

* * *

An alarm suddenly blared loudly, waking Fox up from his daydream. He lifted his head off the keyboard, staring for a few moments at the bio on Kofu that was displayed on the screen, before he quickly got up and dashed out of the room. He ran down the corridor as quickly as he could, making his way to the bridge. The sirens blared loudly, nearly deafening his sensitive ears, but he had to move on. He hoped desperately that whatever the emergency was, they would be able to handle it with ease.


Star Fox and all related characters and places are copyrighted by Nintendo Ltd.
Jingoist, Lucretia, Kofu, Miasma and Kappa are copyrighted by me.