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. The swearing has been censored, once again, with little
asterisks that hides the second and third letters of the f**king
swear word! Please send comments to me at w_donnell@hotmail.com.
* * * * *
Chapter 11: Beginning of the Endgame
tachiagare! senshi wa boku no
naka ni iru
semari kuru TAAGETTO nigeru wake ni wa ikanai
moeagare! toushi wa mune o kogashiteru
edawakare shita michi mayotte irarenainda
atsui hibana chirase
Target ~akai shougeki~
Wada Koji
"So, even Star Fox is unable to destroy the new Star
Wolf Team," sighed General Pepper as he sat at his desk,
looking at the reports and papers scattered across it in an
untidy fashion. ´How I despise the delay in news` he thought, as
he looked at the glass in his hand and at the whisky that didn't
quite fill it to the top. ´It has been a week since Star Fox's
botched rescue attempt at the Sector X Outpost, and only now do I
receive the reports.` Another sigh escaped his muzzle. "The
President has resigned in disgrace, martial law is now in effect..."
He trailed off, not wanting to think about it anymore. Slamming
the glass down on the desk, he stood up, and nearly fell back
down again due to the vast quantity of alcohol he had drunk.
Steadying himself on the arm of his chair, he tried to regain his
balance. "No more," he muttered under his breath.
"I will stand for this no more." Unsteadily, he walked
over to his door, flinging it open and staggering out to the
surprise of the soldiers that stood guard outside it.
"Sir!" exclaimed one in surprise, saluting the
General. The other followed suit.
Pepper glared at them half-drunkenly and half-angrily.
"Cut that out!" he snarled. "Escort me to
Operations this instant!"
Fara looked at the orders that they had received from General
Pepper. She turned round to look at Bill and Katt, at Falco and
the other members of the Star Fox Team. She sighed miserably. It
had taken a miracle, but they had survived the entire ordeal on
the space station, rescuing all those that could be rescued,
which was only the one soldier that Wolf had freed from the sheet
of metal.
"Guys, we've just received our orders," she sighed.
"We're to join the main Cornerian Army in an invasion of
Titania."
"An invasion?" exclaimed Falco from his wheelchair.
"Has Pepper gone nuts? We can't possibly take on the Trade
Guild Army in our current state!" He thought bitterly back
to the news he had heard over the week of the Star Wolf Team's
reign of terror against the Alliance's military. "Has he
completely forgotten that Star Wolf has practically decimated the
Lylat Alliance's Army, or is he drunk again?"
"We mustn't question his orders, Falco," snapped
Peppy, though he knew that the General's orders were anything but
questionable.
"That's a load of bull, and you know it, Peppy!"
shouted Falco angrily. "Pepper is sending us out to the
slaughter. The Guild could wipe us all out in an instant. I'm
just thankful that Jingoist's troops are too busy searching for
the Shadows to do that."
Katt rose from her seat, walking over to Falco, kneeling
beside him and placing a hand on his.
"Please, Falco, calm down," she purred. "This is
nothing to get so upset over." She looked sideways and away
from him, as she said, "I'm sure the General knows what he's
doing."
"Don't you say that, Katt," he said angrily. "You
know as well as I do that he doesn't know what he's doing."
He threw her hand off of his. "I'll be in my quarters if you
need me." He wheeled his way out of the Bridge with a sigh.
Slippy looked up from the blueprints, just in time to see
Falco disappear.
"Katt, could you please get Falco back here?" he asked
her politely. He turned to look towards Fara and Peppy. "He's
right you know. These blueprints I took from Kano's office are of
a special force field that can be manufactured easily on Titania.
If copies of these got to Jingoist, then I..." He trailed
off, shivering at the thought. "I've got to get these
blueprints delivered to the scientists at Macbeth and I've got
pick something up from there. It could help us against the Guild
fighter jets."
Peppy was about to protest against Slippy, when Fara stopped
him.
"Okay, Slip', if you say so," she said quietly.
"I'll send word to General Pepper ASAP."
Ending his communication to High Command, the pilot looked
ahead at the orange and yellow ball in front of him. ´Titania` he
thought grimly. ´Who wants that hell-hole anyway?` He just
couldn't understand why the Trade Guild wanted it so badly. It
was nothing, the Venomians having drained the planet dry of its
resources during the Lylat War.
"All right, men," he stated, communicating to the other
pilots through his com-link, "on my signal we..." He
trailed off, upon seeing something shining glisten from above the
Planet's surface. "What the...?" he exclaimed in
surprise. "They've spotted us, already? I don't believe it!"
He paused, swerving his ship right to avoid a laser. "You
know what to do, guys. Spread out and take them on!" A smile
soon spread across his face. "Kimono Jets," he muttered
under his breath, as soon as he saw them visually. "This
should be an easy battle." He aimed at one and opened fire.
"What the Heck is going on here?" He opened furiously
at the jet, hoping to destroy it, but of all the lasers that hit
it, none seemed to damage it.
Jerking his control stick, he swerved round one of them and
opened fire at one that careered straight towards him. He watched
as the laser hit something invisible and was then absorbed.
"This can't be happening!" he exclaimed, realising that
his lasers had no effect on the ships. "Got to try a few
smart bombs." He locked-on to his target and fired. A smart
bomb flew through the vacuum of space and hit the Kimono Jet.
"Ha, take that you..." He trailed off, seeing the
Kimono Jet emerge from the flames unscathed. "No! Retreat!"
He tried contacting High Command, but suddenly found his shield
gauge was dropping fast. The last thing he ever saw was the
shield gauge reaching zero before everything became a brilliant
white.
"Sir!" exclaimed one soldier, as he stood up from
his station. "We've got reports from Battalion 15. The enemy
jets seemd to be protected by some sort of force field."
A worried look spread across General Pepper's face.
"A force field?" he echoed, as he felt a horrible
sinking feeling. "Order them to try smart bombs!" He
looked sideways to the Colonel that stood beside him. "Colonel
Goldblum, I have a feeling that I might have made a rash mistake
in sending those soldiers out," he sighed, addressing the
feline.
"Smarts bombs have no effect, sir," came the reply
from the soldier. "Shall I order them to retreat?" The
soldier heard no reply. "Sir?" he asked. "Shall I
order them to retreat?" Still no reply.
"What have I done?" muttered General Pepper after a
while of complete silence. "What have I done?" He
collapsed into his chair, his head in his hands.
The Colonel, a bovine, decided to take charge immediately.
"Order all troops to retreat immediately!" barked the
Colonel sternly. "We cannot afford to lose anymore soldiers."
He glanced sideways at his superior officer, and saw that the
General was too lost in misery to be of any use to them. He
motioned two soldiers to approach him. "The General is
feeling a bit fatigued. Please escort him back to his office."
"No, I'm fine!" protested Pepper, snapping out of
his reverie of gloom. "I..." He trailed off, as he saw
the map above him that showed real-time troop movements, and
noticed that the number of Lylatian Troops were decreasing
rapidly. The canine felt his heart sink, lowering his head down
in shame. He turned to face the soldiers with a sad expression on
his face. "I'm ready," he sighed, before he was
escorted out of the room.
The large circular hallway was pitch black, as were the
pillars that supported the edges of the domed roof. Though a hole
in the roof allowed the harsh sunlight to enter, that still did
nothing to alleviate the pure darkness that engulfed everything
within. Scientists, wearing the Trade Guild emblem on their
labcoats, rushed about a gigantic and surreal-looking machine
that stood in the middle. It looked like a bunch a mass of wires,
all connected to huge rings and spheres. It looked more like a
piece of art than a machine and on its top, was a glass sphere.
Flanked by his bodyguards, Actoi and Morgue, Lord Jingoist
entered the hallway and stopped about two metres away from the
door, looking up at the huge machine. A sly smile spread across
his scaly face as he looked at it.
"At long last, the Titania Engine, the Shadows of
Abomination, are finally mine!" exclaimed Jingoist with
excitement. "I have been awaiting forever for this great
machine." He couldn't wait to have it activated, so that he
could finally become omniscient and like a God.
Actoi leaned closer in towards his master.
"Lord Jingoist, sire, I have news that the Kimono Jets have
pushed the enemy back," whispered the frog.
"Even more good news," hissed Jingoist in a pleased
tone of voice. "I cannot believe that this is all happening."
He turned to face the two bodyguards, one after another. "It
makes up for the fact that you lost Tarragon."
Both soldiers shivered uncontrollably. They could feel the
scaled lizard glaring at them with his mind. It was an unnerving
feeling.
"I want you two to stay here and monitor the scientists'
work," stated Jingoist sternly, as he turned round and
walked slowly away from them. "I will be back on the
Darkstar monitoring the progress of... the Kimono II Jets."
He shivered with disgust at the mention of the name. Somehow, the
Lylat Alliance had managed to wittle down his troops, making it
impossible to fight against the Alliance without using the remote
controlled fighter jets. ´Those blasted devices have taken away
the beauty of war` he thought miserably, ´but they are,
unfortunately, our only hope in defeating the Lylatians.` He
shook his head miserably, as he left Amenophis and stepped out
into the harsh sunlight of the Titanian Desert.
The wait had been excruciatingly long, but now they were
allowed into their hangar.
"I don't get it, Slip'," stated Peppy, as he looked
at his own Arwing. "It doesn't look as if you've done a
thing with my Arwing."
There was a smug smile on the amphibian's face, as he looked
at the others.
"That's where you're wrong, Peppy," croaked the frog.
"I've installed new lasers cannons on to these babies,"
he said, patting his Arwing. "The energy beams these cannons
fire can disrupt the force fields on the Kimono Jets, but only if
we charge them up. It takes quite a lot of energy to create these
force-field busting lasers, so it might take some time before you
can fire at the Kimono Jets again."
"That's no use!" exclaimed Bill, upon hearing what
Slippy had to say. "Do you even realise how many Kimono Jets
there are out there?"
"That's why the energy beams these babies fire are very
good," replied Slippy. "You can take out several jets
with these. With five of us, we'll be able to take out the entire
Kimono Jet Army. One problem though. Since they are attached to
the wings, you've got to be careful that you don't break the
wings."
"Only Fox breaks his wings," joked Peppy, however
the smile on his face disappeared when he realised where Fox was
at the moment and what he had done to them. "I'm sorry,"
he apologised to the others, for reminding them that Fox was no
longer amongst them or on their side. "I should have been
more careful with what I said."
"It's okay, Peppy," said Fara reassuringly. She
sighed. "Come on, let's go out and test these new weapons,"
she cried out in an attempt to forget about the vulpine that had
once been her husband. Climbing into her cockpit, she looked
around and saw the others taking the initiative. She thought back
and was surprised when she realised that Katt didn't complain
about Slippy tampering with her own jet. Why had she been so cool
about it? Not knowing the answer, she adjusted her helmet,
placing its mike in front of her muzzle. ´Fox,` she thought, ´I'll
find a way of getting you back no matter what it takes. Whatever
Kano did to you, I'll do everything to reverse it because I still
love you.`
Jingoist stood facing the large screen that dominated most of
the wall in front of him. On it were several green blips showing
the positions of his Kimono II Jets. A frown spread across his
scaly face as suddenly as the five red blips had appeared on
screen.
"What's this?" he exclaimed in surprise. "The
Lylatians are sending in four pitiful fighter jets against my
Kimonos?" He laughed at the thought of it. "My fighter
jets will wipe them out completely."
"Kimono Jets incoming," announced Peppy as he
spotted them on his sensors.
"Lock and load!" crackled Fara's voice over the com-links.
Peppy aimed carefully, squeezing the trigger and keeping it
squeezed tightly, charging up the so-called powerful laser. ´Only
when I see it work, will I praise Slippy` he thought. His fingers
crossed he released the trigger and watched as a brilliant light
flew from his Arwing jet and smashed into the first Kimono Jet.
He watched in amazement, as the jets behind it were also engulfed
in the powerful laser that seemed unstoppable.
"Slippy, good work in installing these things!" he
exclaimed.
"Told you they would work," said Slippy smugly, as
he fired a powerful energy beam straight at a group of five
Kimono Jets, destroying them with one blow and also destroying
any that got in the way of the powerful energy beam, as it flew
in a straight line from Slippy's Arwing. "With these things
we're unstoppable!"
"They're using quite a lot of energy though,"
commented Katt as she checked her ship's stats. "If this
carries on, I might just have to go back and recharge the
batteries." She was worried that the new energy cannons were
draining away too much energy. "Bill, look out behind you!"
she cried, as she saw four Kimono Jets fly up behind the green
and grey fighter jet.
Bill pulled back on his control stick, performing a somersault
over the Kimono Jets. He watched as they did the same, following
after him.
"Oh, wise guys, eh?" he muttered, as he banked to the
right, swerving immediately left. "These guys are pretty
good at tailing jets." He felt his ship shudder from the
lasers being fired at his jet. "I know one manoeuvre they
can't imitate. Fara, could you fly my way?"
"No problem, Bill," she replied. She checked her
sensors, as she banked to her right. The Kimono Jets that were
tailing were following suit. "Well, that's just fine by me."
Fara saw that she was closing in on Bill, the two of them flying
straight towards a single point in front of them. "Dive!"
she cried, and she pulled up on her control stick. Her Arwing
flew over Bill's ship, as he flew under.
The two groups of Kimono Jets were unable to do the same in
their cumbersome formations and they crashed into each other,
bursting into flames and scattering metallic debris across the
space.
Jingoist hissed with anger, as he watched the number of
Kimono Jets decrease rapidly.
"What is going on out there?" he cried.
"It seems that the Star Fox Team have found some way of
destroying the Kimono II Jets, sir," came the reply from a
soldier.
"I can see that!" roared Jingoist angrily and
telekinetically he plucked the soldier up from his seat and
dashed him against the metallic floor. "Anybody else want to
state the blindingly obvious?" He scanned the entire room
and saw that they had all turned to scrutnise their monitors
carefully, and even those who weren't that busy were pretending
to be incredibly over-burdened with work. Lord Jingoist whirled
round to face two soldiers behind him. "Prep the Apocalypse
Wing. I shall go out and destroy the Star Fox Team myself."
"Of course, Your Lordship," agreed one of the
soldiers, before they saluted him sternly and left quickly.
"I will crush those puny insects and show them who's boss
around here," growled Jingoist with a sinister smile on his
face.
Star Fox and all related
characters and places are copyrighted by Nintendo Ltd.
Jingoist, Dr. Kano, Kofu, Miasma and Kappa are copyrighted by me.