Cowboy Star Fox
By Wolf O'Donnell
WARNING: This fanfic will contain swearing, graphic scenes of
death and violence and the use of British-English Spelling and
Grammar. If any of these things offend you or if you are
underaged, please do not read any further. Upon reading any word
or letter in this file, you hereby agree to forfeit all your
rights to sue me and that I cannot be held liable for any
psychological or physical damage caused by the contents of this
fanfic. Star Fox and all related characters (including me) are
copyrighted by Nintendo. Scales, Dinosaur Planet and all related
characters are copyrighted by Rare. The Gospel Army, Dr. Jerome
Kano, the Sekai Foundation and all related characters and places
are copyrighted by me.
* * * * *
Episode 8: Diggin'
The bomb had torn through the hospital building. A gaping
hole was all that was left of Fox's room; the rooms on either
side of his, the room above and the room below had been decimated
by the blast. The room above Fox's had caved in and crashed into
Fox's, the force of which had caused the floor to collapse and
the whole room to collapse into the one on the ground floor
below.
Bill picked up the chunk of what had once been wall and moved
it best he could away from the pile of rubble. He had been
searching through the rubble for hours for any survivors. All he
had done was to dig up six bodies. Four of which had been
patients, two of which had been hospital staff.
"Make that seven," he muttered under his breath, as he
removed another piece of concrete.
Gazing up lifelessly and sightlessly from the rubble was the
nurse that had been attending to Fox, Julia. Blood stained her
once delicate features and the look on her eyes was one of pure
terror. Bill reached out slowly towards Julia's face and closed
her eyelids for the final time.
Julia. Bill knew Julia quite well. She was an undercover
officer working within the hospital. Julia was on lone from the
Special Tactics Agency of the Sekai Foundation to help the Lylat
Alliance combat against the evils of the Lylat Syndicate. She was
a smart young lady, always keen to help out and show off what she
knew. Some called her smart, others called her pretentious.
However, none underestimated what she could do. Julia could
always be counted on to get things done.
A small smile spread across Bill's face, as he remembered her
attitude. Julia was like some kind of motherly figure, even
before she worked undercover at the hospital. She was caring and
would always help those in need. Julia would always stop for
those that had been wounded in action and help them. The way she
applied iodine to possibly infected wounds was with a care
similar to that of a mother for her child.
He could remember arriving at his desk once, to find it
completely cleared of its clutter and to find that everything had
been organised so neatly that even he could find it, despite
having the organisational skills of crab grass. Whenever other
people had tried to organise his desk, he would never find be
able to find documents or the things he needed afterwards. It was
as if the people deliberately hid essential items from him. With
Julia, it was as if she knew how he thought. Everything was
organised, yet everything was where he expected it to be.
It seemed to Bill that Julia always seemed to be there for him
or those that needed her. Somehow, she always knew their
birthdays and would always send a thoughtfully chosen birthday
card, along with a gift that made one wonder whether she could
read minds. There was almost always a smile on her face. She
delighted in her work. She delighted in helping others. Her laugh
was like sunshine itself and the glint in her eyes was one of
vitality, even maybe of a little bit of mischief.
Though Bill loved her because of her qualities. He loved her
as a friend. Now she was dead. Now her small pranks would never
brighten their day. Her body, which had once been warm and
caring, was now cold and unmoving. She was dead. What was worse
was that her work, her findings were gone. Any information she
held on the Syndicate's illegal activities within the hospital
were gone.
"Bill."
The grey-furred canine turned round and saw Fox standing not
too far away from him. A small, faint smile spread across Bill's
face, but it was not what could be called a genuine smile.
"Fox, what are you doing here?" he asked his best
friend curiously. "You should be with the other
patients." He looked back at Julia out of the corner of his
eyes. "Go back, Fox."
"Bill, it's no use," Fox told his canine friend.
"You're not going to find anymore people in there." He
made his way cautiously across the rubble and peered down at the
face that lay within the concrete. "Nurse Julia," he
muttered under his breath. "Bill," he said out loud,
"I think you should stop now. There's no point in carrying
on, besides, there couldn't have been that many people lost in
the explosion anyway."
Fox had thought it a miracle that he had survived the
explosion, or perhaps some Act of God. He had only gone out for a
'quick whizz', as he so kindly put it, and then the bomb had
exploded, killing and wounding like all bombs do. That bomb was
meant for him, surely, yet he was the one that had survived.
"You know, it's kind of ironic when you think about
it," said Fox with a smirk on his muzzle. "Someone
tried to kill my father with a bomb, but it ended up killing my
mother instead. Now someone's tried to kill me with a bomb and it
ends up killing other innocent people."
The vulpine sighed, as he sat down on a piece of former
ceiling.
"Perhaps its some kind of cruel joke," he mused to
himself. "My family's enemies always come after the male
members with bombs, but end up hurting other people, innocent
people that don't deserve to die that way. I think this strange
fate is my family's legacy, an heirloom passed down through the
generations." He laughed bitterly at that thought. "I'm
like some kind of black hole. Everything around me is drawn and
sucked into danger. Perhaps it would be better if I lived alone,
if nobody knew me, then nobody would get hurt."
Another thought occurred to him. Would his son, if he ever had
one, suffer the same fate?
"Or perhaps, it would be best if I didn't live at all,"
he muttered under his breath. "Why should I continue living
when all these innocent people are dying all around me?"
"Fox, it's not your fault," protested Bill with a
shake of his head. He strode over and sat down beside Fox,
placing a hand on the shoulder of his best friend. "You
couldn't have known. Nobody could have known. If it is anyone's
fault, it's those Gospel bastards." An angry expression
spread across Bill's face when he thought of the Gospel Army and
how they terrorised the citizens of Lylat in an attempt to bring
down the Lylat Alliance. "They're such cowards. If only we
could take down that organisation once and for all."
Yet Bill had this nagging feeling that Gospel wasn't behind
this attack. The bomb attack didn't display the Gospel Army's
usual characterstics. The Gospel Army usually worked through
suicide bombings to ensure that no one could be arrested over the
bombings. Another characteristic of Gospel Army bombings, was
that they usually attacked military complexes or anything to do
with Lylat Alliance. Civilians were hardly targeted. The only
targets were military personnel from the Lylat Alliance. As far
as Bill knew, there were none in this hospital.
Fox didn't say another thing. He just sat there quietly,
thinking about all the events that had happened in his life. The
vulpine thought about the events of how his mother had died, when
his father died and when Andross started to invade the Lylat
System, one planet after another. It was then that Fox thought
about the Gospel Army and how it... Fox's thoughts trailed off
right there. It was then that he realised something.
The Gospel Army's attacks on the Lylat System mirrored those
by the Venomian Army. Both had attacked the same places in the
same order. It seemed to him that the Gospel Army was mocking
him. Or was he looking too deeply into the situation?
A sigh escaped Fox's furry muzzle.
"Have you checked Julia's records?" he asked Bill. He
too knew about Julia's true purpose within the hospital. The
vulpine had a sneaking suspicion that the bomb might not have
been meant for him. Perhaps it was meant for Julia. "Perhaps
she was getting too close to the Syndicate member in this
hospital."
Bill shook his head in reply.
"Fara's went to search for it, but it's missing,"
replied the canine. A thought suddenly occurred to him, one that
gave evidence to support that Gospel didn't carry out the
bombing. "It's as if whoever planted the bomb knew about
Julia. I'm thinking that the bomb was meant for Julia, not for
you." That did not surprise him. The Syndicate liked to get
rid of inconvenient people through bombs and putting the blame on
terrorist organisations. It was their way of doing things.
Perhaps this attack was by the Syndicate, not Gospel. He glanced
back towards Julia's body, which still lay within the rubble.
"Poor Julia," he muttered under his breath.
Fara marched in to find that Caiman was not in his cell.
She turned round to face a passing police officer.
"Hey!" she called to the bloodhound. "What
happened to Caiman?"
"Oh, that Krystal girl took him off to Room 101,"
replied the officer.
It looked to Fara that Krystal had already beaten her to the
punch. Well, she would see whether the blue-furred vixen was
doing things right. Fara didn't know why, but she had always felt
disdain for Krystal the very moment she had laid eyes on the
Cerinian. She had always thought that too many girls wanted Fox
and with the addition of Krystal... Well, Fara certainly didn't
like the additional competition.
"Tell me!" Fara heard Krystal scream from down the
corridor.
The Fennec fox rushed over to Room 101 and rushed in through a
side-door that led behind the two-way mirror.
"How's she doing?" asked Fara, as she approached a
police officer that was standing within the small room. Fara
turned her head and looked through the two-way mirror at Krystal.
"She's doing okay," replied the officer, "but
she hasn't got him to talk at all. Not surprising, really. None
of us have been able to get him to talk about the
Syndicate."
Within Room 101, Krystal was doing her best to interrogate
Caiman and it wasn't half-bad, if by interrogation you meant
intimidation.
"Look, Caiman, a lot of lives are resting on what you
know," snarled Krystal sternly. "You either tell me
what I want to know, or I beat it out of you." She
anticipated his next statement, so she quickly said, "And
remember, I'm not from the police, so I can beat the shit out of
you whenever I like. Got that?" She received one silent nod
from the reptile in reply. "Now is the Syndicate supplying
explosives to the Gospel Army?"
"You don't understand," protested Caiman with a
shake of his head. "The Syndicate's got agents everywhere.
If I tell you, its secrets, they'll kill me for sure!"
A sigh escaped Krystal's muzzle.
"Look, we'll provide you with protection if you tell,"
said Krystal through clenched teeth. "I promise you, once
you've told us all you know, we'll be able to take down the
Syndicate once and for all. Now are you going to selfishly risk
thousands of innocent lives just for your own?" There was a
silent pause, as if Caiman was thinking up of a reply. Quickly,
Krystal thought about whom she could compare Caiman to.
Out from her memory, she remembered Peppy telling her about
someone called Pigma Dengar. She could remember Peppy's spiteful
account of how the pig had betrayed the Star Fox Team to Andross
and the continued to work for the mad scientist.
"I'd have expected such selfish behaviour from a fat bastard
like Pigma, but from you?" stated Krystal firmly. Mentally,
she crossed her fingers and hoped for the best. Would it work?
"Okay, I'll tell," agreed Caiman, "but will you
promise that I'll get police protection?"
Krystal nodded in reply.
"I promise," she told Caiman. "Where is the
Syndicate based? Is the Syndicate supplying explosives to the
Gospel Army?"
"The Syndicate's based in Corneria City," replied
Caiman cautiously. "It's inside the Kleinfelter Plaza in the
city centre." He paused a while, taking in deep breaths. It
was difficult to spill the Syndicate's best kept secrets and
frightening. After all, he was risking his life and the Syndicate
had ways of killing traitors that made death look like a
blessing.
"What about the explosives?" asked Krystal sternly.
"Is the Syndicate supplying explosives to Gospel?"
Caiman smiled nervously. He then realised that it was probably
impossible for them to take down the entire Syndicate. Caiman
knew the truth and he realised that the Lylat Police was only one
organisation and simply wasn't large enough at that.
"In a way, I guess the Syndicate is," came his
mysterious reply. How was it that he had forgotten about Gospel's
relationship with the Syndicate? Now such forgetfulness looked as
if it would cost him his life. "I don't think I can tell you
anymore," he protested with a shake of his head. I'll be
dead for sure if I continue."
Krystal grabbed Caiman by the lapels of his shirt.
"You'll be dead now if you don't talk," retorted
Krystal. A thought entered her mind. Why had Caiman changed his
mind all of a sudden? Was the Syndicate really that frightening
and if so, why had he blabbed in the first place?
"You can't win against the Syndicate," protested
Caiman quickly. "Even if you get rid of its Leader, another
will take his place." He was suddenly lifted out of his
shirt until his eyes were level with Krystal's. Caiman could see
the determination in those eyes of hers. They seemed to burn with
a passion, a passion to destroy the Syndicate and all it stood
for. "No! No more. I can't tell you anymore."
"You have to!"
The door to the room suddenly opened and Fara stepped in,
closing the door silently behind her.
"Caiman, what is it that scares you so much?" asked
Fara curiously. "That the Syndicate might have operatives in
the Lylat Police? That some of the officers here are on their
payroll?"
"Fara? What are you doing here?" asked Krystal
curiously.
A smile spread across Fara's muzzle.
"It looked like you needed a helping hand," replied
Fara. She grabbed Caiman's chair and motioned for Krystal to let
go, which she did. Fara pushed the seat back underneath Caiman
and held him down there with one hand. "Look, Caiman, we
figured out on our own that the Gospel Army and the Lylat
Syndicate are in cahoots with each other. We figured out on our
own that the Syndicate is selling explosives to Gospel, that it's
selling weapons to Gospel. If you tell us more, no one will be
the wiser."
Caiman shook his head.
"You don't understand," he told her. "Gospel has
its agents everywhere." He suddenly realised his mistake.
"What do you mean, Gospel?" asked Krystal curiously.
"What does it matter now? I'm going to die anyway,"
he muttered to himself. Caiman looked up at Krystal and then at
Fara. "The Gospel Army owns the Lylat Syndicate," he
told them. "The Syndicate is the Gospel Army. They're both
two elements of the same organisation."
* * * * *
They all shone brightly. Each one was a monitor and each
monitor had a different display. Some displayed text. Others
displayed graphs and charts. Two displayed the inside of what
looked like an operating room. One displayed the face of a
person.
"Studies on the A-Virus are progressing well, sir,"
said the person on the monitor. "Due to the virus' unusual
non-sepcificity, it is able to infect more than one type of cell
and more than one species. If used correctly, we will be able to
use the A-Virus against the Lylat Alliance and crush it."
"The Gospel Army will not operate in that way," said
a second voice from the person sitting in front of the monitors.
"The A-Virus is of no use to us if used on an entire
population. It seems to me that you do not understand what the
Gospel Army's true intentions are."
"Of course, I understand," protested the person on
the monitor. "It is to avenge the destruction of our home
planet, Cerinia."
"Our home planet? Cerinia is not my home planet."
The person in the room full of monitors sighed and leaned back in
his chair. "Yes, that was what the Cerinian People's
Organisation was for, but when I took over it and turned it into
the Gospel Army, the organisation's objectives changed." The
man in the monitor room chuckled. "I see no reason for us to
live in the past and avenging a planet that no longer exists. You
see, I intend to wipe out all life from the Lylat System so that
we can establish a new order and a new race. With the A-Virus as
a gene vector, I shall be able to create the ultimate lifeform
and populate all of Lylat with it. We shall create a new future,
one ruled by the Gospel Army!"
"Can't you see the glory of our new purpose?"
continued the person in the room full of monitors and electrical
equipment. "We shall create a new race subservient to the
Gospel Army alone. It will be a superior race incapable of hate,
incapable of sorrow and of evil. This new race will have none of
the faults and misgivings of the current races. They will be like
Gods! Can you not see how much better our new goal is than petty
revenge?"
"Yes, sir," came the stuttered reply.
A smile appeared on the face of the person that sat in the
room full of monitors. It was a devious smile, a frightening and
evil smile and the glint in his eyes displayed a hint of
insanity.
"Then continue as planned," said the person in the room
full of monitors. "Nothing must stop the great Gospel Army
and nothing shall! The Super Race shall populate this pitiful
solar system!"
To be continued...