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 12: Call me Call me

Pancakes covered with syrup. Fox couldn't remember the last time he had seen such a breakfast, that is, the last time he had seen an unburnt version of such a breakfast. It was drenched in the sticky, sweet stuff. The vulpine couldn't wait to sink his teeth into it.
"Krystal, you made all this?" he asked the vixen.
"Yeah," replied Krystal with a nod of her head. "Go on. Eat!" The best way to a man's heart was through his stomach, or so she had read. If this wasn't going to get her a step closer to the fox she wanted, then nothing would. "It's not going to bite!" She looked around and saw that the others weren't there. Typical, they were sleeping in as usual. Well, she wasn't going to wake them up, not when she could enjoy her morning alone with Fox.
Krystal then noticed that the pancakes were far too big for Fox to eat without needing a knife and fork. She saw him reach out with his bad arm and then wince in pain.
"Oh, I'm sorry," she apologised. "I completely forgot about what O'Donnell did your to shoulder. Here, let me cut it for you." She stood right behind him and took both fork and knife from him. Krystal then proceeded to cut the pancake up for him. She stabbed a piece with the fork and then raised it to Fox's mouth.
"Krystal, you really don't have to do this," protested Fox, before the piece of pancake was waved in front of him. "Well, I guess, if you want to, you can," he said, before biting the pancake. "You know, this is really good," said Fox rudely with a mouthful of pancake.
Krystal ignored that rudeness completely.
"Thanks," she thanked the fox, as she sat down next to him. "I made it especially for you, coz you're so sweet." Urgh, that was an awful line. Where did she come up with that again? Oh yes. Now she remembered; she stole it from a book.
"Hey, sweet stuff," greeted a familiar voice that sounded far too obnoxious to Krystal. "You going to give me the Royal Treatment too?"
"Get stuffed, Falco," retorted Krystal.
Fox smiled. Everything was back to normal. The threat of the Gospel Army had disappeared, as had that of the Lylat Crime Syndicate. All that was left now were the small fry, at least, they were small in comparison to the Syndicate. Still, they had been paid quite a bit for their help in the raid on the Kleinfelter Plaza, so they didn't need to concern themselves over such criminals.
"Fox!" called out Peppy, as he strode into the kitchen. "There's a call for you from General Pepper."
A frown appeared on Fox's furry face, or at least, the vulpine equivalent of a frown.
"General Pepper?" he exclaimed in complete surprise. He hadn't heard from the canine for quite a long time. A year, in fact. "Thanks, Peppy," he thanked the old lepine. He made his way out of the kitchen and along the metallic corridor towards the Bridge of the Great Fox.
The metallic doors slid open and Fox walked in, making his way to the large swivelling chair near the back of the room. He quickly sat in it and pressed a button, making a holographic image appear in front of him.
"It's nice to see you again, sir," greeted Fox with a smile on his muzzle.
The holographic image of General Pepper's head nodded.
"Likewise, Fox," he said solemnly. "I only wish that I could talk to you under more favourable times." Gen. Pepper sighed. "Fox, I need to see you at Lylat Alliance HQ immediately. When can you get here?"
Kleinfelter Plaza was situated to the north of Corneria City's centre. Lylat Alliance HQ was situated to the west, near the Great Northern River that flowed through the city. Fox had been there once before at the end of the Lylat War to receive a commendation from Gen. Pepper and the Lylat Alliance.
The Great Fox was still orbiting Corneria and hadn't left the Planet since the raid on the Syndicate HQ. Fox thought about whether he could fly down there or whether he needed someone to help him fly down there. The Arwing fighters, after all, were only one seaters.
"I'm not too far away," replied Fox, as he thought about his predicament. It suddenly occurred to him that Krystal's ship could contain more than one person. "I'll be there as soon as I can, probably in..." He trailed off and thought about how long it would actually take for Krystal to get ready and to fly the ship down. "I'll probably be there in twenty minutes, tops."
"Okay then," agreed General Pepper with a nod of his head. "I'll see you in twenty minutes at my office. General Pepper, out." The holographic image soon disappeared.

General Pepper swivelled round in his black chair and looked back down at the documents that were laid out in front of him. They were signed confessions obtained by the Lylat Police from one of the Gospel members that had been captured in the raid on the Kleinfelter Plaza. There were documents detailing the exact location of the Gospel Army's secret bases and what he saw chilled him to the bone.
Every Gospel Army base had a research laboratory located within it. Every Gospel Army base was hidden underneath a hospital and what was worse, was the fact that Gospel was using patients as research subjects for some hideous new bio-weapon they called the A-Virus.
The Gospel Army seemed to be far more widespread than they had initially thought and that thought brought shivers down Pepper's spine. Perhaps it had been a bad idea to test out weapons on the Planet Cerinia. He felt a fool for not seeing that their actions on Cerinia would have resulted in a terrorist organisation being formed. Pepper felt a fool for not knowing that when people feel angry and helpless, unable to fight against a larger occupying force, they would inevitably resort to guerilla warfare or even worse, terrorism.
Pepper closed his eyes and sighed. He could still remember the original events, as they had happened so long ago. The General could still remember the events that had led to the destruction of Cerinia and inevitably, to the start of the Lylat War...

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Two men were sitting in a room full of glowing monitor screens. Each one showed a different live picture from one of the multitude of cameras that their organisation had set up. One was a bloodhound dressed in a red military uniform with golden tassels on the ends of his epaulettes. The other was a grey-haired monkey dressed in a white labcoat. Both of them were looking sternly at the monitor in front of them, which displayed the face of a fat pig.
"Sirs, we have no idea how the virus escaped the labs," announced the pig with a shake of his head. "Maybe one of the researchers was accidentally infected."
An angry snarl spread across the monkey's face.
"Look, I don't care how the virus escaped, you just contain it!" he shouted in a loud and deep voice, as he slammed a hairy fist on to the desk. "If word of this gets out, my research will be shut down completely and I'm telling you this, Dengar, I will not let my research die."
"Andross, I think we should stop the research," said the canine that stood next to the scientist. "It's far too risky."
The monkey, Andross, turned round with an angry look on his face.
"Are you serious?" he exploded in anger. "We have almost discovered a vaccine for that damned virus! I will not let my research be hindered by a mere accident." He sighed, closing his eyes. "Accidents do happen, after all. They are almost unavoidable."
Pepper felt nervous. The research was one of the Cornerian Military's greatest kept secrets. They were developing a universal vaccine, using the Lylat System's most virulent and dangerous virus as a base. If they could somehow find a common biological structure in the virus, which would be common to all viruses and only viruses, they would be able to create a Super Vaccine that would immunise the Cornerian Troops against any virus, including genetically engineered ones.
What made him uncomfortable was the fact that the Super Vaccine would be kept a secret and would be only for the use of the military troops, so that no enemy forces could get their hands on it.
"This is the fifth outbreak so far," Pepper told Andross quietly. "We're risking too many civilian lives for a vaccine they won't be able to use."
"Are you saying we should go against the Field Marshal's orders?" asked Andross in disbelief. "You're nuts, Pepper."
"No, I'm not," stated Pepper with a shake of his head. "How long do you think it'll be before the hospital immunologists find out that the virus has been genetically engineered to be more virulent? My troops can't keep them from getting blood samples for long." Pepper feared that if they found out the true nature of the virus, the media would jump on the topic and blow it out of proportions. "When they do, it'll only be a matter of time before the media gets a hold of it. Think about it. They'll claim it to be a bio-weapon. What then?" He paused to let that information sink. "As Head Researcher, Andross, you would be the first one they blame for its creation."
Andross turned to face the monitor in front of him, which was now filled with static.
"I will not stop the research," stated Andross sternly. "We're too close to creating a vaccine to stop now." He rose from his seat at the monitor. "However, I think perhaps you're right about the media. I'm thinking we should transfer all research to a different planet altogether."

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

"General Pepper, sir," repeated the voice again, disturbing the General's reminiscences on the past.
Pepper reached out and pressed a button on his intercom.
"Yes, Ms. Chambers?" he asked.
"Three people are here to see you, sir," came the reply from the small speaker. "One of them is Mr. Grey and the other is Mr. McCloud."
"Please, send them in," stated Pepper calmly, before he let go of the button and leaned back into his chair. He waited and soon the door opened. One of them was indeed Bill Grey and the other was Fox McCloud with his left arm in a sling. The third, Gen. Pepper recognised as well, as being the girl, Krystal. "Ah, Fox, Bill, Krystal, please come in," he said as he rose to his feet. "Please, have a seat." He gestured towards the two chairs in front of him. "Bill, would you get that chair from over the corner?"
"So, General, what is this all about?" asked Fox, as he sat down in front of the canine.
For a while, Pepper didn't reply. It was hard for him to tell them what he knew and what he had to tell them. What he had to tell them would change their outlook on history.
"First, I must congratulate all of you on a job well done," he began, as he thought of their raid on the Syndicate. "You've done a great service to the Lylatian people and I thank you on their behalf." He could see it in their faces. They knew he was stalling, that he was hestitating to tell them what he knew. "Secondly, I received your report on the Gospel members, Captain Grey."
"They were very informative," continued Pepper. He trailed off, glancing back down at the reports on his desk.
"Sir?"
General Pepper sighed and closed his eyes, as he clasped his gloved hands together.
"Fox, Bill, I have something to tell you about the Military's involvement in creating Gospel," began Pepper. He didn't open his eyes. He didn't want to see the expression on their faces. "Back when Andross was one of our nation's greatest researchers, we employed Dr. Andross to create a universal vaccine for the troops, one that would immunise them against any viral infection." Pepper opened his eyes again and looked at Bill and Fox. He saw that their faces were completely devoid of expression, but there was no surprise there and nor was there any horror. Pepper decided to continue. "The work progressed quite well and quite successfully, but every now and then there would be an accident."
Fox's right hand had clenched tightly into a fist. He had this sneaking suspicion that he knew what would come next.
"What do you mean by accident, sir?" he asked the General.
"Every now and then a researcher would accidentally get infected," replied Gen. Pepper calmly, as he lowered his gaze away from them, especially from Krystal's gaze. "There would be an outbreak of the virus and we'd do our best to contain it. We did our best to prevent this from happening, but every now and then, the virus would somehow leak out. So... so... so... the management... killed off the research program. Andross was... devestated."
"I don't understand," said Bill with a shake of his head. "How is this related to the Gospel Army?"
General Pepper looked up at Bill.
"It's related in two ways," he told them sternly. "One, most research after that was moved to Cerinia, so as to limit Cornerian casualties. Andross moved into the creation of weapons, but that really wasn't necessary. He went mad, released a bio-weapon on Corneria and you know the rest."
Krystal nodded in reply. She knew the rest.
"Yes, Andross took over the Lylat System and Cerinia was one of the Planet's he seized control of," stated Krystal calmly.
"The Field Marshal at the time didn't want Andross getting his hands on our research," began General Pepper, "so he ordered us to destroy it all." He lowered his head at that point in shame, before he said, "I gave the orders, but something went wrong. At that time, Andross had established a bio-weapons laboratory in the area. We didn't know that, so when we bombed the place, the virus escaped and..."
Pepper raised his head to look at Krystal.
"Krystal, I heard all about your ordeals," stated Pepper. "I'm sorry about what happened. We should have been more careful, but we had unwittingly unleashed the virus. Fearing it would spread acorss the system, the Field Marshal ordered us to completely destroy the planet."
Fox turned his head to face Krystal and saw that she was looking down at the floor. He then turned to face Pepper with an incredulous look on his face. So the Cornerian Military was responsible for the destruction of Cerinia, Krystal's home planet? The vulpine had heard what Wolf had said, but he didn't believe it was true at the time. Fox turned to face Krystal once more. She was unusually silent and that made him worry.
"Krystal, I'm ever so sorry," apologised the canine.
"That's okay," replied Krystal quietly. "I don't blame you. If anyone was at fault, it was Andross for putting that laboratory there in the first place." She closed her eyes and shook her head. The blue-furred vixen could still remember the disease that had ravaged her planet, and how she had to escape to Dinosaur Planet to avoid being infected.
Bill still couldn't quite understand.
"Sir, I still don't get it," he said to General Pepper quietly. "What's Gospel got to do with that?"
"The Gospel Army was formed from the Cerinian People's Organisation," replied General Pepper, "the terrorist organisation that formed soon after to avenge Cerinia's destruction." He sighed. "That leads me on to Dr. Kano, whom was Andross' assistant head researcher on the Vaccine Project. We at the Lylat Alliance have reason to believe that Kano is the man that transformed the CPO into the Gospel Army. We also have reason to believe that he still has samples of the virus Andross used to develop the Universal Vaccine."
The canine pulled open a drawer and pulled out a folder. Pepper then handed it to Fox, instead of Bill.
"In this folder is all the information you need on Dr. Kano," he told Fox. "He was a human immigrant from the Sekai Foundation and a genius in Biochemistry and Genetics," he explained to Fox, when the vulpine opened the folder and saw a photograph of Dr. Kano. "Also in that folder are documents on Kano's research into something called the A-Virus, which we managed to steal from one of the Gospel bases."
"Sir, why are you giving me this information?" asked Fox curiously, as he looked towards General Pepper. "Why not the Lylat Police?"
"We want this to be a discreet operation, Fox," stated General Pepper calmly. "If any word of what I've just told you gets out, then who knows what'll happen? We'll lose face. Worse still, the public will lose faith in us, even though the old Field Marshal quit a long time ago." He turned to Bill. "Captain Grey, I want you to give Fox all the information you have on the Gospel Army and to help him in finding Dr. Kano and shutting down his organisation once and for all. I want all three of you to keep all this a secret. Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir," came the reply.

* * * * *

Dr. Kano stood in the darkened room, looking through the window at the clean, white operating room. There was a smile on his moustachioed face, as he stood there with his arms crossed behind his back. Long ago, he had learnt that it was best if he did not perform the experiments himself as the A-Virus was a highly infectious agent. He unfolded his arms and reached out for a microphone, which he pulled to his lips.
"Don't struggle," he spoke into the mike. "Why do you resist anyway? Don't you want the A17-Virus to change your very genetics and make you like a God?"
He heard no reply from the patient, even though the room Kano was in wasn't even sound-proof.
"Think of yourself a pioneer," continued Dr. Kano, an insane smile spreading across his lips. "Think. If this succeeds, you shall be the first in a long line of Superior Humanoids. Won't that just be grand?"
"Fuck you, Kano!" shouted the simian test subject. "If Wolf ever found out what you're doing..."
"Wolf isn't here, now is he, Oikonny?" asked Kano with a devious smile on his face. "Besides, you forget who is the true master around here. I was the one that created Gospel, not him. It's my Organisation and I do as I please." The smile on his face spread. "Now administer the virus!"
The researchers then injected the research subject with the A17-Virus, a sub-species of A-Virus. Moments later, a blood-curdling scream echoed through the Laboratory Complex.

To be continued...