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...