Enter Black Wolf: Part 6

The Lethal Shade of Gray

Macbeth, June 17th, 2550, 1405 hours

The three Cornerian Warships emerged from hyperspace well out of the Imperial sensor range.

"We're going to sneak in and take a look, we'll record the whole thing, you should be able to see it on your viewscreens." Jason Kage said as the Phantron slowly accelerated towards the planet. On the bridge of the Black Knight, Ed used the viewscreen to see what they saw. They began approaching the planet, and Ed could see the Death Prism, in orbit. Right now it just looked like an ugly black rectangle, but Ed soon knew its full presence would be shown soon.

"We've passed through the outer sensor ring…no indication of being noticed" Jason reported

The Phantron continued on course. When they were about 500 km, from the Death Prism. They stopped. "We're zooming in now, and activating sensor sweep. We'll relay all data to your computers."

The camera zoomed in, and the fearsome appearance of the Death Prism was revealed. It was bristling with laser turrets, in addition to the 5 massive prism cannons mounted on 5 of its 6 faces. If looks could kill, We'd be dead 5 times over, Ed thought.

"The scan will be completed in 2 minutes, we'll be careful." Jason said as he terminated the communication.

The next two minutes, fortunately, passed without any incident. The Phantron turned around and headed back.

"Two hyperspace singnatures off our port side!" ROB-2 suddenly excalimed.

"Think we've been spotted?" Jason asked

"Unlikely" Fox answered, "There were no signs of any alert raised by the guard fleet."

"Getting a sensor read…contacts are one Arwing, and one Invader fighter bearing a friendly IFF code." ROB-2 responded. "The Arwing pilot is hailing the Great Fox."

"Send a broadband transmission link to all friendly ships." Fox said as he opened the channel.

"Fox, I thought you could use some help." Said Fara Phoenix.

"Fara!? What? How did you get here?" Fox shouted

"I flew here, I'm still on leave, remember? I also brought Katt Monroe here as well."

"What? Why?!" Falco shouted as he cut in on the channel.

"Is that anyway to greet a girl?" The pilot of the Invader answered. Ed saw that she was a purple furred cat. So this is Katt Monroe, Ed thought. He had heard about her rendering assistance to Starfox on Zoness and in Sector Z during the Lylat War, but he had no idea how she managed to ever steal an Invader-class fighter from the Imperial forces.

"Look, Falco, we're here to help and there really isn't much you can do about it." Katt continued. "And judging by the size of that weapon, you're going to need it."

"Very well…" Falco said, a little angry, as the Phantron made it back to the rest of the fleet.

Ed opened a channel to all allied ships in the area. "Meeting on board the Black Knight, in the ready room." He said. "Jason, bring the data you collected"

Everybody radioed in a confirmation.

Chapter 31

Black Knight Ready Room, 5 minutes later

Jason addressed the 21 other pilots in the ready room. "Here is the data we have on the Death Prism's systems and it's guard fleet."

Jason tapped a few buttons, and the monitor showed the Death Prism and its 10 capital ship escort. "The guard fleet consists of 4 Saruzin II cruisers, the Cabal, the Venom, the Diamondback, and the Andross. There are two Grazan II assault carriers, the Manchuria, and the Pyongyang. 2 of the ships are Zeram-II cruisers, named Ghost, and Shade. We believe they are named this because they have an Imperial version of the stealth device, similar to the one on the Phantron. The last two ships are the Intimidator-class warships Fenris and Loki. These ships are currently in low power mode, with no weapons or shields online. A quick assault would end things quickly, but there is a snag."

Jason scrolled the image down a bit, revealing two disc shaped contacts. The discs had axis needles potruding from the center going up and down.

"These are Umbra-II defense stations. They have heavier armor and weaponry than the original Umbra stations, plus a new kind of laser cannon. The cannon uses a supercollider effect to fire a powerful beam at the target area. These two stations must be taken offline before we can attack the main fleet, and without raising alarm. However, there is yet another snag."

Jason scrolled back up to the Death Prism, and tapped a button. A yellow elliptical shape encompassed the battle fortress. "The Death Prism has ultra-powerful deflector and reflector shields, more powerful than any other shielding system in the Lylat system. We can overload the quadrants with concentrated fire, but by then, they may be ready to fire the Prism Cannon. Our scans revealed the cannons are almost fully charged, yet still on standby. Even if we drop the shields, they may still get a chance to use the cannon before we can destroy the Prism."

"Wait…I have an idea." Ed said "What is the material composition of the prisms?"

"It's the same kind of glass used on bridge viewscreens/windshields." Jason answered. "What do you have in mind?"

Ed got up and used the console to show the Death Prism, the guard fleet, the Umbra II stations, and the Cornerian attack force. "My idea is we hack the weapons controls of both Umbra stations to destroy one another, before they can sense our approach. We then move in on the Death Prism, but stop well out of their cannon range. The real question is…can we fire the plasma cannons accurately from the minimum safe distance from the Death Prism?"

ROB-2, who was also at the briefing, reported that it was possible.

"Okay then. Here's the rest of the plan." Ed continued as he manipulated the image to show what he was talking about. "We fire the plasma cannons, both barrels, at the Death Prism's forward shield, thus weakening it. This may also take out some of the guard fleet. Then we will launch all fighters in an attack run on the Death Prism. The Black Knight will provide cover by firing it's gauss cannons at any capital ships that get in range. When we get to the Death Prism, all fighters will launch nova bombs at the forward shield of the Death Prism. This should drop the shield. Then, my squadron will fly in and release 1 Flechette Maverick Torpedo at the glass prism. Thusly, the glass will shatter…"

Fox suddenly got the hang of it. "And then their forward cannon will only be as strong as a heavy laser!" he exclaimed

"Exactly!" Ed shouted "And if we get lucky, we can irreparably damage the cannon as well, possibly forcing a weapons system restart."

"Well, that's all well and good, but how are we going to destroy the Death Prism? The scans show super thick armor plating that I doubt even the gauss cannons can punch through." Ivan Marlowski asked

"This is where phase 2 of my plan kicks in." Ed said. "Since a capital ship attack is out of the question, and our fighters will be soon outnumbered by the many ships the guard fleet is guaranteed to launch, we must destroy the Death Prism from the inside. After we destroy the forward cannon, all capital ships will move in to support the fighters. Before the forward shield goes back online, all fighters are to try to fly into the forward hangar bay. Whoever makes it in will then fight their way to the bridge, destroy the reactor controls, and get the hell out. Any fighter still outside the Death Prism should just hold tight and fight off any fighters attacking the capital ships. The capital ships should target the carriers first, and then select targets by threat. Any questions?"

Nobody spoke for a second, then Fox stood up "Ed, this is one of the most insane plans I have ever heard suggested. You are taking an awful risk, infiltrating the battle fortress to destroy it. However, since there is no other choice, you have my full support and belief that this plan will succeed, and I say to hell with sanity!"

The comment brought on a wild cheer from the pilots assembled. Ed smiled at their confidence in the plan, despite the risks. "All right, let's get to work."

Chapter 32

Death Prism, 4 minutes later

Kyle Kerrigan, WarLord of the Imperial Army of Venom, sat at the command chair on the bridge of the Death Prism. He was gleefully counitng the remaining seconds until launch

86395…94…93…92 he thought, when suddenly the communicator beeped

When I find out who made me lose count… he thought as he answered the comm. "What is it?!"

"Sir, something has happened to both Umbra stations…they've disappeared off our sensors!" said the Sensors officer

"Didn't you say sensors might go offline or have malfunctions during the startup?" Kyle asked

"Yes…but…"

"Then that is all that happened, let me know when you get the sensors working correctly." Kyle said as he severed the connection. Unable to continue counting, his thoughts turned to other issues. I wonder why Wolf hasn't reported in yet… he wondered. Wolf was supposed to report the situation on Fortuna every 24 hours. Right now he was almost 10 hours past the last deadline. I'm sure there's just a malfunction with communications…it's bound to happen on a new ship such as this.

Black Knight, same time

What Kyle didn't know however, was that the Umbra II stations had wiped out one another when Ivan and Ed hacked the weapons controls on both stations, and made them blast each other to pieces. The battle group now moved past the burning remains of the defense stations, and towards the Death Prism. The 3 cruisers flew in close formation, so that the Phantron's stealth field jammed enough of the radar signatures of the other 2 ships.

"We're almost at minimum safe distance." Reported Captain Robert Smirnov.

"Preparing to stop…" ROB-2 reported

The three ships halted a few seconds later. From here, Ed could see the Death Prism in greater detail, as well as a few of the larger escorts. They won't even know what hit them…Ed thought A little cruel…but there is no other way. "Activate Omni-cannons on plasma load. Target forward shield of Death Prism…fire when ready." He ordered as he started walking towards the hangars. "Let's go, we don't have much time." He said to his squadron.

Death Prism, 2 seconds later
An alarm went off on the battle fortress "What the hell!?" Kyle exclaimed

"Sir! We've detected two balls of plasma headed right for us…seems like they were fired from a ship! Impact in 10 seconds! Our shields will hold, but the escorts have no shields up!" reported the tactical officer.

"RED ALERT! Tell all ships to raise shields!" Kyle frantically shouted. He knew Ed had somehow gotten to Macbeth, no other starship had plasma cannons, except for the Black Knight.

None of the ships were able to get their shields up in time. When the plasma shots detonated against the Prism's shields, the shockwave traveled outward at double strength towards the lead two ships, the Cabal and the Arbold. Both ships were consumed by the shockwaves, torn into large pieces by the concussive force. There was no chance anybody survived the blast at all. A few burnt pieces of the two ships tumbled towards the planet, soon to burn up in the atmosphere.

Kyle stood up after the blast had thrown him to the ground. "Damage Report!" the hyena barked

"Forward shields at 25%. The Arbold and the Cabal have been completely destroyed!" said the TO.

"Is the forward Prism Cannon ready?"

"Yes…"

"Then move out…find the Black Knight, and use the cannon on it!" Kyle snarled.

Black Knight

"Looks like we got their attention." ROB-2 said "The Death Prism is coming right for us"

"Okay, then," Ed said as his Arwing flew out into space "It's time to give Kyle a bloody nose he'll never forget." Ed adjusted his Katana, his K21, and his Omni-Falcon, so they didn't hamper his piloting. Kyle, If I make it onto the Death Prism, which I will, I will kill you he thought, as he led Mark, Damien, and Karl towards the massive fortress.

"All right, you all know what to do." He said to the Shadow Wing and Starfox pilots, who were flying ahead of his own squadron.

Right now, Fara and Katt were flying in formation with Starfox, as if they were an integral part to the team. And maybe that's what they are… Ed thought as the 22 fighters went straight towards the target, closing the distance rapidly. Ed watched as the Shadow Wing and Starfox fighters released their nova bombs, impacting on the fortress's shields. The shields flickered and died as the bombs overloaded them.

"I'm picking up a power spike, they must be trying to fire the cannon!" Damien shouted.

"Well, we'd better hurry up then!" Mark shouted

The 4 fighters were 800 meters from the front of the Death Prism when they each fired a Maverick Torpedo on Flechette load. The 4 deadly missiles streaked towards their target, with lethal precision.

***

Death Prism forward cannon FCS…10 seconds ago

"The forward shield is down! We must fire the cannon!" shouted Gunnery Sergeant Mikhail Koresh. Koresh was in charge of aiming and firing the forward prism cannon. He settled the crosshairs on the image of the Black Knight, and moved to push the FIRE button.

Then the Maverick Torpedoes struck.

Each Torpedo carried 100 flechette needles. The 400 needles smashed through the glass on the prism, ruining the focuser. The needles kept going, smashing through flesh, bone, and metal as it tore up the Fire Control room. Then came the explosive decompression.

Koresh had been hit in the leg by a needle, and was bleeding heavily, while trying to hold onto the FCS panel. Then he noticed that a command override had been issued from the bridge to fire the cannon. He looked at the laser, and saw the needles had cause the housing to be damaged so that the cannon now pointed at him. He desparetly tried to hit the shutdown button, but he was too late. The laser's hellish blast vaporized his right arm, and the FCS console, sending Koresh into space to die a cold and lonely death.

The laser didn't stop with Koresh's arm and the console. The beam melted through three decks, and punched a hole through an ammo bay, before dissipating. The blast from the ammo cooking off damaged many Prism Cannon Fire Control circuits, forcing the system into shutdown.

Bridge of Death Prism

The explosion from the ammo knocked Kyle to the floor. "What just happened?" he asked

"Apparently the laser misfired, and blew out an ammo bay, causing serious damage to the Prism Cannon Fire Control system. The system has shut itself down, and must take an entire hour for restart." Said the worried Tactical Officer.

"Fine, launch all fighters, get the forward shield online, let nothing get through!" Kyle shouted.

Out in space

"That did it!" Ed shouted "The prism cannons are offline for one hour! All fighters, break for the hangar!"

"Easier said than done…" Falco responded "Enemy fighters launching!"

Ed looked, and saw at least 100 Imperial Invader III fighters come streaking out from the Grazan IIs, and the hangar of the Death Prism.

"Take out anyone who tries to stop you!" Ed yelled "We only have at least 30 seconds to get there!"

Ed flew towards the hangar, blasting fighters that got in his way. He had no clue if anyone would get to the hangar along with him…until he saw Mark, Damien, Karl, Fox, and Falco flying towards the hangar as well. As the final few seconds ran down, the 6 Arwings made it into the hangar. The rest of the Cornerian fighters turned around and started fighting the Imperials. The Black Knight opened fire with its gauss cannon, splitting a Grazan II down the middle, with Slippy, Fara, and Katt delivering the finishing blow with a nova bomb attack.

Chapter 33

Death Prism

"Sir, 6 enemy ships have just disappeared from our sensors!" said the TO

"Destroyed?" asked Kyle

"Negative, they were last flying towards hangar bay 1, and then…sir?"

Kyle's face was ashen "Get a security team down to that hangar…on the double!"

"Yes, sir!"

Kyle then contacted Generals Caine and Stienburg, who were on the Venom. "I want you to have the remaining escorts fight those capital ships…now!"

"That's suicide!" Caine shouted

"Up yours! Do it or I'll conduct a Prism Cannon test…on your ship!" Kyle shouted back.

"Very well…" Caine said, and then he cut the connection.

"Do we act now?" Steinburg asked

"No…not until we are sure he cannot get to us." Caine said

Death Prism hangar bay 1, 30 seconds later

The security squad ran down the hall, all 10 soldiers decked out in Mk. VII battle armor. They opened the door to the hangar, and saw the 6 Arwings, just sitting there, but the cockpits were wide open, and it didn't look like anybody was there.

"There's no way they could've passed us, they have to be here" said the squad leader. "Look around."

As they went to look around, the 6 pilots of the Arwings jumped out of the "empty" cockpits. Their K21s blazing a line of death. 5 enemy soldiers fell instantly with bullet wounds to the head. Ed drew one Omni-Falcon, and his Katana, shooting and hacking at the remaining troops while the other 5 pilots provided support. The squad leader was the only one left soon, and he desperately called for backup, but he never finished the sentence as Ed leapt into the air, and ran the jackal through the chest with his katana.

Ed looked around. Nobody had been injured. "Well, I guess it's up to us 6 to do the job." He said. "We should be able to find a map that points us to the bridge, so let's get going."

As they started to walk out…Ed heard a noise coming from the squad leader's communicator. "Ricardo, come in…Captain Ricardo respond!" Ed recognized the voice as Kyle's. Ed grinned as he snatched up the communicator. "Just so you know, Ricardo and his team are dead!" he shouted

"Who…what…Ed?!" Kyle stammered.

"That's right asshole." The wolf snarled "Your day of reckoning is at hand. I am coming to kill you, and you will not be able to stop me."

Ed then threw the communicator to the ground, smashing it to bits. "Now that that is taken care of…what?"

Ed saw that Damien, Karl, Mark, Fox, and Falco were all staring at him "You idiot!" Falco shouted, "You told him we were coming!"

"Wrong," Ed responded "I told him I was coming. As far as he knows, I am alone, and that will be his mistake."

"Yeah, but he'll send everything he has at you! And as a result…us!" Damien yelled

"No, he won't, he'll send only what he thinks is necessary to kill me. Trust me, he is far too stupid to think that he doesn't need to send an army to stop me. Now, we need to get going. If we move now, we can take most reinforcements by surprise"

With that, Ed started running towards the door out of the hangar. Warily, the other 5 pilots followed him. He's a loose cannon, Fox thought, but maybe there is a method to the madness.

***

Nobody noticed the gray Arwing that flew into the hangar bay after the 6 pilots left. The cockpit opened, and Jack Vong stepped out. Jack immediately set out on the trail of Ed and the other 5 Cornerians.

***

More Imperial troops came, but Ed slashed and blasted his way through them like a samurai Jason Voorhees meets Neo. When the fighting stopped for a second, Ed hacked the central computer to access the maps. "All right, I've got the fastest path to the bridge, as well as any secondary paths in case the fighting gets too hot."

"All right." Fox said "Let's get going"

The door at the end of the hall opened, and more Imperial soldiers came out shooting. The 6 Cornerians dove for cover and returned fire. Some Imperials fell, but they just kept coming

"Is there any other way out of here?" Mark asked Ed.

"Yes, there is a bypass hallway just 5 meters ahead. If we can reach it…" Ed answered as he stepped from cover and opened fire with his Omni-Falcon, and began running for the door.

"Ed, what the hell are you doing?!" Karl shouted as he started firing to save his squadron leader. The other 4 Cornerians slowly reacted to try and save Ed from death.

The 6 Imperials had been taken by surprise by Ed's apparent suicidal charge, and slowly opened fire with their rifles. Ed brought his katana up and started deflecting the bullets. Time slowed down for him as he ran, his pistol emptying it's clip into the Imperial soldiers, while he deflected the oncoming bullets, and while his compatriots assisted him. The Imperial soldiers crumpled under the assault, and the 6 Cornerians had ducked into the bypass hallway before reinforcements could arrive.

As they ran through the hallway, Fox asked "Ed, what the hell was that? I've never seen anybody deflect that many bullets before!"

"That…" Ed answered "Is something I learned from Dave. It's called being in "The Zone". When you reach a certain plane of mental and physical concentration, things tend to slow down, allowing for precise movements like that. It's a big part of the martial arts style Dave studied under. He was able to do that for a complete minute at best. I'm only able to sustain it for maybe 20 or 30 seconds. Even so, I don't use it much, unless I have to."

"Seems to require a lot of physical exertion," Falco remarked as he noticed Ed was running a bit slower, and beginning to lag behind.

"Yeah, but I can usually regain my strength quickly…turn right here." Ed said as they reached a fork in the hallway.

"Where does this hallway lead?" Karl asked

"According to the map, it leads to a corridor that goes to the main bridge elevator." Ed replied. Just then, the sensors on his shades picked up an odd chemical reading "What the…?" he stopped running, and so did everybody else.

"Ed, what's wrong?" Mark asked

"The chemical sensors on my shades have picked up plutonium 10 decks up…but they're having trouble identifying the source, but the content is too small to be the reactor core, plus that would show uranium."

"Let me see." Fox said as he took the shades from Ed and read the readout superimposed on the left lens. "Dear God…the madman…he's carrying 14 Apocalypse Cruise Missiles on this thing!"

Everybody was shocked. The Apocalypse cruise missile was an improved version of the Copperhead. It was designed to carry nuclear warheads, and as such the CDF had banned and outlawed the use in any of the sectors it controlled. That obviously did not stop the Imperials from creating them, and now Kyle had put some on the Death Prism. Ed could only imagine what Kyle would do, given the chance.

"We have to destroy those missiles, right away!" Falco shouted

"We can't," Ed said glumly "The security locks on that deck can only be deactivated by Kyle, or one of the Generals. It may be possible, though, to disable the locks from the main computer on the bridge, however."

"Then we have to hurry" Fox said "The missiles are offline now, but Kyle may decide to use them against us if things go bad. Radio Jason and tell him of our situation."

Ed contacted Jason, and apprised him of the situation. Jason understood the threat, and he also reported that nobody had been destroyed in the fighting, but Jack reported a communications problem and there hadn't been a reply from him since.

"We'll keep an eye out for him if he made it onto the station." Ed said as he cut the communication. By now the 6 pilots had reached the door to the elevator corridor. They all unslung their assault rifles, and prepared to come out shooting. The door slid open, and the 6 Cornerians charged through it, ready to meet the Imperial guard forces. They dove for cover as the 30 Imperial troops arrayed in front of the elevator opened fire.

Chapter 34

Death Prism, same time

Kyle laughed as he saw Ed and the others run for cover. "This is too good! Outnumbered 5 to 1, eh Ed?" he shouted "I don't think you'll be coming to kill me after all!"

Then the camera in the hallway went out after 30 seconds of fighting

"Um…" the TO said "Are they dead?"

"What am I, psychic?" Kyle shot back. Then the communicator beeped.

"This is Captain Jamison." Came the voice on the other end. "We've driven back the intruders, at least 1 is seriously hurt. We have some heavy losses. We are returning to the bridge now."

"Good work, Jamison." Said Kyle "I am considering promoting you for your actions"

***

"Good work, Jamison." Ed said to the captured Imperial captain as the communication ended, "Now, activate the elevator"

Ed and the others had managed to defeat all but 6 of the Imperial guard troops with frag grenades. Falco had taken a bullet to his left wing, which he was busy bandaging, while cursing up a storm. The remaining Imperials had been forced to surrender, and were now taking Ed, Mark, Karl, Damien, Fox, and Falco up to the bridge.

As the elevator went up, the 6 Cornerians got behind the 6 Imperial captives, while training their assault rifles on them. The elevator slowly rose the 5 decks up to the command center of the space fortress, then ground to a halt.

***

Kyle saw the elevator doors slide open, revealing the 6 remaining Imperial troopers, but he noticed something was amiss.

"Captain, what happened to your squad's assault rifles?" Kyle asked.

Svensgaard never got a chance to answer, as the Cornerians opened fire. The bullets tore the Captain's command apart, and then started to work on the bridge crew. Kyle ducked behind his chair, as he realized Ed had made it up to the bridge now, and he was not alone. All around him, he watched as the bridge crew fought back, but were hopelessly gunned down by the Cornerians. Only Kyle and the TO survived, and the TO jumped into an escape pod, and flew away.

Kyle got out from behind his chair.

***

I am death.

Ed watched Kyle emerge from hiding. Ed slowly walked towards him, Katana drawn.

You cannot escape your fate, Kyle

Kyle drew his Magnum "Never bring a sword to a gunfight!" he shouted as he fired three times

Ed deflected all three shots, the last one knocking the magnum from Kyle's hand.

Wrong move, Kyle

Ed ran towards Kyle, but Kyle drew his Katana, also one that had been Dave's, which halted Ed's advance.

"Fine, if you want to fight with swords, than so be it" Kyle said "Prepare to die!"

"Ed, you don't have to do this!" Mark said "Just shoot him and be done with it!"

"What? And lose all morals and honor? Hell, no!" Ed said as he and Kyle began staring one another down. "Bring it, you Hyena bastard!" Ed shouted to Kyle "It's time to do what I should have done a year ago!"

"What's that? Save your friends instead of asking me to do it?" Kyle laughed

"No…KILL YOU!!!" Ed shouted as he leapt towards Kyle. Kyle, though not a master swordsman, easily readied himself to block Ed's rage driven swipe. What he didn't realize was that Ed had tricked him into thinking it was driven by rage, but was instead a well calculated strike. Kyle barely managed to block the overhead chop Ed used on him. Kyle then tried to run Ed through, but Ed knocked the thrust away with lightning fast speed. Both of them blocked each other's attacks, and then struggled to break contact. "Look around you, Ed," Kyle said "See this mechanical monstrosity I have constructed. In a half hour, the cannons will be back online, and all you know will be destroyed"

"Not if you die first!" Ed shouted back as he began attacking again. Kyle was easily parrying his moves, and Ed was starting to tire. His rage-fueled assault was not achieving anything, except fulfilling Kyle's attack plan. As Ed wearily blocked another attack by Kyle, Kyle punched Ed right in the face. The hit sent Ed reeling, and he fell to the ground, his sword clattering just out of reach. Before he could reach it, Kyle pinned Ed to the ground and wrapped a clawed hand around Ed's throat.

"So this is how it ends." Kyle laughed, oblivious to the fact that the other 5 Cornerians were getting ready to kill him "You will slowly lose consciousness as your breath is strangled out of you, Ed. And just before you black out, I'm going to ram Dave's sword through your chest.

At the mention of Dave's name, Ed suddenly remembered his promise he had made. I will never let Kyle kill anyone again because of my inaction. Then he thought of Katya, and what might happen to her if he failed to stop Kyle. Must…not…give up!!!! I WILL WIN!!! Ed suddenly got a burst of strength, his right hand wrapped around his Katana's hilt, and he started punching Kyle in the face

"This…ends…now!" Ed shouted as Kyle stood up and backed away, startled by Ed's sudden revival, blood pouring from his face. Ed charged at Kyle, who tried to block the attack, but the force of Ed's attack knocked Kyle's sword free, sending it skittering across the bridge. Then Ed slashed his blade across Kyle's right leg. Kyle yelped in pain, then surprise as Ed kicked him 5 feet backwards.

Ed walked to Kyle's prone form, looking at Kyle's fearful expression as he struggled to escape.

"You were wrong Kyle," Ed said as he raised his sword to impale the hyena "THIS, is how it ends."

"Iie!"

The sudden shout caught Ed off guard, and he was even more caught off guard when somebody knocked his sword aside, causing it to embed in the floor next to Kyle.

Ed looked to his right, and saw that Jack Vong had deflected the sword.

"What the hell did you do that for!?" Ed shouted.

"To stop you from making a mistake." Jack said

"What are you talking about? Do you have any idea why I was going to kill him? He caused one of my friends to die, he sold out the CDF, and he built a space fortress loaded with WMDs!"

"You're wrong about one thing." Jack responded

"What!?"

"Dave Cheng did not die last year."

"What are you talking about? I saw his fighter go down in flames."

"You only saw what you were meant to see."

"And how would you know?"

"Because…I am Dave"

"No…you can't…he died!"

"Look at me, except for a few scars, I am exactly the same as I was a year ago. I even have the sword, the third of three. You and Kyle have the other 2." Jack said as he held out his katana

Ed picked up his own katana and compared the two…they were exactly the same.

"If you didn't die, then what happened?"

"I'll tell you!" Kyle said "He found out that I was planning treason!"

"Exactly," the lizard responded "last year I found out that Kyle had been in contact with two Venomian Generals, saying they needed someone to lead the Imperial Army of Venom to destroy the CDF, in case of Andross's demise. Those Generals are now the two leaders of the IAV…General Josef Caine and General Katlin Steinburg. When I went to Lt. Kent about Kyle's doings, he discounted them as a rumor. Somebody, however, did not."

"Exactly!" Kyle said as he managed to stand up, but he didn't move after that, as Falco, Fox, Damien, Karl, and Mark trained their guns on him. "I found out about your attempt to let the Lieutenant know of what I was planning…so I had General Caine send some assassins to kill you!"

"May I point out…that that attempt failed." Dave said "Your assassins tried to jump me in Corneria City, and I was forced to kill them."

"Wait…I remember hearing about a cadet getting attacked by three mysterious assailants, but the assailants wound up dead." Mark said "You were the cadet?"

"Yes…" Dave said "Anyway…after that incident, I was contacted by Jason Kage, of Shadow Wing. He told me that my life was in danger if I continued to live, knowing what Kyle Kerrigan was planning. He proposed to me a deal. I join Shadow Wing, at the cost of Dave Cheng's identity and life. I reluctantly agreed. So when the Imperials attacked Corneria during the Lylat War, I found my chance to let Dave die. The fighters that shot me down were actually remote controlled fighters flown by Shadow Wing, which fired powered down lasers. Using some movie fire props, I made it look like my Arwing had crashed, and I had died. In reality, the Arwing and I were in one piece. I have been Jack Vong ever since. But since Kyle seems to be defeated, my alias is no longer necessary."

"So…I have been used again…" Ed said, a little angry, yet glad that his friend was still alive.

"Not used…no…otherwise, Kyle would be dead."

"I can never be defeated!" Kyle shouted "I am the emperor!"

"No Kyle…" Dave laughed "You are nothing but a pawn in Generals Caine and Steinburg's plans. It is you who has been used and manipulated. If you don't believe me…just look at your sensors, you'll see the remaining guard ships have not followed your orders, and are in fact moving away from the Death Prism."

Kyle looked at the sensor readout, and he realized Dave was right.

"General Caine, what the hell are you doing? I gave you an order!" Kyle barked into his communicator

"And I am not following it." Caine said "You have outlived your usefulness. Stienburg and I have manipulated you from the start into thinking you were holding the cards, but we knew your plans would never succeed. And even if you destroyed Corneria, it would just make things easier for the two of us to take over the Lylat system. I've already told all the troops on the Death Prism that you are a traitor to the cause, and they have agreed to shoot you on site. I'm surprised you aren't dead already, considering that your TO, who was working for me by the way, said that Ed Wallace, his squadron, and Fox and Falco kicked the shit out of your guard troops. One more thing, O'Donnell is working for me now, so he can't come and save you. Goodbye, idiot."

The connection severed, and Kyle was left ashen-faced, for the second time that day. "No…I've been tricked!" Kyle sank to his knees.

Ed ran up to Kyle, suddenly realizing Kyle could be helped, and maybe come back to the CDF. "Kyle…we have to destroy this thing! If you help us, maybe we can get you a lighter sentence…"

Kyle looked up at Ed. "Why do you want to help me all of a sudden? I just tried to kill you!"

"Because all your rage and hatred was stuff you were told, not you yourself…now, how do we cause a reactor overload?"

Kyle stood up and walked over to a console "This console controls the reactor cooling system," he said as he started pressing buttons "I installed an emergency self-destruct in case of imminent defeat." Kyle stopped pressing buttons, and a low rumbling resonated throughout the fortress, followed by an alert klaxon.

"The cooling system is destroyed. We have 20 minutes to escape before the reactor goes critical." Kyle said "Don't worry, I also deactivated the shields so we can escape."

"What about the Apocalypse missiles?" Fox asked. "The weapons officers in the missile room could try to launch them as a last resort."

"I have some remote mines." Ed said "We can set them on the missiles, then blow it up. We should still have time to escape if we hurry."

Ed handed Kyle his magnum and his Katana "Kyle, you lead us to the missile room and deactivate the locks."

"No need for me to deactivate the locks on site," Kyle answered. "I can disable them from here" A few keystrokes on the security console later, "That did it, we now have a clear path."

"Well, let's go." Ed said as he headed for the elevator.

Chapter 35

13 minutes later

"Warning, self destruct in 7 minutes." Said the computer voice

"Thanks for the info" Ed snarled. "We're here, let's get to work

For the last 13 minutes the 8 Cornerians had been fighting their way to the missile bays, and had finally gotten there. Now they were busy placing remote mines on each of the 14 missiles, one per missile.

"As soon as we finish, we have to get at least 400 meters away from this room. The blast will destroy any adjacent rooms as well, but 400 meters ought to be safe."

Finally the last mine was attached, and the 8 pilots started to leave, but just then the door behind them opened, and a crow, wearing an Imperial uniform and wielding a laser pistol stepped out, leveling his gun at Ed. Everybody tried to turn and fire, but they were too slow. All except for Kyle. He leapt into the path of the beam, and took the laser bolt in the back, just beneath the right shoulder blade. The crow was then shot dead, and Ed went to check on Kyle.

"You all right?" Ed asked

"I just got shot in the back, how do you think I feel?" Kyle said wearily.

"You're gonna be okay, we just have to get you out of here." Ed said, knowing full well that Kyle was badly wounded.

"No…leave me, give me the detonator and run." Kyle said, as he coughed up blood, "I can't reach my ship in time, and there are more troops coming, I'll hold them here until you're clear, and then I'll blast this room to bits."

Ed saw Fox was gesturing to him that there were more enemy troops coming. Ed decided that Kyle would have to die here, rather than escape back to the way things were before.

"All right, Kyle. You can stay here, just don't die before you push the button." Ed said as he handed Kyle the detonator. "Let's go." Ed said to the remaining pilots. "We have to hurry."

Ed took one last look, saw Kyle prop himself up against a wall, and shakily salute Ed with the CDF military salute. Ed returned the salute, and then he started running.

***

You know, I always did want to go out in a blaze of glory Kyle thought as the Imperial troops stormed into the room. Kyle started firing his gun, dropping troopers left and right. As one Imperial soldier tried to shoot Kyle, the hyena brought up the detonator.

"This is for using me!" Kyle yelled as he pressed the button…and passed into oblivion.

***

Everybody was thrown forward by the blast as the 14 missiles exploded, taking out all the rooms adjacent to it. Heavy blast doors slammed shut to prevent explosive decompression.

Ed picked himself up, and looked at the door that had cut them off from Kyle's last stand. Rest in peace…good buddy, Ed thought. Then he remembered that they were running out of time, and started running towards the hangar, his compatriots close behind.

***

4 minutes left

Ed and Mark blasted through 5 Imperial armor troopers.

2 minutes left

The 7 pilots slammed down a security door behind them as 20 Imperials pursued them relentlessly.

30 seconds

Ed and the others jumped in their Arwings and started powering them up.

10 seconds

The 7 Arwings took off and started flying out of the hangar

0 seconds

The Arwings were 5 kms away when the core went critical. The first blast tore a massive hole in the Death Prism's stern. Subsequent blasts traveled up the length of the battle fortress, ripping it into pieces, before being consumed by a small supernova. The blasts were accompanied by a sound that was like someone was throwing rocks in a window store. The Imperial's mighty superweapon was gone. All that was left were a few large pieces of burnt and torn metal. The remaining enemy capital ships, including the Venom, escaped into hyperspace, most likely bound for Venom (the planet, not the ship).

Ed contacted General Pepper, but put the transmission on broadband, so everyone in orbit could hear it. "General, the mission is accomplished. The Death Prism has been destroyed, and the Imperials are in full retreat."

"Good work." The General replied "Any casualties?"

"Just one," Ed said "Senior Warrant Officer Kyle Kerrigan"

"But…wasn't he…?"

"Not at the end." Ed replied "Kyle helped us destroy the Death Prism, after he found out he had been manipulated by his generals. He was killed by his own troops before he could escape, though. Kyle was just a pawn, and if there is one constant in the universe, it's that pawns were made to be sacrificed."

"Okay, if I understand your analogy…" the General said "Kyle was not the main brains of the operation…who was?"

"Two Venomian Generals named Josef Caine and Katlin Stienburg." Jason Kage cut in. "They got away…and I doubt that they're happy."

"Well, for now," Pepper said "The Imperials are beaten. They may come back, but we'll be ready for them. Return to Corneria. And once again, good work, all of you."

Epilogue

1 week later

Ed stood on the bridge of the Black Knight as the planet Zoness came into view. The clear blue waters were easily visible from orbit. The only sign of biological damage was in the southwest hemisphere, where the bioweapons had been manufactured by Androssian forces.

After the 3 squadrons had returned to Corneria, General Pepper had given them all an indefinite shore leave. This was easy to do, because the Imperial forces had all fallen back to Venom, and had not made any more aggressive attacks. Some forces tried to hold onto Macbeth, but the Damocles Security Force kicked them out.

Katya walked up to Ed "What are you thinking about now?"

"Well…" Ed said "I'm thinking about what happened on the Death Prism. I had wanted to kill Kyle so badly, but when I found out that he had been manipulated, I wanted to save him, and help him back to our side. And he had wanted to kill me, but then he gave his life for mine. I guess I just don't really understand what happened there."

"The way I see it," Katya said as she put her arm around Ed's "Is that Kyle must've decided that he would never be at peace until he repaid the debt you forced on him when you tried to help him…and he did repay that debt."

"You know, Katya…" Ed said "You're probably right. I'm just glad that the end result was that the Imperials have been beaten, and we are at peace…plus we get unlimited vacation time!"

Both Ed and Katya laughed about that as the Black Knight descended towards the planet.

THE END

Apology: I apologize for the love scene in part 5…it wasn't written too well.

Disclaimer: I only own the Black Knight, the Black Wolf Squadron, Shadow Wing, Prince Victor Davidson, Lt. General Magnusson, Admiral Ken Collins, Vice Admiral Gestahl, Generals Caine and Stienburg, The Phantron, the Death Prism, and the Intimidator class battlecruiser. All other things pertaining to Starfox and the Starfox universe copyright Nintendo…a great company that doesn't want to sue me…unlike that stupid RIAA (think they're the FBI, lousy punks). Refer to any other disclaimers for more detail.

One more thing: Ed Wallace and Black Wolf will return in Shattered Lylat: The Fragmentation War. First chapter will be out soon.