A/N Again, I'm about to start jumping around a lot. But I don't think that's really an issue here. Anyway, moving on with the fic, this chapter is mainly preparations in Corneria and Zoness. Fox is about to go to the resistance group and reveal himself, while Katt works to prepare her troops for battle. Shane and Falco are helping Katt prepare the troops while Mia and Shannon are trying to prepare the furs and traitors of Scales for battle. Now that I've done a recap…well there's not much else to do since the chapter is supposed to focus on all that stuff.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Star Fox, Nintendo and/or Rare do. Any relation to my original characters in anyway is entirely coincidental.

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Chapter 22: Prepare for Battle

The entire Kingdom looked even worse up close than far away. Fox wasn't ready to see it yet but he knew that he had to. "I shouldn't have left." He muttered to his companions as Wolf led the way to where the resistance was. It was in the western portion of town and that part was completely abandoned. It explained why no one ever walked around in this portion. "So all the furs are here?" Fox asked as they came to a building that was half mounted into the ground.

Wolf stood at the door and looked at Fox. "Only the furs that are still alive are here." He said and opened the door. They stepped inside and it was dark. They walked a little ways down the stairs and when they reached the heart of the abandoned building. At least it looked to be abandoned. There were two kits playing with a ball and they stopped to look up at Fox, Krystal and Wolf. "Is Mia still here?"

The two kits stood up and went to the back of what only seemed like a long hall. They opened the door and pointed. "Most of them stay in there." One of the kits whispered. He was a short hound and the other one was a husky.

"Thank you." Fox said to the kits. He didn't expect them to know who he was since they were obviously born after he left. They didn't look anymore than eight years old.

There was chatter coming from the room in front of them. The voice of Mia, and Peppy could be heard. Fox creaked the door open and the room from what seemed like thousands of furs was filled with gasp. Peppy saw Fox and his jaw dropped while Slippy fainted.

Fox stepped inside but Peppy wasn't entirely sure it was he. "Is that…is it really you Fox?" He asked. "No, you just look a lot like him." Peppy shunned it off.

It was then that Fox revealed the Arwing and Peppy's jaw dropped again. "It IS you!" He exclaimed.

Followed by Fox, Krystal and Wolf walked in. "I hope this is enough help." Krystal said.

***

Zoness was getting prepared with a few tests of strength and endurance. They weren't impossible. Katt made them all work out. Since more humans were stronger than furs she had them haul any wagons full of weapons and armor. Each peasant got a choice which weapon they could have. Katt watched it all progress and hoped that it would be enough. Zoness had about 3,000 willing to fight. The rest of the population was willing to help out in any other way.

Katt and her mother watched from the balcony as the troops picked out their weapons and trained a little more. "This is still unwise." Lady Monroe couldn't help but say. "You haven't given them enough time to prepare for battle. Many of them will fall."

"I realize that but YOU did not take the liberty of training them when Wolf first arrived." Katt hissed.

"You don't realize that many of those that are going to fight are young an inexperienced."

"But there are still those from the last war willing to fight. They can help to train them. Please mother, I want to help Corneria."

Lady Monroe knew her determination. "Then let me make a suggestion to you." Lady Monroe smiled. "This will work out for you."

Katt looked at her mom with a peculiar look. "What will work?"

"Tell your troops to go to the jungle of Zoness and take some brush, or cut down a tree big enough to carry along with weapons and armor. Then march towards Corneria holding all that brush and leaves and trees you've got. You'll make it seem as if the Jungle of Zoness is moving. This will further distract your enemy and give you time for a surprise attack. But DON'T reveal yourselves."

Katt smiled. "You're sure it'll work?"

"It's been a battle tactic for years. Scales will think that his men are going crazy until he sees it himself. This will distract him a little, and he'll be unprepared for an assault. Not only that but many of his troops will surely lose morale." She assured Katt.

"Then I'll do that." She replied.

***

Crosses were all over the palace. 'What is this?' He wondered. "Why do you have a cross on your shoulder!" Scales grabbed a sharp claw and eyed him.

He looked Scales clean in the eye. "Shannon did this to us. He said that if we could battle like this it would show us to be stronger. Believe me sir, when he engraved the cross it didn't hurt one bit. He did it to make us stronger for battle!" He answered.

"Boost of morale I see." Scales said. "How many did he do this to?"

"Only the ones that are under his wing. I suppose he also did it to tell us apart from the other units." The sharp claw answered him.

Scales had no objections and he let the sharp claw go. "That could work." Scales scratched under his chin with his massive claw. He turned around and walked back to his chambers. "Wolf!" He called, but there was no answer. He sat around in his chambers waiting for Wolf to come rushing in like he always did, but no one came.

Scales stood up and walked to Wolf's chambers and there was on one there. "Where did he go?" Scales began to wonder. "Shannon!" He called next.

As usual Shannon came rushing to Scales aide. "Yes your majesty."

"I like what you've done with your share of troops. I'm glad that you're one of us. I want you to know that I like your ideas. When the time comes, I want your troops on the front lines ready for attack."

'PERFECT!' Shannon smiled at what Scales had said. "Yes, your majesty."

"Don't let me down." Scales said and dismissed him.

***

Shannon walked out of Scales chambers. It was almost as if he was giving the resistance the victory. But he had to keep quiet. Scales was almost prepared but it would still be at least a month or two more before he had all the sharp claw he desired. The highest ID number that Shannon had seen so far was 9298. Yeah, it would take Scales a while to get up to 10,000.

Shannon left the palace. He knew that Scales probably wouldn't need him. Scales would be cooped up in his chambers all day.

Shannon walked towards the western end of town, knowing that there wouldn't be a sharp claw for miles along the kingdom.

He opened the door and stepped down into the abandoned building and through the door at the end of the short hall. As soon as he walked in the noticed Mia conversing with another fur. This one Shannon didn't recognize right away but Fox recognized him…

"You…you look like that sharp claw form the cave ten years ago!" Fox exclaimed. It took him a moment to realize it but the Shannon did resemble him.

Before For, Krystal or Wolf could do anything to jump to conclusion, Mia began to explain about Shannon. "Shannon is NOT our enemy!" She calmed Fox who raised his Arwing. "Shannon has rallied together about 2,000 sharp claw who are willing to go against Scales. Thanks to Shannon we stand a chance. But thanks to Wolf and Krystal now we stand an even bigger chance."

Shannon sat down. "So, you really are Fox McCloud. I don't really know you though. You might be thinking of another sharp claw. I know I probably don't look much different from the one you saw years ago but I assure you I wasn't old enough to walk then." Shannon bowed. "YOU are the King, are you not?"

"You all don't have to bow to me." Fox said. "Don't treat me as royalty, treat me as a normal peasant." Shannon then raised himself and looked Fox in the eye.

"Fox, tell Shannon what you've told the rest of the furs here." Mia urged.

"Shannon," Fox began. "you have helped Corneria a lot by having recruited so many sharp claw for us. The Queen of Zoness, Katt Monroe, has troops that are training as we speak. They should be here a week from yesterday. She should be coming with hopefully somewhere around 3,000 troops. With the estimated 1,000 furs here, we stand a fighting chance against Scales."

Shannon looked at Fox. "I'm glad to hear that." Then he looked to Krystal who was less than thrilled to see a sharp claw. Wolf didn't seem to care…but Wolf would understand. He too was a traitor. "Why are you here anyway?" Shannon eyed Wolf.

"I snuck out to Zoness to try to get them to raise an army."

"It seems you succeeded in doing so."

"It wasn't me who succeeded. It was Fox." Wolf said. "We haven't a moment to dilly dally though. Introductions can wait until later, alright Shannon." Wolf spoke. He knew Shannon, quite well at that.

They sat down at the table with Mia and Peppy walked in moments later. "Mia," he stood there but didn't seat himself, "where are the resources that Shannon promised us?"

"We have to wait until nightfall for that Peppy. Have a seat. I've got a plan." Mia insisted. Peppy sat down at the table as he was instructed. "First, we need a distraction so that we can get into the palace." Mia began. "I'm assuming that Zoness will take care of that." She said as if she didn't know what they were going to do. "But we have no way of knowing when to strike. I'm certain that Scales will use his strongest men in the frontlines to guard the palace."

"That's not accurate." Shannon spoke up. "Scales has left the front line to MY command. In which all my troops are secretly allied with us."

"That's a good start then." Mia nodded. "We need our weapons and resources TONIGHT, Shannon. We don't have any moment to spare. These furs may not know how to fight but many of the survivors here fought in the last war."

Fox didn't say anything. He didn't have a plan of any sort at that very moment. "How many troops do we have total?" He asked.

"At least 6,000 assuming you're correct about Zoness." Wolf said. "But we can't get our hopes up yet. Scales doesn't have THAT many more than us but his army is growing."

Fox sat still for a moment. Then be began to shake his knee, "You have to let me get Scales."

"You'll get him." Mia replied almost before Fox finished the question. "Remember everyone, it isn't just Corneria we're fighting for, so we MUST keep Scales at bay here."

"We won't have to worry about that." Shannon grinned. "With my troops on the front lines he won't know what hit him."

"We need a messenger." Krystal suddenly piped up. "We have to let Katt know about the 2,000 sharp claw turning against Scales." She was right.

"The message wouldn't get there in time." Shannon spoke.

"Oh but it will!" Wolf assured him. "We got here in one day. If we send a messenger and he keeps up and doesn't rest, he'll get there in no time."

"We DON'T need a messenger!" Mia said. "I'm the keeper of many dreams, I'll send her an image to let her know. Until then, we all stay put. We don't attack until the Jungle of Zoness moves." Mia said.

To this Wolf threw his head back and laughed. "A jungle can't move. And if it did, no one would believe it!" He fell on his back. "We're out in the middle of a desert where there are NO trees whatsoever. A jungle moving up to Corneria would look ridiculous."

"That's why it's going to work." Mia smiled.

***

"Everyone grab some green!" Katt ordered as her troops started hacking down trees in the jungle and cutting them down to carrying size.

Shane rushed up to Katt with a questioning look on his face. "What is this going to do for us?" He asked in a serious tone. "We don't have time for THIS!?"

"We start marching towards Corneria soon and I want to be prepared." Katt said.

"But what good is THIS going to do?" Shane said urgently.

"We walk towards Corneria holding whatever we cut down." Katt explained. "It'll look like the Jungle is moving. This will distract the enemy because knowing them, they've never seen this happen before."

Shane smiled. "Not bad at all."

Shane watched as they continued to hack away at the trees. Some sawed them down and then cut off branches. Some kept the branches to give it more of the jungle look to it. Katt had given orders and they were following them without question.

"After this I hope that we can have a long settled peace." Katt prayed.

Shane heard Katt and nodded. He didn't say anything as more trees fell and more leaves and such were pulled. The peasants were working efficiently. "Most of them look as if they haven't had any experience in battle…and you're expecting them to actually fight? They've barely trained for two days, it isn't enough."

"I'm aware of this but we have several troops from the last war. They still know how to fight. We'll be bringing extra resources for Corneria as well. The troops should be okay, this battle shouldn't last long at all." Katt assured Shane. "It can't last that long."

Shane looked at a few of the furs and humans. No doubt they were strong, but Shane was wondering if they could stare death in the face. Shane had endured much of Macbeth and he KNEW what a battle looked like just from being there. Shane was ready to die if he had to. He would put his life on the line for Fox or Katt. Shane eyed some of them and could see fear in their eyes. He whispered to Katt, "They need motivation. I can see it in their eyes, they're scared."

Katt could see it too but she herself wasn't much of a motivational speaker. "I don't know how I can motivate them. Why don't you do it?"

"Why me?" Shane asked and they got a few furs staring at them.

"You're second in command." Katt mentioned.

Shane wasn't much for motivation either but he knew one thing that calmed the nerves of everyone in Macbeth before the battle started once. "Hey everyone." He called out. This definitely wasn't Shane's sport. "Listen, umm…I know that it must not be easy for you to march into battle when you just lost your King, seeing as how you didn't have time to mourn for him. I know it's hard, he was my King too." Shane said calmly. He delivered his words much more calmly than anyone else could. "Listen, in a couple of days we'll be marching off into another battle. But that's all it is, a battle. It's not a war! We don't need to act like it's a war." Shane tried to calm them down…and so far it wasn't working.

'New plan,' he thought. "Alright everyone, have a seat." Shane said. Everyone eyed each other with weird looks but didn't object. They all stopped what they were doing and sat down. "Alright, I want everyone to take a deep breath and close your eyes. Don't think about the battle to come. Instead, think of something more pleasant." He said. They still gave him odd looks, but did as they were told. "Now I want you all to relax a little. It's not a war." he repeated. He actually got a few smiles this time.

"Now open your eyes." He said and they did so. Now Shane's look grew serious. "Alright listen, we're about to engage in a battle with our allies, the Cornerians. But this isn't our battle. It's Corneria's battle. When you get on the battlefield I want you all to think of what you're fighting for. You aren't fighting just for Corneria. You're fighting so that another generation can live their life. You're fighting so that life as we know it can go on." He realized this wasn't helping much but it caused some furs to consider this.

"It's not a war." Shane repeated again. "This is the sharp claw we're up against. They may have several troops, but do you honestly think they could win the battle? We won against them before, we know what to expect." Likewise, so did the sharp claw. "They lost the last 'battle' but do you honestly think they could win this one? They're going to screw up. When we march to Corneria in a couple of days, they won't know what hit them. You know why? Because we're Zoness!" Some furs started applauding now. Now he was getting somewhere. That was how he could motivate them…Zoness. "When we go to battle and a soldier gets struck down, that sharp claw hasn't just struck down a soldier, he's struck down a part of Zoness! When we kill one of their troops, we're not killing for our own selfish right; we're killing for Zoness! The bloodshed may be meaningless but if it helps for Zoness to survive another day, then dammit how meaningless could it be?" Now he had the troops with him and they began to nod and some applauded. "Let's not think of what we could lose from the battle…but whether yet what we WILL gain from the battle! After this I promise you all that Zoness will grow to be a powerful Kingdom! After this battle I swear to you that peace will reign on and on in the land of Zoness!" Now they stood up and nodded to Shane and some continued to applaud. Now they were with him. "So when we go to battle, it's not a meaningless battle but a battle to prelude the things to come. So come on! We're going to fight like we've never fought before!" Shane shouted and now they cheered. 'NOW they're on my side.'

The troops began to work faster in cutting down trees. They now realized that they weren't just rushing off into a senseless 'battle' but now they were going with hopes and dreams for their kits and for the years of peace Zoness would have afterwards.

They worked at much faster paces and the fear that Shane had seen in their eyes had faded and now became relaxation and a glimpse of hope. This was the only thing that Shane wanted to see. He turned and looked at Katt, who seemed much more relaxed as well. "NOW they're motivated."

***

In the night, after they were nearly prepared for battle, Katt couldn't seem to sleep. There was a voice whispering in her head that wouldn't cease. She tried to push the voice out but it wasn't happening. She sat up and put her paws over her ears, until there was a whisper that she could actually understand. "Your enemy may not always be your enemy." The voice said. Katt thought she was going crazy. "Don't harm the sharp claw that stand in front of the palace. They are your friends." The voice said and once more Katt thought she was going crazy. "They have a read cross on their shoulder and won't harm you…so repay the favor."

***

Katt jolted awake and was breathing heavily. "That was strange." She said. It was only a dream but it felt so real. "The sharp claw that stand in front of the palace…" Katt made a recap. "They have a red-cross…and they're allies?" Was the dream really just a dream? Or was it a message?

She swung her feet over the bedside and placed herself on the floor and walked over to her dresser. There was a note on the dresser and it was from Shane. Katt took the note and read it. Its contents were exactly what the dream had said…but the note was signed Mia.

Katt stormed out of her room and to one of the many guestrooms where Shane lay awake. "Where did this come form?" She walked up to him and flashed the letter.

"It isn't mine." Shane said.

"Your name is on it!"

Shane took the letter and read it. It was signed Mia. "How did she…?" Then it hit Shane. Mia had lots of tricks but Shane didn't realize it but he had obviously been sleep walked and didn't know it. "She used me." Shane said.

"Who?"

"It's Mia. She has a way of coming to you in your sleep and sending you visions. Sometimes it feels like reality. Go by the contents of this letter. You can trust Mia, I assure you of that."

Katt wasn't one to question Shane, but this Mia was a different story. "I'll take them to heart, but if they don't have a red-cross on their shoulder…then we spare no one."

Shane didn't object to the statement Mia's power was extraordinary at times, and this one was new to Shane. "Katt, trust her. She won't steer us wrong."

Katt turned to face Shane. "It's almost time to begin our march. The march will take at least two days with all that we'll be bringing with us. Get some rest, we're going to need it."

***

"I'm invincible!" Scales screamed in his sleep as Shannon and four other sharp claws crept by his room. Shannon urged them to be quiet and he walked along the floor quietly. There was a wagon in the courtyard that they'd loaded up with weapons and armor earlier. Shannon had that for the furs. Shannon was content that the furs were ready for the battle. After all, they'd survived in this hellish place; a sharp claw shouldn't be a problem. But how long had it been since most of them had taken up arms? Thirty years maybe?

They got to the wagon in the courtyard and they slowly began to push it, trying not to make too much noise. They got the wagon out of the courtyard by one of the side-doors. They weren't about to roll it through the main hall. Once it was outside the courtyard they rolled it to the western end of town. They were still in the clear.

As they pressed on they began to pick up speed. Shannon could care less about it all. When they came to a halt they knocked on the door. When it crept open, Mia was staring them in the face. "You got the weapons?"

Shannon nodded. "You really did a number on Scales. He ACTUALLY sleeps now! He's constantly muttering how he's invincible. It's actually quite humorous. That buys us some time at least. But he still won't stop until he has 10,000. He wants to be sure that victory will be his."

Mia let them in and they rolled the wagon on in as best they could. "It's almost done." Mia said. "Now all we can do is wait for Zoness to arrive. Then we strike."

Shannon smiled. "I'll pray to the Great Fox for you."

"And I'll pray for you."

As they walked inside Shannon saw the look of terror in the face of the kits. It was obvious they had no idea was about to begin. 'They shouldn't have to see this…' Shannon thought.

Fox was at Shannon's side as the wagon finally ceased. "How does it look?"

"Scales still seems to think he's invincible." Shannon said.

"Good. He'll be dumbfounded when Zoness comes and he'll have units attacking from both sides."

Fox walked off and Shannon couldn't help but follow. Fox sat down on a bed and Krystal rested on that bed. "How can you be so calm at a time like this?" Shannon asked. "How can you act as if what we're about to be up against is nothing? You make it seem as if we'll all get through this alive!"

"How can you be so tense!?" Fox shot back. "We either die or we don't die. There are no rules in war. We've nothing to fear. If we let ourselves become scared now then we won't be able to look our enemy in the eye and take him out."

"But I can't kill anymore. I had to take the life of my best friend just to join up with you guys. Then I had to take the life of another for no good reason. When does it all end Fox? When does the killing end?"

There was no clear way to answer the question. "We were put here to annihilate ourselves it seems. There are two sides to every story…just as there are two sides to a coin or paper money, or us for that matter. We've got two sides of us. The side that makes us evil, and the side that makes us good. When both sides combine we get who we are. You may not be able to kill anymore, but there's something that fuels me."

"The death of your father…Fox, that's the evil inside you. Sure, spilling Scales blood could be a good thing, but what if you're doing it all for the wrong reasons? Are you going to kill Scales for your own selfish need, which would be the death of your father, or are you actually going to do it for the liberation of Corneria? I can see the hatred brimming in your eyes. I don't think that you're thinking of Corneria at all."

This hit Fox, and it hit pretty hard. But hadn't he been told to avenge his father's death? But throughout the entire moment it seemed that was all he was thinking about. Just killing Scales to avenge his father.

"I'm not saying don't avenge your fathers death, by the way." Shannon added. "But that shouldn't be your only motivation in facing Scales. You know I'm right Fox. Stop thinking of yourself and think of Corneria. If you're only going to kill Scales to avenge your father, then you would be just as bad of a ruler for Corneria as Scales was. Think of your KINGDOM, and not just of yourself."

Fox knew that Shannon was right. "You're right." Fox admitted.

Shannon sighed. "But don't you see that all this bloodshed means nothing? Many furs have died because sharp claw killed them, and Scales doesn't give a damn. Then when Vixy died, Scales took advantage of their mourning. It was then that the hunt truly began. Many furs had been killed before then but once Vixy died, Scales gave the order that if it moves…kill it."

"It's not your fault…" Fox tried to say more but couldn't.

"But it is! I could've done something to stop it. I know where my limits lie. I watched the red-eye come in and feed off furs Fox. It was horrible. Death is never anyone's fault but the ones who cause it. I could've stopped it. But I didn't."

"Why didn't you?"

"I still can't figure that out."

Fox could somewhat feel Shannon's pain. "Why did you join us then? When you knew that bloodshed was inevitable?"

"Because I came to the realization that what Scales was doing was wrong. I also came to accept that Scales doesn't care about any of us. It was when I found that there were still many furs alive that I decided to join. I thought they were all dead. Scales promised the furs that he'd be a good king. Then look what he did. Then he told the same thing to us…and I realized that it was a lie."

Fox couldn't think of another question to ask at that point in time. It was clear that Shannon didn't like bloodshed at all.

"Death can't be stopped Fox." Shannon suddenly said. "So why do we hold on to life when we know we can't live forever?"

"What do you mean?"

"What are we really fighting for if we're all going to die anyway?" Fox remained silent. "History is repeating itself Fox…do you know what that means?" Fox shook his head. "It means we haven't learned a damn thing. There is only one thing that history has taught us Fox. You know what that is?" Fox shook his head. "History only teaches us that we'll all someday die."

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A/N: Kind of a long chapter, but it had some point. I thought this was a pretty good chapter it had a lot of meaning to it if you ask me. Not that much more left but the next chapter won't be quite as long and won't jump around quite so much…actually I'll tell you now that the next chapter will be considerably short.