A/N: This chapter won't jump around as much as the last one did. I don't know if this is longer or shorter than the last chapter but that doesn't really matter. Thanks everyone for your feedback I really appreciate it. It keeps me motivated to write more. This fic is pretty close to being completed and so I warn you all again that chapters are starting to get longer.

Disclaimer: I do not 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 23: Friend or Foe?

Disturbed by what Shannon had stated, Fox found himself unable to sleep. Not only that but his eyes wouldn't close at all. "The only thing history has taught us is that we will all someday die..." That's what Shannon had said right? Fox didn't think this was entirely true. Something else has to have been learned from the countless errors that have been made since the beginning of time. Of course this war wasn't one of them.

A small candle illuminated the room that Fox was in. Krystal was next to him sound asleep. She didn't seem to have any worries on her mind at all. She seemed confident in the actions that the furs were going to take. She believed in the success of Corneria.

With Shannon on his mind, Fox found himself entangled in another thought. 'What am I REALLY fighting for?' He asked himself. He wasn't sure anymore, but he had to agree with Shannon. Was he really fighting to free Corneria from the shackles that Scales had bestowed upon them? Or was he really fighting just to avenge his father? It didn't seem to him that he could have it both ways. It was how Shannon had said it to him that made him think.

Fox had heard it before, "You're no better than Scales..." and those words hurt. Fox knew he was different from Scales. Fox did care about Corneria but it seemed as though getting revenge for his father was all that mattered. He had to consider that he really hadn't taken the furs or Corneria into account from the get go. He had been constantly thinking of James.

***

Mia had been thinking all night for some odd reason. She had been thinking of the perfect way to go about it. She knew that the furs had the upper hand right now because of the 'security' that Scales had. She had to admit that she never expected Shannon to rally up troops like that. She had misjudged him that was for damn sure.

Mia sat at a table with Wolf and Peppy. While she was thinking of an attack strategy, Wolf and Peppy wanted to do what they hadn't done in a LONG time. That was to just relax. They had a drink that Shannon had brought from the palace, Red Wine to be more specific. In Corneria there was always meaning in drinking Red Wine before a battle ensued. Drinking Red Wine before a battle was tradition in Corneria and Peppy wasn't about to let it die now.

"Let's celebrate our victory now with a drink." Wolf insisted.

"We haven't 'won' yet, Wolf." Mia reminded him.

"There's no way we can lose the battle now. We have everything needed to win the battle. Good strong warriors, the brains for battle and the encouragement." Wolf toasted and tapped Peppy's glass with his. "As far as I'm concerned, Scales won't know what hit him."

"How can you be so overconfident?" Mia asked

"Because Scales is 'overconfident' as it is." Wolf put his feet on the table and leaned back in his chair. "He thinks he's completely invincible right now. Imagine how disappointed he'll be when we cut through him like butter." Wolf smiled. "The bastard will be BEGGING for us to kill him."

Mia shook her head as the door behind her crept open and in walked Fox McCloud. "You don't look so well Fox." Mia eyed him. "You haven't slept either."

"Shannon...said a few things." Fox responded and took a seat next to Mia.

Wolf offered a glass and raised a brow. "Red Wine?" He asked.

Fox cupped his paws together as he sat at the table and he declined Wolf's offer.

"Oh, but it's celebration." Wolf pleaded with him.

"Celebration? What are we celebrating?"

"A glorious victory!" Peppy cheered quietly as not to wake anyone up. "We're going to end this soon Fox, can't you feel it? Victory is within our grasp."

Fox looked at Mia to make sure he heard the two right. She nodded and Fox smiled. At least they had faith and that's all that counted. "When I'm in the throne, things are going to change." Fox leaned in towards Wolf and Peppy. Mia frowned at him and Fox only smiled. "We're going to win right?" He smirked and eyed the glass Wolf had offered. "Let me celebrate too."

"You can't all jump to conclusions just because Scales feels more secure." Mia restated.

Fox took a sip of Red Wine. "But we can still dream that we've won can't we? And when we do win Corneria is going to be different. We'll rebuild our civilization and then I'm going to create a new justice system. We'll no longer have to fear the chains that Scales put on us ever again."

"Sounds promising." Mia said.

"It will be." Fox continued. "It'll be just as peaceful as Zoness was when I was there for ten years. Guards won't just protect the palace, but our Kingdom too. I would really admire that a lot. But they won't just be our 'guards.' No, that would be too simple. I want everyone that walks around at night to know that we're safe and that this will never happen again. I want them to know that when they walk beneath the stars they can do it without having to worry if they're safe or not."

"Don't be too hard though." Mia reminded him. "Macbeth tried that and now the furs have rebelled against the human king."

"It's only a dream I guess." Fox sighed and took another sip of Red Wine. "But when I'm King, I don't want guards to be following my every move. I want to be a part of Corneria too. I don't want to be judged as a King…but as a normal fur. I don't like formal presentations. I would request not to be called 'your majesty' or 'King McCloud' or whatever. I just want you all to call me 'Fox' and not think anything else of it. I'm still a fur too. I'm not some all powerful being."

Wolf held his glass up. "Well said Fox." They tapped glasses together and drank them down.

"So what else do you dream of in your 'perfect' world?" Peppy asked.

"No more hurt, pain or sorrow." Fox smiled and then gave a serious look. "But that's all it is Peppy. It's just a dream."

***

Night had befallen Zoness and the troops felt ready for combat and action. As usual, they believed that the battle was for Zoness.

They were going to start marching soon. Katt wanted to give the troops another day of rest and time to say goodbye to their families seeing as how some of them might not return. But Shane's words still rang in some of their minds. For that they insisted on marching now. They didn't see this battle as a battle for Corneria but more of a battle for Zoness. They wanted to march now and Katt didn't think it would be necessary to stop them.

They all grabbed trees, bushes, brushes or whatever it was they needed to 'move the jungle' with Shane leading the troops. They chose Shane to lead them and he put Falco as the second on command. Katt would be hidden among the walking jungle.

Katt warned them that the march would take more than a day but the troops didn't have a moment to spare. Before they knew it they were walking off to Corneria and they wouldn't take two days. They were going to march until they got to Corneria. As Shane had put it "We won't sleep until the battle is done!" He knew they were willing to go by it but chances were they'd end up sleeping in the desert. They packed food for that reason.

The march would take a while seeing as how they had to "move the jungle" with them. Not only that but bringing weapons with them was also sure enough to slow their progress down.

Shane took a sword in arms and covered it with a golden sheath that glistened in the morning sun. "The hour is at hand." He sighed as they started to march away from Zoness taking the jungle with them. He stopped and so did his troops and he turned to face them. "The desperate hour beckons on us." He began to speak. "Let's take a moment to pray to the Great Fox for a successful battle and a safe return to the ones we love." With that they all lowered their heads in a silent prayer. About two minutes elapsed with not a sound from the troops but their breathing and at times their armor.

Shane raised his head and the others did the same a moment later. "The battle is ours." With those words the march towards Corneria truly began.

***

Fox was back in the room where Krystal now lay fully awake with her eyes open staring off into space. "Are you scared?" Fox asked as he walked in a sat down on the bed next to her.

"There's nothing to fear anymore. We either succeed or we die trying. Once you've lived here Fox you learn a whole new definition for the word 'fear.'" She breathed. She turned to face Fox on the bed and looked up at him. "Are you scared?"

Fox shook his head. "It isn't nearly as scary as when I left."

Krystal sat up at that moment and eyed him strangely. "But how can you remain so calm? I'm not scared but seeing you act as if this is nothing disturbs me. I'm nervous Fox…very nervous."

"I don't know why I'm calm." Fox positioned himself behind her and she rested into his shoulder. He wrapped his paws around her. Words couldn't escape him now. "Maybe it's that glimpse of hope."

"Life…hopes…dreams…they don't exist here."

"How can you say that? Weren't you the one with high hopes?" Fox reminded her. "You were the one hoping I'd come back and here I am."

She sighed as Fox began to rock them back and forth. "I did…but I just can't believe you actually returned."

"Don't be so surprised. Has Mia ever lied before?"

"No…she hasn't. But Mia can't even predict the outcome of this war. What if…what if we kill Scales but the rest of his troops don't surrender?"

"Don't talk like that. I thought you said you weren't scared? Here you are worried about an alternate ending to the fate of Corneria."

Krystal knew he was right. True, she was scared. "What if…what if we don't make it? What if YOU don't make it?"

Fox kissed her cheek softly. "Don't worry about me. Worry about yourself."

She found herself relaxed again but still worried. The thought of losing Fox for good hadn't occurred to her in this way before but it did now. She didn't know why this scared as much as it did. She'd survived hell and she felt like she could take on anything. She didn't feel as though she was scared of anything…but when it came to Fox it all changed. "Don't die on me…" She whispered.

"I won't die. I promise."

***

There was something odd about the way Shannon was viewing it all. He was starting to think again about what this war was going to mean to him. A lot of question had come up that he shouldn't have even jumped to yet. The first one being 'what's in it for me if we win?' and the second one being 'what do I do afterwards?' Two questions that were actually fairly common among most of them.

Shannon was in the palace at the moment in his room where he had been staring at the ceiling for what seemed like hours. He was beginning to see different colors and he began to think he was crazy. But it wasn't craziness. It was more of something to soothe him. 'Everyone must be nervous.' He thought. Mia had started them on training but it seemed most of them already knew how to use most of the weapons by defending off sharp claws around the shattered kingdom. Shannon only hoped that they knew how to take down a red-eye.

The starry night sky outside his window somehow gave him a false hope about everything. "She hasn't been wrong thus far," he referred to Mia. "Let's hope she isn't wrong now."

***

The troops hadn't marched far before they had stopped. Perhaps they really did want to get a good nights rest. This was probably just a head start. They set up a small camp fire and set their stuff down to rest as they ate what rations they had as some sat around the fire. Falco and Shane were next to one another. Katt sat down next to Shane and smiled. "I admire your words." She said pleasingly. "You've really got them motivated."

"I didn't think my words were all that strong." Shane admitted. "Can't you tell that I was just making it up as I went a long?" He whispered to her.

"It's no surprise Shane." Falco invited himself into the conversation that had just gone underway. "No one really ever knows what to say at times like this. Look at your troops now. They feel as if they're fighting for something. Before you had told them that they were fighting for the next generation you could see them questioning this whole battle in their minds. They were struck with fear. I don't think I could've pulled them out of that state the way that you did."

This made Shane smile a tad bit. "It was true though."

"Of course it was. But what about the sharp claw that stand before the palace? What about them?"

"We follow what Mia says." Shane replied. "We don't disobey."

"How are you going to tell THEM that?" Falco pointed to the troops in a clockwise fashion. "They won't believe a sharp claw has gone 'good,' you know that as well as I do."

"It's a 'battle' Falco. I picture it like Macbeth. In our campaign to overthrow the king we had traitors and rogues among us. You don't always know whom to trust. You have to leave it up to your own judgment sometimes. But do you think Mia would stare us wrong?"

Falco sighed. "Shane I don't even know who the hell Mia is!"

"Just trust her and we won't fail." Shane assured them.

"The rules of war I guess…" Falco shook his head.

To this Shane raised a brow. "Rules of war? Falco, there ARE NO rules in war. If there were rules then it would only be to survive and haul your ass out of there alive."

"Oh, you've done this before I see…"

"It's all common sense." Shane replied.

"We should probably get some rest now." Katt advised. "The march is long and I fear that even now we still won't make it tomorrow. We get up with the sun tomorrow."

"Agreed." Shane nodded.

***

The dark clouds over Corneria hid away some of the stars and made it easy to sneak around through the night. He went creeping through the fur hideout like a shadow gluing himself to the wall to make sure that he didn't make any loud noises. He tiptoed slowly towards Fox's room, blowing out candles along the way to make sure he wouldn't be seen.

When he crept into the room he was sleeping next to Krystal and the candles illuminated the room. He blew those candles out too as he took the Arwing blade and then drew his own dagger. Krystal groaned a little in her sleep and at first it startled him. 'Be quick about it!' He told himself and quickly took the dagger in hand. He put the other on Fox's mouth and this jolted the vulpine awake. He struggled for a moment until he felt a blade against his throat.

Fox couldn't see who was doing this because it was pitch black and Krystal hadn't awaken since he didn't have that much of a struggle before it finally came to a swift conclusion. She slept peacefully without a notion as to what had just happened.

"On your feet." He whispered to Fox and of course there was no objection. "Walk!" He rasped and poked Fox in the back with one of his sharp claws.

"Where am I going?" Fox suddenly asked out loud in hopes that he'd awaken someone. But for some reason he felt as if he should actually GO THROUGH with this.

"It doesn't matter! My job is complete once you're standing in front of Scales ready to be executed."

Fox's eyes widened. 'Shannon! That bastard!' He thought. He wanted to take a swing but the claw to his back and dagger to his throat made sure that couldn't happen. Fox wanted to ask Shannon why…but Fox wasn't sure if it was really he…but it sure did sound like him. But it didn't matter because before he knew it he saw a white flash of light and was knocked unconscious…but he swore that it was Shannon who had come to get him…

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A/N: Still building up here. The battle is coming shortly and it'll probably start in within the next two chapters. They're going to be long so I'll let you know that now. I think this was a good stopping point though. Looks like Shannon wasn't really a good guy after all…