A traitor they said. Someone who sided with the enemy for his own gain. CEF covered up this pretty easily, making Marx Vedell one of the most hated beings in this side of the galaxy.

The truth is...well; everybody alive has his or her own versions of the truth. I will not get far into this; there has been many versions of why this fellow did what he did.

At times, you do what you must to replace what you held dear in life.

-Martyr Desertfox

Spacelog Entry 20116-777

Chapter 5: Space scum

"Hrm. Arwings."

Commander Balrog peered trough the radar, noticing the small group of CEF fighters closing into his convoy. There was a hail onscreen, and he gave his officers the go to answer.

"This is Lieutenant Falco Lombardi, wingman of StarFalcon. We are on a trek to contact the Emerald Valiant and noticed your convoy along. Are you in need of assistance with your voyage? Over."

"This is Commander Balrog of the 14th regiment of the Lylat federation police. We are grateful for your offer, Lieutenant, but we are fine a we are. Be on your way, over."

There was a short silent pause, then Falco's voice came trough the speaker once more, "Alright, we wish you best of luck then. We will still be around this sector in case you need help. This is Falco Lombardi signing off, over."

"Understood, Lieutenant. Godspeed to you. Commander Balrog over and out."

The radar screen was clear of the Arwings, and the bulldog sighed.

"Damn military pencil necks. They guard the sector from Venom and they think everybody needs their help. Officer Gabriel, how far are we form our destination?"

"Approximately 44 clicks, sir." came the reply from a uniformed canine. His facial features were hidden inside a helmet, which also had a dark visor covering his eyes. The only visible feature of him was a muzzle, sharp and long, covered with brown and yellow fur. The ship they were in was an armored spaceship, colored in a variety of blues and whites. The rest of the convoy consisted of two more police fighters, one on each side of the armored ship.

This transport was built specially to take high-security criminals to another space jail colony. It could hold up to ten passengers, three of which were the officers in the bridge section of the ship. Six of the criminals would be fastened in seats in the rear section, which was heavily sealed from anything else. Another room was further down the ship, which would contain one criminal with a higher record than the rest. Usually, this would be the section for the most dangerous of criminals, and it would be sealed completely from anything else, including its incarcerated mates.

In this case, the sole passenger the ship carried was aboard that same room, there was no one else that the convoy was transporting.

"Good, keep it steady. I will check on our guest of honor. Contact me if something comes up."

"Yes sir," the officer replied.

*****

"Well, that's what I get for offering my help."

Falco's squadron sped up towards their destination. He held inside a comment towards the Commander, especially when he replied in such tone of voice. The falcon shrugged, and decided to concentrate on his own assignment. The rest of the ships formed a line behind him, following his directions to the letter. At least he did not had to worry about their behavior.

I wonder whom they were transferring. He thought. He hasn't seen a convoy in months, and the last time one attempted to cruise trough this side of the galaxy never made to its destination. There were rumors of many dangers on sector Z. This was one of the reasons why he did not want to take this route towards the Emerald Valiant.

"Team StarFalcon, we will begin warp speed in two minutes. Set your Arwings to mode-7, over and out."

An instant reply confirming his orders was heard, and Falco began the preparations on his fighter.

*****

"Welcome to Hangar 78, my name is Azrael Morbiary, chief mechanic."

The male tiger saluted Jason and Martyr, who in turn, saluted respectively. The place was pretty varied in length and space, leaving room for plenty of arwings to be stationed inside. They walked togheter, following the tiger troughout the place. Jason took a good glance over every fighter they passed by.

"We have heard that you may need a new designed of starfighters for your mission," the tiger continued, walking along. Martyr elbowed Jason lightly just to snap him from his daydreaming. Jason stared at her momentarily, catching a brief smile vanishing from her muzzle.

"And a new design is what we just created, I think you may like what you are going to take up in the infinite vastness of space."

"A bit poetic there, don't you think Azrael?"

The tiger turned his head to look at Martyr and smirked.

"As poetic as a venomian waving a white flag, Lieutenant."

They followed until they found themselves in front of a custom-designed Arwing. Its features were heavier and bigger than the regular starship, the tip and end of wings were colored in a crimson hue, and the rest of the body was a silvery finish. On each end of the cockpit, rested a pair of missile cubes, each comfortably resting on the top of the wings. The area on top of the nose had a silhouette of a red dragon printed on it, something that got Jason's attention quickly.

"This...it can't be..."

The tiger nodded and rested a right paw over the frame. "Yessir, one of the M-16 Arwings reconstructed from its fateful retirement three years ago. CEF customized it enough to make it more maneuverable, and fixed a few bugs in the frame just so it could support the extra weight. Fellow officers, I present you the StarDragon Arwing. Two cabins full of cluster missiles, a capacity of five smart bombs, and an extra set of heavy laser fire all in one tiny package."

Jason walked around the ship, exploring its detail and features. This was the same model that he flew in all those years ago, but the changes on it made it seem like a complete different vessel. Martyr was busy signing paperwork to the mechanic, so there was plenty of time for him to check out the model. He climbed to the cockpit, looking trough the glass at the controls. The likeness stopped there.

The interior was something completely alien to him, controls and buttons that were not present in the earlier model were now everywhere. The seat seemed a lot smaller as well. There were a few screens on either side of the cockpit, but no signs of wiring connecting them to the dashboard. The lever at the middle seemed to be only thing familiar to him.

He felt the yank of his tail and turned his head at Martyr, who was right below him.

"If you are finish inspecting your new toy, then we can go into training. This bird will be something you will have to get used to soon enough."

"Yeah...alright."

They both followed Azrael to the exit, Jason felt a ghostly sensation deep inside his mind. He wished that events would not repeat themselves now that he had a new responsibility on his paws. Martyr enclosed an arm around his, and lend her support over his uneasiness. The hangar door closed slowly behind them, announcing the end of another day at CEF.

***

"How far are we from the Lylat star system, Miss Alura?"

"Approximately two hundred clicks away, sir. The thrusters are doing a fine job pushing us to the desired destination."

"Good, I trust them to be." Admiral Cornfern said, his hands cupped in front of his snout. The Emerald Valiant's speed could shadow every other smaller vessel of its type, something that came in handy in case an emergency should appear in the vast, cold regions of space. The rest of the crew kept keyed in commands and make them appear on screen as needed, multitasking just so they may fix any problems at hand...before they happened. The twin skunks were the most silent of them all, the only noise coming from their hands tapping into the keyboard.

The husky sighed. An uneventful evening at most, but he was glad that everything was alright. No disputes among his crew, and no sights of the enemy elsewhere. If anything, this might've been a good time to relax on his own room and have a nice cup of coffee to soothe his uneasiness. It always bothered him whenever things seem to be under perfect control.

"It must be just a nagging thought..." he said outloud. Alura and Carmela both stared back at him.

"Sir?" Carmela was the first to ask.

"Nothing, just thinking outloud, Miss Carmela."

"Yes sir." she said, turning while giving Alura a smiling gaze. Alura resisted the urge to chuckle, she had never been around someone as Admiral Cornfern before. She felt the seniority in him, his seriousness...but there was something different that stood our from most bitter officers she encountered during the first years of her life in CEF.

She felt quite comfortable as a matter of fact.

At that same moment, a flash of orange colors appeared on her screen. A small digital text appeared on the lower right side of her screen that read "Unidentified Spacecraft Approaching."

She turned her head to Carmela, whose fingers were already flying trough the keyboard. Her attention then turned to the Admiral, whose furrowed eyebrows told her he was well aware of the sight.

"Report, Miss Carmela."

"It is a vast number of vessels, sir." The Giselle said with a neutral tone of voice, "many seem to be of warcraft design, although our scanners have not picked up just where are they from."

The Admiral turned to Alura.

"Are the ships within our range, Miss Alura?"

Alura turned to her screen. The radar picked up the signal that was indeed very close to the Emerald Valiant, but they seemed to be moving in a slow, steady pace. All the ships also moved in a linear manner, as if they were a convoy of a sort.

"Yes sir, and they keep advancing, they seem to be unaware of our presence."

"I see. Cut our engines then."

"Sir?" Alura asked.

"We will wait until they are within our communication range. Miss Lily, prepare all available channels to hail the ships when I give the order."

"Yes sir." the chipmunk said and made the necessary preparations for the communication link.

"Miss Rita, Tammy? Set shields to full, but do not give out code yellow just yet."

"Aye, Admiral." both said in unison.

"Sir, the ships have not stopped their speed, they are advancing toward us." Carmela informed.

"Onscreen." Cornfern said, and the main monitor changed into a large radar, while displaying the silhouettes of the entire fleet that was closing in. The female chipmunk looked back at him, with a question on her face. The Admiral nodded at her, and a hail was transmitted from a satellite gun on top of the ship. Moments later, a thin ray of light in a bluish hue was shot, advancing towards the first ship of the opposing fleet.

There was no reply.

"Hail them again, Miss Lily."

Another shot was made, but again, it was ignored. The ships kept advancing, without taking notice of the Emerald Valiant's presence. They seemed not to steer away from their path as well.

"Code yellow. Prepare all targeting systems and weapons, Miss Marion, prepare to shoot a warning shot at my command, is that understood?"

"Yes sir, all weapons are at the ready."

Admiral Cornfern was hoping that the ships may had a malfunction on their communications link, then again, he did not know just who they were dealing with just yet. He hoped for the best.

But the ships never slowed their pace.

"Shoot the warning shot."

A beam of light appeared from their ship towards the approaching vessels. In the radar, the laser beam missed the entire fleet, but just barely.

"The fleet has stopped, sir." Carmela inquired. "They seemed to be now within our visible reach.

"Onscreen." Cornfern pleaded. The green and yellow holographic view changed to a full color screen with the ships floating around the galaxy full of stars. A small variety of ships came into view, all having the appearance of warships, most of them had a rusty look on their surfaces, as if they were scrapped off any kind of color, others had just enough paint to distinguish themselves from the rest, but none of them had any insignia that could decipher their identity. Cornfern's fists tightened, he felt a sudden pressure on the back of his mind. One of them, the very first ship to come into view, had a familiar look to it, and he was not the only one to distinguish the design.

Alura turned her head with an alarmed look on her face. "Sir, the visual match is in par with that of Venomian starfleet ships...but it does not make sense why all their ships have been robbed of their own color and rank design, furthermore, it does not show any kind of damage on their ships, it was as if they were stripped from their surface intentionally."

"Space pirates perhaps?" The Admiral inquired.

"Perhaps, sir..." Alura said, and looked back at the main screen.

This does not make any sense, if they are indeed space pirates they should know this part of the galaxy is far too protected to fly across unnoticed. Alura thought. Her thoughts crossed in her mind as fast as her fingers tapped onto the keyboard. She relied messages towards every other terminal inside the bridge, giving options to each officer about courses of action that would be present during the following seconds of the ordeal.

"Miss Alura."

"Sir, I recommend trying our radios signals now that they are in range." the collie suggested. Cornfern sighed deeply, shifting on his seat. "Indeed, Miss Lily, open up a communications link and hail the halted vessels. We will give them another chance."

The chipmunk replied to his commands and began opening up any available channels to contact the crude-looking starships. She held her headset and pushed her microphone piece close to her mouth.

"This is CEF-03 Emerald Valiant of the Cornerian Elite Force. We request identification of your vessels, over."

Lily held her earpiece, waiting for a reply, but again, it never came out. The communications officer repeated the message once more and waited.

No reply.

Admiral Cornfern closed his eyes and tried his best not to come to conclusions. This was not going the way he intended, and the pressure was just building up. If the Emerald Valiant was no more than a flying fortress, he could've already made forced action towards the opposing starships. Fact was, his ship had crew and innocent bystanders inside of it, and he was not going to risk any of their lives by making the wrong choice. He opened his eyes once more and stared down at Alura, who observed his behavior the whole time.

"Sir, maybe their communications link was damaged...perhaps w should wait until they send a signal back to us?"

The husky leaned his head to the left and rested his chin on a fist. He was going to consider this.

With a nod, he straightened himself and looked straight at Lily. "Miss Lily, hail them once more."

"Yes sir," the chipmunk said and repeated the message once more.

"Miss Marion, prepare main cannons and cluster missile units. Target the leading ship."

Alura felt the fur at the back of her neck stiffen. Would the Admiral actually give the order to fire without any signs of threat given from that fleet? She turned her head once again to see his face. The Admiral nodded at her confirming this course of action.

Don't do this, Admiral...

There was still no reply, and Cornfern gave the go ahead to target the ship. The vixen gave back a confirmation, all that was needed was his order to fire upon the main cruiser that led the ominous caravan in space.

That was all it needed to star a galactic fight, a straight order from a superior officer.

"Miss Marion, at my command, fire upon-"

"This is spaceship three of nine. Emerald Valiant, please reply to our message, over."

The hail resounded throughout the room as Lily set it on to the main speakers. Admiral Cornfern's ears perked and his sight was now fixed upon the mainscreen. Alura sighed with a great sense of relief. When she turned her head towards Carmela, she fond out that she too, was in the same kind of worry as her.

"Miss Carmela, onscreen."

The image switched entirely to reveal the face of a reptilian entity. His features were those of a upper-class officer, with yellow eyes and a variety of sharp prominent scales that were outlined at the sides of his nose. His uniform was a washed out crimson venomian attire, with no nametag at his breast and a single star on the front of his military cap. The rank suggested that he was a captain, and although there were no other noticeable features, the uniform was indeed, of venomian design.

"Greetings, CEF starship, my name is Captain Leonard Fernsdale, speaking from the...Venomian starcruiser Galileo. I deeply apologize for not answering your hails earlier on, our communications link was being repaired at the time."

Cornfern looked at Alura, who did not turned back, but her facial expression changed, her eyes raised to realize her guess was right on the spot.

"Captain Fernsdale, this is Admiral Ulysses Cornfern of the CEF naval force, please state your intentions of navigating trough the Lylat system."

The captain at the screen shifted his pose and then nodded. "We are embarking on a exile from Venom. Our ships are not fighters at all, rather, we are transporting innocent civilians to a safer side of the galaxy. We only carry our basic weaponry to defend ourselves should the opportunity appear."

Cornfern found this hard to swallow, but he deprived from showing any signs of disbelief. Alura and some of the officers however, were equally confused about the manner.

"Should what you just told us is true," Cornfern declared, "we would still have to undergo an inspection in your ships, Captain. We cannot let you pass unless our inspection proves your statement."

The Captain's expression changed from a calm officer to that of an insulted civilian.

"I assure you, Admiral, that we do not have anything to hide, furthermore-"

"That is understandable, Captain." Cornfern said, cutting off the venomian's comment, "but you are in the Lylat system frontier, close to our home quarters, and we are still in the middle of war with your own planet. I cannot allow you to continue unless an inspection is done."

"Very well," said Leonard, with a hurt tone on his voice, "We shall meet your requirements to the letter, but I assure you that I cannot stand by and frighten the innocent we carry towards their freedom, you must promise not to harm our people, otherwise we WILL defend ourselves."

"Understood, Captain. Now if you please, send us an ultimatum with the code White-F15, and we will be on our way."

The Captain's posture leaned backwards a bit, with his eyes opened up to its fullest. There was look of shock and disbelief. White-F15 is a term for surrender, on which the enemy would send towards the opposing forces if the chips were down altogheter. The Captain had only seconds to think about this, since they were indeed, within enemy lines. He replied with a nod, and the screen was turned off. Cornfern waited patiently.

"Sir, permission to speak freely." Alura offered. Cornfern nodded at her.

"I...I do not know what to make of this, but I am sure you and the rest of our crew are in the same boat, so to speak. Although I have heard rumors of small groups of venomian officers escape trough space from Andross' power. Do you suppose this captain is telling us the truth?"

"We will have to wait and see, Miss Alura." Cornfern answered calmly. There was a moment of uncomfortable silence, the humming of computers at stand by was the only thing audible for the moment, Alura moved her eyes from one sector on the screen to their other, trying to keep her nerves calm.

"Sir, I am receiving a message from the Galileo."

"Onscreen, Miss Lily."

Again, the image of Fersndale appeared. His expression seemed the same, hurt and saddened, but this time he had a look of determination on his eyes. Cornfern was expecting something positive out of this.

"Greetings once more, Admiral. I am sending you our ultimatum of surrender , hoping that we may at least cruise trough Lylat without any sort of conflict. You shall receive it within seconds."

"Captain Leonard, this is Admiral Cornfern, we accept your terms of surrender and will wait your ultimatum in our transcript reports. Over and out."

Leonard bowed slightly and the screen went black once more. The machine came alive besides ensign Lily with the ultimatum printed in bold black and red inks. She ripped the edges off and read it outloud to the Admiral. Cornfern nodded throughout the entire report and finally allowed to relax his over-tensed muscles.

"Thank you Miss Lily. Miss Marion, prepare the fusion laser beams and leave them at stand by. Miss Lily, open a direct channel to the Galileo and wait for my signal."

Everyone was already finishing up what Cornfern had ordered before Lily began opening the direct channel. After she nodded to the Admiral, Cornfern began his speech.

"Starship Galileo, this is Admiral Cornfern from CEF Emerald Valiant. Let me tell you the lowdown on what's going to transpire..."

An exchange of military customs were done between the two military officers. As Alura listened attentively, she noticed that, despite all cusrumstances, both forces seemed to be equal in expertise. It felt strange to talk to an ex-member of the enemy forces about peace, even indirectly.

It was a full hour before the terms were met, and Confern asked to close communications with Galileo. She only imagined how many families were inside those cargo ships, waiting for a better chance of living in a New World. Many young kids with their parents depending on the decisions of one single man.

Kids with their fathers and mothers to hold them close until danger was out of their life.

"Very well, Captain. I shall inform Corneria about your whereabouts and they should send out help to aid you in your search, if anything. For the time being, I ask you to be patient and stay with us a while longer while our crew inspect your vessels. Do not be alarmed, I ensure none of your passengers shall endure damage of any kind."

"I shall await patiently, Admiral." Leonard replied in a calm tone of voice, "On behalf of our people aboard we thank your understanding. Starship Galileo over and out."

"Miss Carmela, ready the turrets, Miss Marion, prepare to target all ships visible."

"Weapons at one-hundred percent capacity, Admiral." Carmela informed after punching in the commands on her keyboard.

"Commencing targeting sequence." Marion said, her yellow eyes moving in all directions of her screen. Beeps and chimes confirmed each vessel in front of the Emerald Valiant, as the screen displayed a row of the venomian-class ships aligned beside each other. The vixen turned her head towards Carmelia, nodding.

"Targeting sequence succeeded, sir. Weapons are now in stand by." The gazelle said, making the final preparations for the Admiral to give out the order.

"Fire the cannons, then."

A massive yellow light covered appeared from the main screen. Each laser beam struck its target, immobilizing it until it show no signs of activity. One by one, the venomian cruisers were hit with the laser beams, until the last ship was immobilized.

"Targets have been neutralized, sir." Carmela reported, "all of their systems except for life support have been disabled. Their ships are now at thirty-six percent of their capacity."

"Well done, ladies. "

Cornfern risked from his chair and turned towards Carmela.

"Carmela, you will be in charge for the time being, I will be in my headquarters. Also, send for the Arwing squad that will aid into the inspection of the venomian ships."

"Aye-aye, Admiral."

"Miss Lily, send an ultimatum to Corneria, let them know everything that has transpired in the last two hours. Send any feedback towards my office. I will not accept calls of any other nature, understood?"

"Yes, sir"

Cornfern now turned towards Alura.

"Miss Alura, if you please would follow me. I will require your assistance."

Alura turned her head towards the Admiral with a look of confusion. Nevertheless, the female nodded and set the ship override to automatic. She then left her post and followed the Admiral out of the bridge, with an audible mumble coming from Cornfern after his head hit the rim of the door before his exit.

Carmela then sat on the Admiral's chair, assuming control of the ship.

"All systems neutral, we don't need to alarm our friends out there. Set code blue to all posts, but be mindful of the ships on our screens."

Everyone replied and did as command. The twin skunk females exchanged knowing glances after the Admiral left his post, and both shared a smirk.