RedEye Forest, morning: Smoke billowed into the air from the stamped out fire pit of the Red Hammer. Anklor sleepily woke up and stretched while yawning.
"Ah the blissful fifteen seconds before I realize why we're out here. Oh yeah that's right, attacking the Walled City," said Anklor nodding. "But wasn't their something else?"
RedEye roars pierced the dew filled morning air and the ground started rumbling.
"Oh no! Run!" shouted Caiman running to his tank. Anklor quickly ran to his and the convoy quickly peeled off as a pair of RedEye's crashed through the jungle where their camp had been and roared at them. But as their mouths were open at their fullest, a pair of missiles streaked out of nowhere and roared down their throats before exploding and showering the former campsite with blood and guts.
"Never stare a gift horse in the mouth, it'll only bite back," said Anklor quickly throwing his Landmaster in a 180 degree turn to move forward along with the convoy. More RedEye roars emitted as a couple more crashed out of the jungle, witnessed their dead colleagues, and charged after the convoy.
Fifteen miles away: The Walled City was being barricaded as the last stronghold for the dinosaurs. At the moment a pair of EarthWalkers were holding up some boards with their snouts while LightFeet and BoneClaw's hammered them into place at the City's entrance. Ironically it was perhaps the first time the dinos had worked together yet it would probably be the last time with the invasion going on. Up on top of the central pyramid the Queen EarthWalker and Tricky watched the barricades being put in as well as other dinosaurs hustling in dino refugees, including two covered in robes.
"We're almost at full capacity mom," said Tricky. The Queen sighed.
"We have to cram in as many as we can. If we have to we'll shove them into the Sun and Moon temples as well. It won't be as well defended but it'll at least provide some shelter," she said. They both jumped as they heard RedEye roars erupting from the jungle as well as small thuds emanating as well.
"Something's spooked them and now they're on the warpath," said the Queen. A massive explosion went off in the jungle blasting a couple trees sky high.
"Wow," said Tricky wide-eyed. The Queen shook her head.
"Even despite the RedEye's attacking them, they're still getting closer," said the Queen shaking her head. "They're too resilient."
"Who?" Tricky asked confused. The Queen looked down at her progeny.
"There's an UVCAF attack force on the way. Luckily the RedEye's are slowing them down but they're still coming," said the Queen shaking her head. "I fear for us all."
"Don't worry mom, I'll protect you," said Tricky jumping back and forth in anticipation.
"Thank you son. Now go down below with the others in the shelter," said the Queen. Tricky looked like he wanted to stay, but he reluctantly left to the bottom of the pyramid.
"God save us all," said the Queen still hearing the continuous barrage and RedEye's roaring in the distance.
Moon Mountain Pass in front of the remains of Volcano Force Point Temple: Shabunga and Jeff were looking over a paper map from Shabunga's store with Bill and Sanders on one side and them on the other. All around them, the pilots were conducting marching drills and other things that didn't involve flying lest they tip off the Warpstone to their presence. Jimmy meanwhile was conducting inspections on the two Attack Carriers to make sure nothing was wrong with them.
"I figure he's got to be somewhere off the beaten path to the temple. If not the pilots would've spotted him," said Jeff to Shabunga. Shabunga nodded.
"Yes but there's not too many spaces off Moon Mountain Pass that would house something as large as a Warpstone," said Shabunga. Bill purposely cleared his throat to get their attention.
"How do you even know that 'thing' is still here? It could've up and left if it heard about the invasion," said Bill. Shabunga and Jeff looked at each other and began laughing.
"What?" Bill demanded. Jeff waved his concerns off.
"It's nothing," he said. "It's just that you don't know what the Warpstone is. It's basically a massive torso made out of rock that can talk and has limited range of movement. It can't just up and leave like a regular person, it has to be moved."
"Yeah and you should've been here when the dinos tried to move it about three years ago," said Shabunga laughing. "The thing was so heavy that they had the hardest time moving it. They grunted and groaned and pushed and pulled and some nearly died from exhaustion. It was hilarious! They're so stupid. I would've given up before I even started."
"Alright I get the idea," said Bill leaning back in his chair. "So where is it?"
"There's only one possible place it could be," said Jeff sticking a pin into the map. "This is it."
"Shabunga?" asked Bill. Shabunga nodded.
"If it's not there I don't know where else it would be," he said. Bill nodded and stood up taking the map with him.
"Let's g-" he began before being interrupted by Jimmy.
"Bill, communiqué from home. Bulldog and Pitbull units are to rendezvous with the carrier Flurry in orbit and warp immediately to the Beta Reticuli System to provide the extra force needed to finally bring that system to it's knees," said Jimmy. Bill nodded.
"So I guess this planet is officially considered 'conquered' now?" he asked. Jimmy shrugged.
"Not yet. Andross says he still needs to do a couple more things here before it's officially considered 'conquered'. Although what they are I don't know. The Walled City should fall by day's end and so should this Fremen HQ that Fox and Co. are heading towards so that's about it really," said Jimmy. Bill shrugged.
"Whatever. Bulldog Unit, Pitbull Unit, head for the Flurry in orbit. Looks like you boys are going to get some action after all, the Beta Reticuli System needs your help. Good luck," said Bill. The pilots from those units cheered before boarding their fighters and blasting off towards orbit.
"Lucky bastards," said Bill shaking his head watching them go.
"Bored?" asked Jeff laughing. Bill shrugged.
"It's not that, it's just that I'd like to be out there with my squad," he said. "It's the brotherhood of pilots."
"Yeah but surely you realize our current mission is much more important," said Sanders. "I have."
Bill shrugged. "Yeah I guess so. Let's find that Warpstone and be done with it."
With that the team along with half of Husky Unit walked off into the wild.
University of Venomia Labs, Venom: "Test Number 54 is a failure," said Alby into his tape recorder. He and his fellow scientists had been working day and night trying to find out how to destroy the Krazoa Spirit but so far nothing had worked. At the moment they were sitting inside a small lab drinking coffee, out of ideas.
"We have the energy pattern, resonance, and frequency of the creature, that's not the problem. The problem is how to kill the damn thing. So far all physical attacks have failed. We've tried almost every incendiary we can think of, from small explosions to a low level atomic explosion but no luck. I think we're going to stop short of a Nuclear Copperhead Missile on this one. We've since moved onto energy-based attacks. We've tuned lasers to its precise frequency and nothing. We also tried to drain it of it's energy, but that didn't work either, it can produce as much as take out. We've tried heavier based laser cannons but no luck. The largest we went was a Landmaster cannon. Hell we even got the newly built Super Saruzin Class Monkey's Paw to commence a planetary barrage on the thing but it still survived. I don't know whether or not to be impressed or just PO'd at the thing. Maybe I could convince Andross to fire a hyper laser at the thing, but somehow I don't think he'd let us. Most testing we do involving the military is perfectly fine, but using a hyper laser would definitely raise some eyebrows. Besides, there's no place we could do it either that wouldn't cause catastrophic damage. Nevertheless testing continues," said Alby shutting off the recorder. "So what now?"
The scientists sat around dejected not knowing what to do.
"It's not like we've encountered a species like this before, failure was to be expected," said Fara Phoenix. Fara was the chief weapons scientist for the UVCAF and she joined the project right after they'd switched to energy weapons on the Krazoa Spirit.
"Yeah but it should've died by now. The laser attack should've worked since the gun was tuned to its frequency. Hell the planetary assault should've wiped it out but it's still there taunting us," said Alby pointing to the cage with the spirit just hovering there.
"Yeah I hear ya," said Fara drinking her coffee while leaning against a desk across the room. The other scientists stood around dejected when another scientist entered the room carrying a spectrometer.
"What's up?" asked Alby. The scientist shrugged, setting the machine down on a counter.
"Oh nothing. Power surge fried the spectrometer so I'm just going to borrow another one. Cute pet," said the scientist. He took another spectrometer and left the room with it. Alby watched him go and was about to return to contemplating the milk swirls in his coffee when he had a sudden bolt of inspiration.
"That's it!" he shouted. Fara and the others looked at him confused.
"What's it?" they asked. Alby ran over to the energy dampener and began throwing switches on it.
"Don't you get it? The key is not to drain it of energy but to overload it with energy!" he shouted excitedly.
"Okay," said Fara unconvinced.
"Don't you get it?" Alby asked running over to her. "The spectrometer burned out due to a power surge. That thing is designed to take massive amounts of energy and convert it to visible waves, but it still blew out! This 'spirit' is the same thing! That's why it absorbed or emitted everything we threw at it! But not it won't be able to react fast enough!"
Fara's mind began sorting out the information and suddenly the light dawned on her too.
"You're right, you're absolutely right it should work!" she shouted standing up. The scientists began to realize this too and ran about setting up equipment and video equipment to monitor the experiment. After a couple minutes they were done.
"Experiment 46. We have come to the realization that perhaps stripping it of energy is not the way to go, but instead to overload it with energy is the way to go," said Alby into the camera before running to the energy-dampening gun, which had been switched to emit.
"Its' frequency has been keyed into the device," said Fara as she put on her goggles.
"Let's make some magic happen!" shouted Alby as he threw the device on. Blue energy came flying out of the machine and struck the spirit. At first nothing happened, but then it began to shudder uncomfortably before beginning to excessively bulge at the seams. It got larger and larger like a balloon before it exploded and the lab went white. A wave of energy ripped through the lab and blasted the door open and knocked the team off of their feet. When the team collected it they found the cage blown apart and a dinosaur lying on its side.
"What the hell?" asked Fara. The LightFoot slowly shook its head and tried to get to its feet, but before it could, Andross entered into the room with his troops and they gunned the thing to death.
"Impressive, very impressive. You did it," Andross said bending over the dinosaur.
"What was that?" asked Fara. Andross looked up at her.
"That was a member of the original ruling council of Dinosaur Planet. Before they died they turned themselves into energy, they became the Krazoa Spirits. That was about two million years ago," said Andross taking the dino's pulse to verify it was dead.
"So it achieved immortality by becoming a non-corporeal spirit?" asked Alby. Andross nodded.
"What of it?" Andross asked testing him. Alby laughed.
"What a bust! I'd hate to achieve immortality only to not be able to do anything with it! Stupid dinos!" he said laughing. The team began laughing as well and Andross nodded.
"Now you see why we don't pursue immortality in science," said Andross.
"So what now?" asked Alby. Andross pointed to the dampener gun.
"I take that to Dinosaur Planet and wipe out the Krazoa Spirits," he said as his soldiers removed the cannon from its stand and took it with them along with the dead dino.
"If you don't mind my asking, why?" asked Alby crossing his arms. Andross looked at him.
"The dinos worshipped these creatures as gods, I can't allow that. If you believe an idol will save you, you're gravely mistaken. Thus I have to eliminate that belief," he said. Alby nodded.
"Understandable. Well, is that the end of this assignment?" he asked. Andross nodded.
"Yes. Now you can't publish your findings just yet, but hopefully within a week the Krazoa's will be eliminated so you can then. I'll let you know," said Andross preparing to leave.
"Thanks for letting us work on this assignment. It was the chance of a lifetime," said Fara.
"More will come I promise you. Now remember, not a word of this to anyone. If you speak I'll find out," said Andross leaving the room, following the trail of blood.
"Anybody want lunch?" asked Alby. "I've got an hour before I have to find out how to kill a Gozarian."
The scientists and Fara nodded and they all left for lunch at the nearest dorm cafeteria. Down the hall, Andross smiled with satisfaction.
"Your ass is mine Calhoun! You're not surviving this time!" he thought with glee. He exited the campus onto the quad and entered into his ship and left with it to the Monkey's Paw in orbit along with his troops, gun, and dead dino. Once he boarded the ship, it blasted off towards Dinosaur Planet.
Moon Mountain Pass: "There it is," said Shabunga looking through a pair of binoculars at the Warpstone who was tending his garden, unaware he was being watched. Bill nodded as Sanders pulled out a sniper rifle and trained it on the Warpstone.
"No shooting!" Jeff sneered. Sanders laughed.
"Good to see you're adhering to the UVCAF rules well. I'm not going to shoot it, I'm just setting up this gun so when Andross shows up and things go bad we can take it out," said Sanders sitting back against the outside wall of the crater while the Warpstone was on the inside of the crater.
"So now what do we do?" asked a pilot. Bill shrugged. They waited there a few more moments before Bill's radio crackled to life.
"Bill?" asked Hammer.
"I'm here," said Bill. "What's up?"
"You and your men up for some precision flying?" asked Hammer. Bill shrugged.
"Well if you insist," he said innocently. Hammer laughed.
"I need your team to head for the Walled City. There are more defenses there than Andross anticipated so I'll need more support there. Rendezvous with the Red Hammer and destroy that pyramid," said Hammer.
"Will do," said Bill. He signaled to his team and they took off for their fighters. "Finally some action!"
RedEye Forest: The Red Hammer's Landmasters were sitting back to back with their barrels facing outwards as ten remaining RedEye's stood peering down at them.
"Looks like this is it, our last stand. Good luck my glorious Red Hammer forces!" shouted Anklor as he entered into his Landmaster. The remaining two Landmasters rotated their cannons upward and aimed at the RedEyes. But right before they could fire, the RedEye's began sniffing the air confused for a moment before bolting off.
"What the?" asked Anklor. In the distance several angry roars were heard along with several screams of agony from the RedEyes. One suddenly burst from the tree line with a bloody mouth and a large hole in its side before collapsing dead.
"What the heck?" Greg asked. Then suddenly the ground began shaking at regular intervals.
"It must be something larger than a RedEye to have done this much damage!" shouted Samson looking at the massive hole in the dino's side.
"What's larger than a RedEye? I don't recall reading or hearing about one during the dinosaur identification part of the mission briefing. Sure there's the HighTop's but they couldn't do this much damage," said Anklor. Greg looked at him.
"You read that?" he asked. Anklor nodded.
"I'm not an incompetent commander, soldier!" shouted Anklor angry. Greg nodded.
"Right. Sorry sir," said Greg.
"Well whatever it is, here it comes!" shouted Porpoise as the pounding only got stronger. Anklor curled up into a ball and began cowering as a massive shadow fell over the team.
"That's right, tremble before my awesome power you cowards," said a familiar voice laughing. Anklor opened his eyes with a start and stood up to find himself facing Granga and his massive war machine, which was leaning over them.
"Damn you Granga!" shouted Anklor shaking his fist at him. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"Saving your hide it looks like," said Granga moving his machine to peer over the dead RedEye.
"Be serious!" said Anklor. Granga moved his machine to loom over Anklor.
"Well I was wandering around with DPAF22 after our mission was complete and we were in the north end of RedEye Forest when I get this call from Warlord Hammer. He calls me and says that he's worried your incompetence is going to get you killed so I should go help out. Now me being the honest monkey that I am agreed with him and here I am," said Granga laughing. As he was talking, sixteen Landmasters rumbled out of the jungle and entered into formation with the Red Hammer's remaining two Landmasters and one APC.
"Well that must mean you're under my command since this is my mission," said Anklor.
"Wrong! You've bungled this up enough already! It's my mission now!" shouted Granga.
"I don't think so you stupid monkey!" shouted Anklor. He entered into his Landmaster and aimed the barrel at him while Granga's missiles aimed down at Anklor. In the camp composed of DPAF22 and the Red Hammer, everyone was tossing down money to bet on who they thought would survive the barrage. But before the battle could begin, the wind was blasted back as Husky Unit landed in the clearing. Bill exited his fighter and walked over and stood between the two opposing forces.
"Ummm," he said confused. Anklor popped out his tank to face him.
"Tell that interloper that this is my mission!" he shouted.
"This is my mission Bill, Anklor's screwed it up too much to be allowed to continue to command it," said Granga. Bill looked at both of them as a ship landed in the background.
"Why don't I just lead it?" he asked.
"Not a chance!" they both shouted. "I'm not letting no fighter jock lead me!"
"Which is why none of you are leading this mission!" shouted Hammer walking up to them. "I am!"
"Works for me," said Bill walking off back to his squad.
"Now let's head for that pyramid," said Hammer returning to his ship. A few moments later the newly formed DPAF45 moved towards the Walled City.
Trench outside the Fremen HQ: Two Fremen were eating a light lunch while looking out over the desert. Several feet of barbed wire, multiple landmines, laser cannons, and other weapons all were trained out towards the desert, protecting the towering rock behind them.
"What's all this heightened alert for? It's not like anything is coming this way!" laughed the first Fremen.
"I don't know," said the second Fremen unsure. "We're lost contact with far too many small outposts lately. Then just yesterday we lost contact with Alpha Base."
"We're always loosing contact with them, it's not anything new," said the first.
"Yeah but the spotters who were sent to find out what happened to it never came back," said the second.
"Yeah well we'll be ready for any ground invasion or aerial invasion they can throw at us. I still don't see why the council is so frightened by this invisible enemy," said the first.
"This invisible enemy is part of the Andross worshippers!" said the second. "Andross is the archenemy of our great leader."
"This Andross character doesn't even exist! If he did, he's surely dead by now!" shouted the first.
"I don't think so," said the second. The two Fremen were silent for a few more moments before seeing some white streaks in the sky.
"Oh boy a meteor shower!" said the first. The second looked at the shower confused.
"That's odd, I don't recall any mentioning of a shower today," it said.
"Well that's definitely one," said the first. The first took out its binoculars and witnessed the shower.
"Boy it's right above our heads!" it should. "Beautiful!"
The second took out its binoculars and observed the shower. "Those plumes are too organized to be a shower! It must be."
Suddenly air raid sirens interrupted the second Fremen as out of the plumes roared several Ninjin Missiles. The anti-aircraft guns rolled around to fire on them, but it was too little too late. The missiles slammed into the defenses and blasted most of them to pieces. Trenches, mines, barbed wire, laser emplacements, Fremen, all were torn to pieces by the barrage. Then as if that wasn't enough, two Copperhead Missiles roared out of the clouds, smashed into the top of the Fremen's HQ, burrowed in, and exploded blasting the top third of the rock to pieces.
"Beautiful!" shouted Jerry as his Landmaster roared through the smoke and crashed over Fremen remains and other obstacles on the way to the rock. The remaining Landmasters opened fire on the base with their cannons and bombs, blasting away still more chunks of it.
"What do you expect?" asked Fox peering through the periscope. "You don't build a state of the art missile system only to skimp out on the tracking system."
"Thank God," said Jerry. "We're about a couple minutes away from the entrance to the base. What are your restrictions on the invasion?"
"Just don't kill anyone over forty. Don't ask me why, it's classified. But my team and I need to interrogate them on our own. Anyway, what do you do as far as looting goes?" Fox asked. Jerry shrugged.
"Since we're out here in the desert we use all we can get. Any precious metals are put into storage for return to the UVCAF vaults. Andross knows our situation so we don't have to worry too much about quotas regarding other supplies," he said pressing a couple buttons.
"Ready here we go!" he shouted.
The Walled City: A massive explosion blew the barricade in that the dinosaurs had worked so long to build.
"Steady," said the Queen EarthWalker. The dinos had formed a line across from the entrance and were ready to rush whatever came through the smoke. The dinos were nervously holding their stunrods while the sound of tanks grew louder.
"Steady," said the Queen again. But just as the shadow of a tank appeared, two robed figures walked between the UVCAF forces and the dinos.
"Move out of the way!" the dinos all shouted at the two robed figures. The two figures did nothing.
"Alright kill 'em," said the leader. The dinos all aimed their stun rods at the two robed figures, until they were taken aback when a pair of wings ripped through the robes of one of them.
"What the hell?" asked the leader. The two figures then flung back their robes to reveal General Scales and Drakor.
:"Kill them!" shouted the Queen. But before the dinos could fire their weapons a squad of UVCAF fighters mowed them down. Drakor promptly took the to the sky and roared overhead, firing his fire breath at everything that moved. Scales moved out and began slaughtering dinos left and right as the UVCAF tanks finally rumbled into the small courtyard in front of the pyramid. Granga meanwhile began attacking the Sun and Moon Temples. Above, Husky Unit began blasting large chunks out of the top of the Walled City pyramid. Hammer finally entered into the Walled City compound on top of Anklor's Landmaster and hopped off. He then walked over to Scales who had just slit the throat of a dino with his pronged hand.
"Still alive huh general?" asked Hammer. Scales shrugged.
"It'd take more than a thermonuclear explosion to get rid of me," he said. Hammer nodded and the two went with a group of UVCAF soldiers into the pyramid who began blasting dinos in every room of the temple.
"Where've you been this whole time?" Hammer asked. Scales shrugged.
"Around. After the Sky Galleon crashed, K. Rool bolted like the coward he was. I just took my remaining SharpClaw's and fought our way through the jungle. Bizarrely enough we just got here ourselves. I had hoped to have this place conquered before you got here, but not everything goes as planned," said Scales. Hammer nodded as he watched a pair of dinos get flung out of a closed door only for Drakor step out a few moments later and walked down the hall.
"Who's he?" asked Hammer.
"My brother Drakor," said Scales walking down the corridor after him.
"I don't see the resemblance," said Hammer. Scales shrugged again.
"We're half-brothers really. His father was a dragon," said Scales. This time Hammer shrugged.
"Whatever works so long as he's on our side," he said.
"Andross knows about him. He met him a couple years ago," said Scales. "He checked out and is a member of the UVCAF."
Drakor stopped in the hallway and began sniffing the air even as laser bolts and screams rang out through the temple.
"They rest are hiding," he said gruffly.
"Where?" asked Hammer finally taking out his blaster pistol. Drakor sniffed the air again.
"Down below, where the kept the King," said the Drakor spinning around and taking off down the hallway.
"The King?" Hammer asked walking down the hall with Scales. "Which King?"
"King RedEye," said Scales.
"Never heard of him," said Hammer. Scales laughed.
"That's because he's dead. The Council decided that he was to die for the crimes he had committed so they starved him to death. That's why the RedEye's have been so agitated lately," said Scales walking out of the temple into the light and were walking towards the secret entrance to the underground passage when Bill caught up with him.
"General, Grand Admiral," said Bill nodding. The others nodded back continuing their walk.
"Here it is," said Scales as he walked down a decline towards a room with two RedEye statues. Drakor stood there sniffing the iron bar gate when the others approached him.
"They're here," it said. Bill slanted his eyebrow upward at the dino.
"Drop it," said Hammer. Bill held up his hands in defeat while Drakor ripped the gate off its hinges and tossed it to the side only to plunge into the darkness. Scales then promptly turned to leave.
"Shouldn't we be helping him?" asked Bill pointing back to the entrance.
"He's better off on his own in this situations. We'd only get hurt in the process. He'll be back out in a little bit," said Scales exiting the room into the clear sky.
"This attack was easier than I expected," said Hammer.
"These dinos are idiots. If K. Rool had backed me up I would've conquered them years ago," Scales said. A loud roar pierced the sky and Drakor came flying out of the secret entrance and into the sky. He soared around for a few moments before landing covered with a small layer of blood.
"Subtle yet effective," said Hammer.
"I like to think so," said Drakor speaking normally for once. He held up Tricky by his bony frill. "I found him. He's the last of the royalty still alive."
"Then I guess we should hold onto him for now," said Hammer taking the kicking dino from Drakor.
"You'll all pay for this. Fox will save me!" shouted Tricky struggling about. The group started laughing.
"Kid has no one told you the truth yet?" asked Bill.
"What truth?" demanded Tricky.
"Fox is the enemy!" shouted Hammer. "We all are!"
"No! I don't believe that!" said Tricky.
"Yes! He's out conquering the Fremen right now!" shouted Hammer.
"The Fremen are our enemy!" said Tricky. They all just shook their heads and Hammer placed Tricky in a portable kennel, which a guard carried off to Hammer's ship.
"So what now? Is the invasion finally over?" asked Scales looking around at the UVCAF forces surrounding the base as the two Attack Carriers flew by overhead only to hover a couple miles away and his remaining SharpClaw attachment walk up and take a defensive form around him.
"Yeah I suppose so. I think Andross has a couple more things to do here before it's officially considered 'conquered'. But unofficially I'd say it is," said Hammer. Scales nodded.
"Are all the dinosaurs eliminated?" asked Drakor. Hammer barked.
"Not a chance. For every dino we've killed, at least two more have surrendered. No we don't kill the indigenous population, that's a waste of supplies. Besides, the indigenous population was learn to live under UVCAF rules and eventually this planet will apply for membership in the UVCAF," Hammer said. Drakor nodded.
"I didn't know how you did things in regards to invasions. I haven't really left this planet too many times to know for sure," said the dragon/t-rex hybrid. Hammer shrugged along with Bill. Then Hammer's comm. beeped.
"Yes," he said into it. "Really. When? Alright I'm on my way. Bill, Sanders, we need to take off now. Scales, Drakor took over for now and stop Granga and Anklor from killing each other."
"Maybe I should just kill them now and be done with it!" laughed Drakor as Hammer, Bill, and Sanders took off for their ships. In the background Anklor and Granga were both on the ground arguing with each other over something trivial.
"I'm sure it would be, but ultimately it's against the law!" shouted Hammer back at them. Drakor and Scales shook their heads in humility at their current situation of having to separate the two. Then Hammer, Bill, and Sander's ships raised up into the sky and blasted off towards ThornTail Hollow.
Fremen HQ: A massive explosion blasted in the cargo bay doors leading to the inside of the base and laser fire roared through the entrance as a pair of Landmasters roared into the bay and began firing on all the creatures in the bay. A few moments later, the bay was cleared off hostile forces.
"Clear," said the pilot of the first Landmaster. Through the smoke, Fox, Jerry, Leon, and Andrew all raced into the bay along with several commandos. They all wore breath masks so they could overcome the fumes and stench as well as protect themselves from any bio-weapons.
"Okay here's the restrictions on the assault. Don't kill anyone over forty. Stun them yes, but don't kill them. Everything else is up in the air. Any questions?" asked Jerry.
"Yeah. What's the preferred survivor percentage for under forty?" asked a troop.
"0% if at all possible. They're Calhoun worshippers, we don't want them coming back," said Fox. The troops nodded, anxious to eliminate any Calhoun worshippers.
"Alright you heard the man let's move out! All remaining Landmasters and remaining Desert Rovers, stick close to the outside of the base where the remaining guns can't target you!" shouted Jerry. "And remember, our lives are forfeited to the Emperor, only through battle in his honor can we redeem them!"
The commandos all shouted approval and stormed into the hallways outside the facility. The halls were mostly deserted, but there were still a couple of Fremen who were still loading up their belongings who were promptly gunned down by the commandos.
"Looks like they've all pulled back deeper into the facility. Thermals and motion trackers on!" shouted Jerry. The commandos who had thermal vision goggles switched them on while those with motion trackers used them. But both units revealed that there was no one in the immediate vicinity.
"C'mon let's keep moving," said Jerry walking down the silent hallway.
Somewhere in the Great Dino Desert: A massive shadow crept over the desert and a massive roar was heard. Suddenly a massive sandstorm erupted and began moving on a direct intercept course with the Fremen HQ.
HQ: "How many levels does this place have?" asked Fox as they walked down yet another corridor with no one to be found.
"Thirty habitat levels with twenty levels on top dedicated to automated offensive and defensive weaponry," said Jerry. "Or at least that's what the information we captured said and we've seen nothing to contradict that. That's why we blasted the top eighteen levels off of this place."
"Where is the Fremen Ruling Council supposed to be?" asked Fox. The commandos walked down yet another corridor, this time with a few creatures still in it, but they were still just late evacuees and were promptly mowed down as well.
"They're supposed to be on the thirtieth level hence why The Boomstick in orbit we didn't destroy all the levels of defenses," said Jerry. Fox nodded.
"So where do you think everyone is?" asked Fox. Jerry shrugged.
"Beats me. But no one's left so they're here somewhere," he said nonchalantly.
"You don't think there's any underground escape do you?" asked Andrew. Jerry shook his head.
"The thumpers we used earlier would've detected them," said Jerry walking to a group of stairs. Earlier in the day the commandos had used thumpers to get a radar reading in order to determine what was underneath the base. They'd detected a couple passages for tanks to roll out of, so a couple Ninjins collapsed those holes during the barrage. Jerry stepped aside as a commando stared up the stairs with thermals.
"Clear!" the commando said. Jerry nodded and began ascending the stairs with the commandos.
"You sound bored," Fox observed. Jerry chuckled.
"It's just that I'd been expecting more a resistance than this," he said exiting onto the next level. "Commandos, spread out one per level, observation only. I want those creatures found but don't attack without backup. The Star Fox Team and I will journey to the thirtieth level and find out what's going on up there," said Jerry. The commandos nodded and began running up the stairs while Jerry and the Star Fox Team walked up the stairs. After a few levels, Jerry took off his backpack and set it down on the stairs.
"Hold on, I have to readjust this it's getting uncomfortable," he said going through his bag. In his bag were five cylinders. Jerry took one out and handed it to Fox. It was clear plastic for the tube part and had gray plastic caps on both ends while inside the tube was a white powder.
"Viral Weapon X-7. Property of the CDF, do not open without proper safety gear. That's odd. What the hell is a CDF?" asked Andrew looking at the cylinder.
"I haven't been near the Lylat System in awhile so I was hoping you knew," said Jerry.
"Sorry, we haven't been near there either. We've spent the last three years moving from planet to planet, invading or just keeping the peace," said Leon helplessly. Fox racked his brains as to where he'd heard about the CDF before and suddenly it occurred to him and he began laughing.
"What?" the rest all asked. Fox shook his head and removed a tear from his eyes.
"The reason you haven't heard about the CDF is because it doesn't exist!" shouted Fox shaking his head again.
"Huh?" asked Jerry very confused. Fox continued laughing at their confusion.
"I'm sorry, you probably don't have any clue what I'm talking about. The CDF comes from 'the dreamers' reality; it means the Cornerian Defense Force. Andross must've learned about this stuff from 'the dreamers' before they stopped 'dreaming' and had it created. Only it seems his scientists forgot to remove the labels," said Fox still laughing.
"Oh, now it makes sense," said Andrew. After the Lylat Wars, Andross had informed everyone about 'the dreamers' and subsequently after his proclamation 'the dreamers' stopped revealing information about that other universe/reality and 'the dreamers' that had been detained were allowed to rejoin society. However those that had been detained for more than seven years were summarily executed when it was discovered they wouldn't be able to properly adjust to society.
"That seems odd though that the tube itself would possess that information. If the scientists created it, why would they add that information, it doesn't make sense," said Jerry.
"Neither does life," said Fox shrugging. "Here we are invading an enemy stronghold full of Calhoun worshippers while there are people in their homes right now sleeping, eating, and enjoying life. Life sucks get used to it."
"God bless the UVCAF!" laughed Leon. "What a club!"
"Oy," said Andrew. Jerry took the vial from Fox and put it back in his bag.
"Let's get moving. I want the leaders in custody and everyone else dead ASAP," he said zipping up his bag and continuing to ascend the steps.
Moon Mountain Pass: Shabunga and Jeff sat up on the ridge overlooking the Warpstone.
"Lunch?" Shabunga asked, handing Jeff a powerbar.
"Sure why not?" said Jeff taking it. He bit into it and shuddered.
"UVCAF rations, good on vitamins and minerals, bad on everything else," said Shabunga smiling.
"It's still better than that slop they fed me back at CloudRunner Fortress," said Jeff.
"Yeah I hear that," said Shabunga. He looked down the scope of the sniper rifle aimed at the Warpstone.
"Wonder what Andross wants with him," Shabunga asked. Jeff shrugged.
"Who cares? I didn't even really know that thing physically existed until today and even then I'm not impressed with it," said Jeff.
"Yeah, it's basically a hunk of rock that talks. I know people like that myself back home," said Shabunga. Jeff popped open the top of a soda and began drinking it.
"Where are you from anyway?" asked Jeff. "I mean presumably your people, all the various dinos who left, were the ones who left Dinosaur Planet after the Council chose to reject technology so what happened to your people after that?"
"They ventured for several months trying to find a new home. Many of them died during the voyage. Finally after three very long years of searching my ancestors stumbled upon Zoness in the Lylat System. At first my people were greeted with fear and suspicion because no one had seen 'aliens' before. But over time, the prejudice subsided and people just considered them to be natives of the Lylat System. That's how it's been for the past 5,000 years," said Shabunga reciting old history.
"Unbelievable. So do or did your people ever have a dream about coming back to Dinosaur Planet where they'd finally be accepted for enjoying technology?" asked Jeff. Shabunga laughed.
"Not a chance. My people didn't leave on good terms; a mob chased them out. They hated what this planet had become since technology had been slowly weeded out. If they hadn't hid those old rusty spaceships, they would've died here. That's why they don't want to come back. Hell fifteen DPAF's are manned solely by dinosaurs from back home that absolutely hate this planet. My buddy Dan came to make sure this planet was the hellhole our ancestors wrote that it was and he left knowing that the planet is just that. I hate it here too. It must be something that's in our genetics based on our ancestors hatred of this planet," said Shabunga.
"So what elements of dinosaur society exist in your society today? Do you have a Council of Elders?" asked Jeff. Shabunga shook his head.
"No that was eliminated soon after their landing. Now Andross is our council leader. The Emperor is the only leader we'll ever need," he said.
"Oh. What about tests of strength?" Jeff asked.
"Tests like that are only for the simple minded," said Shabunga.
"Oh so that's a no then. Has anything survived?" asked Jeff. Shabunga thought about if for a few moments before snapping his fingers. Shabunga switched off his translator.
"Kxo Cudwiuwo," said Shabunga. Jeff smiled as Shabunga turned the translator back on.
"So you still speak the language," said Jeff. Shabunga shrugged.
"Only during formal occasion do we use it. My people learned Lylatian over the years and their children all were taught it as a primary language. We learned dino as a second language to use during weddings, funerals, great feasts to celebrate the day we left this hellhole, and other rare events. Andross learned dino as well so we can use it to talk to him during his visits to our planet, which is definitely a special occasion. Previous Emperors never bothered to do this and that is why my people feel such a strong loyalty to Andross as an Emperor. After all, it's not like things can get any worse that Calhoun," said Shabunga spitting out the last word.
"Calhoun?" asked Jeff curious. Shabunga stared at him with pure anger in his eyes.
"Drop it," he said. Jeff held up his hands.
"Sorry I didn't know," he said. Shabunga shook his head really fast and the rage disappeared.
"It's okay, just never ask about him to anyone. He was a madman that's all you need to know," he said.
"So how long are we supposed to be here?" Jeff asked. Shabunga took a sip of some juice.
"I'm assuming they'll tell us sooner or later," said Shabunga. Jeff nodded and the two of them returned to their game of chess.
Fremen HQ: "Bingo," said Jerry. He and the commandos along with the Star Fox Team had finally located the large area where all the Fremen were holed up. Unfortunately the Fremen were all armed and there were over two hundred of them whereas there were only thirty commandos plus the Fox's team. The ruling council was sitting in the center protected by several guards and all of the Fremen citizens.
"Great, just great," said Jerry looking through a mirrored periscope around a corner looking at the massive area.
"It's not totally hopeless," Fox said shrugging helplessly.
"Yeah, maybe we've demoralized 'em," said Andrew. Leon smacked him upside the head.
"Why'd you do that?" asked Andrew holding his head.
"Annoying ape, I am the great Leon!" said the lizard with his explanation for everything. Andrew merely mouthed Leon's words at the same time while making mouth motions with his hands.
"You're 'The great Leon' huh? Here's a gun, good luck," said Jerry holding the barrel of the gun with the butt facing Leon. Leon muttered something but didn't move to take the gun. The commandos chuckled at that along with Fox and Andrew.
"So what now?" asked Andrew. Fox shrugged while glancing over their supplies. His eyes then fell on the bag of Viral Weapon X-7.
"You don't have the antidote for that stuff do you?" asked Fox pointing to the bag.
"A limited amount," said the doctor. "Why?"
"I was thinking about inoculating the Fremen council," said Fox. The commandos started at that comment.
"Why the hell would we want to do that?" asked Jerry after quieting the commandos.
"Well I was thinking that if we were to use Viral Weapon X-7 in that room and the Council was inoculated," began Fox.
"Then the Council would be the only ones left after it was used," said Jerry shaking his head in approval. "After all, they're not immune to blaster fire."
"Are we in agreement?" asked Fox to the commandos. The commandos nodded, relieved that Fox hadn't gone crazy. The doctor brought out a small thin case and flipped it open revealing four syringes of antidote. Another soldier handed the doctor a bunch of empty darts. The doctor quickly filled them all and loaded them into the dart gun.
"Chris you've got the best accuracy of all of us, take the shots," said Jerry. A female commando, Chris, stepped forward and took the gun.
"Make 'em count," said Fox as Chris walked by.
"No pressure right?" Chris asked. Fox laughed.
"Worse comes to worse we mow 'em down. It's not the best situation, but one I'm willing to accept," said Fox. Chris rolled her eyes and kept walking as Fox slapped her on the back. Chris leaned around the corner and aimed the gun as Jerry pulled out a pair of canisters along with Fox while Leon took the remaining one.
"I hope this stuff works. We haven't really had the opportunity to field test them," said Jerry. Chris popped off the shots and ducked back around the corner as laser fire tore up the back wall.
"Got 'em," she said retreating.
"Give us some cover!" shouted Jerry. A pair of commandos rolled into the hall and popped off several shots as Jerry, Fox, and Leon appeared, unscrewed the caps, and launched the canisters into the open area before running back under cover.
"Let's hope our breath masks will protect us from this stuff. Andross told me that this stuff could pass through any filtration system," said Jerry shrugged.
"That ain't so good," said Andrew.
"I think Andross also mentioned the stuff will burn itself out after fifteen minutes," said Jerry. Before Fox could respond, screams of pain and agony were heard coming out of the room. Andrew turned to see what was going on in there, but Fox held him back.
"You don't want to see what's going on in there," he said shaking his head. A few moments later the screaming stopped. The team sat behind the wall for a good forty-five minutes while Fox watched through the periscope as the council stood their in a state of catatonic shock. Finally Fox closed the periscope and stood up.
"When you walk around that corner you're going to see thing that will utterly confuse you. Now whatever you do don't ask us about Viral Weapon X-7. I don't know how it works and neither does anyone else here. In fact, I believe it's in your best interest to forget the stuff even existed. Alright let's move," said Fox. The commandos nodded a little shaken by what he said. They all ran around the corner and aimed their weapons into the massive room. With the exception of the council, no one was there. Clothes were lying in a heap all over the place, but there was not a single cell to be found. The commandos tried to shake off their queasiness but some couldn't manage and fainted dead away while others just threw up. Fox shuddered and walked up to the council who were still standing there. The doctor handed Fox some smelling salts while he began examining the clothes of the vanished Fremen. Fox held the salts underneath the council's noses and they snapped to life. They quickly reached for their weapons, but a pair of commandos held their rifles right at them while Fox stripped them of their weapons.
"What have you done?" asked a council member in shock at the devastation. Fox shrugged.
"My job," he said as some commandos hauled them off.
"Let's move team. Jerry, this as far as you and your team is concerned regarding these individuals," said Fox. Jerry nodded.
"Whatever. This base is officially conquered by my standards so we'll just take whatever we can use. Commandos move out!" shouted Jerry. The commandos holstered their weapons and left the room, some dragging their fainted comrades. Fox and his team followed the commandos with the council; who promptly threw them into a room with no windows and one light with a table and chair in it.
"Must be their interrogation room," said Chris. Fox shrugged.
"Time for you to leave," said Fox. The commandos left and almost ran into the doctor who was walking down the hallway.
"You need any help let me know," he said into the room. "I'll be in the medical bay."
"He sure is dedicated to his work. What's his name again?" asked Leon.
"Patch. Supposedly he's one of the best in the business. Graduated top of his class at the Cornerian Medical Institute with a major in medicine and torture," said Fox. Leon nodded.
"I thought he looked young. The CMI had only been around for eight years or so," said the lizard.
"He was in the first class that went the whole way through the university," said Fox nodding.
"Gentlemen the task at hand," said Andrew pointing towards the council who had been handcuffed and bound to the chairs.
"He's right," said Leon sitting down in a chair and taking out the electroshocks.
"I'll give you one chance to answer our question before we use this on you," said Fox. "Where's Calhoun?"
Several miles away: The roaring continued as the sandstorm roared straight for the Fremen HQ.
Room: "Who is this Calhoun of whom you speak?" asked the councilman Hayes.
"Don't play innocent with me. I know you and your Fremen are or are the descendants of the Calhoun worshippers who fled the Lylat System forty years ago. Now you either tell me now or we torture you and then you tell us," said Fox crossing his arms.
"You don't scare us," said councilman Hoover.
"Does he?" asked Fox setting down a holoprojector that showed Andross' face on it. A couple of the councilmen grew angry at the image while others pretended not to notice.
"The evil one!" shouted councilman Carter. "The one who forced our master from power!"
"Shut up," said Hayes under his breath.
"I will not shut up! You will all pay for what you did to Emperor Calhoun!" shouted Carter.
"Good thing he's dead," said Fox innocently. Carter laughed maniacally.
"Our lord is not dead! He's alive, alive!" shouted Carter. "And one day he will return to kill you all!"
That was as far as he got before Hayes head butted him, knocking him unconscious.
"The damn fool is mad, he doesn't know what he's talking about," said Hayes nervously laughing. Fox shrugged.
"Either way he's told me what I need to know. Vape 'em," said Fox. Andrew and Leon promptly vaporized the council and the trio left the room where the promptly smacked into Jerry.
"Oh thank God I found you," said Jerry.
"What's up?" asked Fox a little worried. Jerry just shook his head.
"Come with me you've got to see this!" Jerry said running off. Fox and Co. looked at each other and took off after him.
Fifteen Miles away: The sandstorm continued towards the HQ with a massive shadow moving inside of it. The remaining commandos still outside the HQ looked at the massive storm wide-eyed. Then Jerry, Fox, and his team rushed outside to witness the massive storm.
"Holy shit," said Fox looking at the wall of sand.
"That's not the worst part. According to our sensors there's an eleven-mile long object moving inside the storm," said Chris looking at a radar screen.
"Eleven miles long?" asked Leon incredulously as the team moved around the screen to view the radar that showed a massive blurry shaped object moving towards them.
"I thought you said earlier that nothing could survive inside of a sandstorm," said Fox. Jerry shook his head.
"Nothing should be able to," he said incredulously. "I have no explanation for this."
"Can you get any better resolution?" asked Leon. Chris shook her head.
"I've tried but it's no good," she said. Jerry continued contemplating this turn of events. Finally a thought occurred to him.
"You don't think it's a worm do you?" he asked.
"A worm?" asked Fox. Jerry shrugged helplessly.
"What's a worm? I'm assuming you mean something other than the small worms in the ground," said Leon quickly explaining.
"Six months ago we surveyed a desert world similar to Titania called Tatarkis. Anyway the locals there spotted a lot of nonsense about giant worms that used to live underneath the surface of their planet. We never found any proof of it and Andross decided the planet wasn't worth invading, they surrendered immediately and was subsequently left alone, so we never just forgot about it. But now, it might be possible that giant worms exist here," said Jerry.
"But why appear now? Why not sooner?" asked Fox.
"The destruction of the upper levels of the base might've set it off," Chris suggested. Leon's eyes widened.
"Uh-oh," he said. Eyes widened this time, as the roar grew louder.
"Everybody inside now! Head for the upper levels!" shouted Jerry. The commandos grabbed what supplies they could before running into the HQ.
"Fox let's move," shouted Jerry as the wind picked up and began throwing sand everywhere. Fox shook his head.
"I need to see it first," he said over the roar of the storm/whatever was in it? Fox didn't know.
"You're crazy," said Jerry shaking his head.
"I don't run from anybody or anything," he said. Jerry shrugged.
"Well neither do I," he said. Leon, Andrew, Jerry, and Chris all stayed as the storm buffeted all around them.
"You don't have to stay," Fox said putting on his goggles as sand moved all around him. Then the storm smashed into the HQ. The team struggled to stand up against the blasts as the radar began blaring about a collision alert.
"Fifteen meters and closing!" shouted Chris. The sand quickly blotted out the sun and soon darkness fell on them.
"Five meters!"
The ground began rumbling heavily.
"Four!"
The roar grew even louder.
"Three!"
Tiny specks of light were seen inside of the storm, but Fox shook it off as spots in his eyes.
"Two!"
The sand began to shift apart as whatever it was prepared to emerge from the storm.
"Here it comes!" shouted Fox taking out his blaster and aiming it into the storm.
"One!" The sand blew fiercer, the wind harder, and the roar became deafening.
"This is it! Our last stand!" shouted Fox. The team opened fire into the sandstorm as the massive object tore through and became visible.
"Oh my God! That's-" shouted Chris as a massive wall of sand blew straight at them and then there was silence.