Corneria in 'the dreamers' universe: Artificial lightning crackled and fizzled and then a massive explosion went off above the surface. Out of the explosion roared the Scorpion Attack Craft and it flew by overhead before landing on the ground amidst the junk that covered the planet. Andross popped open the canopy and began powering down the craft while Fox hopped outside. Unfortunately his legs began nervously trembling and he collapsed against the side of the craft.
"My God, another universe," he said in shock.
"It's really something isn't it?" asked Andross resting his hands on the side of the cockpit and starring out at the piles of silent debris.
"What happened? I thought Corneria was a beautiful shining symbol of the CDF around the same time that we left," said Fox. Andross consulted his chronometer.
"It was…five hundred years ago. Not only have we traveled through the dimensions and space, but also through time," said the Emperor.
"That thing can do all that?" asked Fox incredulously. Andross, still in the cockpit, patted the ship.
"She's one of a kind; this baby can do anything," he said admiring the thing.
"But if it can travel through time, why not stop Calhoun in the past?" asked Fox as Andross laughed. "Is it because you aren't willing to give up your reign for anything?"
"No! God no!" said Andross shaking his head. "If I could go back in time and stop Calhoun I would. The simple answer is that I can't. As much as I hate to admit this, Calhoun had to happen. If he didn't, someone else would've come along and did the exact same thing. But now that we've seen what a madman can do in control of the Lylat System and it'll never happen again. If I could stop Calhoun while still ensuring that lesson was learned I'd do it. But unfortunately I can't."
"You've put a lot of thought into that," said Fox standing up and dusting himself off as Andross finally hopped over the canopy and stood on the ground.
"Every day since we first discovered time travel. I still debate it out every now and then if there is some way I can still stop Calhoun, but I can't. That's I've been keeping this thing under tight lock and key. I trust you won't say anything when we get back," said Andross closing the canopy from the outside.
"I won't, it's for the best," said Fox. Andross nodded.
"Good, now let's find this bastard," he said walking around to the cargo bin. He pressed a button and a panel retracted as the energy dispersal unit emerged. Andross took it and handed the massive thing to Fox who struggled to hold it up as Andross opened up the box the unit was resting on and rummaged through a large cache of weapons. He pulled out several blaster rifles, blasters, guns, rifles, and various explosives and put them in holsters in his leather jacket and on his white shirt underneath. He then zipped up his jacket, closed the box and the cargo hold, and took the dispersal unit from Fox.
"Here, carry the recharge unit," he said. He handed Fox a box and walked off along down a trench surrounded by junk.
"So what happened?" asked Fox referring to the debris.
"Mantia happened," said Andross disgusted as a piece of debris came crashing down nearby.
"The…bio-weapon?" Fox asked trying to recall what it was in this universe. Andross nodded.
"Yeah. I let him loose and in turn he paved the road to ruin for The Lylat System," said Andross.
"You?" asked Fox incredulously. Andross scowled.
"Not me! Him, me! My counterpart in this universe!" Andross finally spat out.
"Ah,"
"My counterpart designed Mantia to be the most ultimate weapon ever created and it was. Mantia was perhaps the only bio-weapon ever to come back not once but twice to try and conquer the Lylat System," said Andross. "And then on his third and final try, when it was finally and truly defeated, Mantia caused Solar to go supernova and the resulting shockwave destroyed this entire system with 100% fatalities. No one survived."
"And when does that happen?" asked Fox. Andross consulted his chronometer.
"Five hours from now," he said.
"Five hours!" shouted Fox.
"Don't worry, we'll get Calhoun before then," said Andross. "He's this way."
Andross walked off down another trench, following the readings on his scanner. Fox continued to look out at the daytime sky. He noticed something was missing but it took a couple minutes to figure out what it was.
"Where's Sector Y?" he asked. "I mean I know I haven't been here in years, but still Sector Y should be visible in the daytime sky."
"That's because it was destroyed," said Andross simply while walking down another trench.
"Destroyed? How?" Fox demanded. Andross stopped to turn and face him.
"When Mantia was defeated the last time, it required the destruction of Sector Z to do it. A massive Copperhead Missile did the trick and Z was gone. The loss of Sector Z caused a gravitational distortion, which in turn ripped Sector's Y and X to pieces. The resulting spread of hazardous particles across the system killed millions along with most of the crops. As a result, two hundred and fifty years ago from this moment, the sector went to war on each other. The CDF fell, the Star Fox Team at that time fell, everything fell. The system was then divided into separate factions and they've been warring ever since," said the Emperor.
"Yikes," said Fox.
Andross then gave a sly smile. "But three years ago my counterpart was cloned and caused trouble here as well. I further damaged the defenses of this system before I was stopped only for Mantia to show up and blow it up."
"Did anything go right for these people?" Fox asked. Andross shrugged.
"I guess not. Now you realize how much better things are where we're from then here," he said. "Sometimes freedom can be a curse."
"Yeah. So where's Calhoun?" asked Fox hefting his blaster rifle.
"About a couple miles SW of here. He's just waiting there, for what I don't know. But we'll be ready," said Andross. The continued walking in silence as the eeriness of the total silence around them sunk in.
"So why'd you want me to come along? Why not Hammer?" Fox asked finally. Andross sighed.
"It's because we're the Yin and Yang of this system, the Alpha and the Omega. We're two poles that are in constant balance, constantly at war that is. Together our counterparts built this system up and tore it down. That's why we had to come. It couldn't be anyone else it had to be us. I'm sorry that's not much of an explanation but that's how it had to be," said Andross.
"Somehow I understand what you mean," said Fox shaking his head at the implications of it all. Then he and Andross continued on in silence for a half-hour while little flashes of light were seen near the sun. Eventually the reached the end of a trench and Andross put his back up against a wall of junk. He motioned for Fox to do the same and held up the scanner so Fox could see the readings; Calhoun was right around the corner. Fox nodded and pulled out a pair of blasters while slipping on the shoulder straps for the recharger. Andross nodded and Fox rolled out into the next trench and began firing at the Krazoa Spirit. Nothing happened so Calhoun began laughing.
"You fool! Your mortal weapons are no match for me!" laughed the Spirit. Andross then stepped around the corner and swung up the energy cannon.
"You wanna bet?" he asked. Andross fired the weapon and it smashed into Calhoun who roared in pain. A moment later an explosion went off flinging Fox and Andross off their feet and Calhoun, in physical form, smashed to the ground.
"Ow," said Fox as he got to his feet amidst the smoke from the explosion. As he did, he saw Calhoun glaring at him.
"This isn't over!" he shouted before taking off down a trench. Fox scowled and helped pick up Andross.
"Damn bastard. He knew we were going to pull something like that so he sent a feedback loop to the cannon and fried it," said Andross.
"Well power up the scanner and let's go," said Fox dusting himself off. Andross handed Fox a charred rectangular object.
"Behold the scanner," said the Emperor. Fox scowled and chucked the thing to the side.
"Great looks like we're roughing it," he said tossing his guns and pulling out two more before taking off down a trench. After a few moments Fox slowed down.
"Why are we pursuing him? Isn't this system going to be destroyed in a couple hours or so?" Fox asked.
"I'm not taking that chance again. If Calhoun could escape death once it wouldn't be impossible for him to do so again," said Andross still running down the trench. Fox flipped off the safeties on his rifles and took off after Andross as well.
"Go high. This trench is going to end soon enough. I don't want Calhoun going from trench to trench," said Andross. Fox nodded and scrambled up the side of the trash heap and emerged into the daytime sky where he saw trash for miles. Then in the distance he saw a clear dome that had been punctured with heavily damaged buildings inside of it.
"Is that Corneria City?" Fox asked.
"I guess so," said Andross not being able to see what it was. "If it's heavily damaged then yes. Mantia destroyed it a few days ago."
"Are you sure we've traveled through the dimensions? This place doesn't look much different then our Corneria," said Fox.
"It's just further proof how more freedom doesn't necessarily mean better living conditions. Granted that probably isn't true everywhere but for our system it is," said Andross continuing to walk down the trench. Then a small movement caught Fox's eye.
"I think I spotted him! I'm going it!" Fox said running off. Andross watched him run off while sighing and shaking his head.
"You really should train them better," said Calhoun leaning against a piece of wreckage nearby. "I certainly ensured that the military was first rate in my time."
"More than 65% of all the recruits died during training. And training was mandatory for everyone," said Andross growling. Calhoun just huffed at him.
"Yeah but those who survived were the best of the best of the best. The URVAC was unstoppable in quelling disputes and conquering planets in other star systems while at home the Main Force Police could respond to any crisis and administer quick and decisive action. You have to admit that we were safer then ever at home," said Calhoun.
"Yeah, safe for you to eliminate creatures by the droves. When does the quest for security allow for genocide to occur?" asked Andross angrily.
"When the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few," said Calhoun with a grin at some inside joke.
"Those words were never intended to account for murder," said Andross with a scowl.
"Then you should've thought of that when you came up with that slogan for what I was doing," said the former Emperor of the Lylat System.
"I was in grade school! I had no idea about the truth of what you were up to!" Andross protested. Calhoun snorted.
"Oh please! I know you knew at least something from your uncle. Everyone had some inkling that something wasn't exactly right in this 'free' system. But still you made that slogan regardless and still I used it for my policies, which continued…regardless," said Calhoun.
"How could you live with yourself doing what you did?" asked Andross taking the conversation in a different direction. Calhoun shrugged.
"It had to be done. I make no excuses for what I did," said Calhoun. "In the quest for security everything is expendable, including freedom and your miserable lives. Face it, you're no different than me. We're more alike than you can possibly realize. Trash by any other name smells like filth."
Andross glared at him. "We're nothing alike. I lead with much less fear and more freedom than you! Why couldn't you have done things differently?".
"You're so naïve Andross. Someday you'll understand that in order for things to be right you have to make them that way and then you'll be me," said Calhoun finally. Andross thought it out for a couple moments before his eyes turned to rage.
"If making things right is the only way to ensure security, then you can forget it. I'll never rule that way," he said glaring at Calhoun. Calhoun sighed.
"Then I guess we'd better get down to it then," he said. Andross nodded.
"Yes I suppose we should," he said pulling out a regular rifle. Calhoun held out his hands.
"But I'm unarmed. This isn't going to be a fair fight," he protested. Andross nodded.
"No it won't," said Andross firing, blowing Calhoun away. "But you were never fair so why should you deserve fairness in return."
Andross walked over to the corpse of the former madman and checked to make sure that he truly was dead.
"So it's finished?" asked Fox sitting on a piece of wreckage forming one of the walls of the trench.
"Yes it is," said Andross standing up. "I trust you've been there long enough to hear what you needed to hear."
"Yeah I have," Fox said standing up and leaping to the bottom of the trench. "Truth be told I only ran off to hear what you two would say to each other."
"And what have you learned?" asked Andross sitting down in a heap next to the dead body.
"He was right you know," said Fox sitting on the other side of the body. "We're all only a hair's breadth away from becoming him."
Andross stood up. "And that's why we have to ensure that we don't become him. But we mustn't forget the lessons he's learned either. Too much freedom is a bad thing like this place, but too many restrictions and terror is also a bad thing like during his time. I like to thing we've found an acceptable medium between the two."
"We'll never know, only history will be our judge," said Fox. Andross was about to respond when suddenly the light abruptly shifted. Fox looked up to see the sun had abruptly changed hues.
"What the hell?" he asked confused. Andross's eyes went wide-open.
"My God it's going nova! Mantia's already taken it out!" shouted Andross.
"I thought we still had a couple hours left!" shouted Fox. Andross glanced at his watch before snapping his head up.
"The explosion must've shorted it out, it's stopped!" shouted Andross.
"Oh shit," said Fox deadpan as a massive shockwave roared through space tearing up everything in the Lylat System.
"What now?"
"I have a beacon call for my ship that should bring it here," said Andross pulling out a small rod out of his pocket.
"Why wouldn't that be shorted out?" asked Fox as the shockwave ripped Katina and Macbeth to pieces.
"It's shielded against EMPs," said Andross pressing the button. "Now grab his corpse and let's move!"
Fox grabbed Calhoun's corpse and took off after Andross who was running down the trenches towards the ship.
"Hey, can we try that Krazoa Spirit trick to survive this?" asked Fox with a grin.
"No," said Andross laughing. "By the way, I forgot to mention that Calhoun must've also learned that trick from me. My counterpart in this universe also used the Spirits to revive himself beyond death."
"Then I guess we can blame everything on you then," said Fox. Andross pressed the reboot button on his watch and it automatically calibrated to the current time as the shockwave became visible in the rapidly darkening sky.
"In five minutes it probably won't matter," said Andross.
"It's been a pleasure serving with you Emperor," said Fox still running.
"And thank you for not killing my Fox. Lord knows that's exactly what your counterpart would've done," said Andross. Fox nodded.
"I remember that this event was in one of the holophotos in that temple on Titania. When I vowed to keep things they way they were, that photo was the only left when I exited the temple with you. At the time I wondered why it was still there, now I know why. Of course if you'd told me at the time I would've said you were crazy," said Fox running around a corner with Andross.
"Well that proves one lesson I learned from Calhoun," said Andross beginning to slow down.
"What's that?" asked Fox panting.
"Reality sucks," said Andross finally stopping and resting against the trench wall to catch his breath.
"Damn straight. How much time?" Fox asked also panting heavily.
"Three minutes," said Andross.
"We're not going to make it are we?" asked Fox finally as the wave drew nearer.
"Oh we might," said Andross shrugging. "You never know."
"What makes you say that?" asked Fox as the ship roared by and landed overhead.
"You know that saying 'all the world's a stage and the people on it are the characters'?" Andross asked running towards the ship.
"Yeah," said Fox tossing Calhoun's dead form into the cargo hold.
"That statement might be more true than you realize," said Andross hopping into the cockpit with Fox following suit. Andross then shut the canopy and gunned the engine as the fighter roared off while the shockwave tore up the planet behind them.
"No offense, but that wave is going faster than we are," said Fox watching the collision sirens go off as the sensors showed the wave steadily advancing on the ship.
"Well it can't go where we're going," said Andross. He pressed a couple buttons and a silvery beam shot out in front of the ship forming a gateway and the fighter vanished into it as the shockwave ripped the Lylat System to pieces.
The Future: The ship came roaring out of the gateway and into a system full of debris and dirt.
"Is this the future then?" asked Fox looking out at all the destruction with a pit in his stomach.
"Yeah, two hours from where we last where," said Andross as he piloted the craft among the destroyed planetoids.
"This is terrible," said Fox. "I know I never knew these people, but still."
"It was because of my learning of this event that I banned all genetic research into bio-weapons and the like. Mantia may have been my greatest crowning achievement in this universe, but I'm perfectly willing to live without it if this is the end result," said the Emperor disgusted.
"So what now?" asked Fox.
"We go home," said Andross shrugging reaching for the controls.
"Must we go so soon? I at least want to take a look around in the past of this place and know what it was really like," said Fox. "It's rare to venture into the true unknown and this is basically the new frontier."
"I don't know. It's also a very dangerous frontier. There isn't any real UVCAF to speak of here besides the 'observers' here and there. Besides, home is a much safer place than here," said Andross looking at the destruction.
"So maybe it doesn't have to be," said Fox. Andross glanced over his shoulder at him.
"What do you mean?" he demanded. Fox shifted in his seat uncomfortably.
"I was just thinking that since you are the cause of this destruction, maybe 'you' can convince 'yourself' not to do it," said Fox simply. Andross sighed and continued to look out at the destruction.
"What makes you think I'd even listen to…myself?" Andross asked. Fox shrugged.
"I don't. But better you than someone else," said Fox. Andross thought about it for a few more moments.
"Would that really be the best thing to do?" Andross asked finally. Fox shook his head.
"No. But it would be the right thing to do," the pilot responded. Andross sighed and rubbed his eyes with his palms.
"Alright," he said finally. "Alright we'll do it. But I'm not going to prevent him from conquering the Lylat System, I'm just going to try and convince him not to do it. Fair?"
"That's what I'd do. Not as to say I'm going to convince myself not to fight evil, after all that's what I do back home," Fox laughed.
"Yeah, right," said Andross preoccupied with what he was going to tell himself.
"Let's roll!" shouted Fox excited. Andross just laughed.
"Temporal Circuits on, preparing for temporal shift," said Andross. "May history rightly judge us by our actions today."
And with that the fighter vanished into the past towards the future.