Prologue: "Deceit"
He crawled slowly out of his mangled Arwing, breathing shallow and raspy. He could feel the blood stirring in his lungs with every breath, could feel the tingling in his hands and feet as he swam in and out of consciousness, but somehow Peppy Hare dragged himself out of his ruined spacecraft and toward the small settlement several miles away. He was beyond any rational thought, didn't care that the town was hopelessly distant in his weakened state, for he was concentrating wholly on the rage burning within him.
Peppy had been betrayed by one of his closest friends, Pigma Dengar, and because of that treachery, the leader of their mercenary team, James McCloud, was dead. He couldn't remember how long Andross had tortured them; he only knew that James had given his own life to save him. All these disastrous events had come about because of Andross, an evil, heartless murderer, and Pigma, the traitor.
A grimace showed through his gray-furred face, and Peppy collapsed.
When he awoke an hour or so later, he was in a warm bed, covered in blankets and staring into the faces of three freckle-faced children and a man he could only assume was their father.
"Doctor's on his way," the older man informed him. The dialect was rough and of northern origin, though, and Peppy decided that he had most likely crash-landed on Zoness-he had headed generally southwest after his escape.
"Forget the doctor," Peppy grunted in his rich Cornerian accent, "I . . . need to get in touch with . . . General Aronius Pepper."
The three children exchanged impressed glances as the father applied a cold compress to Peppy's forehead. The youngest, a red-haired boy, pounded away to fetch his mother as the gray hare slumped back against the pillows, panting, his black eyes anxious and pleading.
"Pepper?" the father clarified. "Head of the Cornerian army?"
Unable to speak, Peppy merely nodded.
The man sighed and leaned back in his rocking chair. What sort of troublesome guest was he dealing with? Upon seeing the trepidation in the hare's eyes, though, he firmed his jaw and rose, dusting his jeans unnecessarily. "Right. I'll getcha a G-Diffuser system right away." Without so much as a question of Peppy's motives, the human strode quickly down the hall in search of a transmitter.
"Are you in Pepper's army?" one of the kids pressed.
"Did you kill the bad guys?" the other asked.
"Kids!" The father had returned, frowning heavily down at his children. Peppy hazily recognized the two-way sight and audio system in the man's arms as a G-Diffuser, a communication device that would get him in touch with General Pepper immediately. "Go outside and play." Then, to Peppy, he asked, "You strong enough?"
Peppy pushed himself upright with shaky arms. "Yep. Can you tell me where we are?"
"Sure 'nuff. Quadrant 16, Zoness."
Knew it, Peppy affirmed inwardly. He flicked the on switch, clearing his throat a few times before beginning. "This is Peppy Hare, Star Fox member. My location is Sector 7, Quadrant 16, requesting audience with General Pepper. Priority one."
The tiny screen in front of him blinked several times, and all at once Peppy was staring into the face of the man who had hired his team-General Pepper of the Cornerian army. He was a muscular, barrel-chested leader, a large brown dog decked out in his red army uniform, his vest lined with many medals and patches of honor in combat. His dark eyes shone with surprise and genuine concern.
"Peppy!" he exclaimed in his deep baritone voice. "What are you doing on Zoness, my friend?"
The hare coughed several times, accidentally spraying a bit of blood onto the sheet clutched tightly in his furry hands. The human's eyes widened with shock, Pepper's with concern. Peppy ignored both; he felt the blackness creeping in on him again. "Star Fox successfully infiltrated Venom-"
"That's wonderful news!" Pepper interjected.
"-Only because Pigma sold James and I to Andross," Peppy finished bitterly. Pepper's visage drastically changed from excitement to sickened apprehension. "If my calculations are correct, sir, we were prisoners on Venom for four days . . . before . . ."
Peppy Hare's eyes clouded and misted with tears as he choked again, coughing up still more blood on the poor man's bedsheet. Pepper groaned quietly in anger and frustration. "Before what, my friend?"
Peppy opened his tired eyes, tears trickling into his whiskers. He had to be strong, though, for James. "James McCloud has been lost, sir," he confessed. "Tortured and killed by Andross serving Star Fox and the Cornerian army valiantly."
Pepper's eyes, too, misted uncontrollably; the mercenary leader had been a trusted ally and a loyal friend in the campaign against Andross. "How did you escape, Peppy?"
"At James's expense," Peppy finished, and the normally unshakable general lowered his gaze a moment in reverent silence.
A minute passed unhindered, the human all the while glancing back and forth between his rather battered houseguest and one of the greatest power figures in the entire galaxy. The transmission was weakening when General Pepper at last gave his orders to the only remaining mercenary he had. "Peppy, as soon as you are well and have acquired an alternate means of transportation, I would like you to return to me. We have much to discuss, my friend, and the rising of Andross will undoubtedly-"
Pepper's voice blurred into a low drone for Peppy; the blackness had finally won out.
~~*~~
Peppy Hare returned to Corneria the following week, nursing five cracked ribs and a dislocated shoulder but in good spirits concerning the war ahead. General Pepper met with him later that same day, after Peppy had rested from his long, uneventful journey home. The pair joined together on the bridge connecting the main Arwing hangars with the living quarters of those crewmembers aboard one of Pepper's command ships, the Orion Crusader.
"You seem rather dejected, my friend," Pepper observed as Peppy came into view, wincing a bit with each step.
Peppy glanced up at the wise general, touched at the genuine concern in his eyes. "There is the matter of revenge," he admitted slowly, much to Pepper's surprise. "James was one of my greatest friends, and as such he will most certainly be avenged. Pigma Dengar will meet his demise at my hands, General-of that you may be assured."
Rather than refute Peppy's course, Pepper nodded respectfully and changed the subject. "What of James's son, Fox? He should be told."
"And so he will," Peppy answered. "I am to see the boy this evening. He will know the truth of his father's demise-all of it."
Truly General Pepper was pained when he saw the helplessness in the proud pilot's face! Peppy cared dearly for Fox as he would a son, but how could he hope to replace James McCloud as a father figure in the young boy's life?
He wouldn't even try, Pepper decided. No, Peppy Hare would be the greatest, most supportive friend Fox would ever now, and right now, that was certainly what Fox needed. "go for your meeting with Fox McCloud," Pepper ordered. "You and I will have plenty of opportunities to further our plans for the war."
Peppy bowed low and moved to depart, but stopped short and turned back. "General, sir, I wonder if I could make a request."
"Anything, Peppy. The gods know I am in your debt."
"If you ever form another Star Fox team," Peppy began, "promise me that I will not be forgotten."
Pepper didn't know quite how to respond. Peppy's visage was set and he seemed very firm in his request, but the general simply wasn't sure if the hare could handle the task now that James was gone. Even so, he found himself grinning. "Certainly, Peppy. You will be at the top of my list."
Peppy turned away. Right now, he had more important things on his mind.
~~*~~
All Fox could see were the sunglasses. Outwardly they were just a beat up old pair of black recreational shades, chipped on the side of the right lens and hopelessly bent, but these traits meant absolutely nothing to the young boy.
These were the only link to his past, to his heroic father, James McCloud.
Peppy stared into the boy's pained face as he studied the sunglasses. The scene and the unsettling silence that followed was enough to make him nauseous. "He's in a better place, kiddo," Peppy assured him. "Far away from Andross."
Fox looked up, his eyes shining with resolve and a calm understanding. "I know. I know! And I'll wear these someday and fly just like he did! I'll lead a new Star Fox team, Peppy, only this time, we'll beat that stupid old Andross, won't we?"
The sore hare just smiled and patted Fox's head lovingly. "We sure will, kid. We sure will."
Fox clutched the glasses and hugged Peppy a bit too tightly around the middle for the injured ribs to bear, but Peppy didn't object. Times were looking bleak now, he decided, but for the present there were battle plans, and for the future, there was Fox McCloud.
He crawled slowly out of his mangled Arwing, breathing shallow and raspy. He could feel the blood stirring in his lungs with every breath, could feel the tingling in his hands and feet as he swam in and out of consciousness, but somehow Peppy Hare dragged himself out of his ruined spacecraft and toward the small settlement several miles away. He was beyond any rational thought, didn't care that the town was hopelessly distant in his weakened state, for he was concentrating wholly on the rage burning within him.
Peppy had been betrayed by one of his closest friends, Pigma Dengar, and because of that treachery, the leader of their mercenary team, James McCloud, was dead. He couldn't remember how long Andross had tortured them; he only knew that James had given his own life to save him. All these disastrous events had come about because of Andross, an evil, heartless murderer, and Pigma, the traitor.
A grimace showed through his gray-furred face, and Peppy collapsed.
When he awoke an hour or so later, he was in a warm bed, covered in blankets and staring into the faces of three freckle-faced children and a man he could only assume was their father.
"Doctor's on his way," the older man informed him. The dialect was rough and of northern origin, though, and Peppy decided that he had most likely crash-landed on Zoness-he had headed generally southwest after his escape.
"Forget the doctor," Peppy grunted in his rich Cornerian accent, "I . . . need to get in touch with . . . General Aronius Pepper."
The three children exchanged impressed glances as the father applied a cold compress to Peppy's forehead. The youngest, a red-haired boy, pounded away to fetch his mother as the gray hare slumped back against the pillows, panting, his black eyes anxious and pleading.
"Pepper?" the father clarified. "Head of the Cornerian army?"
Unable to speak, Peppy merely nodded.
The man sighed and leaned back in his rocking chair. What sort of troublesome guest was he dealing with? Upon seeing the trepidation in the hare's eyes, though, he firmed his jaw and rose, dusting his jeans unnecessarily. "Right. I'll getcha a G-Diffuser system right away." Without so much as a question of Peppy's motives, the human strode quickly down the hall in search of a transmitter.
"Are you in Pepper's army?" one of the kids pressed.
"Did you kill the bad guys?" the other asked.
"Kids!" The father had returned, frowning heavily down at his children. Peppy hazily recognized the two-way sight and audio system in the man's arms as a G-Diffuser, a communication device that would get him in touch with General Pepper immediately. "Go outside and play." Then, to Peppy, he asked, "You strong enough?"
Peppy pushed himself upright with shaky arms. "Yep. Can you tell me where we are?"
"Sure 'nuff. Quadrant 16, Zoness."
Knew it, Peppy affirmed inwardly. He flicked the on switch, clearing his throat a few times before beginning. "This is Peppy Hare, Star Fox member. My location is Sector 7, Quadrant 16, requesting audience with General Pepper. Priority one."
The tiny screen in front of him blinked several times, and all at once Peppy was staring into the face of the man who had hired his team-General Pepper of the Cornerian army. He was a muscular, barrel-chested leader, a large brown dog decked out in his red army uniform, his vest lined with many medals and patches of honor in combat. His dark eyes shone with surprise and genuine concern.
"Peppy!" he exclaimed in his deep baritone voice. "What are you doing on Zoness, my friend?"
The hare coughed several times, accidentally spraying a bit of blood onto the sheet clutched tightly in his furry hands. The human's eyes widened with shock, Pepper's with concern. Peppy ignored both; he felt the blackness creeping in on him again. "Star Fox successfully infiltrated Venom-"
"That's wonderful news!" Pepper interjected.
"-Only because Pigma sold James and I to Andross," Peppy finished bitterly. Pepper's visage drastically changed from excitement to sickened apprehension. "If my calculations are correct, sir, we were prisoners on Venom for four days . . . before . . ."
Peppy Hare's eyes clouded and misted with tears as he choked again, coughing up still more blood on the poor man's bedsheet. Pepper groaned quietly in anger and frustration. "Before what, my friend?"
Peppy opened his tired eyes, tears trickling into his whiskers. He had to be strong, though, for James. "James McCloud has been lost, sir," he confessed. "Tortured and killed by Andross serving Star Fox and the Cornerian army valiantly."
Pepper's eyes, too, misted uncontrollably; the mercenary leader had been a trusted ally and a loyal friend in the campaign against Andross. "How did you escape, Peppy?"
"At James's expense," Peppy finished, and the normally unshakable general lowered his gaze a moment in reverent silence.
A minute passed unhindered, the human all the while glancing back and forth between his rather battered houseguest and one of the greatest power figures in the entire galaxy. The transmission was weakening when General Pepper at last gave his orders to the only remaining mercenary he had. "Peppy, as soon as you are well and have acquired an alternate means of transportation, I would like you to return to me. We have much to discuss, my friend, and the rising of Andross will undoubtedly-"
Pepper's voice blurred into a low drone for Peppy; the blackness had finally won out.
~~*~~
Peppy Hare returned to Corneria the following week, nursing five cracked ribs and a dislocated shoulder but in good spirits concerning the war ahead. General Pepper met with him later that same day, after Peppy had rested from his long, uneventful journey home. The pair joined together on the bridge connecting the main Arwing hangars with the living quarters of those crewmembers aboard one of Pepper's command ships, the Orion Crusader.
"You seem rather dejected, my friend," Pepper observed as Peppy came into view, wincing a bit with each step.
Peppy glanced up at the wise general, touched at the genuine concern in his eyes. "There is the matter of revenge," he admitted slowly, much to Pepper's surprise. "James was one of my greatest friends, and as such he will most certainly be avenged. Pigma Dengar will meet his demise at my hands, General-of that you may be assured."
Rather than refute Peppy's course, Pepper nodded respectfully and changed the subject. "What of James's son, Fox? He should be told."
"And so he will," Peppy answered. "I am to see the boy this evening. He will know the truth of his father's demise-all of it."
Truly General Pepper was pained when he saw the helplessness in the proud pilot's face! Peppy cared dearly for Fox as he would a son, but how could he hope to replace James McCloud as a father figure in the young boy's life?
He wouldn't even try, Pepper decided. No, Peppy Hare would be the greatest, most supportive friend Fox would ever now, and right now, that was certainly what Fox needed. "go for your meeting with Fox McCloud," Pepper ordered. "You and I will have plenty of opportunities to further our plans for the war."
Peppy bowed low and moved to depart, but stopped short and turned back. "General, sir, I wonder if I could make a request."
"Anything, Peppy. The gods know I am in your debt."
"If you ever form another Star Fox team," Peppy began, "promise me that I will not be forgotten."
Pepper didn't know quite how to respond. Peppy's visage was set and he seemed very firm in his request, but the general simply wasn't sure if the hare could handle the task now that James was gone. Even so, he found himself grinning. "Certainly, Peppy. You will be at the top of my list."
Peppy turned away. Right now, he had more important things on his mind.
~~*~~
All Fox could see were the sunglasses. Outwardly they were just a beat up old pair of black recreational shades, chipped on the side of the right lens and hopelessly bent, but these traits meant absolutely nothing to the young boy.
These were the only link to his past, to his heroic father, James McCloud.
Peppy stared into the boy's pained face as he studied the sunglasses. The scene and the unsettling silence that followed was enough to make him nauseous. "He's in a better place, kiddo," Peppy assured him. "Far away from Andross."
Fox looked up, his eyes shining with resolve and a calm understanding. "I know. I know! And I'll wear these someday and fly just like he did! I'll lead a new Star Fox team, Peppy, only this time, we'll beat that stupid old Andross, won't we?"
The sore hare just smiled and patted Fox's head lovingly. "We sure will, kid. We sure will."
Fox clutched the glasses and hugged Peppy a bit too tightly around the middle for the injured ribs to bear, but Peppy didn't object. Times were looking bleak now, he decided, but for the present there were battle plans, and for the future, there was Fox McCloud.