Peppy and Slippy boarded the Great Fox. The mighty ship was swaying a bit, but overall Fox seemed to be doing a job of piloting it. The Hare and Frog walked down a white corridor and up some stairs into the ships bridge. Fox was waiting for them, sitting non-chantey in a chair, half his attention on keeping the ship going.
"Good job Fox! We got our ship back!" Peppy congratulated Fox. Slippy wandered around the bridge, having a good look at many of the monitors.
"This is a dreadnought class battleship, isn't it?" Slippy remarked. Peppy nodded knowingly.
"Does someone want to take the wheel for a bit?" Fox called to his two-team mates.
"There should be a robotic pilot to do that called Rob64." Peppy claimed.
"I met him." Fox claimed. He got out of his chair and moved to the forward left side of the bridge. Rob64 sat there deactivated. Fox pressed a button on Rob's chest. The robot came to life, flailing his arms everywhere.
"Kill the intruders! INTRUDERS! Destroy them! INTRUDERS!" Fox turned to Peppy.
"I think..."
"EXTERMINATE!" Rob hissed in an oddly high-pitched voice. Fox pressed the button and turned the robot off once again.
"I think Andross may have messed with his circuits." Fox claimed. Slippy walked up to the robot and studied him briefly.
"I think I can fix this." He announced.
"Well good." Fox sounded less than enthusiastic. "Now shall we get out of this dirty system and make a new life somewhere not controlled by a insane monkey"
"Fox, we're staying here and going to rid the world of Andross forever." Peppy sounded sterner than ever before. Fox looked at Peppy sceptically.
"I've been telling you since your deluded plan came into action, I'm only here to escape, not to fight for a solar systems freedom!" There was an angry undertone to Fox's voice, but overall he kept his voice level.
"If you want to escape then you will have to fight for Lylat's freedom. Say you settle in a different system, how long will it be until Andross reaches his grasp outwards and to anywhere you could possibly try running to?" Peppy questioned.
"Long enough." Fox coldly replied. Peppy gritted his teeth slightly.
"You're a fool Fox! You have seen how people are suffering, hell, you suffered like they did"
"No one suffered like I did!" Fox protested.
"They suffer worse!" Peppy was angrier than Fox had ever seen, not that he had ever seen Peppy particularly angry. "We may have had to hide ever since the takeover, fight, steal and kill for our survival, but at least we could survive! All around us people were living in poverty, death and lost hopes. Children are uneducated and dieing in the streets. Any chance Lylat has to return to its former glory sizzled out and died. No rebellion has lasted more than a month, except the Wolf rebellion, but that was blown so clear out of the water the idea of a successful rebellion has been made a myth"
"That's because it is! We've been bloody lucky so far, but that is not going to last and we will all die!" Fox retorted, sounding as angry as Peppy.
"If we die..." Peppy had calmed down slightly. "...Then you will get your freedom." Fox stared angrily at Peppy for a moment.
"You are blinded by your own commitment to saving people." Fox muttered. Peppy shook his head.
"No, I'm blinded by my own commitment to you farther." Peppy replied. Fox instantly tensioned up.
"Don't try to use my farther to make me join you. I looked after you for him. I've paid my debt to him by keeping you alive for this long! You have been nothing but a pain, a pain which forced me to kill two generals and god knows how many soldiers, resulting in me being right up there with you on Andross's enemy list"
"I do not regret what I made you do. After you killed General Wilson (I know there was no one with the last name 'Wilson' in any Starfox, but I can't think of anyone to use) you gave people something they didn't have before. Some hope"
"False hope." Fox corrected Peppy.
"Nether the less. It was the first time a General had been murdered, and it was by the famous James McCloud's son! People had at least something to cling on to. Some hope of possible change." Fox remained silent. "Like it has been said, the idea of a successful rebellion is a myth, but your a legend Fox." What followed was a long silence, which was only broken when Slippy spoke.
"Hay, I think I fixed Rob!" Slippy announced.
"Bite my shiny metal ass." Rob added.
"Try again." An unimpressed Peppy suggested.
An hour or so had passed. There had yet to be any signs of Andross's fleets. The argument between Peppy and Fox had remained unresolved and each had retired to separate rooms. Slippy had been roaming the hallways and rooms of the Great Fox, familiarising himself with the mammoth ship. The young toad went into one room near the end of a corridor. The room was a dull white, like most of the other rooms. It seemed to be a bedroom. There was a bed, bedside table and communication panel mounted on the wall. This was also the room Fox had wound up in. Fox was lying on the bed staring at a photo. Slippy remained silent and turned to leave the room. However, he stopped when Fox talked.
"This was my father's room." Fox muttered. Slippy turned to face Fox, who handed Slippy the picture he was looking at. "Found it on the table." Fox explained. The picture was of James McCloud. He had one arm wrapped around a female fox. Slippy didn't know much about how foxes rated beauty, but to him the fox James had an arm around had a cute look to her. James had his other hand on the shoulder of a young fox easily recognisable as Fox in his youth. "That was taken three months before he left on his mission to Venom." Fox claimed. "I can still remember what he said before he left." Fox got off the bed and looked at the door. His focus seemed to be on some events in his memory, as his eyes looked unfixed on anything and heavy. "He was boarding this very ship. He turned around and waved goodbye. 'We'll be back before you know it' he claimed. How wrong he was. How wrong we all were." Fox let a deep sighed escape his mouth. "To be honest I've always wanted to avenge him, but knew that was fools dream." Fox sighed once again and walked towards the door.
"Maybe that's just what Andross wants you to think." Slippy suggested. Fox stopped momentarily.
"Maybe." Fox muttered quietly. He then exited the room, surrounded in deep and personal thoughts.
"They took the Dreadnought?" Falco questioned. Bill shrugged.
"There a smart group." He simply replied.
"I think you'll find, captain, that you're just an idiot." Falco claimed.
"How could you just let them take the Great Fox?" Pigma screamed.
"Zip it Dengar." Falco ordered. "And stop calling it that dreadful name." He added. Pigma gave Falco a cold stare, but remained silent. Falco turned his glare back to Bill.
"So Captain, after the fox crashed into your base, slap bang in the middle of your squad, mowed many of them down with a simple blaster, figured out a several number code and took the Dreadnought without as much as a bruise, which way did they head and why didn't your men intersect them?" Falco questioned. Bill shuffled slightly uncomfortably.
"They headed in the direction Solar lies, and I had recalled my men to deal with Fox." Bill answered. Falco stroked his chin.
"Solar? Why would they..." Falco's eyes suddenly widened slightly. "There going to Venom"
"Venom, you mean where General Pepper..." Falco shot Pigma and angry glance.
"He's a General no more, and yes, it is." Falco once again went back to ignoring Pigma's very existence. "Captain, isn't it true you trained alongside the fugitive?" Falco questioned. "That is true, he had enlisted in the academy until Andross's glorious takeover." Bill tried to keep his voice devoid of any emotion. Bill mostly hated General Lombardi, but in many ways he also feared him. Falco held power and wouldn't flinch to abuse it. General Lombardi was know for being almost as merciless as Andross himself, which was saying something, especially when you consider Falco held such a senior position at such a young age. He was only around his twenties. Of course, Andrew was younger, but he only got his position through family connections, Falco got his through brutality.
"Well, familiarity can mask the past." Falco claimed. Bill shot Falco a confused gaze.
"Pardon?" Bill questioned. Falco's hand dropped down into his jacket pocket. A small smile flickered on Falco's face. Bill tried to ignore it, but he couldn't stop help but feel a cold breeze crawl up his back.
"I'm just saying..." Falco suddenly sprang to action. He flung his hand out of his pocket, revealing a knife that now was clutched tightly in the feathery fingers. Falco wrapped an arm around Bill neck to stop him from squirming too much and drove the knife down into Bill's left arm. "I believe you may be omitting a few details." Falco sneered. Bill stifled a scream as Falco drove the knife deeper into Bill's arm. "Now listen very carefully dog, for your left arm counts on acceptable answers to the following questions." Falco twisted the knife to make his point. "To what scale is the rebellion there planning?" Falco asked.
"How the fuck should I know?" Bill replied. Falco jolted the knife downwards.
"Wrong answer dog boy!" He shouted. "Now lets try another question, how many ships have they got"
"Three, one of which has been crashed into this station." Bill answered, neglecting to mention the many of Andross's ships in the Great Fox's hanger. "For fucks sake, I am not aiding Fox"
"That I didn't ask." Falco sneered, once again twisting the knife. Pigma watched uncomfortably as Bill screamed again. "One last question. Did you know that I have spoken to some of your 'class mates' in the Academy, and they've mentioned your friendship with McCloud?" Bill's lower lip wobbled slightly.
"No, but..." Falco didn't wait for an answer; he pulled out his knife and slashed Bill across the neck with it. Bill fell to the floor, grasping his neck and choking slightly on his own blood, most of which was falling to the floor like water from a hose.
"Listen dog, I will not have anyone undermining this operation. Peppy and the frog will be brought to trial, any rebellion will obliterated, and McCloud shall be killed by my hand." Falco promised. The merciless bird turned to Pigma.
"Tell the soldiers we're heading to Venom." Falco ordered. Pigma turned to carry out the command. "Also remind them that McCloud is mine."