Well, it's finally happened - Fox verses Andross. Those of you who played the original Starfox might recognize the scene of the final battle, as well as a few other things. I think I've reproduced it rather accurately in my writing, but only time will tell as you all read through it.

But does this chapter end my story as the title suggests? You'll have to wait for the next chapter to find for sure.


Chapter 41: The End

Andross will die today, Father. I swear on it. – Fox

Come into my parlor, my little Arwings. It's time to crush you Cornerian fools one by one. – Andross

The total silence from outside quickly escalated into a fight for their lives as the Arwings dove right into the base. They were confined to a narrow tunnel, barely large enough for the pilots to fly side by side, but one more than large enough for the smaller fighters that Andross' employed to put up a formidable defense.

Their travel path wasn't clear either, as large metal posts stuck out at seemingly random locations. It gave a place for the fighters to launch from, as well as forced the pair to constantly dodge out of their way. In addition, numerous automated turrets dotted the tunnel's interior, making sure that there never was a moment's peace.

Even faced with the insurmountable odds, the Arwings refused to give up, as they knew that their objective was right around the corner. Explosions filled the passageway and hostile craft crumbled to pieces before them. They left nothing but smoke and debris in their wake.

The pair watched each other's back, constantly changing formation and who was in the lead as space and circumstances permitted. As one pilot's shields weakened from the near-continuous laser fire, they pulled back and allowed the other to take the brunt of the damage for a short while.

At one point, Fara had dropped back, following Fox slowly through a series of tight turns around walls and obstacles. As they cleared the final section, the vulpine boosted ahead upon seeing a clear path in front of them. Before she could do the same however, things quickly went downhill.

As she was about to touch off her own boosters, a wall of energy suddenly formed right behind Fox's Arwing and covered the entire passageway in a yellow glow. Desperately she slammed the retros to full, grimacing as the seat straps dug into her fur, the G-Diffuser system straining to bring her to a halt.

She breathed a sigh of relief as she stopped mere feet away from the electrical field. Arcs of energy shot between it and her shields, bathing the chamber in flashes of light as she backed away to a safe distance.

"Fox!" she yelled in hope that she would get his attention. Instead, she watched helplessly as the pilot continued on, unbeknownst as to what had just transpired behind him.

Fox McCloud was now completely on his own.


The tunnels passed quickly by, leading further into the depths of Andross' base. Unlike the rest of the passageways so far, there wasn't a ship or turret protecting this section. Fox was just about to remark upon his find when his computer warned him that it had lost track of Fara's transponder once again. "Fara?" he asked, thinking it was nothing more than simple interference.

He didn't get a chance to think further about his missing teammate as the tunnels suddenly opened up and revealed a gigantic, mostly empty cavern. It was so vast, his sensors had a difficult time determining the exact size of the area around him. They did inform him that he seemed to be in an oversized construction yard, littered with ships of all sizes under various stages of development.

His computer chirped and interrupted his thoughts once more, informing him that the passageway had closed behind him. Worried, he spun around, ready to blast a way back out incase he needed it when the sensors told him the impossible – the exit had somehow completely vanished.

Before his eyes, the chamber itself slowly faded away, only to be replaced with a murky darkness on all sides. His sensors went absolutely nuts, thinking that there was nothing and everything around him to all sides. After fiddling with the controls for a few moments, he gave up and turned towards what he thought was the middle of the cavern.

As he stared out into the gloom, a mysterious voice seemed to come from all around him, everywhere and nowhere at once. "Your valiant effort should be rewarded, Junior!"

He roared, absolutely tired of that nickname. But here, in the depths of Venom, there was only one person who could be possibly talking to him. "Andross!"

Suddenly, out of the darkness, appeared a form so shocking, that it filled Fox with equal parts paralyzing fear and unbridled anger. He gasped, unable to believe what he was looking at.

It was Andross' head.

It was impossibly huge, dwarfing the Arwing like how Fara's favorite tree in the botanical gardens did to him. Its eyes swiveled in place, focusing on the tiny craft as the mouth broke into a huge grin. Once again came the voice that seemed to have no true source. "Don't worry; your friends will get the same treatment."

Ignoring a headache that started to build up for no apparent reason, he yelled in rage and wasted no time in letting loose with his blasters. To his surprise, large, square steel girders swarmed from the black haze surrounding him and intercepted his shots. He swerved from side to side in an attempt to get a line of fire, but was unable to despite his best efforts.

Things quickly turned for the worse for the pilot as his proximity alarm blared. Before he could react, one of the girders slammed into his Arwing. The force of the blow tossed him around for a moment, even though the shields absorbed most of the strike.

All he knew is that if one of those objects struck him without his defenses, it was going to take a chunk out of his craft, if not completely destroying it.

The area around him was like a virtual minefield, one where the mines themselves moved from second to second. It was hard enough for him to keep his Arwing away from the obstacles, much less try to find a clear shot against the villainous head.

"Can't kill what you can't hit," taunted Andross as he moved his defenses to block the pilot's latest attempt.

"Damn you!" yelled Fox, infuriated in how he hadn't been able to score a single hit. Again he ducked out of the way of an incoming girder and fired once more. Again the shots were harmlessly blocked. He roared in frustration, the sudden lapse of concentration causing another mass of steel to crash into him.

Cursing his stupidity, he looked for another avenue of attack while watching over his sensors in an attempt to avoid the next batch incoming objects. He was starting to lose this fight, and it scared the hell out of him.

The ape drastically changed his assault plans without warning, knocking the pilot out of his thoughts. Andross made what looked to be a sucking motion with his mouth, causing the girders to move towards him at a high rate of speed. As Fox twisted away from the mass of projectiles, he felt his Arwing slow to a halt, the same mysterious force affecting his own craft.

He fired his boosters and attempted to break free. It didn't take him long to realize that he was not going the direction he intended. In fact, he was going backwards.

Straight towards Andross.

Finding no obstacles around him, he twisted back around and was shocked to see just how close he had been drawn to his enemy. The face loomed before him, occupying his entire view. The most menacing part of it however was its mouth, filled with eroded and decaying teeth, each ready to crush his craft to a pulp.

Having only seconds before he'd be lost to the depths within, he did the only thing that came to mind – he fired a Nova Bomb.

The flash of light from the weapon pierced through the darkness, aimed unerringly towards the gaping maw. The radiance vanished like the setting sun, reappearing once more as it detonated on something within.

The force that had grabbed him expelled him far faster than had pulled him in, tossing him against his restraints as the G-Diffusers simply couldn't compensate fast enough. He winced as his body threatened to black out, but he knew that if that happened, he wouldn't get a chance to wake back up.

The solid blocks of steel flew outward as well, whipping past his Arwing like a pouring rain. He concentrated and slowed his craft best he could while at the same time avoiding the flying metal. He knew that at this speed, they'd chew right through his defenses.

Upon coming to a halt, Fox's eyes grew wide as his sensors went crazy as they tracked the number of incoming girders. Ignoring the fear rapidly building inside, he searched for a way out of his predicament, giving up on fighting back for the moment.

Desperately he ducked past one hunk of steel, narrowly avoiding another that was aimed towards his canopy. Banking hard to the left, another passed underneath him, colliding with another in the process. Acting on instinct alone, he swerved by another pair, squeezing by a third as it scraped against his shields.

But just as suddenly, his luck finally gave out. He lurched forward as one girder crashed into his rear. Left momentarily stunned, he had no chance to avoid the second one as it slammed with his right wing, his shields screaming as they were drastically weakened. One final hit from underneath was all it took before his defenses collapsed from the strain, alarms wailing in warning.

Finally presented with the opening he'd been looking for, Andross attacked Fox's mind directly. Images of his buried past flowed through his mind; images of the violence he had caused, of the travesties he had experienced, of the deaths behind him. The vulpine howled in pain as he clutched his head, completely and utterly defenseless to whatever lay in store for him.

The huge face grinned upon knowing that Fox was finally his. Opening his maw wide once more, the form inhaled and brought the craft his way. There was nothing the vulpine could do to save his own fur. Nothing.

And then a ball of energy shot past the disabled Arwing and struck the inside of the mouth. It was another Nova Bomb, and it detonated with the same destructive force as before.

Andross roared as he lost control of his telekinetic powers via the core again, the oversized eyes wincing as he searched for the interfering craft. It didn't take him long to find his next opponent, as the constant stream of blaster-fire was easy to trace back to its source.

It was Fara.


She'd broken through the energy barrier, taking large chunks of the wall surrounding it in the process, and charged ahead, wanting to join Fox in the battle. What she saw as she entered came as a rather large surprise to her. She spotted the other Arwing as it was pulled towards what appeared to be a giant metallic blob, looking somewhat like a face.

She didn't know what it was, but she could clearly tell that the vulpine was in trouble. Taking aim, she launched her final Nova Bomb towards the head and switched to her blasters as soon as it connected. In addition, she tried to contact her teammate. "Fox, it's Fara. You okay?"

Before she had a chance to even expect a reply, the metallic object made a sudden transformation. As it roared and turned towards her Arwing in a blind rage, it instantly changed into a near-perfect reproduction of Andross' head.

She gasped, unable to believe what she'd just seen. Judging by the infuriated look on her opponent, she was glad that the old additive of 'if looks could kill' was only that, as she'd be dead right now.

Any further thoughts about her situation were shoved aside as Andross attacked. Once more, the steel girders flew through the sky, this time aimed directly at her. She deftly dodged out of the way and caught sight of Fox in the process. Knowing that she had to help him, she avoided the ape for the moment and tried again to contact him. "Fox?"

The silence from the non-responsive vulpine was interrupted by Andross. "Don't worry, your damned teammate is just as dead as you're going to be in a matter of moments, you little bitch."

Raising her eyes in shock at the insult, she mentally kicked herself at having an unsecured communication. Wondering how long she had her com set that way, she reached over to change it and became rather surprised to find that it already had. Debating if Andross had simply glanced into her mind, or made the rather obvious guess as to her next move, she continued her approach.

Pulling a quick barrel roll to avoid the latest attacks, she found herself looking right at her teammate. Fox's craft drifted slowly in the murky blackness, unpowered and uncontrolled, proving to her that he was knocked out cold, or worse. Shivering at the thought, she went through a sequence in her mind that only she knew out of the team – how to take over an Arwing remotely.

It was ultimately designed as a failsafe device on the experimental craft, incase they either got stolen, or worse, the team selected to fly them were caught abusing their power. Both Gary and the General knew of them as well, providing ample coverage if something happened.

In this case however, she was going to use it to try to wake Fox. If that failed, she'd use his extra firepower to make a difference in this battle.

Knowing that her codes would automatically be useless after using them, to prevent anybody else from attempting the same, she lined herself up for the process. Ignoring a sudden headache that was threatening to interfere with her thoughts, she dropped her shields and prepared to lock the two Arwings together like she'd done so many days ago.

Andross watched with amazement as Fara's defenses lowered, leaving her completely vulnerable to his mental prowess. Laughing at just how easily this wench would be defeated, he halted his attack and focused his powers upon the pilot directly.

With her fingers poised over the final buttons in the sequence, her cockpit faded around her, only to be replaced by images pulled directly from her mind. Horrible, horrible images. She screamed in fear, being forced to relive her buried memories, her hidden secrets, her dreaded moments in life.

And then Andross struck home.

She couldn't move. She couldn't feel anything short of her head, resting gently upon a soft pillow. She blinked rapidly, unable to believe what she was seeing. Somehow, beyond all probability, she was back at Corneria Base, trapped inside the confines of the regeneration tanks once more.

"No!" She jerked her head from side to side, trying to move a single limb, trying to break free. "No!" This was impossible. This couldn't be happening to her. Not again. "NO!"

Andross laughed, pleased to have dug up this particular memory. "Yes, my little girl, try all you want to break free. It's not going to happen. Your mind is mine."

Fara desperately continued to struggle for her freedom. None of this was real. Every sense she had however, told her that she was trapped, caught, and confined.

"No!" she screamed again, shutting her eyes tight. She couldn't be here. This wasn't happening. She was safe inside her Arwing, not locked tight inside this tube from hell. This was all Andross' doing somehow. She tried to think back to what she was doing, ignoring the numb feeling that had taken control of her body.

Slowly, it came to her. She had two buttons to push, nothing more. Those two buttons would finish what she was doing, bringing her shields back online, hopefully blocking off whatever Andross had done to her.

It was just a matter of trying to get her body to respond to her commands.

Trying her best to disregard what she was feeling, she concentrated on moving her fingers forward. It was just a matter of inches, nothing more.

Andross couldn't believe what he was sensing. Somehow, Fara was fighting his control, his mental domination. It was something that nobody had ever done before. Ever. And he was not going to let her be the first.

She continued to concentrate on moving, gritting her teeth, sweat beading upon her brow from the strain. She was almost there. She could feel her fingertips pressing upon the buttons now. Just a bit more.

Then Andross struck out again. She felt her outer fur char, smolder, burn, like when her Arwing sparked and shorted out around her only weeks ago. Except this time, it was taken further. She could feel the burning sensation pass beyond her original wounds and encompass her entire body. She wanted to shrivel in pain, wanted to look at what was happening, but she knew of the consequences if she did.

Instead, she pushed forward with her fingers. She was so close. Too close to be stopped now.

With a grunt of success, she touched the last button and preyed that her ordeal was finally over. She dropped back into her seat utterly exhausted, moments away from dropping into unconsciousness from the strain.

The two Arwings locked together via the G-Diffuser system, Fara taking the top position this time around. As soon as the computer noticed the connection, her shields fired up and extended to encompass the two craft. With her defenses activated, she felt the constant pressure upon her mind fade away as her vision returned to normal.

She'd done it.

"Damn you!" roared Andross, knocking her out of her moment of blissful silence. "How!"

Fara had no response to that answer. She didn't want to talk to the maniacal ape anyway. Instead, she wiped the sweat from her forehead and fired up her engine, the Arwing in tow doing the same. While she now had the extra mass to worry about in maneuvering, she felt that with the additional engine, as well as the added maneuvering thrusters, she should be able to control the conjoined craft with little difficulty.

And she needed it, as Andross was furious. "Do you seriously think that your little parlor tricks will be enough to defeat me? Your life is mine."

She shook her head at his continued insults, unable to believe that she'd somehow broken free of the ape's mental grasp. She knew this fight was far from over however, as the steel girders began their advance once more. Diving out of the way, she tried again to wake Fox up. "Fox, it's Fara. Respond, please."

Wishing she'd get a reply, she continued to dodge and evade Andross' attacks. Finding what looked to be an opening, she fired her blasters, the Arwing beneath copying her every move. Before they could strike home, the steel intercepted her attack and absorbed the damage.

Before she could curse over the blocked shot, an exhausted groan emanated over her headset. Hope coursed through her as she asked, "Fox, is that you?"

"Ugh. What…what happened?"

"If he did to you what he did to me, Andross tried to take over your mind."

Images flashed through Fox's vision and reminded him of what he'd just been through. He winced at the dug up memories once more. "Oh."

Left without any line of fire, or any options at all as far as combat went, Fara turned and ran, boosters glowing brightly behind her. "You okay?"

He looked around in surprise upon noticing that his controls were responding to his teammate's movements up above. "I'll live. How are…" He trailed off, not sure how to continue, or what to even ask.

She checked her sensors as she made a guess as to what he was asking, pleased for the moment that she had escaped Andross. The head seemed to be moving towards her however, so she had no idea how long she could keep it up. "The shields are somehow blocking Andross' mind attacks. When I dropped them a bit ago to connect us…he almost got me."

"Ah." He winced as pieces of his past floated through his mind again, memories that should have stayed buried. He tried to forget them as he continued. "What…what about the controls?"

She looked around for an escape route from this chamber she was in, swerving away from a girder that tried to crash into their rear. She found it hard to believe that there seemed to be nothing nearby. Every place had an escape route, and every target had a weak point. Unfortunately in her case, neither seemed to be true right now. "It's like how we merged together a while ago, one Arwing overriding the other."

Fox shook his head, clearing the last of the cobwebs inside. "Can it be reversed?"

"Yeah, but—"

"Do it."

Fara dove suddenly and narrowly missed another piece of steel. Without looking at her sensors, she knew that Andross was right behind her, just based on the frequency of attacks. Her so-called lead was anything but right now. And now Fox wanted this. "Why?"

He sounded deathly serious as he replied. "Because there's no way out of here. Because if I had a choice, I'd break off and attack him alone. Because that damned crazy ape will die today, no matter what. Choose your reason."

Did she dare turn the controls over to someone who'd already lost once to the ape? Could she live with herself if Fox never got the revenge he so rightfully deserved? What if they didn't survive the day because of this decision? She sighed upon realizing that there was only the one answer to choose. "All right."

"Thank you."

Fara started punching in the commands necessary to do the switch, somehow continuing to dodge out of the way of Andross' now continuous attacks at the same time. "Thank me after we've gotten out of this alive, okay?"

"Deal."


Meanwhile, Peppy and Slippy were crawling through the ventilation ducts of the power plant, the hare complaining about their situation. "Are you sure we're going the right way?"

"The computer said it was," Slippy whispered back. "Why would it be wrong?"

The pair had broken into their target via the main doors, ducking into what looked to be the control room when they happened upon a slew of patrolling guards. Displayed on one of the many monitors inside was a technical layout of the plant. By pure chance, the main ventilation line passed through the room and gave them an easy way to their objective.

"True," muttered Peppy as he tried his best to ignore his complaining muscles. Fortunately, the duct was more than large enough to accommodate them, but it still was uncomfortable as all hell.

Slippy rounded the corner and suddenly stopped. "We're there," he hissed behind him. He looked through the grate and made note of where the guards and workers were, as well as the lone exit from the room. Satisfied with what he saw, he began undoing the grate as silently as he could.

Peppy dug through the bag he'd been dragging behind him and looked for the weapons and devices they'd brought along. As he did that, he wondered why the toad was in the lead, as he was anything but the adventurous and daring type. "Three grenades and a mask are by your right foot."

"Okay." Slippy reached back and assembled his goods, placing the mask upon his face. "Fire in the hole," he whispered as he pushed aside the grate with one paw and made sure the mask was secure with the other. He twisted the grenades, releasing their powerful sleeping agent, and tossed them forward.

One grenade landed with a clank upon the metal floor right in front of the only exit, the other pair settling on either side of the workers. The lizards panicked for only a few moments before succumbing to the sleep gas, crumbling to the ground in a heap. Slippy peered through the residue and made sure everybody was out like a light. "We're clear," he said after half a minute.

Peppy closed up the bag and peered past the toad into the room below. "Nice work."

"Thanks." He smiled, this being one of the first times he'd ever been directly involved in a mission. He didn't know exactly why he insisted on doing the dirty work, but in the end, he enjoyed it. "Looks to be about a five foot drop. Ready?"

"Right behind you."

Trying to maintain relative silence, Slippy pulled the grate into the vent and shoved it to one side. He turned around and crawled out, the hare holding on to his paws as he was lowered to the ground. He dropped into a crouch and pulled out his blaster, searching for targets as the bag landed beside him. Peppy followed after a moment. "Clear."

The hare grabbed two spherical objects off his belt and offered them to his teammate. "You want to do the honors?"

Slippy laughed, his voice dull as it echoed inside the mask. "We both will." He looked around and debated on the most effective location to set off the EMP grenades. Two large banks of computers rose from the ground, sitting right next to an array of control stations. It looked to be as good of a spot as any. "The computers on the floor to either side."

Peppy nodded, a slight smile, albeit hidden, breaking across his normally serious expression. He hefted his sphere and tried to judge its weight, remembering one of the noisier ways the team had fun on their off times back on Papetoon. "Bowling for destruction, my friend?"

The toad looked over and laughed. "Definitely. Hold on one second though." He walked over to the doors and triggered the electronic eye to open them, guessing that they wouldn't be working shortly. After making sure their exit route was clear, he turned back around. "Ready."

The pair set the timers on the delicate electronic devices and wound up to throw, tossing them after a moment's delay. The spheres clattered across the metal floor and came to rest right next to their goal. As the countdown expired, they exploded into a crackling blue glow, shooting arcs of energy into everything nearby.

The damage was immediate as every light in the room died instantly, the slight rumble of the generators that had echoed throughout their journey falling silent as well. Finding that there seemed to be no emergency lighting, or that they'd knocked that out too, Peppy pulled out a flashlight. "Looks like it worked."

Slippy retrieved his own light from a back pocket and shined it around the room. "That it does."

The hare unhooked the last EMP grenade from his belt and tossed it towards the consoles just in case. It exploded as it struck home, briefly blinding the pilots. Blinking to restore his vision, he turned towards the exit, flashlight lighting the way. "Let's get out of here."

"You don't have to tell me twice."

Keeping in mind the map they'd seen earlier, the two took off running, flashlight in one hand, blaster in the other. As they charged through the wide hallways in complete darkness, short of the bobbing illumination they carried, they encountered surprisingly few lizards in their path. What ones they did were quickly dispatched via their accurate shots, providing little more than a brief obstacle.

Peppy took the lead as they continued, his longer stride and better overall fitness an advantage in his running speed. Rounding another corner, he realized that his footsteps were the only ones echoing in the hallway. Extremely concerned, he screeched to a halt and spun back around in an attempt to find out what happened to his teammate.

Only a few seconds passed before he heard the sound of pounding boots rapidly approaching. Raising his blaster just in case, he watched as a beam of light bounced up and down on the wall nearby, growing brighter as whoever was carrying it approached.

Slippy ran into view, looking as tired as one would expect the overweight and out of shape toad to be. His jacket hung loosely on his frame, and he was ignoring everything going on around him, concentrating on his speed.

"You okay?" asked Peppy as his teammate skidded to a stop. He got only a nod in response, the toad panting heavily from the excursion. "Come on, we're almost out."

"Yeah." He waited a few moments longer and tried to catch his breath, before he took off running once more with Peppy following.


The two Arwings shook violently as another steel girder got past Fox's skillful dodging and crashed into the craft's defenses. Gritting his teeth against the shock, he found an opening in the slew of obstacles surrounding them and dove through it without thinking. He was starting to lose confidence in his abilities, as he still hadn't gotten a single shot past Andross' protection.

"Shields weakening!" reported Fara. "G-Diffusers overloading!"

And lines like that from his teammate weren't helping one bit.

"Fox, another hit like that and we're gonna lose a G-Diffuser wing!"

He didn't need to be told what that would do for their survival. At least his anyway. "I know," he said as he formulated a plan. "Watch this!"

Twisting past another girder, the Arwings charged directly towards the giant mocking head. "What are you doing?" asked a panicked Fara as she watched the face grow larger and larger by the second.

"Trust me."

With one last roll, the Arwings passed the last of Andross' defenses. They found themselves face to face, nothing between them but empty air. Wasting no time, Fox charged towards the head and unleashed the power of his blasters upon his target. Shot after shot struck home, sparks flying every time they made contact.

"Hold on!" he yelled as he realized that he'd waited too long to make a safe turn for both craft, so pleased he was with his success at finally being able to do damage to the ape. He cut the engine, pointed the craft vertically, and punched the boosters as hard as he could. The collision alarm blared as his ship rattled from the stress, and he swore that he saw the shields register a hit as he drew too close to Andross' forehead.

The craft shot past the face and sped towards his defenses once more. They didn't get that far, however.

Suddenly, Andross turned, opened his mouth, and abused his telekinesis power again by bringing the Arwings to a bone-jarring halt. The overworked G-Diffusers failed spectacularly in a shower of sparks, pushed drastically beyond their limit. With a sickening crunch, Fox's left G-Diffuser wing tore free from his craft, staying attached to Fara's, while the ones on the other side separated without additional damage.

Fara was flung back into her seat as she broke free of Andross' grasp, her boosters still firing. Fox's craft ripped though her shields, the carefully attuned defenses collapsing immediately. She fought to remain conscious, her battered body feeling every violent move her craft made with the G-Diffusers offline.

Fox on the other hand, was in a far worse situation. Even though his boosters were still operational, his was going the opposite direction – straight towards Andross. In addition, the ape attacked his mind again, replacing his vision with ones dragged from the depths of his worst nightmares. He screamed as he lost control of his very thoughts, sending shivers of fear down his teammate's spine. She knew she was next.

Suppressing her dread best she could, Fara swung her craft around and winced as the restraints continued to dig into her fur. She watched helplessly as Fox was pulled towards Andross' maw, her mind racing as she tried to figure out what to do. The Nova Bombs weren't going to save him now, as not only didn't she have one charged up, but she'd hit the safety limit of three already. In addition, she was as defenseless as he was.

She couldn't just sit there however. She reached over to her throttle and steadied herself for acceleration shock, when a remarkable altercation happened before her.

Andross changed.

His giant, frightening face suddenly dissolved and transformed back to the collection of steel girders she saw when she first entered, now covered in scorch marks from when they attacked it before. The steel floating in the chamber stopped revolving around the pilots and shot away, gravity or some other force taking command upon them. What passed for eyes opened wide in shock and glowed a deep red. As far as she figured, something had happened to Andross' mental control.

The force that was dragging Fox to his doom evaporated, sending the Arwing rocketing forward in its intended direction. The pilot within was shaken back to wakefulness as the painful images vanished from his mind. As he slowly regained his senses, the first thing he did was kill the alarms blaring in his cockpit. Only then did he gently slow his craft to a halt.

"Fox, you okay?" asked Fara as she moved towards the other Arwing. She continued to watch Andross, or at least the metallic form that used to be him, but he seemed to be floating there silently.

He coughed in response. "No," he responded weakly as he brought his craft around to face the ape. He narrowed his eyes in confusion as he looked upon the mass of steel that vaguely looked like his original target. "What happened to Andross?"

"No clue. He just changed back when he released you."

"Well…see that glow where the eyes are?"

"Yeah."

"Let's make it stop."

She laughed. "Okay."

Left with no other obvious solution, the two Arwings advanced and headed slowly towards their target as the backups for the G-Diffusers still hadn't kicked in. The metal began to warp from their missed shots, and the eyes seemed to absorb the firepower aimed at them, glowing briefly for a moment after every hit.

The head continued to sit there, non-responsive to the damage it was taking. It wasn't until its left eye exploded from Fara's shots, rocking the whole face in the process, did Andross finally respond. "You can never defeat me! I will have my revenge upon you all!"

Fox's response was simple. "Let's see you do it from beyond the grave. This is for my parents!" He fired one last burst of blasters into the other eye and pulled away.

A series of mini-explosions were visible across the surface of the face, seemingly at random. A few seconds later, a gigantic fireball erupted from the center, engulfing the mass of steel and rapidly expanding outward to threaten the pilots. "I found the exit!" yelled Fara.

The vulpine veered towards her craft, boosters glowing brightly as he tried to stay ahead of the flame. It looked like it was going to consume the entire chamber and then some based on how quickly it was growing. "I'm right—"

"It's still closed!"

Cursing, he checked his sensors for confirmation while ignoring the fire nipping at his exhaust. It took him but only a moment to verify her findings. He had only one option, one that he was glad that he was ready for. "Get out of the way! Firing a Nova Bomb!"

She hastily slid to one side and quieted her blasters. As soon as Fox had a clear line of fire, he fired.

The radiant ball of energy shot unerringly towards its target, looking like an angel of light. It collided with the sealed gate, vaporizing the metal as well as the surrounding construction with its usual blinding flash. As the explosion subsided, it revealed their way to freedom and prompted a short cheer from the pilots.

"Take the lead, Fox," said Fara as she slowed down slightly.

"Negative. Repair systems are still trying to bring the shields and G-Diffuser backups online. You at least have shields. Stay in front."

"All right."

The pilots shot into the tunnel they'd originally entered a short while ago, both feeling like it'd been hours instead only a few minutes. Once inside, they found that their escape was just as dangerous as the battle they'd recently won. The electronics buried inside the walls were constantly sparking and shorting, and gases of an unknown type were leaking everywhere. Fox winced constantly as he advanced, hoping that what he passed through wouldn't cripple his already vulnerable ship.

They hurriedly continued, passing by fallen chunks of wall and launch stations for the fighter craft. As they neared the exit, explosions began to erupt all around them, narrowly missing them multiple times. "We're almost there," said Fara, talking to hide her nervousness. "Just a bit—"

The passageway on her right hand side detonated outward, her craft vanishing inside the resulting fireball. "Fara!" yelled Fox as he slowed his Arwing down and waited for the flames to dissipate.

Static resolved into her voice a few seconds later as he shot through the residual smoke, his sensors informing him that the passageway was clear. "I…I'm okay. The shields held."

He dodged around a piece of falling support and touched off the boosters once more as the wall began to collapse behind it. "Thank goodness."

"Yeah." That last hit was close. Too close. Shaking her head at the memories of how her first battle ended, she twisted her craft in place and squeezed through a pile of metal that had partially filled the passageway. She was going to get through this alive no matter what. She'd won. Nothing was going to stop her now.

A few chirps from his computer told Fox that his shields and G-Diffusers had finally come back online, giving him some protection from the elements. Glad to know that every movement wasn't going to be a jarring one anymore, he concentrated on escaping from this fiery hellhole they were in. They were close. He could feel it.

"I see it!" exclaimed Fara upon seeing the green sky up ahead. She unloaded with her blasters upon seeing that the opening would be a tight fit in its current state. Pieces of metal and debris turned to slag upon her assault, carving out a hole like an expert craftsman. Hitting her retros as she neared, she tilted her Arwing to the side and lined herself up for a perfect exit.

Fox watched as Fara made a clean getaway, her boosters igniting as she left the confines of the base. He followed the same maneuver she did, and after a moment, found himself free as well. "Hell yeah!" he shouted, ecstatic at having escaped what looked to be their doom.

Peppy's voice interrupted his celebration. "Fox, what—"

"Not now! Everyone, head for the atmosphere! This place is gonna blow!"

"Always have all the fun," muttered Falco as his boosters ignited and propelled him into the sky.

Fox ignored the comment, spending his time watching the base behind him via his sensors. It was going to go up in flames any—

With a force far stronger than a half-dozen Nova Bombs combined, the entire base exploded into a gigantic ball of flame, debris shooting hundreds of feet into the air. The shockwave from the blast obliterated the buildings across a city block, and was powerful enough to actually part the clouds themselves far above. The Arwings were tossed around like toys, the raw skill of the pilots the only thing keeping them aloft.

As the four reached orbit, they turned as one and looked at the devastation far below. A portion of what used to be Venom's main city was no longer there, or damaged so heavily that it was nearly uninhabitable. Fires raged all around where the base used to stand, and a field of rubble was visible, coating everything nearby like a winter's snow.

"Shit, Fox, remind me to never get you angry."

"Very funny, Falco."

"By the Creator… Did you kill him though?"

"We killed something that sure looked like him."

"How did he do that, Fox? The whole…transforming thing?"

"A good question, Fara. A very good question."

"Transforming?"

"I'll explain later, old friend. For now…" Fox turned away from the utter destruction that once again he'd caused, and tried to figure out what to say to the crew back home about his successful mission. As it was, he didn't know what would happen when he returned home, thanks to his creative borrowing of an Arwing. At least he had the whole 'ended the war' aspect on his side, or so he thought.

"What's on your mind, Fox?" asked Peppy.

"Nothing and everything."

"Can we leave then?" asked Falco. "There's gonna be one hell of a party in our name when we return. There better be."

Fox laughed. "Yeah. One second." A multitude of possible things to say to the base floated through his mind. With such a drastic time delay from here to Corneria, at least until they got into much more friendly territory, extended communication would be difficult at best. He decided to go the simple route. "Come in Corneria."

As expected, the pilots had a lengthy delay before the hail returned to them. They started their journey home, not wanting to stick around to see if there were any other defending forces in the area. Nevertheless, Pepper's terse response came to them eventually. "This is Corneria, Pepper speaking. Congratulations, on a job well done."

"Roger. I'm heading back to Corneria."

The team sat in silence after Fox's response and watched as Venom grew smaller and smaller in the distance. "Do you have any idea how anti-climatic that sounded?" asked Fara half a minute later.

"Our great leader tired after finally saving the galaxy?" joked Falco.

"Very funny, both of you." A second later, his seriousness broke away upon coming to the conclusion that Falco was right in one aspect. "We've won! We've finally won!"

"Hell yeah!"

"And I couldn't have done it without each and every one of you!"

The whole team cheered. "Yeah!"

"Now let's get the hell out of here! We have a celebration to attend!"

"Yeah!"