And another chapter out of the way. Random thought - this fic will be fully uploaded before my two year 'anniversary'. About time, no?

FraGmenTd - There's nothing quite like the cliffhanger, especially when you can't read the next chapter right away.

Janus - As far as your question goes, you'll find out the answer to that one shortly. And keep in mind that there will be quite a few more 'what's happening elsewhere' moments as the story continues.

RedBay - Ah, RedBay. Your questions are always so hard to answer. I think I'm going to ultimately blame that one simply on how I've been writing too long on this one story. Word to the wise - never, ever do what I did (taking 2 years to write a whomper of a story). You forget/change too many things, and you let other things just slip on in/by. Yes, you're right. And to answer your other questions - maybe, and as stated in the previous chapter, just your average swamp. Remember how she never had the time to clean herself off, and as Fox assumed - the ten pounds of mud she had on her simply dried around her.

One final thing (and something I doubt I'll do again) - pull up my Favorite Author listing and go visit Foxmerc. If you happen to be a reader of his excellent stories (or if you're a new reader and fall in love with them), he has a book set in a world of his creation available to purchase over at Zdenekbooks .com (delete the space, as FF is killing it otherwise). It's well worth the read.


Chapter 51: The Assault

Now I realize why we were given such advanced fighter craft – so we can avoid running around like this. I'm still in good shape and all, but I'll be glad when we're done with this mission. – Peppy

While I enjoy the power of the Arwing fighter, there's nothing quite like seeing your enemy die firsthand. Yes, it's more dangerous, but it's a heck of a lot more fun. – Falco

"How many on your side?"

"Two. You?"

"Three." A sudden shot from a direction he didn't expect impacted into the tree just inches from Falco's head. "Four, at least!"

Ignoring the shots whizzing past and into the tree he was using for cover, Peppy leaned away from the side he was covering and looked at Falco's aggressors. Finding an opening, a triad of shots dropped one of them to an early grave and sent the others back into momentary hiding.

The hare was about to see how the pair on his side was reacting to their teammate's death, but the flurry of shots that suddenly crashed into his cover told him that he had far more opponents nearby. "Falco!" he hissed, indicating with his paws to find out why he had a dramatic increase of firepower in his direction.

Falco's dismayed look told him far more than his cursing did. "Reinforcements! A lot of them!"

Peppy shrunk back closer to the tree in dismay. After the problems they'd been through since they landed, especially after they were attacked by a four-legged…something as they tried to sleep last night, he wasn't ready to accept the fact that this might be the end of the line.

His teammate wasn't ready, either. He poked a wing around the tree and snapped off a multitude of shots. A short scream indicated that luck was still on their side. But it wasn't going to last forever. "We're screwed if we stay here!"

"I know!" he yelled back over the near rain of laser blasts. Returning fire best he could, he thought through his options.

It didn't take Peppy long to realize that his options were severely limited.

He figured that there were exactly two choices. They could either retreat back into the dense foliage and try to lose or outflank their attackers, or they could stay here and get killed.

Before he could issue the order to retreat, he heard something he didn't expect to hear at all from his teammate. "The door just opened!"

The lack of any visible way to enter the interior of the base had stumped the hare as soon as he saw the stone door. There was no touchpad like he was used to using at the base, nor was there a proximity sensor like he'd seen used in other places. He assumed there was some sort of hidden way to gain entrance, but the number of security personnel prevented him from exploring.

In short, he just didn't expect to see the door open up on its own.

"Anybody coming out?" asked the hare as he continued his defensive fire.

Falco poked his head back around to look closer and almost got it blown off for his efforts. "No!"

Peppy really didn't expect to hear that. He wasn't going to let that advantage pass him by, however.

Especially since it looked like it was going to save their collective rears.

"Charged shot into the trees they're using for cover," he hissed. "Then we make a break for that door."

For once, Falco didn't argue. After a slight lapse in his firing, in which the hare assumed he was thinking, he nodded tersely and changed the setting on his blaster. Peppy wasted no time in following suit.

The muted beep that indicated that the weapons were charged was deafening as they waited with held breaths, hoping that their cover would hold for just a bit longer. Upon hearing the noise, they took only a moment to look at each other, as if wishing the other luck, before they jumped into action.

The bolts of energy lanced out from their blasters and screamed towards their targets. The pilots only waited long enough for the resulting explosions before they broke cover and took off running, spraying the area with their weapons.

Luck was still on their side, as while laser fire nipped at their heels and whizzed by their rapidly moving forms, neither of them were hit. They raced into the large, blue chamber, Peppy only a step behind the normally faster avian, and took cover just behind the opening.

Falco once again poked his head out and once again regretted it as a hail of firepower struck the far wall. He slammed a paw against the wall and yelled, "I'm getting sick and tired of being shot at down here! And how are we gonna close this door?"

Peppy kept quiet as he looked around the doorway, and upon finding nothing hopeful as far as a switch or sensor went, expanded his search around the entire room. Short of a lone exit directly across from the entrance and a multitude of blue glowing blocks embedded in the walls, there was nothing at all remarkable about where they were. "I'm without an idea about the door, Falco. Can we defend this position?"

The avian didn't even try to attempt a counterattack thanks to the continued assault from outside plastering the opposite wall. Instead, he had his blaster leveled and ready for anybody who might come in. "We're better in here than we were outside, but that's not saying much. All it'll take is a grenade to smear our innards onto these walls, and that's—"

The stone door suddenly slammed shut with hardly a sound.

"Did you do that?" asked Peppy.

"Nope. Did you?"

"I didn't do anything."

Falco turned and pointed his weapon at the only exit to the room. "I guess that solves that problem then."

The hare followed suit. "Assuming those lizards have the same difficulties in opening the door that we did, yes."

"Why are you always so technical?"

"I…" Peppy quieted and muttered something unintelligible under his breath. He wasn't going to be goaded into another argument with his ticked-off teammate. "Let's go."


The pair moved cautiously down the hallway with Falco in the lead. The avian continued to grumble as they advanced, but it wasn't until they'd passed a few doors that wouldn't open did he finally make his thoughts heard. "We're just being led around by the nose in here."

As much as he didn't want to, Peppy had to agree. Short of only a lone hallway they passed by early on, they hadn't seen another way to travel short of straight ahead or back. "I agree, Falco. This place seems to be one long curving hallway and nothing more."

"If only these doors opened."

"Yes, I wonder what's behind them as well. And then there's the mystery of these lighted blue stones. I haven't seen anything like them before."

Falco stopped at the next light and reached up to touch it. "It's not warm at all."

Now that they've stopped moving, Peppy had another observation. "Do you hear that?"

It took half a minute before he responded. "I don't hear a single thing."

"That's my point. It's quiet. Too quiet. We're inside what looks to be Andross' last stand, and we haven't encountered a single soldier, guard, or anybody since we've broken in."

"I bet they're just waiting for the perfect time to jump us."

Peppy nodded. "That's my worry as well."

"I'm gonna see if this blaster can punch through these stone walls into one of those rooms. We can at least make a stand or something inside of them."

For once the hare agreed with his trigger-happy teammate as he made no move to stop his actions. He hoped the excursion would provide them with a few answers as well as to where Slippy was. Or what happened with Fox and Fara after—

He suddenly heard the unmistakable sound of boots pounding hard on the stone surface they were walking on coming from the distance. After pinpointing that the noise was coming from behind, he hissed, "Falco, stop."

"What now—" To his credit, he noticed Peppy's tensed form, spun around, and then ducked into a firing position on the floor. "How many?" he whispered.

He concentrated and focused upon the muted noise. Unless it was a group running in perfect synchronization, he only heard a lone set of pounding footsteps. "Just one."

"How far?"

"I can't tell. Too many echoes in this place." He raised his own blaster and readied himself for a dodge maneuver incase whoever was approaching was hostile. In these close quarters and absolutely no cover however, he knew it was going to be shoot first or be killed. "They're coming closer though."

Thanks to the constantly curving corridor, the pair could only see about twenty feet in either direction before their vision was blocked. The close range combat they'd be involved in only heightened their tension as whoever it was approached. They stayed silent as well, hoping that they'd be able to get surprise upon their opponent that way.

Based on how Falco raised his weapon, it was apparent he could hear the approaching person. The pilots looked at each other, and after a quick nod they completely focused upon their objective.

Peppy looked down the sights of his blaster and set his aim for waist height. While odds were his shot wouldn't be a killing one because of it, it would have the best chance of hitting no matter what the newcomer did. The sound was getting closer and closer—

And then Fara ran into view.

The hare let out the breath he was holding as she skidded to a halt. Seeing the pair with their weapons drawn, she gave them a quizzical look as she slowly put her paws up. "Uh, hi?"

"By the Creator, Fara, you scared us." Peppy returned his blaster to its holster and he heard Falco do the same. "What happened to Fox?"

She looked down at her feet as she replied. "We got separated when we got in this place, and I've been running around trying to find him ever since."

"And the team is almost back together," mused Peppy. He was concerned over Fox's absence, but he knew the vulpine was more than capable of defending himself. Even though they were deep inside Andross' stronghold. "Find anything out on Slippy?"

She nodded as she looked back up, a grin forming on her face as she pulled out a small card. "I borrowed this passcard from a pair of guards we encountered outside the base. Luckily for us, this guard worked at security."

"And where's security?" asked Falco.

"Well, as I was running, I passed by one of these doors that opened as I neared. I guess this card has some kind of transmitter in it or something, as none of the other ones opened. Anyway, I found a map of this place inside. Security is down near the other entrance, which is where I was going."

"Let me guess – it's off the lone side passage near there, right?"

She nodded. "Yeah. How did you know?"

Falco looked over his shoulder at the hare. "I knew we should've gone down there."

"You never said…" Peppy stopped with a groan. This wasn't the place to argue, no matter how wrong his teammate was. Something didn't seem right though. Finding Fara like this holding all the answers seemed to be almost too much of a coincidence. Chalking it up to the luck of the Creator, he continued. "Fara, since you know where you're going, lead on."

"Sure."

Peppy took a good look at the vixen as she passed by. To his eyes she looked exactly like she should – the same helmet that she always wore, the same backpack the rest of the group had, and the blaster she held in her paw was the same as the one he had tucked away. Her fur was a bit roughed up, but that was easily explainable due to any incidents she'd been through. The same with a lack of the spark of life her eyes usually held.

Any further thoughts he had vanished as once Fara cleared the pair, she broke out into a jog without looking back. Peppy hurried to catch up and he heard Falco scamper to do the same.

"What's your hurry?" asked the avian.

She shook her head. "The sooner we rescue Slippy, the faster we can go find Fox."

That matter-of-fact answer left the pair quiet as there was no way to counter that statement without discrediting what she was doing or her goal afterwards. Left in silence, the pair followed her as they sped through the base.

As before, they heard nothing but the pounding of their footsteps as they ran towards their goal. The complete lack of anybody else inside the facility worried Peppy to no end, but there was nothing he could do about it other than hope that this wasn't an elaborate trap they were walking right into. He noticed that it affected Falco the same way, as the few times he looked over his shoulder he found him always glancing at something off to the side, as if he was seeing things.

He never got the chance to ask what was going through Falco's mind as Fara suddenly blurted out, "We're there."

The three came to a halt at what looked like a dead end, albeit a dead end that had three closed doors leading from it.

Fara walked towards one of the doors, passcard in paw. "Now, if I'm right—" As if by magic, the stone door quickly retracted into the ceiling.

Just as quickly, a barrage of laser blasts from inside almost beheaded the vixen. She dove to one side and rolled into the wall as the shots whipped by her head.

Upon noticing Fara's dazed state, the other pilots ran forward and took position on either side of the doorway. Peppy peeked in as he passed the opening and was rewarded with the location of their attacker.

Using a series of paw-gestures that the team had developed on their time on Papetoon, the hare passed on not only the position, but the cover available to the lizard inside. As Peppy snapped off a few random shots, Falco glanced in and found their cover and a plan of attack.

Knowing what they had to do, the pair waited only a moment before they sprang to action.

Falco dove into the room and ducked behind a stone column that dominated the center of the room. As the attacker switched to harassing the avian with fire, Peppy leaned in and unloaded with his weapon.

The results were anything but pretty. Missed shots from the pilots sent sparks flying as they connected with the set of computer terminals the lizard was using for cover. Monitors behind him exploded and sent the creature flying into the center of the room. The battle quickly ended at that point as Falco calmly turned and put a single shot into the lizard's head.

Shaking his head at the mess on the floor, Peppy asked, "You okay, Falco?"

"Not a scratch," responded the avian as he stood up and dusted himself off.

"Good. See if you can find a way into the cells while I check on Fara."

"Okay."

Ignoring the smell of death best he could, Peppy left security and found Fara leaning against the wall with her head down. He walked up and lightly touched her shoulder to get her attention. "Fara, you okay?"

She looked up and blinked a few times. "Yeah, I think."

Falco's holler from inside interrupted them both. "Guys, I found it."

That brought life back to Fara as she pushed off the wall. "Coming."

Peppy smiled at the sudden spark of energy from the vixen, as he knew the real reason behind it, and followed. He spotted Falco bent over a short stone column with some kind of glowing lights on top. Balanced precariously above that was a more common looking computer terminal, attached to the lights with a myriad of wires. "Well, Falco, open it up."

The avian shook his head before finally looking over. "I would, but I'm sorta missing Fara's stolen card. And have either of you seen anything so…alien, as this? We've seen Venom's tech before. This…I don't know what the heck this is."

As Fara walked over to supply the needed passcard, Peppy pondered the question. The entire base was of a construction that he'd never seen on either side of the war. The control panels were as alien to him as the lighting was. Either Andross had been developing something on the side, or… "I really don't know what's up with this base. Honestly? It worries me too."

Fara inserted her card into the terminal and was rewarded with a slit opening in the stone wall behind her. It quickly expanded into an opening as the rock silently slid into the ceiling. Afterwards, instead of going inside, she moved over to a nearby panel and slumped over, leaning heavily into it for support.

Peppy grew concerned over the weakened state of his fellow teammate. "Fara, what's—"

"I…I'm fine. Just go get Slippy."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. Go on."

Falco only shrugged as the hare looked his way. "She has spunk. She'll bounce back."

After taking one last look at Fara, Peppy followed Falco into the cell. "We'll be right back."

The chamber was nearly pitch black, lit only by a lone dim light embedded into the far wall. Peppy squinted as he looked around for their missing teammate. Finding nothing due to the lack of light, he reached back and was about to grab his flashlight when he heard something he didn't expect.

It was a total of four people breathing.

Falco confirmed what he heard as he hissed, "There's two in here."

Peppy fumbled for his light as Slippy spoke up excitedly from one dark corner. "Falco? Is that you? Are the rest of the guys here?"

"Is Fox in here with you?" countered Peppy. He heard the avian draw his weapon as he found his flashlight and turned it on.

Slippy covered his eyes from the light as he gestured to the person sitting slumped over against the far wall. "It's Fara. She—"

Falco cursed and took off towards the exit, but the Fara that they thought was their teammate outside was much faster as the door swiftly hissed shut. The avian skidded to a halt and paused only a moment before belching out a series of curse words that would've made the proverbial sailor proud.

Peppy was left dumbfounded as to how he was fooled yet again. Aiming the light in Fara's direction, he knew why the android outside had everything that she did when he last saw her – her backpack, blaster, and jacket were all missing.

"What's going on?" asked a now most confused Slippy as he looked between the pilots.


Fox ran down the gently curving corridor, still amazed that he had somehow escaped death yet again. Just when he'd lost all hope, desperate to take a breath even though it would've more than likely killed him, the shields covering the door, as well as the door itself, vanished. He ran out with only moments to spare before collapsing to the floor, gasping for air.

He had only two objectives on his mind – find the rest of his team, Fara being first and foremost in his mind, and get rid of Andross once and for all. And woe to anybody who got in his way.

That faith was about to be tested.

Up ahead, the stone hallway branched off into two paths. As Fox approached, debating upon which corridor to take, a scattering of laser fire erupted from the right-hand hallway.

Fox returned fire as he retreated back to where the curvature of the hallway would provide him some protection. Figuring that there would be guards posted at the more important parts of this otherwise strange base, his choice was made. He just needed to find a way through his attackers.

Finding what looked to be a momentary pause in firing, Fox nudged his head out far enough to see his targets. It was nothing more than a pair of lizards doing the exact same thing he was doing as far as his cover went – one kneeling, the other standing.

Now that he knew where to fire, he ducked down low and leaned around the corner, tilting his body so he could bring both of his weapons to bear. He pulled the triggers a dozen times each and ignored the screams the lizards made as his shots flew down the corridor.

Afterwards, he paused in his assault and listened. Nothing but the sound of his own terse breathing reached his ears. He waited a few more seconds and then cautiously moved forward.

A pair of corpses, their blood slowly seeping onto the gray stone floor, met his eyes. Nodding in achievement, Fox gave the bodies only a brief glance before he continued his run. He knew that his goal had to be somewhere nearby. He hoped it did. His luck wasn't—

A single laser shot fired from somewhere behind him and connected with the back of his leg. As he fell, the only thing on his mind was how the shot must've come from the other hallway that looked so empty before…