And yet another chapter for everybody to read. Make your guess as to what my chapter title means now.

Kit - Trust me on this - the amount of words I've already written are more than enough. No way am I going to break the 7 digit number, nor am I going to break the 300k mark. As far as your fic goes though, check your hits under FF's stats - odds are you're getting far more than just two readers. Just nobody is actually reviewing your stories. And thanks for the links (even though you had to fight FF just to tell me about them) - never realized I had fans like that. Kinda cool.

RedBay - While your questions tend to be always hard ones, they're never offensive. So don't worry about hurting my feelings or whatever. Your reviews keep me on my toes.

Chapter 52: A Hero's End

Four out the five members of the Starfox team are within my clutches. Now to finish off the McCloud line once and for all. – Andross

"How is she?"

"I don't know. She hasn't been here long at all."

"I'll go take a look."

Groggily, Fara rejoined the land of the conscious. She heard the voices nearby, but she couldn't place who they were or where she even was.

As the memories of what happened to her slowly drifted back, she shifted ever so slightly and realized one thing – she was unarmed.

She remained still as she heard somebody approach where she was sitting. Odds were that whoever it was, they were armed. With a weapon in her paws, she'd be able to take control of whatever situation she'd been thrown into.

"Guys, I think she's—"

The voice sounded like Peppy's, but after running into herself however long ago it was since she was last awake, she wasn't going to take any chances. She tensed up and opened her eyes. Only inches away, shadowed by the flashlight he was carrying, was indeed the hare, a look of surprise forming upon his face as he noticed her snap awake.

Then she sprang into action.

She bent forward and yanked the blaster out of his holster, then threw her weight back and brought her leg up into his groin as hard as she could. As he stumbled back in obvious pain, she lashed out with her foot again, this time sending him sprawling to the ground.

At the same time, her stolen blaster was pointed outward and searching for the others she'd heard earlier. "Nobody move!" she yelled as she spotted Falco and Slippy on the other side of the room. "Put it down!" she added upon noticing that the avian already had his weapon aimed directly at her.

"Drop it!" hollered Falco as Slippy cowered in the corner.

"Not unless you can prove who you are!"

"Drop it before I blow your damned head off!"

"That's enough!" roared Peppy weakly. Somehow he had gotten to his feet and had his arms out to his side to show he was weaponless. "Disarm yourselves before somebody gets killed! We're all friends here!"

"Tell that to the android of myself who knocked me out a bit ago!"

Peppy nodded as a look of understanding came over him. "Now I realize why you're so apprehensive." He looked behind him. "Falco, put it down."

"No way. She's too trigger-happy over—"

"I'm too trigger-happy?

After making sure he had eye contact, Peppy hobbled as quickly as he could to a point directly between the two pilots. "Falco, stay there and disarm. Fara, please, we're who we say we are."

The hare's calm speech was starting to get to her. But after what she'd been through earlier with these clones, she doubted she'd trust anyone again. "Prove it!"

Peppy looked behind him again before continuing. "Fara, Falco has disarmed. If you don't mind, I'm going to sit down. Then we can talk. Okay?"

Fara nodded tensely and waited for Peppy to move out of the way before even the thought of lowering her weapon passed into her mind. As stated, Falco had put down his blaster, but it was still in his lap and ready to use with little warning. Figuring that it was as much trust as she'd get out of the avian, assuming it was the real him, she lowered her arms.

Upon realizing that her borrowed blaster was of the same design she started off this adventure with, and that it wouldn't do anything if she wasn't facing the real thing, she hid a grimace and flipped the hidden switch to charge the weapon. At the same time she said, "Alright, guys, any idea how to prove to me that you're all flesh and blood?"

Falco only shook his head in the near darkness while Slippy finally pulled himself out of the corner he had buried himself in. It wasn't until Peppy said something a few seconds later was a noise heard at all. "I don't have an acceptable answer, Fara, other than the fact that we'll do anything within reason to eliminate your doubts."

Finally, an idea came to light. Fara thought through it before saying anything, and it seemed that it would work. "I have an idea. Let me explain it fully before you say anything though."

"We're ready."

"Think back to when you were practicing on the simulators back on Corneria. Before you'd even taken the Arwings out for a true flight. For your finals, you were told to attack each other. I want to hear from you, without any assistance from anybody else, and in the correct order, how you were shot down and by who. Sound good?"

Peppy nodded and said his thoughts as Falco tried to interrupt. "A good idea."

"Good." Her blaster beeped again. This time around she didn't talk over it, so she knew the others had heard it. "Don't mess up, as this thing is primed to kill." Noticing their silence, she added, "Whoever 'died' first, you're up."

Fara kept her eyes on Falco, or more specifically, his weapon, as if tempting him to use it. She let out the breath she was holding in relief as Slippy started talking quietly. "I…I was the first to fall, by Falco." He coughed, his voice growing in strength as he continued. "There's not much to say about my fight, as all Falco did was just get on my tail and fire until I was destroyed. I couldn't shake him."

Peppy continued. "Mine was the next craft to fall out of the air, but by Fox's paws. While I got the opening salvo on him, he pulled off a few acrobatic moves that completely threw me off. We separated, and before I could find him again, he was stuck to my six until he shot me down."

That left only Falco. "Fox and I blitzed each other for a while, until that chicken turned tail and ran. He knew he didn't have a chance of beating me in fair combat, so the ass brought an entire building down on top of me."

Fara laughed as she flipped off the overcharge on her weapon and looked for a place to stick it, as her holster had been stolen. "Personally, I think that given enough time, Fox would've taken you down in what you call a fair fight."

"Screw you."

"No thanks."

"Just to satisfy my curiosity," said Peppy, "care to tell us what happened during your battle against Fox in the simulator? No offense, I just want to make sure we're dealing with the real you."

"Just by asking the questions that I did you should know that I'm me, but sure. After clashing with Fox for a bit, I had him give chase towards a series of caves that I designed for the simulation."

"That explains that completely unnatural phenomenon there."

She nodded. "Yup. I used it for unforgiving high speed aerial maneuvers. Anyway, as I was showing off more or less, Fox brought down part of the cave onto my Arwing. I booked it out of there and tried to initiate repairs, but Fox got me talking and tracked me down that way."

"Served you right," said Falco snidely.

"Go turn into someone's dinner."

"Enough," interrupted Peppy. "What happened to Fox? Is he okay?"

"Last time I saw him, yeah." Feeling how dusty and dirty she still was after her prior adventures, she tried to brush herself off once more as she went over her story. She glossed over her journey through the swamp, as she didn't want to relive those memories again, but she told them of most everything else.

Falco's flashlight briefly passed over her and then returned to where it was laying by his side. "Why does it look like you've taken a dirt bath?"

She shot him a dirty look. "Don't ask."

The avian looked like he was going to continue, but Fara reacted by reaching for her weapon. He took the hint and kept quiet at that point, as she was in no mood to discuss.

Instead, Peppy pushed himself to his feet with a groan and said, "One question, Fara."

"Shoot."

"Did you happen to glean any information as to how to open any of the doors in this base during your time here?"

Fara took a deep breath and stayed quiet. She'd only brushed the surface as to how she'd entered the base, as the reason still didn't make any sense to her. She didn't know how much to tell them either as it still spooked her out. Especially the strange feelings she'd been having ever since she got here.

As she expected, Peppy noticed the sudden silence. "Fara, what's wrong?"

She sighed as she came to the conclusion that there was no hiding from the inquisitive hare. "Well, that's the strangest thing. The doors here, at least the ones near the entrance, seem to be based upon the same touchpad technology we use at the base. Just that you can touch the door itself anywhere."

"So why the hesitation?"

"We found this out as Fox accidentally had his paw splayed upon the door. Some kind of strange letters or something appeared on the stone in red. When I tried it, the letters were green and the door shot open for me."

"That's…strange."

"No kidding. This whole base is screwed up."

Peppy closed his eyes in thought for a few seconds before he looked Slippy's way. "Slippy, have you seen how any guards have come and gone while you've been here?"

The toad was long in answering. So long in fact, that Peppy had to repeat his name to make sure he was with them. "The…the door just opened from their end when they wanted in. Andross normally followed them in, and when he did…I…I…"

Fara watched her teammate with great concern. While he was the quiet type, she never remembered him to act like this. She unsteadily rose to her feet and walked over to him during the silence. "Slippy, what's wrong?"

He finally noticed the attention and gave a brief weak smile. "Andross…he'd walk up to me and give me this funny look, and then…he'd be in my mind."

The pilots gasped in shock.

"I…I didn't know if he'd find anything, or if he was searching for something…as he always kept coming back. I'd fall unconscious sometime during whatever he did and wake back up later. I tried to fight him, but he was just too strong. And he just kept coming back…"

"You poor thing," said Fara as she kneeled down next to him and took him up in a big hug. She couldn't even imagine the hell he must've been through. "You'll be okay. You're with us now."

"And how much help are we exactly?" asked Falco. "Incase you've forgotten, we're stuck here inside this jail cell of an absolute nutcase. Unless you have any bright ideas."

Slippy looked up and nodded in appreciation as Fara patted him on the shoulder and stood back up. As she looked around the room, she first noticed Peppy standing there with his mouth still agape in shock. She figured it would be the exact same reaction that Fox would give given the situation, so she paid him little heed as she continued turning.

She spotted what Falco was gesturing at only moments later – the one and only exit to the room, currently sealed shut and covered with the same energy field that she encountered earlier. The rest of the walls weren't shielded, but they seemed to be colored differently than the hallways she'd ran down before. Not sure as to what that meant, she asked, "What have you tried?"

"Not much. We'd only been tossed in here for a few minutes before you woke up." He pulled out his blaster and took aim as he continued. "I figured that we could blast our way—"

"No!"

Startled by Fara's sudden and unexpected yell, Falco accidentally pulled the trigger. Fara dove to the ground and ordered everyone to do the same as she curled up and tried to make herself as little of a target as possible.

Overhead, the lone shot ricocheted off the shield and came screaming back towards the avian. Only by pure luck did it miss as it struck the wall behind him and bounced off once more.

Seconds later, she finally heard the bolt dissipate against something. Feeling no pain, she was about to ask if everyone else was okay when Peppy beat her to it. "Is everyone okay?"

"Son of a bitch!"

Fara had to laugh at Falco's remark. Then again, she expected nothing else from the foulmouthed avian. She tiredly pushed herself to her feet as she replied, "I'm fine."

"Same here," added Slippy.

"Good. And somehow, our luck continues to keep us alive through another mishap."

"Mishap my—"

"Quiet."

Fara shook her head as she listened to Peppy and Falco bicker back and forth. She found it amazing that such diverse personalities could work together so well in the end.

But now wasn't the time to ponder. She took a look at the shielded exit and wondered how they could bring it down so she could touch the door and see if it would open for her like the others. Unfortunately, her mysterious inner voice was staying quiet this time around.

"Anybody have any ideas?" asked Peppy after finally quieting the avian.

An idea formed in Fara's head. It was a long shot, but it was better than doing nothing. Especially with Fox out there all by himself. "I do."

"As the saying goes then – I'm all ears."

Fara debated on making a joke on the ears statement, but chose otherwise as she said, "We know we can't use energy weapons against that shield, but I'm wearing what's basically a jetpack but on my boots. Puts out quite a bit of flame. Assuming I have enough fuel still in them, I might be capable of overloading that shield. Sound good?"

"As long as I don't have to shoot at that thing, I'm game," said Falco.

She took that as an acceptance from the rest of the team. "Good. I'm gonna need your help on this, so let's get cracking."


As Fox fell, his body instinctively reacted and flipped right side up as he came crashing to the stone floor. Ignoring the pain from multiple sources, he unloaded his weapons back down the hall and struck an overconfident lizard several times in the chest.

As the creature collapsed from the now smoking wounds, Fox spotted another lizard bringing his weapon to bear farther down the hallway. He was about to fire, but was stopped by a scaly voice from almost directly behind him. "Don't move."

Fox kept his weapons still and looked up into the face of what he assumed would be either his captor or killer. As he figured, there was a lizard standing just behind him with a gun pointed straight at his head. At this range, if he fired, he wouldn't miss.

He looked back down across his stomach at the lizard taking aim from the other direction and sighed. Feeling the adrenaline rush from earlier fading, he asked, "What do you want me to do?"

"Nothing. Just die."

Then, as if to complicate matters, the lights went out.

Fox wasted no time in rolling to one side as both lizards fired. He could feel the heat of the ionized blasts striking the floor just inches away, their shots lighting up the otherwise pitch dark hallway for a brief instant.

His back slammed into the wall as he returned fire with an arm pointing in either direction. The constant flashes of light from their weapons blinded the pilot as laser fire whipped by him from both sides.

Finally, he stopped firing. He could feel the heat from the overused weapons and he thought he could see them glow in the darkness. Other than that, his vision was nothing but streaks of light.

What he could hear, or the lack thereof, was far more important. Short of his own breathing, he couldn't hear anything. He hoped it meant the same thing as it did before.

Then the lights came back on.

He jerked his weapons up towards where the lizard loomed over him, but dropped them just as quickly as the creature let out a groan and toppled backwards onto the floor. A similar noise from the other direction told him that somehow he'd dropped both of his targets.

Fox rolled onto his back and calmed his breathing and racing heartbeat. Once again he'd cheated death. Once again he'd fight on for another day.

But what had made the lights go out like they did?

Not able to even make a guess, he pushed himself to his feet. Or at least tried to. As he put weight on his right leg, the one that had been shot, he yelped in pain and crashed back to the unforgiving stone floor.

He cursed and turned around so he could see the extent of his injury. Finding nothing short of charred and melted leather where the back of his boot was, he pulled it off with a grimace and looked at the extent of the damage.

The prognosis wasn't very positive.

On one hand, it seemed that the boot absorbed a good percentage of the blast. However, it didn't stop enough, based on the amount of blood he was losing out of the wound.

He crawled forward to the nearest lizard and began tearing the creature's clothing into long strips. Knotting them together, he used that to fashion a rudimentary bandage and wrapped the whole thing tightly around his leg.

He winced in pain as he tied it as tight as he could and hoped the pressure would stop the bleeding quickly. Being alone as he was, lost somewhere inside Andross' base, any disadvantage could be his undoing. And this was one heck of a disadvantage.

After admiring his handiwork for a moment, he pulled up what was left of his boot and tried again to get to his feet. He found that while he could put weight on his injured leg, the dull pain he felt in doing so made him want to sit right back down. But at least he could stand and walk.

Fox gathered up his weapons and proceeded to slowly work his way down the passageway. His instincts told him that these lizards had to be guarding something, based on the utter lack of them everywhere else.

Was it the rest of his team? Or was it Andross? He suddenly became worried as to the condition of his teammates, especially Fara, as he continued onward. What had happened to her after they'd been separated? Did she even make it out alive like he did?

His tension mounted as he plodded down the hallway. The silence, short of his own footsteps echoing off the stone walls, didn't help matters either.

He kept track of how far he had traveled by the number of lights he passed. He kept telling himself that he'd make it to another light before stopping, but then he'd say the same thing and continue to move forward. It kept his mind off of the pain he was in, as he knew that if he gave into it, he wouldn't be able to get back up on his own again.

Exactly seventeen lights later, he heard something else in the distance short of his boots hitting the floor – weapons fire.

After a brief check to make sure he was ready for combat, Fox forced himself faster. The pain was all but pushed out of his mind as adrenaline flowed through him once more.

But who was fighting? Was it his team, under fire? Or was it the approach of even more lizards who wanted his head?

He was about to find out.

The lights continued to pass by as he advanced, but instead of the same empty hallway he'd been following for far too long, a lone doorway opened to his right. And if his ears were to be believed, this room was the source of the continued noise.

He approached the entrance cautiously and poked his head in after waiting a moment to see if any accidental shots flew out. He suppressed a gasp as he spotted his nemesis, his tormentor, his rival, standing there in the middle of the oversized room.

It was Andross.

Even though he was currently engaged in combat, the ape stood tall and fearless of the situation he was in. He was dressed in a lavishly detailed black robe that covered all but the bottom of his boots. Upon his raised arms was some kind of oversized bracelets that allowed him to launch blasts of energy. Each shot left sizeable scorch marks on the far wall, and based upon the debris that was accumulating on the floor, was actually eating into the stone.

But who was he shooting at?

Andross' side was to him, so he hadn't been noticed yet. Taking advantage of that opportunity, he quickly scanned the rest of the room. Four carved columns were equidistantly placed in the large chamber, rising up what looked to be two stories high before they met with the stone ceiling. There was another entrance to this room on the exact opposite wall, making it seem like this room was the center of this base for reasons unknown.

Fox followed Andross' shots to one of the pillars. Exposing himself a bit more in the process, he could see that there was somebody using the column as a shield. Based on the rate that it was being hit however, it wouldn't last long. And then he saw who it was as they ducked back after taking a few shots.

It was Fara.

"Fara!" he called out suddenly before he realized how stupid it was for him to give up his position.

Both Andross' and Fara's head turned his way. Hers showed happiness at seeing him again while his showed nothing but contempt and hatred. The ape paused in firing and aimed one of his arms in Fox's direction as he said, "So we finally physically meet face to face. Too bad for you it won't be a lengthy encounter."

And then he resumed fire.

Fox made a split-second decision to enter the room and defend Fara at all costs. His leg screaming as he pushed it into action, he ran for cover behind the closest pillar. He could feel Andross' shots sear the tips of his fur as he ducked and weaved. Returning fire wasn't even an option while he was in the open, as he knew it would take only a single shot to get close before it was all over.

Luck was with him still, as between Fara's counterattack and his maneuverability, he emerged unscathed short of some burnt fur. He rested against his pillar and looked Fara's way. Her smile of appreciation was all it took for him to get revitalized for the battle ahead.

And then Andross changed his tactics.

As Fox watched, the ape concentrated his fire upon the column Fara was using as her protection. She cowered back and yelped in fear as Andross' shots rapidly chipped away at the stone. And with his occasional planned miss to either side, it kept her completely pinned down.

Once again Fox spun into action. He leaned out and opened fire as fast as he could. His aim was true as shot after shot struck home, but it did no visible damage as he seemed to be protected via some sort of shield that briefly glowed blue with every hit.

It did draw Andross' attention however, just not in the way Fox wanted. Relaxing his fire for only a moment, he yelled, "Your pitiful attempts to stop me aren't going to work, McCloud! You will have the honor of watching your female companion die before you get the same fate!"

Plans and options raced through Fox's mind in a panic as he moved back under cover and watched Fara's position continue to be eaten away. Those same plans were tossed out as quickly as he thought of them. Until he finally found one that gave him just a little bit of hope.

He had to become a better target.

Hoping that Andross would focus on him given half a chance, he prayed for the best and simply stepped out into the open towards Fara. He knew that while his mobility was shot thanks to his injury, his reaction time was still as excellent as always. He'd dodged Andross' fire once. He could do it again.

But could he do it from a standstill? That question floated through his mind as he raised his weapons up and began firing.

It didn't take long before Andross eased off and turned his attention back towards Fox. The vulpine thought he looked impressed as he brought one arm around to track his slowly moving form as he continued to inch outward. "Andross, I know it's me you want first!"

Andross laughed as Fox stopped firing and readied himself to move. "Do you have any idea how hopeless your position is right now? The exits are sealed, your team is missing, and your stupidity is only going to bring your beloved a few more seconds of life." He paused as he looked down. "And I see the great McCloud isn't as indestructible as he thinks he is, either."

Fox could feel blood dripping down his leg. He had a feeling that his excursions would've been too much for his simple bandage, and based on how it pooled upon the stone floor, apparently he was right. Left with nothing to say, he only made a quick glance to confirm what Andross had said about the doors before he crouched slightly and resumed firing.

"Die!" roared Andross as he whipped his other arm around and returned fire upon Fox.

The vulpine pushed off with his feet and jumped back towards cover. Time itself seemed to slow as he saw shot after shot fly past his arcing form. Somehow his move had surprised Andross, at least to the point where he'd escape relatively unscathed.

Or so he thought.

He somehow saw the blast moments before it was going to rip through his right shoulder. He responded by twisting his body in a desperate attempt to get out of the line of fire. But he knew it wouldn't be enough.

Fox held in a scream as the heat from the near-miss plasma burned a swatch of clothing away on his upper arm. Underneath, he felt his fur char away and the skin blister from the molten fire that missed him by only inches.

His once semi-graceful jump turned into a crash onto the stone floor as time resumed its normal pace. He skidded to a halt and miraculously found himself behind cover, right in front of Fara.

He forced himself to his feet and leaned up against the column before he checked himself over to see how badly he was hit. Looking at his shoulder with trepidation, he found that his injury felt far worse than it actually was. Short of losing more fur than he would've liked and a sizable surface wound that would take Cornerian medical technology to heal, he was in relatively good shape.

"How is it?" asked Fara over the resounding din of the constant blasts from behind.

Fox looked her way and gave her a brief once-over. She looked to be clean and unscathed, at least for the moment. "I'll live." He flexed his arm to show her. It stung to do so, but thankfully it still worked. "Looks bad, but the arm works. Any ideas?"

Fara shook her head in dismay. "Nothing at all."

That wasn't what he wanted to hear. "We'll think of something. Come on." Seeing her nod, he looked around the corner and resumed firing.

As before, his shots were just as ineffectual. It seemed that Andross was protected via a personal force shield, extending about a foot or so around him. Out of curiosity, he aimed towards the floor underneath him. Apparently his thoughts were correct, as his shots struck the stone without being deflected.

That had to be useful somehow in defeating the ape. He just didn't know how yet.

As he continued firing, something began nagging him at the back of his mind. Although he was still shooting vigorously, Andross had grown quiet. In addition, he couldn't see any additional firepower coming from the other side of the column.

Fox suddenly froze as he realized what was wrong. The Fara next him was dirt free.

And he knew that there was absolutely no way that could've happened inside this base.

In a move that more than likely ended up saving his life, he twisted around and faced Fara just as she spun to give a roundhouse kick to the back of his head. Instead of killing him, the blow was somewhat deflected by his raised arms, and he went flying towards the entrance of the room that he used.

Stunned from the force of the kick, he lay there and listened to the maniacal laughing of both Andross and Fara. Desperately he forced his body to look for his missing weapons, as they'd gone tumbling once he'd fallen to the floor.

Somehow, one of his blasters had ended up just a foot away. His arm flopped around until he grabbed it and brought it up to his chest. He now realized that he wasn't going to get out of this situation alive, but he'd be damned if he was going to take it lying down.

"Kill him!" roared Andross.

The android Fara smiled and advanced slowly towards the vulpine. Using the last dregs of his energy, he opened fire upon her and tried to crawl out of her reach.

As exhausted as he was, Fox's shots were still accurate. His shots ripped through her clothing and scorched her fur. A few even pinged off of her head.

But as he expected, it was all for naught. Fara just shrugged off the blows and continued to come closer.

She stopped only when she was right in front of him. Fox tried to get to his feet at this point to better defend himself, but his body wouldn't respond.

Fara leaned down and picked him up via his neck and swatted away his useless gun with her other paw. The noise of the weapon as it clanged off the stone floor somewhere nearby was a blunt reminder that his life was about to come to an end.

Fox hung there limp as she grinned, as if debating what to do with him. After a few seconds, she finally decided.

Fara tossed him straight up into the air like a rag doll and then reared back and clasped her fists together, as if she was wielding a baseball bat. When Fox came back down, she swung around and connected directly with his stomach.

The vulpine flew through the air from the smashing blow. His flight was abruptly stopped when he slammed right into one of the room's columns.

He fought to take a single gasp of air as his vision dimmed from the pain. Based on the fire he felt inside him, he'd broken a rib or two from the collision, if not something worse.

The only thing he could do was weakly bring up his head and watch blurrily as his aggressors moved closer to him. His body had finally failed him. The inexhaustible energy and motivation to succeed had been wiped from him.

He had lost.

"How does it feel, McCloud?" asked Andross. He could barely hear the words from his body screaming in pain, but he made himself do so. "This is the end for you. I'll make sure your team suffers in endless torment for your failure." He then turned and walked away. "Finish him."

Fox looked up at the android Fara and thought only of the vixen that it represented. He now knew, on the brink of death, what he always wanted to say to her. Fara, I love you. I always did.

His vision dimmed further as the android towered over him and blocked out the nearby light. He morbidly wondered how she planned on killing him, as he knew he couldn't take another blow like the ones he'd sustained before.

Instead, something completely different happened.

As she was reaching down to grab hold of him, a bolt of energy screamed from where the entrance he'd used was and slammed into the android's head with deadly effect. The robot's cranium exploded into a brilliant array of sparks that sent debris showering onto the vulpine below.

Shielding his eyes, Fox traced back the origin of the shot. Standing in the doorway, with her blaster still steaming slightly from use, was Fara. The real Fara.

Fox was overjoyed and stunned to see Fara once again, especially after he'd finally given up. That joy was not to last as things started to get very hectic once more.

"You!" roared Andross as he swung around to witness the carnage of yet another of his androids. "It's always you or that damnable McCloud who is constantly getting in my way! How do you keep doing it?"

Fox felt hope fueling his muscles once again. As Andross talked, he pushed himself to get the android's blaster and crawled around the column that had become his resting place. It still hurt to breathe, and despite his greatest efforts he could hardly move, but he still would find some way to be useful in the upcoming battle or die trying.

Andross began firing just as he got behind cover. Looking up, Fox saw that he concentrated his fire upon the doorway where his team was. He briefly saw all four of his friends before they dove out of sight.

Realizing that his paw naturally gripped his acquired weapon in a familiar hold, he looked down and was surprised to find that he was holding one of the blasters he started the mission off with. He only wondered for a moment how the android acquired one of his team's weapons before he flipped the hidden switch to the charged mode.

Now he had some significant firepower at his command. He just didn't have the slightest idea what to do with it.

As his weapon beeped, a noise he barely heard over the carnage around him, he debated upon the effectiveness of letting loose against Andross. There was a slim chance that he'd be able to punch through the ape's shielding. Maybe his natural luck would—

Shoot the columns, Fox.

The hell?

Shoot the columns.

Fox looked around in confusion. Short of Andross, there wasn't anyone else nearby who could've said that. But the voice was crystal clear, almost as if somebody was talking in his head or something. It sounded friendly enough, and it even seemed familiar to him. The only logical person it could've been then was Peppy, but it wasn't him. But the male voice still seemed familiar to him somehow.

He peered around the column and saw that Andross was advancing towards the exit. If he got out into the hallway where there was no cover at all for his friends, he knew they'd get annihilated.

It was an all or nothing gamble. Trust the unknown voice or risk getting wasted if he garnered any more of Andross' attention?

Shoot the columns, Fox. Trust me.

He didn't know who or what that voice was, but it was insistent. As his blaster beeped again, he made his decision.

He fired at one of the stone columns.

The bolt of energy almost jumped out of Fox's gun and streaked precisely towards its target. It connected with the upper part of the column and caused an explosion that sent stone and other debris hurtling through the air.

As the smoke cleared, Fox was shocked to see a dark blue electrical current leap from where the stone bluntly ended to where it started again. It was the first time that he'd seen anything resembling the technology level of Corneria since he'd arrived.

His weapon beeped again and he wasted no time in letting loose with another shot. This one caused the exact same damage, except with another pillar. Sparks of energy jumped between the two columns occasionally as well.

He came to the conclusion that this room was apparently the main power generator for the entire base. He didn't know how it worked, and frankly he didn't care. Based on the reaction though, he guessed that this whole room might explode if he took out all four columns.

Andross apparently realized this too, as Fox noticed he had stopped shooting and was quickly coming his way.

He only had seconds to shoot a pair of pillars before Andross arrived, and he had no way to hit the one he was leaning against from his angle. That meant that there was only one thing he could do. He reached up and tapped his helmet communicator. "Fara, you there?"

"Fox? What—"

"Not now." He struggled to keep talking thanks to his injuries. "Shoot a charged shot at the pillar I'm leaning against and then run. Got it?"

She was hesitant as she responded again. "Shoot the pillar and run. Yeah. Why?"

He again ignored the question. "Good. Fara…I love you. And I'm sorry." Fox killed the conversation before she could say anything as Andross had rounded the corner and was bringing his weapons to bear. He just hoped she would follow through with his orders and not try to be the hero instead.

Fox aimed and pulled the trigger one final time.

His shot screamed past Andross' imposing form and struck the upper part of the column. The stone shattered from the blast and once again went flying through the room. He watched as a few small pieces disintegrated against Andross' shield and he felt others burrow their way into his fur. He ignored the sparks of pain and instead looked down the barrels of the ape's weapons.

"Goodbye, McCloud."

Before Andross could fire, Fara followed through and attacked the column as ordered. There was a deafening crack from above as bolts of lightning arced from pillar to pillar, creating a lightshow more brilliant than when he last took down a capital ship in his Arwing.

Fox looked up and smiled weakly as the room began to tremble. His theory seemed to be correct. Shooting the columns as he'd done had started a chain reaction that looked like it was going to destroy everything in this room, if not the base itself.

If he was lucky, Andross would go down in a blazing inferno of energy. Unfortunately, so would he.

And then Fox's world dissolved into nothingness.