Betrayer Revealed

With one of the "criminals" in custody and the other "culprit" approaching, Coyote Star got paid and were free to return to their base of operations. However, Sally got permission to stay behind a while. She was temporarily joining Star Fox to "study and compare craft notes." After a while, Fox called the team in to have a discussion.

"Is everyone here?" Fox checked. "Good. We are here to discuss a grave matter, as most of us know." Fox looked directly at Sally and said, "Sally, now I know this will be hard to accept, but Coyote-"

"I already know," Sally interrupted him somberly. "Cid told me."

"Oh," Fox sighed, "well that saves us the trouble of breaking it to you. But on to the more important issue, Slippy."

"Right," Slippy agreed. "We need to get tangible evidence proving Coyote's guilt. Now, I think we should try to hack into their COM systems and catch a conversation in progress."

"Good luck with that," Sally retorted. "Coyote's so paranoid that he has the most advanced message coding available."

"Well, then maybe we could monitor them until they slip up?" Falco offered.

"Again," Sally denied, "Coyote is far too vigilant to not notice us."

"Damn that paranoid bastard!" Falco cursed.

"Ahem," someone cleared his throat. The crew turned around to see Mantikis. "I think I have a solution to your dilemma." In Cid's voice, he said, "If you catch my drift, that is…"

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Coyote needed a rest; some time to think things through. That telepath had come close to destroying twenty years of his life's work. He had gone out in his ship to drift aimlessly in space to relax. He was kicked back in his cockpit seat with his hands behind his head and his feet on the control panel.

"Jefe?" Cid replied. Coyote was startled by this and nearly fell backwards.

"What in tarnation is it, Cid?" Coyote growled.

"…Do you think we'll get discovered?" Cid asked earnestly.

"How many times 'ave I told ya, Cid?" Coyote groaned. "As long as ya keep yer big yap shut until I give the okay, everything's gonna be fine."

"Pleasss forgive me if I forgot, jefe," Cid inquired further, "but what are we gonna do with the sssuppliess we took?"

"First of all," Coyote replied, "I can't believe ye don't remember. I said we're gonna give'em all back eventually."

"And, might I asssk what we did that for?" Cid asked hopefully. A momentary silence followed.

"Alright," Coyote snapped, "what the hell's a matter with ya!" His reply was the mocking laughter of Mantikis. Coyote's whole body suddenly trembled in fear and unbelief. One lousy Sectoid just undermined twenty years of hard work; threw his life in jeopardy. He switched to long-range radar and saw the Great Fox exiting into hyperspace.

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"I don't believe it," General Pepper muttered on the verge of mourning. "Coyote Bill, one of Lylat's greatest heroes, a veteran of the old wars, the ideal patriot…"

"We're sorry, General," Fox sighed.

"I'm not," Mantikis tactlessly admitted.

"Shut up!" Falco shouted angrily.

"Now, my release is agreed, correct?" Mantikis ignored Falco.

"Yes, of course," Pepper agreed somberly.

"Then I'd like to carry out the remainder of my stay assisting you in apprehending the real culprits," Mantikis stated.

"What?" Falco spat.

"Why's that?" Slippy thought out loud.

"I am hoping to obtain assistance I'm sure I'll need," Mantikis informed them. "I'll fill you all in later."

"…Can't we just deny the whole thing?" Pepper was shocked and appalled to hear himself say.

"Did you just say what I think you said?" Falco cried out in disgust. Pepper shifted uneasily. "I know this guy's a hero and all, but that doesn't mean we can let him get away with it!"

"I know," Pepper agreed, ashamed. "Forget I said anything about it. …Do what you think is best, Star Fox." The communication was cut off from Pepper's end.

"Okay, team," Fox said after a deep breath, "you all know what we gotta do."

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The team returned to Titania to find the Coyote Star H.Q. destroyed.

"We can follow the trail left by their ships," Slippy remarked cockily.

"I don't know," Fox mumbled. "Something doesn't feel right." He turned to Peppy and said, "I'm going down there. Anyone who wants to can come along." Peppy, everyone else, wasn't willing to argue. Falco and Krystal agreed to go down with him, while Slippy and Sally took air support. Mantikis refused to use a piece of equipment that didn't belong to him, and therefore didn't participate.

The three that went planet-side looked around. "What are we supposed to be looking for?" Krystal asked.

"I just got this feeling that something's amiss," Fox sighed.

"That'd be right," the aged growl came from behind them.