"Ah, the legendary General Pepper of the Cornerian Army and Peppy Hare of Star Fox." said the penguin. "I can't thank you enough for being in the same place at the same time. It makes my job so much easier."
"And who the hell are you dipshit?" Falco mouthed off.
"You should watch young tongue bird while you still have it."
"Fuck you!"
"You know, I've always been quite fond of roasted bird." replied the penguin with a smirk as he shoved his gun into Falco's mouth.
Falco tried to speak, but because of the gun all that anyone could hear were mumbles. He would've done something about that, but he was being held tightly by two of the wolverines as was everyone else. Falco fought against their grip, but they were holding his arms too tightly. The entire time he was resisting Falco continued to mumble.
"You can fight all you want, but it won't make a difference. Even if you do break free of their grip I'll just pull this trigger and boom; no more smart-mouthed bird."
"What is it you want?" asked Fox, also struggling against his captors.
"It's us." said Peppy solemnly. "They're here for General Pepper and me."
"As wise as ever." said the penguin. "I'm sure to get a promotion for this. General Pepper, Peppy Hare, you two are under arrest for crimes against the Triumvirate."
"What?" exclaimed Slippy. "That can't be."
"Slippy, calm down." said Pepper. "It's beyond our control now."
"But. . .but. . ."
"Listen to your superior officer amphibian." said the penguin. "Now as I was saying, you two will accompany me back to Venom. Then, once we've captured Luther, your trial and execution can begin. Let's go."
"What about these three?" asked one of the wolverines.
"Kill them."
Fox, Falco, and Slippy all stood in shock at those words as the penguin walked off into the jungle with Peppy and Pepper being escorted by several wolverines in tow. That now left Fox, Falco, and Slippy each being held by two wolverines and three more wolverines who were getting into position to kill them. They each struggled against their captors, but the wolverine's grip on them was just too strong. No matter how hard they tried, they just couldn't break free.
The three wolverines now stood several feet in front of them. They each raised up their guns and aimed them at one of the Star Fox members. As Star Fox continued to struggle, one of the wolverines started to count down from ten. As the number continued to dwindle, Star Fox's desperation continued to mount. Just as the wolverine finished saying the number one, a large triceratops jumped out of the nearby trees and tackled the three wolverines who were aiming their guns at the Star Fox members.
The wolverines holding Star Fox let go of their hostages and drew their weapons to go avenge their fallen comrades. As they did though, several SharpClaw warriors jumped out of the trees behind them and hacked them down. With all of the wolverines dead, Star Fox now had a chance to look at their saviors. Since this was the first time Falco and Slippy had ever set foot on the planet, they had no clue who anyone was. Fox, on the other hand, knew exactly who the triceratops was.
"Tricky!" Fox shouted with a smile as he ran over to the huge dinosaur. "I have never been any happier to see you."
"It's good to see you too Fox." replied Tricky happily. "When I saw your Arwings flying down to the surface, I quickly made my way over to see you. When I saw that you were being followed though, I ran back for some reinforcements."
"And boy am I glad you did."
"Um, I hate to break up this happy reunion," interrupted Falco, "but the badguys are getting away with Peppy and Pepper."
"You're right. Sorry Tricky, but we've got to go. I promise to come back and see you when I get a chance."
"Alright Fox. Bye."
Fox, Falco, and Slippy quickly took off into the trees heading toward their Arwings. As they ran, a shuttle and three Triumvirate starfighters rose up into the sky. The shuttle and two starfighters then broke for space while the third one turned around. As the starfighter headed back toward the planet, Fox, Falco, and Slippy realized what his target was; their Arwings. They picked up speed to try and get back to their ships faster.
Just as they reached the clearing where their Arwings were, the Triumvirate starfighter made a strafing run at their ships. His lasers blared totally destroying Fox's Arwing and damaging Slippy's. Falco's Arwing remained untouched, so he quickly jumped into his ship before the pilot made another pass. As Falco rose up into the air, Fox and Slippy could do nothing but stand back and watch.
"Rob, come in." said Fox. "I need you to transport Krystal's Arwing down to me."
"Unable to comply." Rob replied. "The Great Fox is under attack by a squadron of Triumvirate starfighters.
"Damn! Okay, then start searching for a Triumvirate cruiser in orbit someplace around Sauria. There is a shuttle heading for it. You must destroy the cruiser before the shuttle can reach it. If the shuttle reaches the cruiser, then just leave it alone. Peppy and Pepper are on board that shuttle."
"Understood. Triumvirate cruiser located. Moving to intercept."
"Slippy, can you get your Arwing up and running."
"Maybe if I had an hour, but even then it would only be at minimal capacity." replied Slippy uncertainly.
"Then set a speed record. Let's just hope Falco can hold his own till then."
When Falco reached a sufficient height, he quickly put his ship into a dodging maneuver to avoid the Triumvirate pilot's attack. As the Triumvirate pilot flew past Falco's ship, he spotted the pilot through the ship's cockpit. The Triumvirate pilot was the penguin who had shoved his gun into Falco's mouth down on the ground.
"Looks like I'm going to get to kill him after all." said Falco as he opened up a comm channel. "Yo loser, I thought penguins were supposed to be flightless birds."
"Laugh it up while you can." replied the penguin. "I'm one of the Triumvirate's best pilots. When I'm through with you, there won't be enough of you left to fill a cup."
"Then stop talking about it and do it already."
Falco threw his ship into a barrel-roll as the penguin came around for another pass. Falco tried to come up behind the penguin to destroy him as he passed, but the penguin had already made a u-turn and was coming back straight at Falco. Both Falco and the penguin fired their lasers at each other. As they both spotted the other's lasers, they turned to avoid them and nearly clipped their wings as they passed each other.
Even though Falco didn't like the idea, he had to admit that the penguin was quite a good pilot. He cursed as he accelerated his Arwing to its top speed. He had to gain some distance between himself and the penguin if he was going to have any kind of chance. He also needed the time to think up a plan. Alarms were now sounding within Falco's Arwing. He quickly looked down at his scanner and saw that the penguin was behind him and quickly closing the gap. Falco started dodging left and right to avoid a lock, but he knew that he was going to have to do better than that.
There was a mountain now looming ever closer in the distance, so Falco had to come up with a plan now. Falco yanked back his control stick as far as it would go and made his Arwing go straight up into the air at a 90 degree angle. The penguin wasn't foolish enough to try a maneuver like that, so he just performed a u-turn to avoid crashing into the mountain. Even though the penguin wasn't following him anymore, Falco continued to climb into the air. The G- forces being caused by this maneuver were forcing Falco deep into his chair, but he had faith that the G-diffuser system would keep him alive.
Falco's engines began to sputter as they could no longer continue to shoot Falco's ship forward. Falco smiled at this and cut the power to his engines entirely. He then pushed his control stick forward urging the Arwing to point its nose down toward the ground. Falco's ship was now in a free fall, gaining more and more speed as he headed for the planet. Falco started scanning the area with his eyes trying to find the penguin. When he finally found him, he turned his Arwing in the penguin's direction and fired.
Falco's lasers found their mark and crippled the penguin's ship. Falco watched with glee as the crippled ship slammed full speed into the planet ending with a brilliant explosion. Falco was so pleased that he almost forgot to turn his engines back on and prevent himself from having the same fate. Once Falco leveled his ship out, he prepared the Arwing for space flight and shot off after the shuttle carrying Peppy and Pepper.
When Falco broke through Sauria's atmosphere, he saw the Great Fox, which was being attacked by Triumvirate starfighters, attacking the Triumvirate cruiser. Falco turned to his scanner to try and find the shuttle. Unfortunately, by the time he found the shuttle it was preparing to dock with the cruiser. Falco was about to warn Rob to stop shooting, but Rob did so on his own. Falco guessed that Fox had already filled Rob in on what was going on.
Once the shuttle docked with the Triumvirate cruiser, the starfighters broke off their attack on the Great Fox and jumped into warp along with the cruiser. Falco breathed a sigh of relief that he didn't have to fight all those starfighters, but the Triumvirate had gotten away with Peppy and Pepper. There was no telling what kind of secrets they could get from the minds of those two.
"Fox, come in." Falco solemnly said into his comm.
"What is it Falco?"
"They got away. The bastards got away with Peppy and Pepper. I failed."
"It's not your fault. If Slippy's and my Arwings hadn't been damaged, then maybe things would've been different."
"But what are we going to do now?" Slippy piped in.
"Luther!"
"What?"
"The Triumvirate said that they were also searching for Luther. That means that they're not going to do anything until they've either captured or killed Luther. We just need to get to him first. Besides, he can finish telling us what we need to know about the Triumvirate."
"I guess it's off to Kirtar VII then. Lets rock and roll."