Chapter 3 – A call for assistance

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General Pepper lay sound asleep in his bed, until he heard a loud beeping. Thinking it was his alarm clock; he reached over to turn it off. It didn't take him long to realize that the beeping was actually coming from his transmission screen. Drowsily, he reached for the remote.

"This better be important." he mumbled, as he pointed the remote at the screen and pushed the button.

Lieutenant Eva Lee, a golden retriever in her mid twenties, appeared on the screen.

"Good morning, General." she said, "Sorry to wake you, but we're receiving an urgent transmission from General Stukhov on Katina."

Pepper stretched his arms and rubbed his eyes.

"All right, put it on screen."

The picture changed. General Alexander Stukhov, a Siberian husky, now appeared on the screen.

"Ah, good day, General." he said in his heavy Russian accent, "My apologies for awakening you, but I'm afraid we have terrible situation here."

"How bad could it be, Alex?" Pepper asked.

"We have encountered very strange beings. They are deformed, they walk with arms raised, and make strange moaning sounds. They are just like monsters from movies!"

Pepper raised an eyebrow.

"Uh huh… and I don't suppose you have any proof, do you?"

Stukhov picked up a TV and put it on his desk.

"Perhaps this will be sufficient proof?" he said, turning it on.

The TV showed live footage from a news chopper. People were screaming and running for their lives as zombies limped towards them and tried to grab them. Police officers were shooting at the zombies, but barely even slowing them down.

"I do not believe this!" cried the chopper pilot, "I have never seen anything like this in my life! We have no idea where these things are coming from, nor have the police been able to stop any of them!"

Pepper's eyes opened wide.

"Good lord!" he cried, "I don't believe it!"

Stukhov turned off the TV.

"As you can see, General," he said, "we are having great difficulty dealing with these 'zombies.' Our weapons do little to them and they keep multiplying every…"

An officer burst into the room, ran up to Stukhov, and whispered in his ear. Stukhov's eyes lit up.

"I have just been informed that they are now heading towards our base! We need assistance, General!"

"All right, get as many people as you can into the base and prepare to evacuate. I'll send some backup."

"Yes, sir."

The transmission ended and Lieutenant Eva came back on the screen.

"Lieutenant, get Star Fox on the line A.S.A.P!" Pepper said.

"Yes, sir. Good idea, sir."

Pepper climbed out of bed.

"And I should probably get dressed too."

"Yes, sir. That would be a good idea too, sir."