As soon as Fox and Krystal lifted off into the air, the light on his console started blinking and he pressed the button, displaying Peppy's image on the lower part of the screen. "Talk to me, Peppy."

"CloudRunner Fortress has been attacked by General Scales and his SharpClaw army. It would make an ideal base from which he could rule over the Planet."

"I'm on my way there as we speak."

"Good. One more thing: The fortress stands on ground that is rich in gold and diamonds. Chances are, Scales would want to enslave the CloudRunners just to get his hands on those riches."

Krystal growled menacingly at the thought of Scales abusing the CloudRunners just to satisfy his greed. After calming down a bit, she said, "We'll stop him. I promise."

"Find the SpellStone and save the CloudRunners. Peppy out."

Fox brought the Arwing's nose around to point in the direction of Cape Claw. As the two vulpines flew off, Krystal asked, "So what was it like for you in the Lylat War? What did the Venomians want with your planet back then?"

"During the Lylat War, the Venomians were led by a mad-monkey named Andross, who was originally from Corneria but was banished to Venom for conducting illegal experiments. In his revenge, he led an all-out assault on the various planets of the Lylat System. Katina, Fortuna, Macbeth, Aquas, Titania, all of them were in his crosshairs. Only Sauria managed to remain out of his grasp. Presumably until now."

"This… Andross you speak of doesn't sound any different from General Scales. Do you think the Venomians were trying to use the energy from my planet for one of his experiments?"

"Yes, I do. I'm just not sure what kind of an experiment it may be. Or how it's connected to that phantom that you fled from back at Krazoa Palace."

"It does seem strange indeed. Remember when Peppy said that Sauria had energy flowing from its core that would tear the planet apart if unchecked? Cerinia had that as well and I think the Venomians were trying to find a way to harvest than energy. Maybe that wicked entity that appeared when Cerinia was destroyed was thrived on it or something."

"Well, if four of Sauria's landmarks separating from the rest of the planet are any indication, it won't be a stretch to assume that the same thing is happening to it. If Venom's scientists really are running those same experiments on Sauria, which I would bet on, considering their fighter ships are surrounding the planet, they must have thought it was wise to limit their presence on Sauria as much as possible. Well, nice try. Even after we return the SpellStones and the Krazoa Spirits, I am still suspecting that the Venomians are going to attempt at all of this again. I'd try searching for any base of operations they might have here and blowing it to smithereens, but first things first."

"You definitely seem to have your priorities straight." replied Krystal. Such quotes would often be said with tremendous amounts of sarcasm but Krystal obviously truly meant it. As far as she believed, restoring the planet would have to take place before taking down the ones responsible for breaking it apart in the first place.

"The Lylat war started when my dad was sent to investigate suspicious activity on Venom along with Peppy and Pigma. Unfortunately, a terrible thing happened then."

Krystal looked worried. "What happened?"

"Andross offered Pigma huge amounts of money in exchange for double-crossing Peppy and dad. But unlike every other person who has ever joined the Star Fox team, Pigma has always been a greedy little swine. He accepted the bribe, and lured them into a death trap. In other words, he literally sold them out. Peppy barely escaped with his life, but my dad… he wasn't so lucky."

Krystal gasped at what she just heard. She was too horrified at what happened to Fox's father that she could barely speak.

Fox took a quick glance at Krystal and then looked forward again with a tear in his eye. "Betrayal always hurts. All we can do is just keep fighting." Fox then arrived at the gateway that the CloudRunner Queen left behind and soared upwards into it. They immediately got sucked up into the portal, launching them into space.

As soon as the Arwing took off into space towards the CloudRunner Fortress, Fox noticed segments of a few platforms that appeared to be part of a temple's architecture, then looked forward at what appeared to be floating segments from a building, particularly a temple. Fox cringed in disgust as to him, this meant that the planet's destruction was occurring at a more alarming rate than he suspected. As they approached a large floating temple in space with its roof missing, a few Venomian attack drones were floating in front of it, firing at him. Fox quickly dodged the shots and shot at the center drone, and after blowing it up, passed through the door to the temple, and was flying through what was a staircase in the temple turned horizontally by gravity, making it more like a tunnel. After they passed through it, they were ambushed by a swarm of Venomian fighters, but Fox, taking advantage of the fact that Tricky wasn't in the bomb chute this time around, launched a bomb into the middle of the group of Venomian space ships blowing all of them up simultaneously. They flew through a floating ruins hall, past a CloudRunner statue and into a tunnel through an extremely large chunk of rock, almost as large as a cliffside after blowing up some mines that were right in front of it with his lasers. As soon as they left the tunnel, they hovered above some rocky slopes, blowing up more mines, then as soon as another swarm of Venomian fighter ships charged up a laser for another shot and locked on to the one in the center of the group, then launched another bomb, taking all of them out in one shot.

Krystal was amazed. "And I didn't even need to remind you. You must have good instincts."

"So do you apparently. Maybe I should let you into the StarFox team when this mission is complete."

"I'll only join if you kiss me. But that can wait until we've accomplished the mission at hand."

Fox continued flying the Arwing through temple debris, and just before exiting yet another staircase tunnel, noticed an asteroid hurtling by and hit the brakes until it has already passed by. As soon as it finished passing by, Fox kicked the Arwing to full throttle, dodging the incoming mines and soaring through the ruins. Fox spotted what appeared to be a building on top of a mountain floating out in space. "I think I see CloudRunner Fortress. All right, Krystal, let's head there right now!"

"I hope Kite is being held there. The sooner I free him, the better."

Fox dashed through the portal leading to CloudRunner Fortress, ready to snag the second SpellStone and bring Sauria back together again.

The Arwing hovered above a large, circular platform with a cyan ring around it and a cyan picture of a CloudRunner in the center, laying over a pool of water, connected directly to a bridge leading to the Fortress. Fox slowly brought the Arwing down hovering just slightly above it, then landed on the platform. He popped the seal on the canopy and vaulted out of the cockpit with Krystal following him soon afterwards. They were glad that their landing spot was not nearly as dubious or unsafe as the one from the DarkIce Mines.

The CloudRunner Queen flew onto one of two large cyan CloudRunner statues in front of them on the sides of the bridge. "Welcome to CloudRunner Fortress. I'll fly ahead and check if it's safe. Meet me inside." She took off and soared into the Fortress.

Fox and Krystal walked along the bridge leading to the Fortress. They were amazed by the architecture of it all. The borders on the sides of the bridge had rich soil where they grew flowers and cherry blossom trees, the latter of which left Krystal astonished. The statues of CloudRunners looked beautiful as well. To Krystal, CloudRunner Fortress was like a new home to her ever since she arrived on Sauria. She started living with the CloudRunners, befriended Kite, and became sort of a knight-errant for the Queen. She loved this place, and was eager to reunite it with the rest of the planet. When Fox and Krystal reached the end of the bridge, the gate leading to CloudRunner Fortress was closed. Fox tried to open it by rattling the gate repeatedly, but to no avail. "Drat. The gate is locked. Should I try to bust it open?"

"As long as you don't damage the gate."

Fox pushed on the gate with all his strength and all of a sudden, the gate flung wide open. He and Krystal entered inside. When they did, two SharpClaw started charging at them, but the two vulpine warriors drew their staffs and charged at the SharpClaw with reckless abandon, attacking each one relentlessly until they finished them off. With the two SharpClaw dead, Fox and Krystal started ascending up a spiral staircase leading to the Fortress.

As Fox and Krystal dashed up a spiral pathway leading to the Fortress, a robotic sentry probe descended from the ceiling. It was a metallic grey with yellow spots on each side. The probe shot two bolts of lightning out of it, one aimed for Fox and the other aimed for Krystal. The two were hit by the electric shocks and started stumbling and wincing in pain. Krystal quickly used her staff's barrier to shield herself from another electric shock, while Fox activated a device attached to his belt called a Reflector. The Reflector formed a blinking hexagonal barrier around him. The electrical bolt that hit Fox reflected back at the drone, stunning it, giving Fox and Krystal enough time to make a run for it. He yelled, "Come on, Krystal, let's go!" And they dashed further up the stairs. After going up a bit higher, another drone appeared and Fox and Krystal used their same defenses again. Once they finally reached the top of the stairway, Krystal asked, "How did you do that?"

Fox showed Krystal a small mechanical contraption on his belt. It was a hexagon of a yellow-ish metal with a cyan center, with some black at three of the sides. "It's a reflector designed by Cornerian military scientists for ground combat. It's basically meant to redirect projectiles at an enemy, and more or less the only bit of Star Fox weaponry I'm actually allowed to bring along for this mission. General Pepper said I should leave my firearms back on the Great Fox so as not to scare the natives of Sauria as they are already in a deep crisis."

"I see."

"Anyway, let's get going. It's time to take down a certain other general."

"Okay."

Fox and Krystal walked through the doorway into what appeared to be the entrance to a courtyard. However, a large amount of the courtyard was blocked off by rubble with openings large enough for Fox and Krystal to walk through, but they decided to hold back for now. Instead, they spied through the rubble to see what was happening in the courtyard. They saw a group of SharpClaw soldiers on an elevated platform in the center of the yard including one larger SharpClaw among them. He was clad in form-hugging leather armor, a horned helmet on his head, and bore a large sword sheathed at his side. His right hand had been replaced by a two-pronged metal claw. Krystal whispered to Fox, "That's him! That's General Scales!" Fox could clearly see the anger and hatred in Krystal's eyes. She wanted General Scales to pay for every act of cruelty he committed upon the good denizens of Sauria.

General Scales stomped his foot onto the CloudRunner Queen's wing, causing her to wail in pain. "You should have stayed in your cage like a good girl, queenie, and accepted your comeuppance for what your kind has done."

The Queen coughed. She struggled to speak. "I don't know what you're talking about…"

"But then why would your elders ever tell you about our suffering? Very well. Allow me to remind you. Long ago, your ancestors cursed us with the stigma that we are nothing more than savage barbarians and treated us accordingly. And not just your tribe. The EarthWalkers, LightFoots, ThornTails, SnowHorns, even the HighTops treated us like unwanted vermin and made us into outcasts, left to wander the wildlands forevermore. You all grew fat as my kind withered to the bone. The famines we endured, culling our own just to escape starvation. I learned to walk on their eggshells. I grew tall and strong but they never had a chance to be! In a place of torment, so much like a festering wound, and just beyond us were these paradises that were never ours to venture to. So said the old laws..." He grabbed the CloudRunner Queen by the throat and started to squeeze it just slightly so as to put pressure on her without fully strangling her to death. "But I'm DONE upholding the old laws! From this day forth, we are going to take what we are owed! And subject the very tribes responsible for our suffering to to the exact same hell that we have endured!"

"We would have been willing to reconcile with you, Scales… had you not crossed so many lines."

Angered by her statement, Scales swiped with his claw hand at the Queen's wing, causing it to bleed excessively and her to scream in pain. Krystal tried hard to hold back her anger, but as Fox could tell, she might not be able to hold it for long. Her body started quaking in rage, her muzzle retracted back baring her razor-sharp teeth.

"You truly are as hedonistic and narrow-minded as they come, aren't you?" snarled Scales, "I have already told you of the suffering we have endured, and yet you still claim to be poor innocent victims and that we are the ones in the wrong. And it is this ignorance that will drive us to extinction! You would have understood our suffering… had that little Cerinian pawn of yours and her boyfriend not busted you out of your cage!" He slammed the Queen's face into the ground.

"I… I…"

Scales started pressing on the Queen's face with his foot. "I had myself a little run-in with your little pet aboard my galleon. Apparently, it seems as if you have been spoonfeeding her your propaganda, demonizing me and my tribe, making us look like irredeemable monsters."

"Take a look at what you've done and then tell me you're not acting like one!"

Scales growled softly. Then slightly more loudly, then roared in rage. He then stomped on the Queen's face over and over again. "You push us over onto the edge, shoving us into situations that drive us to use force and violence, and then you call us evil for it!? You seek to punish us for doing what you have DRIVEN US TO!?" He stopped stomping for a moment, then he turned around and started taking a few steps in the opposite direction, looking in the opposite direction. "Anyway, your insolent Cerinian puppet has teamed up with someone from a distant planet called Corneria. A man who goes by the name Fox McCloud. And the both of them have been standing in my way ever since, ruining my operations and slaughtering my soldiers!" Scales angrily knocked aside his drone and two of his SharpClaw soldiers and grabbed the Queen by the throat yet again. "WHERE ARE THEY NOW!? ANSWER ME!"

"They will find you. And they will destroy you!"

Scales dropped the CloudRunner Queen. "Teach her a lesson, boys!"

The SharpClaw soldiers started beating up on the Queen. Krystal couldn't hold herself back any longer. She jumped out of hiding, and started shooting her Fire Blast at Scales, shrieking her ancient Cerinian battle cry and it seemed like she actually managed to hurt him this time, but it was only a scratch. Scales cringed and screamed as the blasts hit his face, but then one of his drones flew over to Krystal and zapped her with a few electric bolts, causing her to stumble over and drop her staff. Fox rushed over to Krystal's aid, drawing his staff and pointing it at Scales. "Stop! It's over, Scales. Leave the Queen alone!"

Krystal rose back up and picked her Staff back up again and angrily hit the drone with an uppercut and then a downward smash, demolishing the drone. "Your reign of terror ends now! You will pay for your cruelty and malice!"

Scales ordered his soldiers "Enough! Take her away!" The SharpClaw soldiers dragged the Queen off deeper into the fortress. He then walked slightly towards the two vulpines. "The famous Fox McCloud! And the mindless Cerinian drone of the CloudRunners! How nice of the two of you to pay us a visit. Why don't I show you some of our… hospitality?"

Fox stayed silent, pondering what move Scales could have made to subdue them, but Krystal shrieked, "Enough talk! Let's fight!" But then four more of Scales' drones appeared surrounding the two vulpines on all sides. The drones quickly zapped them before they could even react. The electric shocks became too much for them to handle, and they collapsed. They struggled to remain conscious, let alone get back up to continue fighting. Scales walked on over to Fox, saying, "Don't worry, boy, I won't kill you… yet…" But then, Scales briefly noticed Fox's PDA strapped to his wrist. He briefly tapped it with his artificial metal claw, then thrusted it deep into Fox's wrist not only smashing up his PDA and causing it to go caput in an instant, but also causing Fox's arm to bleed excessively and him to scream in agony. The pain from both the electricity in his PDA short-circuiting and Scales' claw digging into his arm was too much for him to handle. As as the pain overwhelmed him, Scales taunted and belittled Fox, but with the translator module going haywire, Fox was unable to understand it. He heard only tiny bits of Lylatian here and there but he mostly heard Scales talk in his original Saurian language. Fox collapsed on the ground, just barely able to hear anything around him, slipping into unconsciousness.

Krystal shrieked, "Fox!" in worry and distress, tears forming in her eyes. She growled at General Scales, shouting, "Scales, you…" though to Fox, with his translator broken, it sounded more like, "Scales, oei…" But then the drones zapped her again until she passed out too.

Scales called to two of his SharpClaw soldiers. "Oei! Rhadw kxojo kne ke kxo tidwoed!" Which meant, "You! Bring these two to the dungeon!"

One of the SharpClaw soldiers instantly replied "Ooj, jah! (Yes, sir!)" The SharpClaw soldiers picked up the unconscious bodies of the two foxes and dragged them off.

Scales grinned and licked the blood on his metal claw. "A'm weadw ke xulo je misx vid fikkadw kxom kxheiwx je misx fuad, kxoo nacc ROW mo ke bacc kxom! (I'm going to have so much fun putting them through so much pain, they will BEG me to kill them!)" He laughed maniacally into the sunset anticipating the suffering of his two new prisoners..

Author's notes: You'll have to pardon me if some of Scales' dialogue in the early portion of this chapter sound familiar to those who have read abbystabby's (aka PumpkinSoup's) comic adaptation of Star Fox Adventures, which gave Scales a backstory that gives him a believable motivation for his cruelty, and I've seen comments on the deviantart page praising her for making that decision, so I decided to have that be the case in this version to.