Kewian orbit

The three black and crimson Wolfens soared above the lawless world of Kew, their pilots giddy with anticipation. Wolf stared at the rectangular freighter and it's fighter escorts on his scanner.

"Just a little further."

Soon, the lupine spotted the ships silhouetted against Kew's moon, Thayern. He grinned in glee and keyed his comm.

"Heh heh heh ha, the hunt is on, boys."

After he said that, the trio of fighters boosted towards their target. The escorts moved to intercept, but none of them were near as skilled as Star Wolf. Wolf blew one to bits with his laser cannons and then barrel-rolled to deflect shots from two more that had dropped in behind him.

Grinning wickedly, Wolf looped behind them and engaged the homing laser. He locked onto one of his former pursuers and let the green bolt fly, destroying them both. Elsewhere, Leon hit the brakes, allowing a bogey to overshoot him and fall victim to his lasers, while Panther blasted one into spacedust and then u-turned and took out three pursuers.

Wolf meanwhile, spied the freighter's shield generator. He boosted towards it and fired a nova bomb. As he banked away, the lupine checked his rearview camera and spotted flames and debris spewing from the ship's hull. A glance at the scanner confirmed what he already suspected.

"Their shields are down. Leon, form up with me and clear out their surface cannons. Panther, be ready to blast their engines when I give the word."

Panther and Leon finished off the last of the escorts and then moved into position. Leon and Wolf dove towards the freighter, jinking and weaving to dodge the anti air fire and barrel-rolling to deflect the shots they couldn't avoid. They opened fire and strafed the hull, turning the cannons into scrap metal.

"Panther, now!"

"On it, Wolf."

The wildcat flew towards the stern of the ship and let a bomb loose. It had the desired effect, as one of the engines was destroyed outright while the other two flickered and died.

"She's dead in the water."

"Perfect. Prepare to board, boys."

The three Wolfens got into formation and headed for the ship's hanger, which surprisingly, was empty.

"Hmh, no welcoming committee." mused Panther, to which Wolf replied "That ain't gonna last."

Star Wolf landed and hopped out of their fighters, blasters drawn. The trio ran up a corridor, pausing at a T-junction when they heard footsteps. Wolf switched his digital lens to thermal vision and spotted a small squad of guards headed their way.

"Come get us." the lupine thought as he grabbed a grenade off his belt.

Wolf chucked the grenade around the corner and waited. Soon, there was a deafening bang and several screams of pain. Him and Panther then leaned out and picked off the stragglers. As the outlaws advanced, Leon noticed a wounded guard.

"Help."

The chameleon obliged him by lifting his blaster and shooting the man in the head. He then continued to follow his teammates.

After a few minutes, they came up to another T-junction. Wolf glanced at a nearby computer terminal and thought about how to proceed with the job.

"Panther, go to the cargo hold and make sure Wainwright's merchandise is secure. Leon, you and me are going after the target."

The team split up, taking different corridors.

Later

Wolf waited around a corner as their target, a weasel in a dark blue business suit, headed towards him. Seconds later, he leaned out and fired, nailing one of the weasel's guards. The other two opened fire and forced Wolf back into cover, while the man they were protecting ran the other way.

The weasel thought he was free and clear, right until he seemingly ran into an invisible object and was knocked flat on his back. After that, two laser bolts cut down his remaining guards. The man now noticed that some of the corridor in front of him appeared distorted. Soon after, Leon appeared in place of the distortion.

"Well hello." the chameleon said, his lips skinning back from his teeth in a sadistic grin.

Wolf walked over and pointed his blaster at the weasel, who gave a look that the lupine had seen many times; The look of someone resigned to their fate.

"Just make it quick." he said.

Wolf grinned at that.

"Well, since I'm in such a good mood."

He pulled the trigger and the weasel went limp. Leon gave Wolf a look of displeasure.

"Boss, I wanted to torture him for a while."

"You know the drill, Leon. We get in, we do the job, we get out. Straight and simple."

Wolf keyed his comm.

"Panther, what's your status?"

They could hear gunfire on the other end of the line as Panther responded "I could use some help here."

"We're on our way. Hang tight."

The two outlaws began running through the corridors, soon coming upon a pair of guards. After putting them down, Leon went over and grabbed their weapons.

"Boss." he said before tossing a carbine to Wolf.

After catching it, the lupine checked the charge level before moving on. After a few minutes of running, the pair came upon the cargo hold, and a scene of utter chaos. Quite a few guards lay dead and several more were firing around the entrance to the cargo hold.

With a quick nod, Wolf and Leon leaned out and opened fire. Caught between the three fields of fire, the guards were eventually cut down. As his compatriots entered the cargo hold, Panther snarked "Took you long enough."

Wolf rolled his one good eye.

"You're welcome."

Later

Star Wolf waited in the hanger as a medium-sized shuttle landed. A ramp lowered and a mole in a grey suit accompanied by several armed men exited. As some of them began loading the crates the team had brought up from the cargo hold, the mole and a frog carrying a briefcase approached them.

"Can't thank you enough for retrieving my shipment in one piece." said the mole.

"Nothing to it, Mr. Wainwright." Wolf replied.

"And Gettler?"

"Dead as a doornail."

Wainwright smiled and nodded.

"Excellent. That should send a message to my competitors."

The frog walked up and handed the briefcase to Wolf. The lupine opened it up and glanced at the credit chips inside. After closing it, he held out a hand.

"Always a pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Wainwright."

The mole shook his hand.

"Same to you, O'Donnell."

After that, the trio hopped back into their Wolfens and headed into Kew's atmosphere. As they moved through the clouds and gazed upon the coastal city of Torzan, Wolf couldn't help but smile. The city, nestled on the shores of a large bay, had been Star Wolf's home since they had arrived on Kew a year and a half back.

Wolf had grown to feel more at home on this planet than any other he'd been to in his thirty one years. Him and the boys no longer had to worry about the CDF or Star Fox showing up and ruining their plans, all they had to worry about was the next job, and there was no shortage of those.

Indeed, their daily routine could be best summed up as, get up, eat, take on a job, do the job, go out drinking, stumble home, sleep it off, do it all again. None of them minded though, they were in their element.

Star Wolf landed in their private hanger in Torzan Spaceport and divvied the credits among themselves.

"C'mon boys, first round's on me." Wolf said as he led the way out.

Some time later, Wolf and Leon were sitting at the bar in the team's favorite tavern while Panther was off chasing tail. Their attention was brought to a television, which was showing a newscast about the assassination of a politician.

"Hmh." Leon muttered. "That's the fourth one in a month. Maybe another coup's on the way."

Wolf took a long pull on his beer. Six months after the team had arrived on Kew, there had been a coup after a couple of politicians had been killed. The lupine would be lying if he said he hadn't been relieved when the new government proved as cooperative with Corneria as the last, which was to say, they weren't.

"Who cares?" he replied. "Long as they don't extradite us."

Elsewhere

On the outskirts of Torzan, a black hoverlimo headed up the driveway of a mansion situated on a peninsula overlooking the ocean. After being allowed to pass through a set of large iron gates, the limo stopped and it's passengers got out. Along with several armed men, there was also a grey-furred jackrabbit in a black business suit.

Armed guards emerged from the mansion and numerous outbuildings. One of them, a monitor lizard said "Mr. Vekman, the Marshal requests that you leave your men outside."

"Very well." the jackrabbit replied curtly.

After that, two of the guards patted the leporine down while a third kept his Venomian VAR-77 laser rifle pointed not quite away from him. When they were done, the monitor lizard gestured towards the house.

"Right this way."

Vekman followed the reptile inside. As he was led up several staircases and corridors, Vekman took note of the numerous portraits and photographs. The male subjects of those pictures were almost always armadillos, something that didn't surprise the jackrabbit in the least.

After all, he had done business with several of them.

Although he had never been inside before, Vekman knew that this home belonged to the Castillos, one of Kew's richest crime families. Unfortunately, the last surviving member and his wife had been unable to have children, so the family fortune went to a nephew from Katina.

Indeed, as Vekman neared the end of a hallway and approached a set of large wooden doors, he took note of the last two photographs on the wall. One showed an armadillo dressed in the khaki uniform of the Katinese Planetary Guard leaning against a tank on the arid plains of that planet, arms crossed and bearing a grin.

The second one featured that same armadillo, only now looking a couple decades older and dressed in the dark grey uniform of the Venomian Imperial Army. He was giving a salute and looking down at a parade of soldiers.

The leporine was brought out of his thoughts when the monitor lizard cleared his throat. Looking ahead, Vekman saw that the doors had been opened. After being shown into what appeared to be an office and having the doors close behind him, the jackrabbit looked around. On the left wall was a fireplace, directly ahead was a large window overlooking the sea, and on the right was a bust of the late Emperor Andross. Finally, in the center of the room was a desk and a swivel chair that was currently turned away from him.

"Welcome, Aaron." a voice sounded.

A hand reached out from behind the chair and beckoned the leporine.

"Please, sit down."

Vekman did as he was told and took the seat on the other side of the desk. The owner of the swivel chair turned to face him. The fact that the other man was the same armadillo from the photographs, wearing the same uniform that hadn't been seen in the ten years since the Lylat War had concluded would have been intimidating on it's own.

Rather, it was the armadillo's face that gave Vekman pause. The right side was covered in blue-coloured scars, while the eye, save for the pupil, was entirely orange.

"So it's true, Marshal Koates. You survived an aparoid attack."

The armadillo cracked a smile.

"Indeed it is, Aaron."

The armadillo held up a hand before his guest could go on.

"Aaron, you are not one of my soldiers. You have the privilege of addressing me by my first name."

"If you insist, Kalman."

Koates nodded before opening a drawer on his desk, taking out a pair of glasses and a bottle of scotch. As he poured the glasses, the armadillo remarked "I'm very pleased that you accepted our offer."

He set one of the glasses in front of Vekman, who only regarded him with a cold stare. Koates briefly lost his smile before regaining it. He picked up the glass and took a sip.

"Uncle Ramon said you that you weren't a very trusting man. Good, it means you're always on the lookout for enemies."

Satisfied that his drink wasn't poisoned, Vekman took a sip.

"While I appreciate the offer, I do have a few questions."

Koates waved his hand.

"By all means."

Vekman sat up straight in his chair.

"First, is it true that you resisted the aparoid's mind control?"

The armadillo gave a short nod.

Yes, though I must admit, those were a hellish few days. I suppose that's one thing I can thank Star Fox for."

The leporine was intrigued.

"How did you survive that long?"

Koates leaned forward and began ticking points off with his thumb and fingers.

"The same way I rose through the ranks of the Planetary Guard. The same way I survived the war and have eluded capture these last ten years."

He paused before uttering his last point.

"The same way that you, me, and Waylon are going to bring Corneria to it's knees. Sheer willpower, Aaron."

"I see." Vekman responded.

He took another sip.

"One last thing, Kalman. I know that you didn't make me this offer out of the goodness of your own heart. There's something on this planet that you want, unless I'm mistaken."

The marshal's grin got even bigger.

"I'm so glad you're not a fool, Aaron. I've suffered enough of those in my life. I suppose I do owe you an explanation."

The two allies clinked their glasses as the marshal began to explain.