Chapter 5: Power of the Alters
The battle continues in the Fortunan skies as the Starfox team managed to shoot down most of the bird alters. Fox manages to elude Wolf's pursuit by use of his brakes, and then chases after Wolf's ship. Fox tries to lock on but can't because of the upgraded speed of the Wolfen.
"Come on…lock on already!" Fox said to himself.
"Yeow!" Slippy yelled out, "I've got some on my tail!"
"Time to take you down." Panther said firing on the toad along with the help of a two bird alters.
Falco chases after the Wolfen and the two bird creatures going after Slippy. He then fires a charged shot taking out one of the birds but had caused Panther and the other alter to end their attack on Slippy.
"I've got you now!" Leon said from above firing on Falco's ship.
"Damn, you are such a pain!" The falcon said trying to get away. The bird flies downward then back up with Leon still on his tail. Not even doing barrel rolls was helping his chances of escape much. Falco continued being chased until Panther began firing on him also. "Hey, I could use a little help over here." The avian finally admitted.
Fox then leaves his chase from Wolf and shoots down a bird alter as he heads over to Falco's aid. Wolf turns around and begins shooting at Fox. Fox speeds up using the boosters to try and dodge Wolf's shots then fires on the two other Wolfens causing them to leave Falco alone. Falco flies in Fox's direction shooting lasers at Wolf's ship forcing the lupine to change his course.
Wolf growled then noticed only a few signatures detected on radar so he looks out the cockpit window to see only a few bird alters remaining. He then asked, "What happened to most of those alters?"
"Most of them were shot down." Panther answered.
"Great, more useless birds." Leon sighed.
----
Meanwhile, down below hidden in the bushes, one refined alter soldier remained. Except that his mask had the right eye larger than the other like a camera. And it carefully watched the battle between the two mercenary teams and had been watching everything including Kazufox.
"Well, isn't this interesting." Said Jetter's voice amusingly over the radio inside the mask, "But now it's time to get serious."
----
Slippy was flying after two alter birds with a damaged Arwing. He still followed the birds locking onto one then fired a charged shot taking it down. "Yeah! I got another one!" Slippy cheered. But he then noticed something was wrong when the other bird gave a loud cry and the one that he just shot down began to fly again. The other bird alters that were supposedly shot down also began to fly into the air. They began to merge with the one and form into a larger being. "Huh? F-Fox!" Slippy called out.
The creature began to grow so large that it wasn't hard to notice it.
"What in the world is that thing?" Falco asked in surprise to the rapid growth of the creature. The creature continued to grow and take shape. It was as large as a Venomian battleship. The creature had a gigantic wingspan and the wings were long flat and finger-like, it had a long body that curved at the end to what seemed like a giant engine with a single fin fish-like tail sticking out, and there wasn't a head only large fuchsia colored eye with a dark green ring as its iris. The large black creature had rows of ten light gray hatches lined up on each side of its back.
"What is this now?" Wolf asked.
"Lord O'Donnell, those alters are acting up." A pirate on the carrier informed.
"What do you mean?"
"They're starting to glow and it's starting to freak us out."
"Pay no attention to that and head back to base."
The large eye on the creature began to search for a target and finds Slippy's Arwing. The dark green ring begins to glow. Suddenly in a burst of energy, fired a massive shockblast that completely disintegrates half of the right wing of Slippy's ship.
"I take back what I said about them being useless!" Leon said wide-eyed in surprise.
"Slippy! Are you okay?" Fox asked before taking a few hits from behind.
"You should worry about yourself." Wolf said firing on Fox.
----
"Commander, there's a large energy source that's appeared out of nowhere!" One dog pilot reported.
"Careful guys, this could be the weapon." Bill warned. He then noticed a severely damaged Arwing heading towards the Great Fox. "Fox?"
"He's on the planet." Krystal answered with panic in her voice, "I'm sensing a large power down there and it's not good and I'm not sure the others can handle that and Wolf as well. Please, you've got to help them! Kazufox is there as well and I don't know whether or not he'll survive down there."
"That fox guy?"
"Yes, you need to help them. This thing is too much to deal with along with Wolf!"
"We can't, the weapon-" Bill started to say.
"There is no weapon."
"What do you mean?"
"Fox said that there is no weapon or device down there. Please, you've got to do something!"
"Don't worry, we're on our way." Bill said with determination, "Okay guys, let's move in and back up McCloud's team!"
"Right!" The other pilots' firmly answered.
----
"Colonel! The ships have left the safety zone!" One dog soldier exclaimed.
"What? Contact Grey now!" Summers ordered. Bill's image appeared on the monitor again. "What do you think you're doing? I gave you a direct order to stay put."
"Sorry sir, but Starfox needs our help."
"You fool! You're putting going to get yourselves killed once you're detected they'll active their weapon and wipe you and you squad out!"
"There is no weapon."
Summers stared at the husky with a shocked look on his face, as did several others. There was only silence in the room. "What did you say?" Summers asked finally.
"Fox found the base but the weapon isn't there. I repeat, the weapon is not there."
"No…But how can this be?" Greyson asked.
"Start scanning this entire sector! I want all ships to deploy their fighters and remain on high alert!" Summers commanded, "Put out a broadcast informing all civilian ships to land immediately and tell every military base to be on full alert for any Venomian ships!"
----
Wolf chased Fox underneath the large creature while continuing his attempts in shooting him down. Fox searched around looking for a weak point but found out that the armor was impenetrable. He continued trying to avoid Wolf's fire until he pulled out from under the large beast.
"There's no point in trying to escape." Wolf taunted as he continued his attack. He then noticed something on the ground. Wolf took a closer look, once he realized whom it was, Wolf then turned his ship around and went towards it.
Fox had wondered why Wolf had stopped chasing him. It then hit him that Kazufox was still down below. Fox makes a U-turn and fires the boosts trying to catch up to the Wolfen. The Wolfen began to charge his ship for a devastating charged blast attack at where Kazufox was located, still down on his knees not moving. Fox hurries his Arwing as fast as he can until he pulls up side by side next to Wolf and then rams the ship trying to knock it off course.
"Back off! This kid is mine!" Wolf roared.
"Wolf, I won't let you hurt him anymore!" Fox yelled as he continued pushing his ship against the Wolfen. The hand alters on Wolf's ship grabbed onto Fox's Arwing as they passed over Kazufox, however, only the wind from the ships hit him causing his hair and clothes to flutter in the strong breeze. When the two ships went their different directions, the hands broke off pieces of the wing and G-diffuser.
"You've gotten in my way for the last time!" Wolf yelled turning back to attack. Before he could attack, he realized that someone had locked onto his ship. Laser fire rained from above aimed at the three Wolfens.
"Where did that come from?" Falco asked.
"Help has arrived!" Bill joyously cried out.
"Bill!" Exclaimed Fox, "What are you doing here?"
"A certain blue friend of yours told us that you guys were gonna need some help." The husky replied flying in noticing the large alter creature, "Whoa! What is that?"
"Stay away from its eye." Slippy warned, "That thing's dangerous!"
----
"Looks like they've arrived sooner than we expected." Panther said.
"Damn. We'll retreat for now," Wolf said, "And let that thing take care of them. Starwolf! Let's move out." The three Wolfens began to pull out making their escape.
Fox had noticed the ships leaving and gave chase. "Not this time Wolf!" Fox said, "This time I'm going to take you down!" The alter creature then turned towards Fox and began powering up. Fox manages to move out of the way before the creature fired another blast but Wolf was nowhere to be seen. "Damn! He got away." The vulpine cursed.
"Forget them." Falco said, "Cause if you haven't noticed we've got bigger problems."
"How do we stop it?" Slippy asked.
"We'll just have to keep attacking it until we find something." Fox answered. He then noticed the hatches on the creatures back open. Suddenly, shadow versions of the bird alters began flying out attacking the Katinan fighters. "We can start by taking out those hatches." The Arwings went to work and with the aid of Bill's squad, destroyed seven hatches on the first run. The creature again fires on some of the Katinan ships instantly obliterating them and the only trace left from the blast being the clouds in the distance with round cut outs.
"Whoa!" Exclaimed Bill, "Everyone, avoid combat in front of the eye." At Bill's orders, the Katinan ships continue fighting above and below the creature. The shadow birds were easily destroyed after a few hits but then more were released. "Everyone! The hatches!" Bill shouted out, "We've got to keep from more of these things from popping out!" The ships opened fire on the hatches taking out a few more. The creature gives out a loud cry then pulls away and turns back firing another powerful shockblast.
----
Kazufox is still on the ground as if in a trance. He then looks up, still dazed and sees the giant creature. "Again…It's all happening again!" Thought Kazufox staring into the sky above ignoring the battle. Memories of his past soon stir, such as when he destroyed a military airport and had ended up finding one of the council members that was in charge of his capture.
"Please, don't hurt me!" The white shaggy dog begged. He was wearing a brown suit slightly singed by the nearby fires, along with a white shirt and blue striped tie. The dog was on the ground at the mercy of Kazufox in his second alter form with the bulky arm, propeller on his back, and blue eye.
"Hurt you? I'm just gonna kill you." Kazufox replied as he slowly walks towards the canine.
"Please I'm begging you to reconsider!" The shag dog pleaded crawling backwards.
"What about my friends? Or everyone else you bastards refined huh?" Kazufox asked coldly, "Did you give them a chance!?"
The official crawled backwards until he backed into what was left of a wall from the airport. He began to whimper in fear, staring at the alter fox with wide eyes beneath the heavy white eyebrows. The portly canine noticed a blaster from one of the guards nearby and blurted out, "W-wait! I can help you!"
"You? Help me?" Kazufox questioned stopping for a moment.
"Y-yes. As you know, the Cornerian government is interested in your alter power, but let's make a deal. If you come to the mainland with me then we can ends all of this. This way we can help each other out a little." The official explained while slowly reaching for the blaster, getting his paw on the base of the gun, "If help us find the secret behind alter power, we'll leave you and your home alone, what do you say? Otherwise you'll always be hunted down, for the rest of your life."
"I've got a better idea. How about you call your buddies and tell them to call off the attacks otherwise, I'll crush them to pieces!"
"I was hoping that you would be smarter than that." The dog grinned as he picked up the blaster and fired. Kazufox blocked the shot and grabbed the blaster and crushed it.
"That will be the last mistake you'll ever make." The vulpine said as he raised his fist. The canine screamed out for help one last time before Kazufox ended it with one strike.
He also remembers what Musen said to him when they first fought. Kazufox had just beaten a refined tiger alter user and then Musen appeared. The fox went to attack him but the ferret formed an energy shield blocking the attack.
"You're the one refining alter users haven't you!?" Kazufox asked.
"Why yes of course." Eiji answered with a grin, "That young boy you just killed was another of my work. But I know you've seen some of the others."
"So that means…"
"Yes, I'm the reason you're being hunted down like this. But if I had thing my way then you would already be captured and this entire ground would be cleared of any alter users."
"You bastard! I'll make you pay!"
"As long as you have that power, there will always be someone after you. So you might as well surrender it. Or else everyone close to you will suffer and it will be all because of you…"
Kazufox continues to stare into the sky as the ships fly past overhead, some Katinan ships being shot down while shadow bird alters were disintegrated into nothing.
"How many more…How many more friends will die because of me? Because of this arm!? Because of those bastards that want it so badly?" Kazufox wondered. "I'll show them…If they want this arm so bad I'll show them why they can't have it." He said beginning to stand up but then a shadow bird noticed Kazufox and went down to attack. It opened its beak and fires at the fox. "Because…this power belongs to me!" Kazufox yelled out as he went into his Shell Shurigun alter form and deflected the blast, then strikes the ground as the bird swooped down and landed on its back. "And anyone that wants my power…I'll crush them!!" He then hits the back of the bird destroying it as he moves up into the air.
----
"Damn, stay still already!" Falco cursed as he tried his best to keep up with the alter creature.
"How can something so big move so fast?" Slippy wondered.
"I'm not sure but we have to keep going." Fox said. "It must be one of those alter things Wolf was talking about." Fox thought flying over the large creature waiting for it to release more shadow pawns.
"Hey Fox!" Falco called out, "Got any ideas on how to beat this thing?"
"Not yet, just keep firing. We've got to find a weak point somewhere."
"Fox. Come in, Fox." A voice called out from the radio.
"Krystal?"
"I've analyzed that creature and found its weak point." Krystal informed from the bridge of the Great Fox.
"Well that's great to hear, so where is it?" Falco asked.
"It's located inside the eye."
"Inside?" Fox questioned.
"Yes, the outer part acts like a shield but if you can somehow break through then you should have no problem taking it down."
"Good work Krystal." Fox said opening the communication channel to Bill's ship. "Bill, the weak point is in the eye."
"Right. Okay guys, you heard him. Go for the eye!" Bill ordered.
"Yes sir!" The soldiers responded.
The ships began following after the creature while easily shooting down the shadow bird alters. The creature finally slowed down and fired again but failed to hit anyone that time. The fighter ships then went in for the attack as the creature was recharging. They continued firing until the dark green ring began to glow again.
"Everyone, move out of the way!" Fox yelled out. Suddenly the creature fired another shockblast destroying only a few Katinan fighters.
----
The refined alter still remains hidden and watched the battle from below, keeping in focus the battle that takes place. The camera eye kept everything in view sending all the images to Jetters.
"Do those insects really think they can win?" Jetters gloated. As the leopard watched the battle through the refined alter's mask, something catches his attention. "Hm? What could that be?" He wondered. The refined alter focused on the object. The image showed a red fox jumping from bird to bird by merely punching them. "That boy. How could he have that much power left in him? Unless…He's one of the military's newly refined alter users. Hmph, in any case, this gives me the chance to see what those naturals have been able to come up with."
----
The giant alter creature fires another shockblast destroying one more fighter. Right after the blast, the other ships move in and start firing on the eye. Even after the barrage of laser fire, nothing seemed to be working.
"Fox, this isn't working." Falco complained, "Let's just use the bombs already."
"No, save the nova bombs for after we break that shield." Fox instructed. At that, the ships continued their attack until eventually, a crack appeared in the eye.
"Fox! It's working, there's a crack in the shield!" Slippy informed.
"Commander Grey, did you hear that?" One soldier asked.
"Yeah! Let's keep up the good work!" Bill exclaimed.
"You ugly freak! We'll show you what we're made of!" Another solder yelled out. Suddenly his ship was rocked by something. At first he thought he got careless and was hit but when he looked out, he saw a young vulpine on his left wing. "C-commander! There's a fox on my wing!"
"A fox?"
"Yeah, a kid and he's-aah!" The pilot screamed as his ship was violently rocked. He had his eyes shut thinking that he was done for, but when he realized he was still alive, he looked over, he saw that the fox and half of his wing was gone. He then saw the vulpine above him destroying another shadow bird. "Th-that kid just damaged my ship!"
Bill then noticed the vulpine also and realized that it was Kazufox. "Whoa…what is that kid?" He wondered.
"Bill!" Fox's voice called out, "Move out of the way!"
Bill realized that he was in front of the alter creature and it was about to attack again. Bill tries to pull his ship out before the creature fired again. He escapes the blast with only damage to his wings.
"Bill, are you okay?" Fox asked worriedly.
"Yeah but I found that kid that was with you."
"Kazufox?"
"Yeah, that's him."
"That's impossible!" Falco protested, "How could he even make it up this high without a ship?"
"See for yourself." Slippy said as he pointed towards the front of giant flying alter.
Fox looked over to see a figure heading towards the creature taking out the shadow birds and damaging Katinan fighters in the way. He flew around to get a better view and saw that it was Kazufox and he landed on the center of the eye around the cracked area.
----
"I'm going to end all of this…Starting with you!!" Kazufox yelled out as he began punching at the crack with his slightly damaged alter arm. Soon enough, the crack started to grow larger causing the creature to cry out in pain as it took every punch. Some of the shadow birds redirected their attention towards Kazufox and went after him. The birds began firing and pecking at him with their sharp beaks. "Get the hell away from me!" Kazufox said swiping his alter arm firing a blast of energy destroying one of birds while the Katinan fighters shot down the other shadows. Kazufox noticed the green ring began to glow again. "Oh no you don't!" He yelled out striking the eye. The impact of the partially charged eye released a shockwave sending Kazufox flying back. The propeller on his back began to spin maintaining his balance and he flew back ready to attack. "I'll show you my power!!" Kazufox yelled trying to move his left arm, "Come on. Move already!" He slowly began lifting the arm and his wounds were opened even wider but instead of blood, there was a shining light glowing. As the light shined brighter, the muscles in the arm began to tear at the strain of power being held inside. Then the forearm disintegrated and reformed like the right alter arm. He strikes the eye with his left and simultaneously punches it over and over cracking it slightly with every hit. As he continued pounding, the fox's power grew as all his wounds began shining and orange armor started materializing at different places on his body, the tail of the propeller started growing, the eyepiece extended to the side of his face like a blade and his hair began turning bright red and growing. He felt something inside him start to crack almost shatter and he screamed out in pain but he then resumed the attacking.
"If this is what it takes to stop them…So be it!" Kazufox yelled out drawing back both of his fists, "I don't care anymore!!" He punches with both fists at the same time creating a large explosion that sent him flying and shattered the creature's shield but also his own in the process. He started falling as his alter disintegrated returning him to his normal form. He could only look on at the flying creature before blacking out.
----
Fox found the younger vulpine and pulled his Arwing over to try and catch him. He uses the boosters to catch up and manages to pull under Kazufox. Fox catches him on one of the laser cannons next to the damaged G-diffuser from earlier. Fox lands his ship in a small clearing and got out to check on the alter fox. He saw that he needed medical attention otherwise he wouldn't survive. Fox knew that in the vulpine's current condition, that flying him all the way back to the Great Fox would only make his condition worst and the only way he could safely get Kazufox out was to land the ship and take him aboard that way but he would have to destroy the alter creature before he could do that. Fox lays the younger fox's body on the grass.
"Don't worry, I'll come back." Fox promised before he ran back to his ship and took off. However, Kazufox wasn't alone as the hidden refined alter was there watching.
"Such power…" Jetters thought to himself, "It's amazing how this kid can do that much damage. This proves that he's a refined alter, it has to be. And possibly another that's unstable." The leopard watched and then grinned to himself. "But why waste someone of his talents? I could always use another powerful subordinate on my side even if he doesn't have long to live. You," Jetters called to the soldier, "I want you to take him and put him in the recovery capsule, understood?"
The masked soldier only gave a few grunts.
"Ah yes, our guest." The leopard said with a wicked smile, "I suppose you can let him out. This battle is just about over anyways. I was hoping there would be more casualties than this."
The refined alter user nods and goes over to Kazufox. It picks up the unconscious vulpine and carries him over its shoulder before disappearing back into the woods.
----
Fox returns to the battle shooting down some more shadow alters that was tailing a Katinan fighter. He flew his Arwing over toward the alter creature.
"Fox you're back." Slippy said, "Is everything alright?"
"What's the condition of the enemy?" Fox asked sternly.
"Uh, the shield is destroyed. Its weak point is wide open for attack."
"Good, let's hurry up and beat this thing."
"Man, someone's in a big hurry." Falco muttered to himself.
The three Arwings flew in formation with Fox as lead while Slippy takes left wing and Falco right. As the three went in closer to attack the creature, the shadow birds had gathered in front of the eye. Fox went in shooting down several of the birds as did Slippy. Falco then pulled up from the rear in having to deal with just a few of the birds and went in front of the eye and steered over to the opening where the shield was broken. He then fires a nova bomb and it hits right inside the eye. The explosion caused the creature to cry out in pain as a rush of flames shot out from the eye breaking even more of the shield.
"Gotcha!" Falco exclaimed watching the damage being done.
"Yes!" Krystal cheered, "One more should finish it."
The hatches on the creature's back opened again trying to release more shadow alters but they were be destroyed before they could even get out as flames were being flared up from within the beast.
"Open fire!" Bill ordered, "Don't let those things get out!"
The Katinan ships attacked the birds as they tried to go and protect the exposed shield. Meanwhile, the shadow alters already in front of the eye began forming a protective covering for the eye.
"Fox!" Slippy cried out, "Those birds are forming another shield!"
"Let's finish this now." Fox said flying back around for another attack.
Slippy moved in but was being shot at by another shadow bird. Falco's Arwing swooped in and shot it down.
"I'll hold these things off, you take care of that thing." Falco instructed.
The creature was moving around and flailing making it hard to lock onto. Slippy finally had a lock on the target and fired a nova bomb into the eye. However, the shadow barrier shifted to block the bomb saving the creature at the cost of its barrier.
"No, I missed!" Slippy complained, "Fox, that blast should've destroyed the barrier. You've got to hurry before it forms another one!"
Fox flew around being chased by a few shadow birds until Falco began firing on the birds destroys them letting Fox make his way over to the front of the creature. Fox was as it tries to make its escape. He was confronted with more bird alters but Slippy had managed to distract them long enough for the vulpine to get a clear shot. Fox had lock on and was ready to fire but he remembered how the shield blocked Slippy's shot and decided to fly his ship closer, just barely inside the eye before he fired. Fox pulled a U-turn and fired up the boosters to escape before the bomb went off. The creature gave another loud cry as it soon stopped flapping its gigantic wings and the bird alters began to disappear and fade away. Explosions occurred throughout the creature's massive body, fires sprouting from each of the hatches on its back, and the engine piece of a tail started to catch fire as well.
"They beat it!" Bill exclaimed, "Alright guys, time to clear out."
The Katinan ships moved away as more explosions occurred. Suddenly, a large beam of light shot out of its eye socket before the creature was destroyed in a massive explosion.
----
The Starwolf team was finally able to catch up with the carrier containing the refined alter users as they made their way back into the asteroid field towards the base hidden inside. Wolf was reflecting on the battle and the losses he suffered as well as the new secrets he had discovered, which was mainly with his new found recruits.
"Boss! Come in!" One pirate cried out over the radio.
"What is it?" Wolf asked slightly annoyed.
"Those masked guys! They're…they're dead!"
Wolf paused for a moment, "What did you say!?"
"Those masked guys were acting weird and then they stopped glowing and fell to the floor dead!"
"How can that be?"
"Looks like McCloud's team managed to beat out monster." Leon scoffed.
"This isn't good…" Panther groaned.
"What? Does this mean that after those alters are beat, the users die?"
"Apparently so." The feline sighed.
"Dammit!!" Wolf roared as he slammed on his controls.
"Wolf, for our sakes, let's just hope those other alters are stronger than the ones that we sent out." Leon warned.
----
After the explosion had cleared, there wasn't any trace of the alter creature.
"Woohoo! We finally beat it!" Slippy cheered.
"Nice shot Fox." Falco congratulated. He then noticed Fox's Arwing heading towards the ground. "Hey Fox, aren't you gonna say some-"
"ROB, bring in the Great Fox." Fox ordered, "Prepare for an emergency pickup." The others are silenced by Fox's words. He lands his Arwing in the clearing he left Kazufox and heads out.
"Fox, what's the problem?" Falco asked, "Fox!" He didn't receive an answer. "Dammit." The avian cursed under his breath as he lands his ship down next to Fox's.
"I hope everything's okay." Slippy said concerned.
"I hope so too." Krystal added. "I just hope that other powerful presence that I sensed wasn't Kazufox." The blue vixen thought.
----
Falco jumps out of his Arwing and heads over to Fox. "Hey Fox, mind explaining to me what's going on?" The falcon asked impatiently.
"It's Kazufox." Fox blurted out, "He needs medical attention, now!"
"What? You mean that kid really did cause that explosion?" Falco asked but soon found his answer from watching his frantic leader searching around, "So where is he?"
"I don't know. I left him right here, I'm sure of it! Damn! I shouldn't have left him here all alone!"
"Take it easy Fox." Falco said putting on wing on Fox's shoulder, "We'll find him."
"Hey, is everything alright?" Slippy's voice asked from the Arwing's radio.
Falco ran back over and answered, "Tell Krystal to get the medical bay ready."
"What is it?" Krystal asked.
"It's that guy, Fox says that he needs some medical help right away."
"Oh no." The blue vixen gasped, "I'm coming down. I can help you track him down faster."
"That's a good idea." Slippy said, "I'll keep a lookout from up here."
Bill had figured something was wrong so he decides to land his ship and as Fox himself. "Hey Fox, what's the problem?"
"Kazufox. He's hurt and I can't find him."
"I'll call for a search." The husky said as he ran back to his ship. After informing the other ships, some of the fighters landed and went into the woods searching for the vulpine. The Great Fox soon appeared in the sky and the Landmaster was launched from it using its boosters to make a smooth landing. Krystal jumped out of the tank and went over to Fox.
"Have you found him yet?" She asked.
"No, not yet." Fox answered, "I don't understand. I left him right here!" He then noticed some Katinan ships in the air and that one of them was coming in for a landing. He figured that it must've been the flagship.
"Looks like the military is here." Krystal said before suddenly falling silent, "Fox, I'm sensing faint thought patterns."
"Krystal, I want you to take the Landmaster and go check it out. If it is Kazufox then inform Slippy and have him help carry him back to the ship."
"But can't the army help?"
"It's too risky. I have a feeling they didn't come to see about the weapon alone."
Krystal soon understood what Fox meant and nodded hurrying back to the Landmaster and drove off.
----
A minute later, the Katinan flagship had landed. A black furred wolf exited the ship accompanied by a gray striped feline and several soldiers. Summers looked around and saw the Arwings and Katinan fighters that were on the ground.
"I want one group to stay with the ship, the next group is to go with the lieutenant and search for anything." Summers ordered, "Everyone else will come with me. Lieutenant, I leave things here in your care."
"Understood colonel." Gresyon said giving a salute, "Let's move out and search the area." The cat went off with a group of soldiers to secure the area.
"Colonel!" Bill called out, "You're finally here."
"It's Grey, right?"
"Yes sir."
"Give me an update on the situation."
"When we arrived, this huge flying thing started attacking us but we managed to beat it with the help of Starfox." Bill noticed the wolf had slightly narrowed his eyes at him. "But we also confirmed that Starwolf was here."
"Were you able to capture them?"
"No sir, they got away."
Summers didn't say anything towards that. He merely looked around seeing some soldiers that were with Bill searching around for something. "Are you having your men search for the base?"
"Uh, no sir."
"And why not?"
"Because there's a boy missing and he needs medical attention." Bill explained.
The colonel remained silent for a moment. "Very well, continue with your search. Report back directly to me when you find him."
"Yes sir!" Bill said giving a salute before heading back to his search group. Summers looked around and found Fox and Falco also searching nearby and walked over to them.
"McCloud." He called out.
"Colonel, what are you doing here?" Fox asked.
"I felt that a situation of this importance calls for my present and immediate attention." The wolf replied, "Now moving on, one of our soldiers was told that there wasn't a device on this planet. Explain."
Fox glanced at the soldiers doing their 'cleanup' duty then looks back at Summers explaining, "During my search on the planet, I found the base that we suspected was here but there was no weapon in there. And during my encounter with Starwolf, I was even told that they didn't even have any kind of device like the one were after."
"And you believed him?"
"Wolf has no reason to lie about it."
"Did you find out why they were here in the first place?"
"Yes, Wolf said that there was a certain frequency that only Venomian ships can detect and someone from our side had activated it."
"It must've been that agent from Corneria." The colonel thought. "Can you show me the base? And I'd also like to know what happened with that creature you fought against." Fox nods his head and they start walking along with a group of soldiers towards the location of the lost Venomian base.
----
Not too far off in the distance, lies a group of bodies that were of the pirates the two foxes had taken down. None of them were moving except one. Shawn started to hear voices and thought help had finally came. When he opened his eyes, he saw only two soldiers standing over what seemed to be a body. He couldn't tell who's it was since the two were in the way but he knew that the guy had white fur. The avian also saw what looked like a photo that had its edges burnt. Shawn realized that it was Ralph's picture and with the little strength he had left reached over and grabbed the picture before the wind blew it away.
"Man, this one had his back ripped out." One of the solders noted.
"I wondered who did this?" The other soldier wondered.
"You think it was McCloud's team?"
"No way, they could've done something like this."
"I guess. But they can do the impossible." The soldier said moving the corpse over causing the upper half to slump to the side.
"You got a point." The other soldier cringed seeing the frozen expression of the rabbit's face staring at him. "Man, I'd really hate to be that guy."
"Yeah, no kidding." The first soldier said, He then noticed something nearby.
"What is it?"
"I thought I saw something move."
"Let's go check it out." The two soldiers walked over towards Shawn's body with their blasters drawn while checking for life signs from the other space pirates'. The two surrounded the eagle's body but didn't see any movement.
"This is where you saw something?"
"Yeah, I could've sworn I saw this guy move."
"You watch too many movies. No way this guy could still be alive." The second soldier said nudging his boot into the avian's side. Shawn then flailed his arm at the soldier and started gasping for air. The soldier had jumped back and fell backwards out of shock. "Holy cow! He really is alive!" The surprised soldier said in shock.
"Lieutenant! Come quick!" The other soldier called out.
"What is it?" Greyson asked running over.
"There's someone still alive!"
"Get the paramedics over here now!" The feline shouted to the others.
A medical team had arrived with a hover stretcher. After applying a few needed bandages, they gently and swiftly lifted Shawn's body onto the platform. Before they carried Shawn away back to the ship, the pirate hid the picture into his pants pocket.
----
"This is it." Fox said pointing to a pile of rubble, "Or whatever's left."
"What happened?" Summers asked with a dissatisfied look, "What did you do?"
"Wolf did this."
"You expect me to believe that Starwolf would do this to one of his own bases?"
"He knew how bad we wanted it and since he knew we were here, he decided that nobody would get it."
Summers only glared at Fox. The colonel turned and pointed to the soldiers that followed, "I want all of you to start digging. Find whatever you can." Summers ordered. A few of the soldiers groaned at the order but went on anyways. "And I mean hurry it up."
"Yes sir!" The soldiers answered.
Summers kept an eye on his men as they were working, making sure they weren't slacking. "Tell me about the device again." He asked Fox while still keeping an eye on his troops.
"Wolf said there wasn't anything here and what he did to the base proves it."
"I see. Now I'd like for you to tell me a little more about that fox boy. His name was Kazufox, wasn't it?"
"What does he have to do with any of this?" Falco squawked.
"You tell me." The lupine said turning his full attention towards the mercenaries, "You said how he stole some explosives from the base and used on that creature. I doubt that someone with a reputation like yours would send a young man into battle and I would prefer if you didn't lie to my face this time." Fox lowered his head and remained silent. "Well? I'm waiting."
"Wolf got to him." Fox answered, "We…were both captured by Wolf and…he was still inside when Wolf detonated some charges and destroyed the base. That's how we ended up getting separated so I didn't know where he was afterwards."
"Do you know he managed to get on the creature?"
"He was riding on the back of one of those birds Fox told you about." Falco answered.
"And after he set off a bomb on the creature, you said that you caught him and then set him down on the ground before heading back."
"Yes, and I didn't see him after that." Fox replied.
"You're sure he was in that bad of a condition?"
"What do you mean?" Falco asked raising his voice, his temper was running short. Nobody could walk after an explosion as big as what we saw!"
"I have some doubts about what you're saying because someone in that condition should not be able to move on his own and Wolf and his group already left, so I want answers as to where you're hiding him."
"Colonel!" One soldier called out, "We found something!"
"I'll be there in a second!" Summers said to the soldier before turning back to Fox and Falco, "If you'll excuse me, we'll continue this conversation later. In the mean time, I want you and your team to clear out."
"What? But Kazufox is still here." Fox barked, "We can't just leave him here!"
"Don't worry, we'll give him the best medical treatment we can."
"Yeah sure, but what do you plan on doing to him after that, huh?" Falco wondered.
Fox had noticed Slippy's Arwing returning to the Great Fox. "Falco." He called.
"But Fox-"
"It may be the best thing to leave it in their hands. Let's go." Fox said as he turned to leave. Falco looked back at the wolf and then started walking after Fox.
----
"Fox, you want to tell me what's the deal?" Falco asked, "We're just gonna leave him here?"
"No, we're not leaving him. Slippy and Krystal should've found him by now. But I have a feeling that the colonel thinks that Kazufox may somehow be involved in all of this."
"Involved? How?"
Fox hesitated to answer, "I'll explain on the ship."
"Are you sure it was a good idea to tell him about how he damaged that thing?"
"I had to tell him. He would've found out sooner or later about it and he already doesn't trust us. And the last thing we need is for him to search our ship."
----
Summers and his group had returned back to the landing grounds with the four refined alters' bodies. He watches as the Landmaster heads back to the Great Fox and the two Arwings that soon followed. Summers heads over to where Greyson is noticing everyone else was either finishing up with their search or packing up. "Anything to report?"
"After we secured the area, we found one survivor and we believe that he's with O'Donnell's group of thugs." Greyson informed. "Did you have any luck with the base?" she asked. She then noticed the bodies.
"Apparently, Starwolf became desperate and destroyed it. But there's something about these bodies that are somewhat different."
"We've found bodies similar to those around here too. Do you think they could be somehow connected to that weapon?"
"It's too early to say that."
"And what about the boy?" Greyson asked in a whisper, "I know that you haven't given up your search just because of this."
"I don't plan to. But the more I think about it, that kid might be apart of all this. I know he has some connections to this in some way. But until we find him, we won't know for sure. We'll take what we have for now and return with some digging equipment." He then paused for a minute. "I thought you said this area was secured?" He asked drawing his blaster.
"I'm sure it was. I was checking also." Greyson said also pulling out her blaster.
The two looked over towards the woods waiting for whatever was hiding to come out. The rustling of the bushes started to get louder getting the attention of other soldiers.
"Everyone, get ready." Summers ordered. The rustling became louder. Out of the bushes came a light gray husky soldier running over towards them. Summers remember that it was probably the Cornerian spy that had been sent there. "Hold your fire!" He ordered.
"Hey! Are you the one in charge here?" The canine soldier asked running over towards the wolf while breathing hard from his running.
"Yes, I'm Colonel Summers." The wolf replied seeing the soldier was in a frenzied state, "Take a deep breath, follow me to the ship and you can explain to me what happened."
"Colonel, you've got to listen to me now!" The soldier pleaded, "It's important!"
"You need to calm down, we'll take you back to base with us and you can explai-"
"No!" The soldier interrupted, "You've got to listen. There is no weapon like the one that can control Solar that exists. It was a distraction to keep us fooled!"
Most of the soldiers then paid attention to what the husky was speaking, many soldiers went silent and had confused looks on their faces. "What do you mean?" Summers asked.
"It's O'Donnell." The canine huffed out, "He's found something called 'alter users'."
"Alter users?"
"Yes, they created the illusion that Solar was attacking! It was a fake!" The soldier said in a raspy voice, and soon started coughing like mad.
"Calm down, let's head to the ship and then we can talk more about these 'alter users'."
"No! They plan on doing something else. They plan to-" But before the dog soldier could finish, a laser shot from behind had pierced through his chest causing the husky to drop to the ground.
"Open fire!" Summers yelled out. He and the others fired at where the shot had come from, which was in a tree. "Hold your fire!" Summers shouted out when he saw something fall from the tree. A few soldiers went to go scope out the scene looking for whatever fell, being careful if it was a trap.
Greyson hurried over to the unconscious husky pressing two of her fingers to his neck, "Wesley, he's still alive. I've got a pulse!"
"Let's get the medics over here!" The wolf barked out even as the medical team was already rushing over. They wasted no time and lifted the soldier onto the hover stretcher and carried the wounded soldier into the ship.
"Colonel Summers!" A soldier called out, "Come take a look at this."
Summers motioned for other soldiers to follow towards where the group was located. When Summers arrived, he saw another of those masked soldiers except this one had a larger right eye on the mask and near it, a sniper rifle.
"Let's take this one out also." The colonel said. The soldiers picked up the body and carried it out. "Alter users." The wolf thought to himself, "What exactly are they? And what if that boy is one also? One thing is for sure, I don't like where this is going."
----
"Good, they've got our message." Jetters said, "If everything goes to plan, those fools will turn towards Starwolf. That should take the heat off us for the moment, long enough for me to bring in that fox boy and then I'll have another powerful alter user at my side." Jetters smiled at the thought and gave a few chuckles as another figure stands in the room, a large one at that. The large figure gave a few grunts.
"Cheer up Metalfists, I'm doing you a favor by doing this." Jetters said with a small grin of satisfaction on his face, "Afterall, I'll need more than just one subordinate at my side once I take command."
----
Somewhere down on Corneria near one of the laboratories, a desert coyote in a lab coat looks on from a distance. He examines the area closely through his zoom goggles checking from the security gates all the way to the military laboratory.
"So this is where it is. Kids are so reckless." The coyote sighed to himself shaking his head, "For our sakes, I hope this one didn't get captured. I better hurry up and get it back before things start to get out of hand."