Chapter 7: Attack on Sargasso
A transmission was sent out to all the bases on Corneria informing all in charge about Starwolf and to have them captured. News of this soon spread fast reaching all the Cornerian bases in the Lylat. One base in particular on Corneria had the interest of a doberman hound lieutenant as he left his office and walked down the hall.
"Sergeant, I would like to have a word with you." Said the doberman.
"With me sir?" Asked a golden retriever.
"Yes, come with me to my office. I have a mission for you."
The retriever obeyed and followed into the hound's office. The sergeant stood as the other dog took a seat in his chair.
"I want you to make an attack on the Sargasso fortress."
"Sargasso?" The retriever questioned, "But isn't that risky?"
"Not anymore, since Starfox was kind enough to clear things up for us. Now we can move in and wipe out those thugs from this galaxy. Even with those supplies they stole, their forces should still be weakened to a high degree."
"But what about Starwolf?"
"You are to capture them and bring them in. But if you have to then you may eliminate them just as long as you bring some proof that you did destroy them."
"Yes, but what if they aren't there?"
"Don't worry. They'll show up."
"One more thing lieutenant."
"What would that be?"
"On what grounds are we staging this attack?"
"This order to capture Wolf and his team comes directly from the general himself."
"General Pepper? But what does the general plan to achieve from this?"
"Who knows. We just have to follow orders, understood?"
"Yes sir, lieutenant."
"I want you to gather up your troops and make an attack as soon as you can. And take some additional support. I doubt that Starwolf is just going to let us beat them so easily."
"Anything else?"
"No, that is all."
"Understood." The retriever saluted. The sergeant then exited the room leaving the doberman to grin to himself.
----
"Hey, wake up." Said a voice, "It's time to get up now."
Kazufox wakes up and sees Ralph nearby. "Not now, I'm too tired."
"Come on, we've got a lot of work to do today so hurry up and let's go." The gator said while going to get his boots on.
"Aw come on, let me get some sleep." Kazufox yawned.
"It's time to get up little buddy."
"Would you stop with the 'little'?" The fox said laying back in bed, "Wasn't my fault those idiots kept me up working all night or whatever this station goes by."
"I'll talk to them about that." The gator laughed, "But we need to get going. And now." The gator saw that Kazufox was already asleep. So he grabbed him by the arm and dragged him out of the room.
Kazufox then started to here loud noises and began wondering what they were. When he opened his eyes he saw that he was right in the path of one of the ships about to take off. Kazufox then crawled out of the way before the ship almost hit him. He was gasping for air wondering how he got there and then heard Ralph and Shawn laughing.
"You bastard! I could've been killed!" Kazufox shouted.
"I told you to wake up." Ralph said.
"Dammit! Were you trying to make me wet myself or something!?"
"Calm down." Shawn said still chuckling, "We wouldn't have let you get squashed anyways. It'd be too messy."
"Gee, thanks a lot. I feel so much better now." The vulpine said in a sarcastic tone.
----
Fox had walked over to the capsule containing Kazufox and sat down in a chair near it. He looked inside as the young vulpine still remains dormant from the battle on Fortuna. A while later, the doors opened as someone else entered the room.
"I thought I might find you in here." Krystal said walking over taking a seat next to Fox.
"Hi Krystal." Fox said.
"You're up late. You know you need your rest."
"I know but I can't sleep."
"Fox, what happened…it wasn't your fault. There's nothing more you could've done."
"It is my fault. Bringing him along and Wolf…this is all my fault."
"You can't blame yourself for everything." The blue vixen said lowering her head, "Maybe if I had sensed it sooner then maybe I could've done something."
"Krystal…"
"You're not the only one here who's worried. We all are. And we'll do what we can to make sure he gets through this."
"You're right Krystal. Thanks."
----
Kazufox and Ralph were working on one of the ships in need of maintenance. Kazufox was still upset about the cruel joke the gator played on him earlier. But then he noticed some of the other pirates watching him from the side and the same from above as well. He also saw Ronnie but as usual, he received only a glare from the rabbit before he walks off.
"Hey, are you there?" Ralph said.
"Huh?"
"Sheesh, don't tell me you're deaf already. Hand me the wrench."
"Sorry, wasn't paying attention." The vulpine said handing over a wrench.
"Well start paying attention. The boss is gonna be coming soon and we need this place in good shape."
"Like I care."
"I know but you will once you see O'Donnell really pissed." Ralph said.
"Hey Ralph. I've got a question."
"Hm? What is it?"
"Ever since I got here, everyone looks like they've got some kind of problem with me and are watching me for some reason."
"And you're wonderin why?" The gator asked.
"Yeah."
"Well to tell you the truth, it's because you're a fox."
"Is that it? But why do they hate foxes?"
"You see little buddy, a long time ago, most of us here used to work for a guy named Andross and the boss did too. And we went into war against those Cornerian idiots and gave them hell. We were so close to finally wiping those dogs from the galaxy…until Starfox showed up." The gator said as he stopped tightening a nut, "And that bastard McCloud. He and his group beat up Andross and put us on the run. He even beat O'Donnell! And guess what McCloud is."
"A fox?"
"Exactly. And because of that, nobody here trusts another fox."
"Really…well if this McCloud guy is as good as you say to actually beat one-eye, then I don't really see what's so bad about…" Kazufox's voice trailed off. He stopped when he saw Ralph and his yellow eyes glaring at him.
"Don't you ever say there's something good about that bastard!!" The gator roared while bending the wrench, "There's nothing good about that damned pet of those Cornerian dogs! If you ever say anything good about that son of a bitch again, I'll-" The gator was then cut off when the wrench snapped in two and had hit the ground. He then came back to his senses. "Sorry about that…I didn't mean to scare ya."
"Ralph, what do you have against them?"
"It's nothing, don't worry about it little Bradley."
"Don't call me…Bradley?" The vulpine blinked in wonder.
"Sorry, I meant buddy, little buddy." The gator said getting up and walking over to the other half of the wrench, "Well this thing's busted, better get another."
Kazufox looked around the hangar and saw the other pirates working on a ship trying to hurry before Wolf shows up. He then spots Shawn after he jumped out of the cockpit of one of the ships and ran over. "Hey Shawn, you got a minute?" Kazufox asked.
"Sure I guess. So what's up?" The eagle asked.
"There's something about Ralph I want to know."
"What's that?"
"What does Ralph have against Cornerians? I mean, even mentioning Starfox makes him really ticked off."
The eagle then looked in shock at the vulpine. "Hey Tim, I'm taking my break now." Shawn said to another pirate, "Let's go somewhere else."
The alter fox listens and follows the eagle. The two headed into a corner of the hangar.
"Tell me what happened. Did Ralph…get angry?"
"Yeah, why?"
"What were you two talking about?"
"First we were talking about why the guys here hated foxes then ended up talking about Starfox. Then he looked like he wanted to tear me to shreds. You know something about this, tell me."
"Sorry, I can't tell you."
"Why not? Come on! It's not like I'll anyone else. I'm only trying to find out what the deal is."
The pirate gave a sigh, "Listen, what I'm about to tell you is something he told me. And I could end up dead for this but if you want to know that bad. A long time ago, before he was a space thug as we are now, he used to live on Corneria. But then something happened. They…stole something that was important to him. And ever since, he swore revenge." Shawn explained, "In fact, he joined Andross' army and even volunteered to be in the fleet that attacked Corneria. He eventually got his revenge, but his hatred for them still burns, like a wound that won't heal. And he was close to seeing all the Cornerians wiped out until Starfox showed up and ruined everything. So you see kid, that's why he got so upset."
"I'm guessing since you know so much about all this, he's acted this way with the other guys here too."
"Yeah, but you're one of the lucky ones. One of the guys that got him that angry had his arms and neck broken. He would've been a lot worst if we didn't stop him."
"But what was it he lost?"
"I don't know. That's all he told me, and that's all I know on the matter."
"That idiot…if he's gotten his revenge then why does he continue fighting?"
"He's got nowhere to go. That's all he lives for now."
"But that's not going to do him any good!"
"I've tried telling him that but he won't listen. But maybe he'll listen to you."
"Why me?"
Shawn smiled, "Because, you're his little buddy."
"Dammit, I hate it when he calls me that! But, for some reason he called me 'Bradley' instead. Who's that?"
"It's nobody." The eagle said with a serious look in his face, "Don't worry yourself about it. Well, I better get back to work, later." Shawn waved as he left.
----
Falco enters the medical bay and sees both Fox and Krystal sleeping.
"What's this all about?" He said waking the two up.
"Huh? Falco, what are you doing here?" Fox asked.
"What do you think? To see how the kid is doing."
"So far he's doing okay." Krystal said, "I sense that his mind has calmed down."
"Man, I still can't believe what happened. Next time I see Wolf, I'm gonna give that fuzzball a piece of my mind."
Soon enough, Slippy also enters the room. "Oh, hey everyone. I guess we all came to see how he's doing." Slippy said.
"Yeah." Fox answered.
There was a moment of silence. But Falco soon broke it. "What is this a funeral?" Falco asked, "Look, the guy's not dead yet so how about we stop acting like he is?"
"Yeah, you're right Falco." Fox said.
"There's really nothing more we can do to help right now." Slippy said, "I wish there was something though."
"Me too." Krystal said.
"Slippy, how much longer does he have to stay in there?" Fox asked.
"Let me check." The amphibian said checking the device, "Well he seems to be recovering really fast. We can take him out later today at this rate."
"That's fantastic!" Krystal exclaimed.
"That's good to hear." Fox said.
"I don't know about you guys but I'm going to get somethin to eat." Falco said leaving the room.
"Yeah, I'm a little hungry myself." Slippy said following.
"Are you coming Fox?" Krystal asked.
"Yeah, I'll be out in a minute." Fox said. Krystal soon left the room and Fox thought to himself about what happened and what could happen if he wasn't strong enough to save his team. "I'm sorry…" Fox said before getting up and leaving the room.
----
"Hey, I'm back." Ralph said cheerfully, "And I've got a new wrench here so let's get back to work."
"Sure." Kazufox answered.
"Hey don't worry about before, okay?"
"Whatever."
The two returned to working on the ship. A little while later, Kazufox remembered what Shawn said. "Hey Ralph."
"Hm? Need some help?"
"No, It's just…I talked to Shawn. He told me why you were like that." Kazufox said. And after he said that, the gator stopped and looked at him. "Ralph, I don't know everything that happened to you but that's all in the past. Whatever it was, if you've got your revenge then you have to move on. If you live your life only on revenge then you'll only end up getting yourself killed."
"You think too much you know that?" Ralph laughed.
"I'm serious! Why won't you listen to me!?"
"I hear ya. And I'll try to keep that in mind." The gator said, "Well, looks like this ship is done. Better go to the next one."
The fox watched as the gator walked on. "Idiot…"
----
Some time had passed on the Great Fox as the Starfox team was over by the capsule. "Slippy, how is he now?" Fox asked.
"He should be ready to be taken out now." Slippy answered.
"Good, I want to get him out of there as soon as possible."
Slippy shuts off the capsule and the liquid inside drains out. The pod soon opens and Slippy removes the wires attached to Kazufox's fur and his oxygen mask.
"Falco, are you ready?" Fox asked. The bird nodded. "Okay, on three. One…two…three!"
The two lifted Kazufox out and set him on the bed.
----
The alter fox laid in his bunk looking up at the ceiling.
"Ralph…" He thought to himself, "Ralph, I'm sorry, but I can't stay here any longer. I have something I need to do. There's someone important to me that I must find." He closed his eyes and was about to head to sleep but he felt something rumbling. "Wh-what was that?" He thought looking around. Everything seemed normal but then thought he was hearing voices.
"How is he?" One voice asked.
"He'll be fine. He just needs his rest." Said another.
"I hope so." A third voice said.
"What's going on?" The fox wondered, "Who's voices are those? They sound familiar." He waited and soon the voices went away. "Man, this is too weird."
----
"Well Fox, all we can do now is wait." Falco said.
"I know." Fox replied.
"I hope he wakes up soon." Krystal said.
"Yeah. But I can't shake the feeling we forgot something."
"What do you mean?" Falco asked.
"I don't know but I feel like we forgot something important…Gah!" Slippy cried out, "We forgot all about Peppy!"
"Oh no! I totally forgot!" Fox said.
"Uh oh, gramps ain't gonna be too happy about this." Falco said.
"We'll explain to him what happened." Krystal said.
"Okay, let's go see if we can find Peppy." Fox said, "ROB, set a course for Corneria."
"Affirmative." The robot responded and soon enough the ship was on its way.
----
Greyson was in a shuttle on its way to Corneria. She wasn't alone as several other soldiers and officials were onboard as well. She remembered what she had to do, find out what was going on in the Cornerian military. She wondered to herself why they would cover up something as dangerous as the weapon that controls Solar or if it even existed why weren't they taking any measures to try and find out where it is but keep it a secret from their own army. She sighed to herself thinking about it and looked out the window seeing Katina getting smaller and smaller. And she already missed everyone at the base already, especially the colonel because who else would she eavesdrop on and get away without punishment? She then thought about that and laughed to herself but she knew what she had to do.
----
The Great Fox approached Corneria but then a small shuttle was heading towards the Great Fox. "Incoming vessel. It is a Cornerian shuttle transport." ROB informed, "They request permission to land."
"Open a channel." Fox ordered, "Come in shuttle. What is it that you want?"
"Nothing much, just dropping by for a visit." A familiar voice answered.
"Peppy?"
"Hi Fox, what happened?" Peppy asked, "I was waiting all day for you and nobody showed up."
"Sorry, I'll explain everything later." Fox said, "ROB, prepare for docking."
"Right away." ROB replied.
"Attention everyone." Fox said over the intercom, "Meet me in the bridge."
----
Fox waited for the others to show up. First was Slippy who was followed by Krystal.
"Hey Fox, what is it?" Slippy asked. He then saw an old gray hare and knew right away who it was. "It's Peppy!"
"Yes, it's nice to see you again, Slip." Peppy said.
"Peppy! You're here!" Krystal said excitedly giving the old hare a hug.
"It's nice to see you too Krystal."
Soon enough Falco walks in. "What's this about Fox?" Falco asked. He then looked up and saw that Peppy was there. "Hey gramps, great to see you here."
"Hey, watch it Falco." Peppy said, "And it's nice to see you also."
"Great to have you back here."
"Yeah, I missed being here with you guys."
"We missed you too!" Slippy said.
"But I want to know what took so long?"
"We got called on another mission." Fox answered.
"Oh, I understand. Care to tell me the details? I just have to know."
"Okay, okay. I'll explain everything." Fox said with a grin, "But I also have to show you to someone."
"You never mentioned that you would be having company." Peppy said.
"I'll explain that too."
----
Wolf wondered around the Volstra space base. He saw how much emptier the base had been since he lost most of his troops on Fortuna. They had managed to bring in the refined alters, but they worked more like obedient machines rather than living beings.
"Lord O'Donnell!" One ape soldier cried out.
"What is it?" Wolf asked.
"We've got news that the guys at Sargasso are under attack!"
"McCloud?"
"No! The Cornerian army!"
"What?" Wolf said in surprise but then thought for a moment, "So those fools think they're tough after having McCloud's team weaken our defenses. I'll show them. Prepare the ships, we're heading out."
"But boss, the ships aren't in any condition to fight! There's lots of them too!"
"Just do what I said! And Tell Panther and Leon to hurry up."
Wolf rushed off towards his ship and soon enough Leon and Panther arrived as well.
"What is it Wolf?" Leon asked.
"Sargasso's under attack by the Cornerian military."
"Such cowards!" Panther exclaimed.
"How do you expect us do stop them with our ships still damaged?" Leon questioned.
"Simple, we use those alters that helped us out before." Wolf said.
"Are you sure they can handle a space battle?" Panther asked.
"We don't have any other choice right now. Prepare for take off!" Wolf ordered. The Starwolf team jumped into their Wolfens and started up the engines. Some of the refined alters attached the floating hands to the ship giving it an extra boost of power. "I want you guys to check up on those alter users. Let me know if they start acting up."
"Yes sir!" The ape pirate answered.
The Wolfens took flight. The trio soon found an opening in the asteroid field to activate the jump to hyperspace. Wolf took the lead first hitting his boosters entering the hyperjump as Leon and Panther followed suit.
----
"This young man was captured by Wolf?" Peppy asked as he looked at the young fox in bed.
"Yeah..." Fox nodded.
"Fox, you need to remember that what happened was not your fault. You did the best that you could. Just be glad that the boy is still alive."
"Yeah, I suppose you're right Peppy."
"You know, I am still a little curious about that weapon you mentioned earlier. The one that could control Solar."
"It's been said that a device that Andross created could control the energy of Solar and use it as a weapon. But after Wolf told me that there wasn't a device like that. I've been having my doubts."
"That doesn't really sound like something Andross would do." Peppy stated, "Even though he was smart, I don't think that would be something he would do. And if he did work on such a device, why wait until now to bring it out?"
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that there's someone else behind this. And it might have something to deal with those alter users you were talking about."
"How so?" Fox asked.
"You mentioned that they can rearrange one thing into another right? What if maybe one of them has the ability to create something that draws on Solar's energy to be used like a weapon?"
"You've got a good point. But I don't really see how it can be possible…" Fox said. He then remembers the beam of light that Kazufox was in before it quickly disappeared.
"Fox, you need to keep your mind open to every possibility. Remember, nobody thought Andross could come back after you killed him but he found a way. So keep that in mind."
"I will." Fox nodded.
----
The three Wolfens soon exited the hyperspace and were flying towards Sargasso. As the three approached, they noticed the large number of Cornerian fighters swarming the base. The numbers were too much for their own forces who were being shot down one by one. And some Cornerian fighters were flying out from inside the base.
"Those cowards." Leon said, "The only reason they're on the attack is because Fox's team cleared things up for them."
"But why wait until now to strike?" Panther asked.
"That doesn't matter." Wolf said, "All we need to do is stop these dogs from doing any more damage."
The three Wolfens then split up and flew in. The Starwolf team didn't waste any time as they began firing on the Cornerian fighters.
"It's the boss!" Exclaimed one of the pirates.
"Aw man, is it great to see you here." Said another.
"Don't get comfy just yet. We've got some trash to take out." Wolf said firing at another Cornerian fighter. The Cornerian ships then started firing back at the Wolfens but their shots missed because the ships were moving too fast for their lasers to hit.
----
Not too far away was the battleship in command of the squadron.
"Sergeant, it appears that Starwolf has entered the battle." One dog soldier reported.
"Tell all ships to take them down and be careful." The retriever ordered.
"We're not going to negotiate with them?" The soldier asked.
"You don't negotiate with a band of thugs like Wolf." The sergeant said, "The only thing we can do is eliminate them."
"Understood, sir."
----
"Attention all ships. You are to go after the Starwolf team and take them down. I repeat, take down Starwolf." The voice over the radio instructed.
The pilots began to make their attack to try and defeat Starwolf. They flew in several formations trying to find a way to corner them in the asteroid field. Eventually, a small group managed to corner Wolf's ship near the asteroids.
"We've got O'Donnell." One of the pilots said, "Let's take him down."
The ships began firing at the Wolfen but then it made a U-turn and started doing barrel rolls deflecting the laser shots and was heading straight towards the group.
"What does he think he's doing?" One soldier asked, "Is he trying to commit suicide?"
"Be careful, we don't know what he's up to." Another pilot warned, "But he's up to something." However, it was too late as Wolf's ship flew by shooting down the one in front of him and with the aid of the hand alters, destroyed others that were near the Wolfen as they grabbed the wings on two of the ships and caused them to crash into each other. Then Wolf turned his ship back around again to take out the rest of the group of fighters showing no signs of weakness that his ship normally would in its damaged state.
----
Wolf grinned to himself as he continued to fly back towards the base. "Did those fools really think they could beat me like that?" He said to himself.
"Hey Wolf, you had us worried for a second there." Leon said with a small laugh.
"Don't worry about me. It's going to take a lot more than these losers to stop me. How's things over with you guys so far?"
----
Leon continues flying past and through the Cornerian ships using the hand alters to damage and rip them apart. "Everything here is fine." Leon reported.
Panther flies over and around the Cornerian fighters with ease thanks to the increased speed to his ship. "Okay over here. I'll beat them in no time." Panther said.
"I don't mind if this takes a while." Leon said. He then noticed some of the damaged ships trying to pull out and went after them. "And just where do you think you're going?" He said in a sinister tone. Instead of firing, he used the boosters and easily caught up and slammed into them letting the hand alters catch the ships and tear them apart while the pilots screamed in terror before their ships had exploded. "Ah, I just love to hear them scream." Leon said, "It really gets the blood flowing."
"You're just as disturbing as always." Panther said flying in and out of the asteroids avoiding laser fire before firing back. He gracefully dodged the shots fired at him from the Cornerian ships. He flies his ship around to take them out easily.
"Thanks, I'll take that as a compliment." Leon grinned.
----
"Sergeant! Our fighters are being destroyed by the handful!" One soldier reported.
"What? But how can just three ships take on all of ours!?" The retriever said in surprise as he watched the monitor showing the fighters being easily beaten. "Contact all the remaining ships, tell them that it's time to make a retreat."
"Sir?"
"There's no point in just wasting more lives like this. We have to regroup and formulate a plan."
"Yes sir." The soldier said before contacting the fighters, "Attention all remaining troops, pull back for now. We are returning back to Corneria. Pull out now."
-----
"You know, I really like how these alters have a great hands on approach to help swat these pestering flies." Leon said.
"Yes, they are helpful. Now if we can only locate where the lead ship is, then we can end this boring battle." Panther said as he continued shooting down more fighters.
"Looks like we won't have to." Wolf pointed out, "They're starting to retreat."
"What? But that's taking the fun out of beating them." Leon complained, "I'm not going to let them get away so easily."
"Forget them." Wolf said, "We have to check and be sure everything inside the base is alright."
"Fine. I'll let them go this time." The lizard groaned as he turned his ship around heading towards the base.
----
Wolf, Leon and Panther had landed their ships inside the base but they saw the place severely damaged, and dead bodies of both pirate and soldier lying around. The walls and floor had laser shoots leaving burn marks and large craters where some explosives had been set off.
"This a mess!" Panther said, "It appears we came a little too late."
One of the armored guards looked over from a piece of debris and saw Wolf and the others. He then jumped out from hiding and ran over to them.
"Lord O'Donnell! You're finally here!" The monkey soldier said.
"Tell me how bad are the damages." Wolf commanded.
"The hangar and base levels were hit the worst." The pirate reported, "But we managed to keep the damage in the upper levels to a minimal degree."
"Well that's some good news." Leon said.
"Tell everyone to start cleaning up." Wolf ordered, "The enemy has retreated, for now."
"Yes sir." The pirate said. He then left to call out the others.
"Don't you think it's strange how after all this time they're just now attacking this place?" Panther asked.
"What do you mean, Panther?" Wolf asked.
"All I'm saying is that they just might be upset about us finding those alter users before they could come and get them."
"Finders keepers." Leon said.
Wolf looks over at the Wolfens with the hand alters still attached. "Are they really that important?" Wolf wondered.
"Must be. You remember what those bird things did before, correct?" Panther reminded.
"I see. We better prepare for another battle then." Wolf said, "I'm pretty sure that they're not going to give up something so important that easily."
----
Greyson had finally reached Corneria around the late evening towards nightfall. She was out on her own since she wouldn't be able to communicate with Summers freely. She had soon arrived in a Cornerian base on her own request of transfer. A dog soldier was showing her around the base.
"And over here is your room, lieutenant. And on behalf of everyone here, welcome to Corneria." The soldier said giving a salute.
"Thanks, that will be all." Greyson said dismissing the soldier. She looked around her new quarters. She liked it but not as much as her old one on Katina. "Remember, this is only temporary." She thought to herself while unpacking her bags, "As soon as I'm done I can head back home. But I better rest up now, I've got a feeling I'm gonna have a busy day ahead of me."