Disclaimer: I dont own it. Never have, never will.

Star Fox: Chapter Seven.

Skirmish on Fortuna/bad memories.

The Star Fox team ate dinner that day in the broken ruins of Katina base. Fox was quiet... unusually quiet. The team ate in almost total silence, finding nothing to say to Fox. Meeting Wolf again had brought back memories... too many memories. Fox barely ate, the bland food in the base had no appeal to him. He kept mulling over something Wolf had said during the dogfight... it was probably nothing but a stupid taunt, but Fox couldnt help but think about it.

"What's wrong, Fox? You're better than this.", He had said. Fox wasnt so sure. He didnt seem to remember being any better than now. It seemed to him that he was at the peak of his skills. Wolf was far better than he was, though. If Wolf hadnt been pinned in place by those fighters being just where they were, he'd have had Fox in minutes.

"Damn it... he's too good." Fox muttered, not realizing he was speaking aloud. He only realized that when the rest of his team gave him a funny look. Shutting his mouth, he looked around for a moment. Bill and his pilots were having a bit of a party, it seemed, and were enjoying themselves. They had lost almost half of their pilots, but at least they had their lives. The Mothership crashing had also done severe damage to most of the base, killing off many more soldiers.

"Another victory for the good guys" Falco whispered in a sarcastic tone. It hadnt been much of a victory. The Katinians had taken severe casualties, and regardless of how many Venomians died, there were far more waiting. Fox sighed hard, thinking about the day's events.

His team was very worried about him. Metting Wolf again had shaken him terribly. All but Slippy knew why. Bill caught Fox's pained look and walked over to him, stumbling ever so slightly.

"Are you okay, Fox?" Fox didnt seem to hear him until he repeated it, then he nodded groggily, as though it didnt really matter to him. Bill got up and walked a few steps away, signaling Peppy to go with him. Peppy got up and followed after Bill. Bill turned to him when they were out of earshot. "Peppy... I havent seen Fox looking so terrible since the insurgency in Corneria..."

"I know, Bill... I dont think there's anything I can do about it." Bill looked at him and shook his head.

"Peppy... we have to do something. If we dont, Fox is gonna lose it." Peppy nodded, acknowlodging this. "Make sure you dont go reminding him of things... he doesnt need to remember." Even though he was drunk, he now seemed a bit pained himself.

"I know, Bill..." Peppy started.

"I mean... I saw the whole thing... the fire... Fara..." Bill bit his lip. Peppy turned around and walked back to the table with the rest of the Star Fox Team, while Bill ran back to his men, just in time for the next round of drinks.

As they were just about to turn in for the night, Fox's communicator recieved a signal. Fox stopped walking and turned the thing on. Pepper's face appeared, and his voice sounded urgent.

"I apologize for interrupting the celebration", he started, "We have lost communication with the main outpost on Fortuna. I will show you the last images caught by the base's perimiter cameras." The Star Fox team looked on the communicator's small monitor. A small fighter, a Wolfen I, was barreling toward the camera. As it approached, Fox could make out a symbol that looked like the Yang half of the yin-yang. Fox recognized it from Wolf's fighter. As it blew over the camera, the signal was replaced with static. Pepper's voice returned.

"I know it's a lot to ask, but could you scout the base and see what's going on?" Fox rolled his eyes, then sent a reply.

"...Fine, We'll go tomorrow. It's a four hour trip to Fortuna. Fox, out." Fox turned to his team. Seeing them just standing there, he snapped at them.

"Well, what're you waiting for? Battle preparations, now."

Fox stormed into his room, looking around hatefully. He quickly changed into his nightclothes, and sat down.
He was tired. He could not believe how tired he was. He was more tired than he had been in years. He fell back, landing on his bed. Wolf's face appeared before his eyes. Not Wolf as he was during the Battle of Katina, but before. Fox remembered his face, grinning at him. One eye bright and almost feral, the other festering beneath that black eyepatch. Fox remembered the eyepatch now. Over his left eye. How had he lost it? Fox thought about it for a while, finding that he really couldnt remember. Swearing under his breath, he thought of Fara and cried himself to sleep.

He awoke an hour before they had to leave. He slowly got dressed, holstering his blasters and running his hand over the left side of his head. He could feel the metal plate that had been embedded there to replace his skull. It hadnt acted up in a while, and Fox wondered at this for a moment before moving out of his room.

He didnt want to face Wolf again, he really didnt. Doing it once had hurt horribly. A job is a Job, he told himself, running toward the Great Fox.

His team arrived right on time. They boarded the Great Fox and blasted into space, hunkering down for the four hour flight to Fortuna. Fox settled in with a cup of coffee. He forced himself to think about nothing but flying.

The time seemed to move too quickly, and they reaced Fortuna. Fox ordered the team to launch, telling ROB to torch the base if they didnt return, per Protocol. The Star Fox team jetted through the Atmosphere, coming down just outside the base's perimiter. They jetted toward the base.

There didnt seem to be any damage to the main structure, it seemed like the outpost had been taken without a fight. Suddenly, five fighters launched from the base, rocketing toward them. They seemed to be the average fighters, and were easily taken down. Fox sent out a message.

"Star Wolf Team, I know you're in there. Come fight me." He nearly shouted the last part. As though by his command, The four Wolfen I's launched one after another. The Star Wolf Team broke up the way they did before, each of them going after a member of the Star Fox Team.

Pigma went after Peppy, and the two wheeled in the sky while Andrew and Slippy had a contest of brains over brawn. Falco squared off against Leon, and the two blew past each other, wheeled, and did it again. They were acting like midieval jousters. Of course, their horses were several tons, flew very quickly, and were made of steel, which would make a collision far more disasterous.

Wolf blew after Fox, and Fox's face turned bitter as he tried out his best move. He wheeled faster than the Wolfen I could react, but Wolf was a masterful dodger, taking only one of the barrage of shots that he'd been bombarded with.

"One thing you should know." Wolf said on the open channel. "We have set several bombs to go off inside the base. I dont think you care about that, but there are about... thirty-seven hostages inside." Fox smirked. Leaving Wolf behind with his superior speed, he blasted toward Slippy. Andrew was on his tail, blasting shots at him. Fox barreled directly into Andrew, his shielding system taking the brunt of the damage as it crippled Andrew's fighter.

"Slippy, go take care of the bombs, we'l handle this." Andrew retreated and Slippy flew toward the base. Fox turned back to Wolf. The two fought hard, but neither could gain any ground.

"Fox... you're better than this. Come on... what's wrong?" Wolf asked sadly. Fox blasted a few more shots at him, but he dodged. "Perhaps... you need some incitement..." Fox scowled and shot after him as he turned and flew away, quickly catching up.

"You see... it wasnt only Fara I killed that day." Fox thought about this for a moment, as did everyone else who was tuned into the open channel. It was Falco's voice that brought it home to Fox.

"Oh no..." Falco breathed in terror.

Fox screamed in grief and in pain. A pup... that's what she was going to tell him. He let go of the controls of his Arwing as Pigma blasted five shots at him. His shields were all ready damaged, and couldnt take all of them. The Arwing was badly damaged. It probably wasnt beyond repair, but it was falling. Fox didnt move... he felt like dieing. His head hurt. It hurt bad. The pain was horrible. He held his head with both hands, then he grinned. Suddenly, he pulled the eject switch.

He was launched into the air, seat and all. He was just ahead of Wolf, moving a bit faster. The Parachute attached to the seat unfolded, and began to slow his fall. Fox looked down at the Wolfen just below him, and made a quick calculation.

He slashed the cords the held on the parachute with his claws. He grabbed the chute with both hands, using it to guide his fall as he leaped out of the seat. If Wolf didnt speed up or turn, it would work.

He let go when he was seven feet above Wolf, letting Wolf's trajectory bring the Wolfen tot he right position. The Wolfen I had no shields, it wouldnt stop him. He hit the foreward window, hard. Looking within, he saw Wolf. He beat at the window a few times, then pulled himself up far enough to draw his blasters. He fired them at the foreward window until it shattered, then threw himself on Wolf, biting and clawing. There was no way Wolf could maintain control while trying to fight Fox off of him, and the Wolfen hit the ground at a shallow angle.

Wolf and Fox were thrown clear, but both got up quickly. Fox's appearance scared Wolf a little bit. Fox was covered with dirt and blood, most of it his own, his eyes were filled with animal hatred, his claws flexing angrily and his blaster forgotten.

He charged Wolf, launching a high kick. Wolf blocked this and he followed it with another kick, from the other leg. Wolf blocked this as well. Wolf threw a kick, and Fox jumped up, using the force of the kick to jump him over Wolf. As he landed, he spun and launched a kick meant to strike the side of Wolf's head. Fox's eyes widened as he realized that this kick had been blocked as well... and Wolf wasnt even looking.

Then Fox was on the ground, a heavy punch knocking the wind out of him. He didnt notice or care. He got up and charged again, swiping with his claws. Wolf took a few scratches, but blocked most.

Wolf launched a punch, and Fox caught it as it passed his head. Wolf tried to pull back, as expected, and Fox used the momentum to run up Wolf's larger body. When his right foot was on Wolf's chest, he spun to the left, making a complete turn before catching Wolf in the side of his head with his right foot. Wolf went sprawling.

Fox charged again as Wolf got up. He was about to strike when Wolf caught him with his knee in mid charge. Another punch and Fox hit the ground.. He could not usually have kept going, but his hate and pain fueled him. He got up and charged again, dodgeing a punch.

He caught Wolf's arm and Put his left foot in wolf's stomach, hard. Fox lifted Wolf with his arm and his leg, until Wolf was directly above him. He turned around and switched foots, putting his right foot into Wolf's stomach, he could feel the air leave Wolf's lungs.. He then drove Wolf into the ground. Wolf laid there for a moment, then got up. He wiped the blood off of his lip. A large flagship was landing behind him. Fox was about to chase him as he ran away, but the pain in his head was subsiding. He looked around and, as Wolf escaped, he remembered what he had learned. He screamed aloud, like a wounded animal, then fell to the ground.

Slippy stepped out of the base, then ran toward Fox's prone form. Slippy picked him up, to the best of his ability, and looked at him. He was suddenly surprised. Even in his sleep, Fox was crying.