Of Wolves and Foxes - At the End of all Things
Your normal average disclaimer
Venom. The planet's very name stank of poison, destruction, and malice. Here the Cornerian Military marooned the most dangerous and powerful of its enemies. Here, Andross had created perhaps the most powerful military force that the lylat system had ever known.
Fox hit the barren planet's atmosphere at a steep incline. His shields glowed brightly as the friction caused intense heat across his bnulkheads. He had calmed down quite a bit, but he knew full and well what was waiting for him on the surface. Andross. More importantly, he knew exactly who would serve as Andross' last line of defense. He checked his tactical readout, and saw that his team was still right behind him. Slippy had made a few quick repairs and was apparently back in the fight. Fox paid no attention to the battle taking place behind them, though the Great Fox had been ordered to join in the fun.
The red glow from the heat on his shields subsided as he reduced his speed. He could see the surface now. Sulfourus rock and sand. It was certainly not the best of all possible places to live. He scanned the surface for a few minutes. When he saw the circular opening into what had to be Andross' inner sanctum, he finally broke the long radio silence.
"I see the entrance. No hostiles on scan-" He was interrupted by a salvo fired from directly above him. He dodged just in time to save his shields as a large craft shot past him. It was larger than an arwing, and apparently made of a slightly different alloy. The wings seemed to be swept foreward, bringing two sets of twin lasers to bear directly foreward. A dogfighter's ship if there ever was one. To make matters worse, they hadnt even appeared as a blip on the scanner.
The Star Fox team broke formation as three more of them appeared. This time in complete, frightening slence, all four of the hostile ships chose a target and locked on. It was fox who broke the silence, calling wolf out over the open channel.
"I don't think you can take me now, Fox." Came the reply. Fox checked his six. He could not make out the pilot through the tinted glass of the cockpit, but he could clearly make out the marking on the hull. It was definitely wolf on his tail. He assumed that all four members of the Star Wolf team had chosen the same targets as they had before. He took a quick look around to confirm.
Peppy and Pigma wheeled around each other, both avoiding a straight dogfight. Falco and Leon repeatedly played chicken like a pair of midieval jousters. Andrew and Slippy were just as useless as usual. Suddenly, Fox took three consecutive hits to his rear shielding. As though reading his mind, Wolf came over the radio again.
"You dont have time to look away!" He fired a second salvo, but now that Fox was paying attention the Arwing dodged masterfully. Fox pulled the Arwing into a sharp loop, hoping to come back in behind Wolf. As Wolf's ship came into view, Fox gasped in surprise. Wolf had seen his maneuvre in time to pull his vessel upward. Wolf had turned what should have been Fox's advantage into his own. Both ships fired, but Wolf's had the advantage in firepower. They shot past each other, with Fox's shields showing yellow. Fox pulled the ship into a sharp turn, and approached Wolf full throttle.
Fox kicked on the wing-blades, hoping to slice Wolf's ship in half. For a moment, it seemed that Wolf was dodging, but he turned and shot straight past Fox. Just before the two ships passed, Fox saw a familiar glint just off of Wolf's wing. Without the time to get out of the way, the wing-blades collided midair. Both ships were thrown into a spin, and Fox thought for a moment that he wouldnt be able to right it, but the G-diffuser did its work, and the ship righted itself.
"Show me." Wolf whispered over the open channel as his ship righted itself. He forced his ship to higher speeds as he flew straight at Fox again. "Show me the insanity I've given you." He fired again, but Fox managed to dodge. Fox screamed in fury, forcing his ship intoa tight arc to bring him behind Wolf. Even with the G-diffuser's help, the G-forces were intense. He fired several volleys at the rear of Wolf's ship. Several of the shots hit their mark, but Wolf's shielding held. Wolf pulled into a loop, Fox followed, firing volley after volley.
"Yes, that's it." Wolf whispered. He took a few more hits, and his shield showed red. "Brilliant." Wolf hit the air-brake, and Fox's ship shot past before Fox could compensate. Now the tables would turn. Suddenly, Fox got a communication from General Pepper over his channel.
"Fox. This battle is not going well. Venomian reinforcements have arrived. You must disable Andross Now!" Fox looked at the entrance to Andross' fortress, then behind him at Wolf's ship. He made his decision, then barked an order over their channel.
"Star Fox Team, disengage. I'm going in." His Arwing then flew a wide loop, and barreled straight down into the open tunnel.
It was dark, but the lights on either end guided his ship through the huge corridors. Suddenly, a voice came over the radio, on his personal channel.
"At last we meet, Fox." The voice was full of malice and cunning. Fox knew instantly who it had to be. Andross himself. He must really have been frightened, or perhaps arrogant. "Brings back memories of that father of yours." So that was his game. Andross was trying to bait him.
"Not gonna work, buddy." Fox replied as he negotiated one of the smaller tunnels. Andross laughed. It was odd... it was as though Fox had heard the laugh before it even registered on his radio. Fox shook his head, trying to rid himself of the odd feeling.
"Hmmph. You left Wolf alive, I see. Is that resolve of yours weakening?" Now Fox was certain he was hearing the voice twice. It was almost as though he was hearing it in his mind before the radio. "Cant even avenge that girl of yours. What could you possibly do against me?" No matter how hard Fox tried to ignore the voice, he couldnt. It was almost as though...
"Telepathy. You're in my head." He whispered. Andross laughed again. The voice was becoming louder in his mind. In a few moments, Andross wouldn't even need the radio.
"Right you are. This is one of the many advantages to being a genius" Andross said as Fox's arwing came into a large, open space. There, sitting in the center, was a massive bulbous head and a pair of disembodied hands. The hands and head of an ape. Fox got the impression that this was no vessel. This was Andross' true body.
"You're insane." Fox whispered over the radio. The voice was in his head again, louder than ever.
"Insane? Me? Why, I dont believe I have ever attacked one of my men without cause." Andross said as the hands began to move.
"Shut up!" Fox screamed as he kicked his ship to full throttle, firing his lasers at Andross' enormous head. The shots were absorbed as though they werent even there. Andross took a swipe at him, and Fox was barely able to dodge it. Fox decided that if he couldnt damage Andross' head, he would remove his hands. Each hand had a diamond shape core, and Fox assumed (correctly, as it turned out) that those were week points. As Andross pulled back for another swipe, Fox blasted the diamond until the entire hand exploded. Andross screamed with rage and tried to grab the Arwing with his other hand. With a little deft positioning, Fox blew that hand off as well. Andross, out of options, attempted to bite the Arwing. Fox didnt know what else to do. The mouth was enormous, it would be far too difficult to dodge. He had three nova bombs left, and fired one into the mouth hoping for an effect.Andross pulled back, evidently hurt by the explosion. Fox then went for the most obvious weak point on an ape's head: the eyes. The left eye, then the right fell to Fox's laser.
Andross' head seemed to explode from within. There, where the head had once been, was an enormous brain. Andross' true form. Now, Fox thought, The fight gets real.
The brain was immune to lasers, apparently. But when it turned around, Fox could see a small green area on the brain, the medulla. Before Fox could fire at it, the voice was in his mind again. Too huge for words, it seemed to cause physical pain.
"NOW... LET'S SEE WHAT'S IN THAT MIND OF YOURS." Fox screamed as he felt his mind being torn through. Andross was looking at everything. Then, Fox was in his bed.
He looked around, wondering exactly what was going on. This was his room in the academy... how could he have gotten here? He could have sworn that he was just in his Arwing. Then, the siren went off. That damned siren. He grabbed his head, but it didnt matter, his body was moving on his own.
"No..." he cried "Dont make me see it again... please" He was begging, and he was sure Andross was loving it. There she was again, torn to pieces by Wolf's claws and teeth. "No!" he screamed again.
He was back in his cockpit, the brain before him unchanged. "DID YOU ENJOY THAT?" Came the enormous voice again. "YOUR FATHER CERTAINLY DID." Fox shook his head through the pain in his skull and fired at the green blob. He hit a few times, and Andross screamed in obvious agony. Then, Fox was no longer in his cockpit.
"Hey, Fox." Came a sweet voice in his ear. He opened his eyes and looked to his right. Fara was beside him, her skin soft against his. "Are you listening?" Fox nodded and rested his head back, the vision of her torn to pieces in his mind again.
"Hey." She whispered in his ear again, "Are you really listening?" Fox opened his eyes again, and replied in the affirmative. "I love you" She whispered. He grinned happily, forgetting for a bare moment what would happen soon after.
He was back in his cockpit. This time, though, he was grinning wildly. "You picked the wrong one, Andross. Not so smart after all, are we?" He had the resolve now. The pain of Andross' voice was nothing to him. He flew directly around the massive brain, hammering the medulla with volley after volley. Then, the green sphere exploded. Andross screamed in what must have been the closest he could come to death throes.
"IF I GO DOWN, I'M TAKING YOU WITH ME!" Andross screamed, and then Fox's shield were overloaded by an enorous explosion.
"Not gonna go down like that, are you?" Came a familiar voice. Fox couldnt quite place it. Then the tunnel exit was before him, and the explosion from Andross' self-destruct mechanism behind. In front of him was a Wolfen II with markings that were so very familiar to him...
"Wolf?" Fox whispered. He could hardly believe his eyes.
"No one is going to kill you but me. Follow me, Fox. I know the way out. You wouldnt shoot me in the back, now would you?" Both ships flew full throttle, Fox following Wolf's ship as it turned corners, dodged falling debris, and performed every manner of piloting excellence. Suddenly, he could see the exit. The wolfen shot through the opening, the arwing an instant later. Fox's ship had taken too much punishment. After a run like that it could not stay airborne. The arwing hit the Venomian surface at low speed and incline, sliding across the ground. Fox could see Wolf's ship setting down not a hundred feet away. Fox got out of his cockpit, Wolf got out of his. Fox charged, Wolf stood just where he was. Fox was twenty feet away, then ten. He was preparing to leap at his target when his leg gave out, leaving him sprawling on the Venomian sand.
He lay there, facedown, cursing himself for being too mentally and physically exausted to fight. He heard Wolf's heavy footsteps, knowing that his end was approaching. Then, he heard a sharp thud to his side. He looked up to see that Wolf had taken a seat on the sand. He had a blaster in his hand. so ends Fox, he thought. But Wolf did not shoot him. Instead he raised the blaster to just in front of his face, and Fox thought for a moment that he was about to... but no, Wolf fired the blaster on the lowest setting, heating the barrel. When he had decided that the barrel was sufficiently hot, he pressed the cigarette between his lips against it, lighting it. It was an old trick they had learned in the academy, when they werent allowed to carry lighters. Fox had kicked the habit, but obviously Wolf had not.
Fox pulled himself into a sitting position. Wolf took a drag of his cigarette, then passed it to him. Too tired to argue, Fox took it. They used to sit like this, a long time ago, sharing a cigarette between missions. Fox took a drag. He blew it out quickly, his lungs not used to the foreign material.
"Wolf... did you really have to" Fox couldnt finish the sentence, so he took a second drag instead, and passed the cigarette back.
"Seemed like a good idea at the time." Wolf replied as he puffed the cigarette. After a few minutes he passed it back.
"That's why you do everything, isn't it?" Wolf just looked back at him. Fox lowered the cigarette from his lips, staring into Wolf's good eye. It wasn't hatred, nor anger, nor even madness he saw there. It was impossible for him to articulate what it was. "I will kill you someday" Fox whispered as he passed the smoke back.
"Perhaps. Or maybe I'll kill you. Not today, though." The communication, though unspoken, was every bit as strong as Andross' telepathy. They sat there for a long time, sharing their cigarette. When that one was gone, Wolf lit another. Finally, Wolf stood. He extended a hand to Fox, and Fox took it. Wolf's great strength lifted Fox to his feet. Wolf started to walk away.
"Your team will be looking for you." Wolf said. "And my team will come when I call. Come now, we must prepare." Fox tried to think, but in his dazed state, he could not figure out what Wolf was talking about.
"Prepare for what?" Fox asked. Wolf just stared into the sky, though the dense cloud covering concealed the stars.
"For the next war." Wolf said simply, "And the next war, and the next, and the next." Wolf walked away, and Fox called his team to pick him up.