First of 2 updates planned for this week(end). Enjoy!

"Star Wolf is requesting permission for a gate sir, looks like they're just within range."

Peppy looked down at the control room within the Beltino Orbital Gate. "Get them home. I want a priority one clearance on those five ships until they've landed on Cornerian soil." Peppy quickly cut the link and turned to Anner. "Keep an eye on those ships, let me know the second they break Corneria's atmosphere."

"Sir!" Anner saluted Peppy smartly. He hesitated a moment before turning.

"Was there something you wanted to add Anner?" Peppy's tone wasn't very inviting, it was clear to the lieutenant that his General was still agitated with recent events.

"Sir, it's just that..." He paused a moment, trying to find the right words. "With all that has happened, a lot of our techies are worried about job security. Many feel as though you're going to clean house once everything is settled down."

"Fire the very best Corneria has?" Peppy shook his head. "I wouldn't dream of it. But I will need to get a group together and figure out the best way for us to defend against this kind of attack again."

"Just one more thing sir. Somehow word of this attack got to the press and they're asking for a statement." At that moment Anner wished he could be as far away from Peppy as possible. There was a wisp of anger that shot across Peppy's face before it returned to its normal, calm manner.

"I'll get Colonel Lasco on it. He'll know what to say." Peppy gave Anner a quick salute before making his way to his office.

The first thing he did was hide his photo of Star Fox. There was no way he could let anyone else know how Shattered truly was, not until all of this blew over. Even then, bringing someone back from the dead was surely going to cause another shit storm. No one would understand, hell, even he didn't understand why Fox would fake his death.

Peppy pulled out a bottle of rum and a small glass, pouring some of the amber liquid into it. He took a small sip before picking up the photo of Shattered once more. "You may not want to give me answers Fox, but I will do what I must to make you come back." Peppy knew Jay had to answer for what he did. But he knew the only team he wanted to send after Jay was Star Fox. "I'll have to offer something to Kursed to get her on board." He had a few ideas kicking around in his head, but it wasn't his main focus for now. He had to convince Fox to drop his Shattered gimmick and come be the leader he once was.

"Not sure how you managed to beat us to Kew in this old boat." Wolf smirked as he looked around the cockpit. It was a rather simple layout in comparison to his Wolfen, but Wolf knew this ship served its function. He looked over at Shattered who had opted to sit in the co-pilot's chair instead of in the cargo hold with Kursed. "I hate to say that I'm impressed. But you two have been the hardest thing for us to catch in a while."

Shattered looked off into the distance, seeing the large green circle Star Wolf was leading them too. "Still have the general in your pocket. We wouldn't have been caught if he wasn't so damn insistent. Kew should have been our safe-haven."

"I suppose it should have been. Lucky for us however, you aren't the only people with contacts on that waste of rock." Wolf chuckled, causing Shattered to growl. "Go ahead and make as much of a fuss as you want pup. You're still going to Corneria."

"I'm not afraid of the puppets in Corneria. They simply want someone to use as a scapegoat. They used to do it with your team. Andross attacked Corneria during the Lylat Wars, but they seemed quite content to blame Star Wolf for anything and everything illegal."

"Yes, but we also profited off that. You should have seen the lines of scum like you begging to be let into Sargasso. We sent so many petty criminals right into the hands of Corneria's police force. We kept a small force for ourselves, sure, but that was just for guarding the space station."

Shattered laughed. "Yet even though you guys were up to your old shit just before the Anglar War you come back to 'save the day' and overnight you turned into saints. From assholes to angels, I must have missed the glorious transformation."

Wolf smirked. "We were never saints, and I don't ever intend to turn into one. But like I told your first hit, in front of General Peppy I don't have to make it look like an accident."

"I wouldn't give you the option." Shattered grinned. "And if that Beast guy is still alive I would love a chance to catch up. Reminisce about the good old times, you know?"

Wolf looked from Shattered to the gate. "Tell you what, you make it through all this shit alive and I'll see what I can do about get you two reacquainted."

"Wolf, we're about to hit the gate." Falco said as he boosted ahead of the group. He was followed by Leon, Panther, and finally Wolf.

Before he even had a chance to blink, Shattered was looking down at Corneria. The one planet he had abandoned completely. He felt the need to make an escape; the feeling of dread built painfully inside him. He couldn't control the moments of fear that he expressed quite clearly under the trained eyes of Wolf. "Don't worry pup. Peppy doesn't really go for that capital punishment thing very often."

"I'm not worried about dying here Wolf."

Wolf chuckled and stood up. "Command this AI of yours to follow Star Wolf. They know where we're landing. I'm going to check up on your lady friend. I'm sure she's quite lonely."

"I find out you did anything to her and I'll kill you." Shattered growled, pulling against his restraints.

Wolf hesitated for a moment, something very uncharacteristic of him. He looked over at Shattered once more, an amused smile on his face. "You've got something for her then? I'll be extra careful then."

The door closed, leaving the vulpine to think. It was almost barbaric, the way he replied. Kursed shouldn't mean anything to him. So why was the thought of another man close to her getting him so agitated? There hadn't been anyone he'd been so protective about since. Shattered looked down at Corneria once more. "Krystal."

Was he really ready to move on from her? Could this Kursed, a bounty hunter like himself, devoid of all emotion really be the next vixen to claim his heart? His heart bumped almost painfully as if to answer his question for him. The vulpine took long steady breaths before the pain subsided. "Maybe, if we survive this." He shuffled uncomfortably in his seat before clearing his throat. "Rob, follow the same course as Star Wolf, prepare to land near them."

"Affirmative. Welcome home, Shattered."

"And what a grand welcome it shall be." He muttered.

It was the fastest he'd ever moved to get to the tarmac. But Peppy stood with a group of ten soldiers, ready to take Shattered and Kursed from Star Wolf and Falco. To him, it almost felt like Christmas, patiently awaiting the moment your parents were awake enough to start handing out gifts. However, it was an emotion he didn't show. These two hunters had stolen Rob as well as materials from the Great Fox, and for the time being he would treat them both as criminals.

There was whispers in the group as someone spotted the small group of fighters entering the atmosphere. Peppy shaded Solar's light from his eyes with his left hand as he watched them the dots morph slowly into fighters. A few moments passed as the ships finally slowed down and landed softly a couple hundred metres from the group. "Alright, form up around the prisoners, I don't want either of them getting any ideas. Understood?"

"Yes, sir!"

Peppy led them towards the Wolfens, smiling at Falco. He spoke as soon as he was close enough. "Glad to see you back so soon!"

Falco grinned. "Wasn't anything I couldn't handle. But I guess someone had to keep an eye on these three."

"Spoken like a guy who hasn't seen action in years." Leon laughed, patting Falco on the back. "Don't worry, I'm sure the good General here will have lots more escorting missions for you in the future."

"Watch yourself Leon." Falco looked over at Panther who had just jumped out of his Wolfen. "Better put your lizard in a cage Panther."

Panther shrugged. "He isn't my problem."

"And neither are these two." Wolf pulled both Shattered and Kursed by their bindings. "General."

"Wolf." Peppy nodded, doing what he could not to make eye contact with the vulpine. "Get these two into interrogation rooms. We've got some questions that need some answers." Quickly the group of soldiers surrounded the bounty hunters. "I'll get your payments approved, you'll see them in your accounts within the hour. Your team is dismissed for the day Wolf."

"You need anything more from me Pep?" Falco asked as the general began to led the group back into base. "Or was it really just a one time thing?"

Peppy looked back at Falco. "I could use another set of eyes if you're interested. I know sitting around and waiting isn't normally your thing, but I can pay you for your time."

Falco thought about it for a moment. "I'll go speak with Slippy and thank him for taking good care of my girl for me. Then I'll be up to help you."

Peppy nodded and continued leading the group back to base.

With that same surreal speed, the group had both Shattered and Kursed separated into two different interrogation rooms. With both holograms in hand, Peppy stood inside the small connection room between the two hunters. He looked over at Anner who had volunteered to help him oversee the interrogations. "I'll start with Kursed, as she's got a bigger record to deal with."

"Copy that. Recording will start once you've sat down."

With a quite hum the door opened into a small, nearly blindly white room. All it housed was a table and three chairs, one of which was occupied by Kursed. The other chair, near one of the corners behind the bounty hunter sat a guard. The guard stood up and salute Peppy as he entered. Peppy quickly returned the salute. "Take off her bindings, there wont be any need for them."

"Sir, are you sure that's wise? We took all her weapons but still, she could use anything here to-"

Peppy cleared his throat.

"Yes sir."

After he uncuffed the vixen the soldier quickly left. "Bold move General."

Peppy chuckled. "I assume you'll behave for a while then?"

Kursed grinned. "You come in, holding nothing but a hologram, and take off those rather annoying bindings. A normal hunter would have tried something as soon as they were free. Yet, here I am."

"Yet, here you are." Peppy tapped the hologram and slid it towards Kursed. He let her read for a few minutes in silence before sitting down. "You know as well as I do what you've done Kursed. I don't have to sit here and drone on and on about this or that."

"So what do you want General? Other than someone to pin Corneria's next fuck up on?" Kursed cursed under her breath as she continued to read. They certainly had done their homework on who she was, and what she had done.

"Well, if it comes to that." Peppy chuckled. "Why waste a perfectly good candidate? However there is a way out of this for you. One that I think would benefit everyone involved."

Kursed laughed tossing the hologram back towards Peppy. "Why should I care about Corneria? All there is here is broken memories and corrupted dreams. This place is nothing like it used to be."

Peppy pulled a small object from his pocket. "Do you know what this is?" He asked, simply choosing to ignore Kursed's last comment. "I'm sure someone in your situation must have heard rumours about this tiny data drive."

Kursed's eyes widened. "That's..."

"Oh so you have heard about this little thing." Peppy placed the object back into his pocket. "I will confirm your suspicions Kursed. That is the clean slate. And while you're led to believe there is only one in existence, I can tell you that is a lie. Corneria has bought the rights to this technology, and only I have the clearance to give this to anyone worthy of needing it."

"How do I know it works?" Kursed switched back to the defensive, not wanting to believe in something too good to be true. "How do I know you're not just making that up?"

Peppy grinned and opened up the second hologram. "This is Beast's record. You know, the lynx both you and Shattered failed to kill?" The page contained every piece of information Corneria had on Beast, it was almost on par with what Jay had given her. "All it takes is this." He pulled out the clean slate and plugged it into the hologram, nearly instantly whipping out everything on the page until all that was left was a question mark for an image.

Kursed gasped, looking up at Peppy. "But... but... that can't work. It's too good to be true."

"If you agree to work with the Cornerian government for one mission, I will give you this."

"What's the mission?" Kursed asked in a tone she hoped didn't sound too desperate.

"I've got to declassify a few more things before I can tell you about it, you understand. But I give you my word as General, that your assistance will earn you your freedom. Just imagine it, you'd be free to start a new life." Peppy smiled and picked up the holograms. "I'll give you some time to think about it, but until I get a confirmation from you I will have to consider you a criminal. I do apologize, but I do have rules to follow."

"Who doesn't?" Kursed sat back in her chair, looking at the door as it shut behind the soldier that had been guarding her. "You might be safer behind that glass."

The guard chuckled as he placed the bindings back on Kursed. "Had you been smarter you might not have gotten caught." As he stood back up Kursed threw her head back, head butting him hard.

"Got anymore sarcasm kicking around? I'm sure your General will love to hear all about how you harassed his newest hire."

"She technically assaulted him sir." Anner said with a laugh as Peppy looked into the second room. "Should I take over for him?"

"No, a few minutes in there with her could do him wonders. Might even force him to show some more respect to our female officers." Peppy took a deep breath before continuing. "But if you feel the need, go make sure she doesn't kill him."

Peppy placed his hand on the scanner. And with a renewed vigour, he walked to the table and sat down. "Out." He said without even looking at the guard. He waited until the door slid shut before speaking once more. "Computer activate OTR."

Shattered chuckled. "Off the record eh? For what I wonder?"

"It's actual quite simple." Peppy pulled out two photos. "This is a photo my research director made out of a partial of you on Fortuna." Shattered looked at the photo.

"Not bad, but it's not the best I've seen."

Peppy smirked. "This is another photo of you." He place the picture of Star Fox, his finger-pointing towards Fox McCloud. "And before you say another word Fox, I raised you once James was gone. So don't bother telling me this isn't you."

Shattered gulped and looked up at Peppy. His mind screamed at him to run, to get as far away from Peppy as he could. For a moment he was willing to do that, with the cameras turned off and help seemingly just down the hallway; he and Kursed could fight their way out of here and run out of Lylat.

"Fox." Shattered looked away from his old friend. How could he even begin to explain his actions? "All I want to know is the truth Fox. This is solely between you and me."

"Peppy... I don't even know where to begin." Shattered replied, his confidence and killer instinct all but gone. Replaced with a tone of a child who had run away from home and finally returned.

"How about why you faked your death?" Peppy asked gently. "Why did you force Corneria to mourn one of its favourite sons?"

Shattered sighed. "Because of her."

"Krystal?"

"Who else?" Shattered laughed bitterly.

-4 years earlier -

'- If you're just joining us, Star Wolf Lylat's newest heroes will be here at the top of the hour for an exclusive interview.' Fox looked down past his beer can, growling as he saw Wolf's face on his TV.

It wasn't too often Fox drank, but after this week he felt the need to unwind. It happened to be his first beer in years. He figured it would act like an old friend, giving him a pat on the back while they shared a memory or two. But this one seemed to act like an old rival, asking sharp personal questions about where his life went wrong and why.

For a moment Fox was angry, but then he noticed that Star Wolf was one team member short. "Where's Krystal?" He asked, almost expecting his beer can to reply with something smart. He quickly checked his wrist comm. The interview was about fifteen minutes away, giving him time to laze about in his living room.

He had downsized his living quarters when Corneria was attacked back in the Aparoid War, shortly after that Krystal moved in and they decided to move into a house after they got married.

Fox spat, that memory used to have a purpose. Before he fucked things up between them. He grabbed the still incomplete letter he had address to the vixen. And waited until the interview started. "Maybe I just missed her when they were showing the team photo." Despite how much it hurt to have her betray not only his trust, but his heart as well; he still wished her all the best. Fox didn't really pay attention during the interview, but he did notice that Krystal was nowhere to be seen. It wasn't until the last question that he had even hear her name.

'Your fourth member, Krystal. Where is that traitor?'

"Traitor?" Fox repeated, turning up the volume on his TV. "Where the hell they get that idea?"

"While we don't consider Krystal a traitor, she is no longer with the team." Wolf replied looking over at Panther.

"She left without so much as a word. She was a great asset to the team, and she'll be missed."

"So, just like with the Star Fox team, she left."

"IT WASN'T LIKE THAT!" Fox yelled turning the TV off. With the emotions still fresh, he began writing the letter to Krystal once more, and before he knew it he had finished.

He quickly re-read the letter. "I know this might never get to you Krys, but I will leave it in the place we loved each other the most." He tapped a key on his wrist comm. "Hey Slip, that ship I wanted almost done?"

"Yeah, but I still haven't gotten it registered. But I gotta ask, what made you agree with Falco so quickly? You told me you'd never get into racing." Slippy adjusted his glasses, making himself look more like Beltino than Fox had ever remembered.

"It's just something to do Slip. I'll be around later. Fox out." Fox looked around his apartment. He had just finished painting it white, but he had yet to start painting the trim. "If I'm going to be stupid enough to chase her down again, I can't be Fox McCloud. She'd never want to see me again, I'd have to become someone else."

Was he seriously considering leaving everything behind? Was Krystal truly worth giving up everything he had worked for? The team his father built? The hell he'd put his friends through?

"Yes."

She was everything he needed to have a normal life. Once he found her he could contact everyone, let them know what happened. Then settle down for a quiet life with her, outside of Lylat where they could live peacefully.

"Slippy already installed Rob onto the new ship so he could give me and Falco information on our racers. And if that ship is unregistered I could take it outside of Lylat without getting too much suspicion. And if make this place look like a someone came in here and tried to kill me..." Fox looked around. He only had two windows, and his apartment was on the seventh story. He grabbed his stool and quickly broke the window closes to him. It was easily wide enough for him and another attacker to fall out of.

Over the next ten minutes he all but destroyed his apartment, using his blaster and combat knife to choreograph the musical of his death. He even threw himself to the ground a few times for good measure. When he finally got to the last part he looked out the window and down to the ground below.

"If I use my Fox Illusion just before I hit the ground it should slow my falling speed so I don't break my damn legs."

It was at this moment Fox finally started to see the reality of his decision. With the police sirens getting louder, and his wrist comm already ringing, Fox fell backwards out of his window, his yell, though quite real, wasn't as loud as he would have liked. At the second story he used the Fox Illusion, sending him forward a few meters and allowing him to roll onto the ground. With a curse he got up to his feet, he felt as though he was walking on razor blades as the pain of somehow not breaking his legs kicked in. "I have to get to the spaceport. Then I'll be able to shatter this illusion of Fox McCloud."

With a grunt of effort Fox hopped onto his bike and took off towards the spaceport. Leaving behind only his memories.

-Present Day-

Peppy felt a tear fall from his eyes. "Fox."

Shattered raised a hand, causing the hare to stop. "From there I dyed my fur completely black and grey. I figured Fox, err, I was too recognizable. I've drifted from job to job ever since."

Peppy cleared his throat. "Fox, I should tell everyone that you're alive. You don't know how happy the entire planet would be to hear that you are alive."

"But I died Peppy. Fox died that night, I made sure of it." Shattered held his head in his hands. "You can't bring people back from the dead."

Peppy stood up and walked to the vulpine, placing a hand on his shoulder. "The public has never been certain about your death Fox. I for one, never gave up on you."

"I couldn't possibly face anyone as James McCloud's son. The guy that gave up everything to be an inspiration to Corneria, and his son flees the system because his heart was broken." Shattered looked up at Peppy. "I could never be what I was again."

"I need you to do one of two things for me Fox." Peppy moved to sit down again and folded his hands. "Either drop this Shattered name and start-up Star Fox once more with Falco and Slippy. Or stay as Shattered, and I'll give Falco the team. Either way, you're going to be helping me with a mission."

Shattered looked up at Peppy, trying to get himself back into his bounty hunter mindset. "I already told you, I can't be that person again."

"Then it's settled." Peppy stood up. "I'll give Falco a team, and I'm pretty sure we both know what the team name will be. But if your sure you aren't up to it..."

"I'm sure Peppy." Shattered sat back in his chair. "Tell that bird brain he's got a new teammate."

Peppy smiled and looked back at the glass. "Computer, run program normal." Peppy looked at Shattered. "You have two choices hunter. Either A help us out with our little problem. Or B waste away in jail until I find a headline to pin you name on."

"When you put it that way General, I haven't much of a choice. As I do enjoy my job." Shattered chuckled. "What's the mission?"

"You will be called once certain files have been declassified. At that time you'll be escorted to the war room along with the selected few I have also chosen. Until that time you will be considered a criminal. Am I clear?"

"As mud General." Shattered grinned as Peppy left the room.

The meeting, while emotional, had gone better than Peppy had hoped. He figured Fox would have been to deep in the Bounty Hunter mindset to save.

"Sir, I should have technically been in there with you." Anner followed Peppy to the door, and nearly ran into the General before he stopped. "Sir?"

"Anner, if you want to keep your rank you will keep what just happened quiet. Not a single word to anyone." Peppy glared at the husky. "Am I understood?"

"Yes sir." Anner quickly saluted Peppy and looked down at the ground. He couldn't help but wonder what had happened during that interrogation, and if it really was an interrogation at all.

"So, they left without any fuss?"

Ghost looked over at her contact, as normal he had picked the darkest part of his house to sit in. Not that she didn't already know who it was. "Yeah, all things considered it went rather seamlessly. I half expected to have to knock one of them out myself."

"Yeah, those two can be a handful, even before they were working together."

"I was referring to Star Wolf." Ghost took a drink of her beer before setting down the now empty bottle on the table between them. "Why did you let them come here, Jay? You must have known this place couldn't hide them in time."

Jay laughed. "I wanted them to get captured. Right now with Kursed's bounty as high as it is, Corneria is the safest place for her and Shattered, well. His name is growing to quick for me to contain." He paused, letting the white vixen grab another beer before he continued. "And I think I know what Peppy is going to have them do."

"Which is?" Ghost asked, sounding more bored than she wanted to.

"They're coming after me."

"Well shit." The vixen laughed. "You're just going to let that happen too huh?"

"I hacked into Corneria's Military Network with our friend's help Ghost. If Peppy doesn't come looking for the information I took than he'll have a huge liability to deal with. Not to mention if should I go public with this information."

"And just what is this info that could make someone like you finally come out in the open?"

"This." Jay tossed a hologram to Ghost, with a picture loaded on it.

Ghost took a step back from the table as if it had hurt her. "Oh you have got to be... Does the Asshole know about this?"

Jay nodded. "He knows but I doubt he'll be able to help much. I'm going to start leaving a data trail that only Slippy would be able to track. It'll lead them on the same path they took during the Lylat war and end on Venom. I'll be meeting them there, and letting myself be discovered. We'll see how things go from there."

Ghost went to start an argument but stopped, already knowing it was useless. "Least I can do is meet you there, help out with the transition process or whatever."

Jay looked down at the picture once more and sighed. "I'm sure we're going to need all the help we can get with this."

The picture was the planet Venom, with what appeared to be a floating head nearby.

Well then. Questions, comments, queries, or concerns?

In reply to:

cam2016 - Looks like you've got your answer! =D

Guest - Uh, yeah. I'm not stoppin' until this story is complete!

Kazila - You're awesome. Thanks for letting me use(steal) Chondra for this fic!

bryan mccloud - Someone's going to recognise her sooner or later. No doubt about it! Also, I know what Jay's actual name is! Not telling though!

Troygroomes - Maybe, yes, and maybe. We'll see how this plays out.