Chapter 13 of Shattered! And go!

The Cornerian military war room looked as impressive as any other room within Headquarters. The dark walls were made from a dense black alloy, which gave off the appearance of black mirrors. The floor matched the walls perfectly, save for a small efflorescent light that served as a baseboard. In the middle of the room was a long rectangle table with thirty seats surrounding it. In front of each seat was a holo-screen that streamed constant information that varied depending on who was sitting where. Beside each screen was a hand scanner, used mostly to keep a record of who attended which meeting.

Peppy looked over the empty room, he had a stern expression on his face. It had taken him the better part of the night getting Jay's files decrypted. Between a near constant media distraction, and the President's growing concerns it was a miracle that he'd found time to stand still. The old hare sat down at the head of the table, and placed his hand on the scanner.

Most of the info that loaded on his screen he already knew. A few mission updates, or non-military requests had been highlighted for him. He tapped the messages and forwarded them to his personal computer. While he was sure they were important he still have a briefing to give.

"Good, uh whatever time of the day it is, Pep." Peppy looked over at the open door, watching Falco come in and grab a seat close to him. "Coffee?"

"Thanks Falco. I didn't think you had manners after seven pm." Falco shrugged as they shared a laugh.

"Must be because I haven't seen you in a while. Well, not since before that last mission." Falco gulped down his coffee. "Which reminds me, what's going on that you had me stay here all night?"

Peppy folded his hand and rested his elbows on the table. "Until everyone gets briefed this doesn't leave you and me ok?" He smiled, knowing how much Falco wanted to continue Star Fox after Fox faked his death. "I'm giving you Rob and your own team to command."

Falco nearly jumped out of his seat. "What? Seriously?" The avian whooped a few times before settling down somewhat. "Finally, Star Falco gets its chance! Thank you Peppy, I mean it! I know this is what Fox would want us to do. Keep the system peaceful just like we always have."

"There is something else Falco." Peppy chuckled as the avian stopped everything and looked at him. "Your team has already been selected. Any additions you think are necessary will have to be cleared by me."

"So other than yours truly, and I assume Slippy, who did you have in mind?"

Peppy smiled. "Kursed and Shattered."

Nearly instantly Falco had his mouth open to say something and a finger pointed at Peppy as if he'd figured out a horrible truth. But nothing came, no words, no sounds. Falco felt his eye begin to twitch, and he wasn't sure if it was shock or anger. "Now we trust the two bounty hunters that STOLE Rob in the first place? Peppy, you feeling alright?"

"I'm feeling fine Falco. Besides we need them for this next mission." Peppy stood, smoothing out his uniform. "I'll be back in a few minutes with your team. Try and behave."

If Shattered had a scale from one to ten for things he had slept on. This particular place would easily be in the negatives. But what had he expected from the military's holding cells? Three hot meals and a cot? Only prisoners in jail were so lucky. Here you got a solid steel bench, and with good manners, the tiniest piece of fabric legally allowed to be called a blanket.

Against his body's demands he sat up, resting against the wall. 'Almost as comfortable as the damn bench.' He chuckled and looked around. The only guard on duty had his hat pulled over his eyes, breathing steadily. "I guess Cornerian soldiers can fall asleep anywhere."

"I'm sure it's one of the many useful things they teach them here." Shattered grinned before locking eyes with the vixen. She was in a separate cell across the room from him. "Can't sleep?"

The vulpine shrugged. "Can you?"

"You could say that I've got a few things on my mind." Kursed sighed. "For one just what the hell Peppy has planned."

Shattered's ears perked up at Peppy's name. "Did he offer you a job as well?"

"Yeah, working with Falco. Can you believe it?" Kursed laughed. "I wish I could see the look on his face when Peppy tells him the news." She stretched her arms and stood up. "It'll be nice not worrying about my bounty for a change."

Shattered stood up as well, and walked as close to the vixen as he could. "Corneria can only help you so much. But I guess it's better to have an army behind you instead of one other bounty hunter, eh?"

Kursed rested her hands on the bars. "We both know if we had a choice we wouldn't be here. And I would only have you as my back up. Granted I did tell you to let me be, still I guess I'm thankful you stuck around."

The vulpine couldn't stop his tail from wagging, the rush of happiness he got from that was something he truly missed in his life. "I'm glad I stuck around too. You certainly make life more interesting Kursed."

"Never thought I'd hear of a bounty hunter living a boring life."

The sound of the door opening caused both hunters to look over to see Peppy coming into the small jail room. "I trust I wasn't interrupting anything too incriminating." He looked from Kursed to Shattered. "Because I've got what I needed declassified. You two are now honorary members of Star Falco. And before you ask, no, the name is not up for debate." Peppy looked over at the sleeping guard and rolled his eye. "You would think having two dangerous Bounty Hunters would keep everyone on their feet." He walked over and kicked the soldier's boot, causing him to stir. "Corporal, do I need to send you home?"

The raccoon snapped to attention, saluting Peppy as best he could in his semi-dazed state. "Sir. I'm okay sir, was just resting my eyes."

"I'm going to let you off with a warning this time Corporal. Just remember how many soldiers want to be stationed here. Now, let's get Star Falco's newest members out of those cells, hmm?" The raccoon quickly undid the locks and saluted Peppy once more before standing in front his chair at attention. "Follow me please."

If you had asked Kursed, it almost felt like Peppy was showing off. The layout of Headquarters wasn't something she had forgotten, but this place still felt brand new. Maybe it was training facilities, which had nearly doubled in size. Or perhaps it was the technology, seeing as how most people in her business only steal up to date tech while using out dated ways to track their targets.

Or perhaps it was the sheer amount of soldiers within HQ itself.

To her it felt like there was an impending war. There was no real reason for HQ to be this busy if the rumors about Star Wolf were true. She could sense Peppy was hiding something from them, besides the obvious mission details he would soon be sharing. She hadn't used her telepathic power for years, but since her visit to the Great Fox she began picking up stray thoughts and emotions from Shattered or people they had been close to.

The thought of working with Krystal's old teammates made her feel very uneasy. No doubt she would pick up thoughts from Falco or Slippy about her appearance, and mannerisms. They might have even suspected that she was Cernerian had she not dyed her hair years ago. Then again, Peppy had been within inches of her and he didn't even think for a second she was Krystal.

As much as she wanted to continue this inner debate, she stopped as she ran right into Shattered. "Sorry." She muttered and shook her head. "We're here I assume."

"Yes Kursed, welcome to the War Room." Peppy placed his hand on the scanner and waved the two bounty hunters in with his free hand.

Slippy and Falco looked over as the three entered the room and took a seat close to them. "About time Pep. I was just about to send Slip after you."

"We'll get started right away then." Peppy stood up as a screen lower behind him. "If you'll place your hands on the scanner." He paused a moment, letting everyone's screens load. "Good. Now, as you can see from you screens, we don't have a lot of information for this mission, however I believe it is enough to gain the newly formed Star Falco team's attention. Now, yesterday afternoon roughly three hours before Shattered and Kursed's capture our military intelligence communications room was attacked by a virus from 'Jay' I believe it was an attempt to throw us off of our newest team members trail."

"So why don't we just ask them where this Jay guy is? Wouldn't that be simpler?" Falco asked, already bored by the idea of chasing down a possible suspect.

"Jay has never told us his real name, let alone where his base is." Kursed said looking over at the avian. "We're just about as happy as you are to go after him."

"If he could hack into the secure networks, there is no telling what kind of security he's got guarding him." Slippy shrugged. "I could try a counter hack but he's likely put up tons of proxies by now."

"Well let's give the General some more time to speak; maybe he'll answer our questions before we have to ask them." Shattered eyed Slippy for a moment longer before turning back to face Peppy.

"I have gotten clearance from the President to go into this person's history and pick it apart. And let me tell you, there is something there that doesn't make sense. It looks like he dropped off the grid for a got twenty plus years before recently popping back up and making a huge name for himself as a go to for bounty hunters. That info should be on your screens now." Peppy looked up at the personal file himself. "As you can see though, all we have is the name plus what I just told you."

"Three years ago he just pops up and bam, instant celebrity amongst the weird and the desperate." Falco chuckled. "So, where do you plan on sending us?"

"Katina." Slippy shouted pointing at his screen. "It was coded within his file. All it said was Katina."

Peppy looked from the file to Slippy and back again. "Where the heck did you find that?"

Slippy tapped the table in front of him, causing a keyboard to appear and began typing furiously. "I guess it is kinda hard to see to the untrained eye. But there are certain letters that were partially uncovered from the black lines. Based on their shape, I was able to pick out the word Katina. I'll keep looking at this to see if I can't find anything else."

Shattered smirked. "I never thought the rumors about you being a bigger genius than your Father were true Slippy. Nevertheless, I'm impressed to see you work."

"Have you hunters heard anything about me?" Falco asked, his chest puffed out as if their moment of silence was feeding his ego.

"Only that you went into hiding a few years back. Every now and again people would claim to have seen you. Others claimed you had died." Kursed giggled. "One hunter even had said he stole the Skyclaw and crashed it into the Zoness sea as an attempt to get a reaction from you."

Falco quickly glanced over at Peppy. Who shook his head, before looking at the vixen once more. "Fuckin' bounty hunters."

"So when do we leave?" Shattered asked.

"Once I get an approval for lending you one of our Juggernaut cruisers to act as Star Falco's temporary flagship. Which should only take a few hours, maximum one day. Depends on how good of a mood everyone is in."

"So we get to Katina, then what?" Kursed looked over at Peppy. "Do we just hover above the planet until Jay makes a mistake and gives us another lead? I think you might be under estimating him."

"Kursed, as General of the Cornerian Army it's my job to assume the worst in every situation I'm given and come up with the best strategy to counter those situations. Katina is a good start in your search."

"I believe he's got to be somewhere in the Lylat system in order to break down my firewalls so quickly." Slippy said, taking a small break from typing. "If he was outside the system it would have been flagged immediately by our inter-system affairs team."

Shattered rested his head on his hand. "So if he's still in Lylat, which I doubt, how does that make it easier for us?"

"Think of it like a sonar. I'll be able to follow the blips until we are at the original location of the hack." Slippy explained as if it was supposed to be common knowledge. "So we'll head to Katina once we are cleared and see where it leads us next."

"Slippy, I am impressed."

"Your sarcasm, as always, is welcome Falco." Slippy replied dryly.

"I'll contact you when I have your clearance. Until then you are free to do as you please." Peppy turned to Shattered and Kursed. "You two will head to hangars, I wouldn't dream of sending you two into this without a proper ship."

Slippy quickly left the room with Peppy, heading towards his make-shift office. "Come on, I'll take you to the hangar. Wouldn't want my newest teammates getting lost." Falco grumbled motioning the two bounty hunters to follow him. "I hope you're good at flying a smaller ships."

"I'm sure I could fake my way around one with the best of them." Shattered chuckled.

"Same here. I've flown a few one man fighters myself."

"I bet you have." Falco snickered. "One stick too I bet."

"Hey! Bird, watch you fuckin mouth." Shattered snapped, causing Falco to stop and turn around. "Unless you want both of us to make you eat those words."

Falco began to cower dramatically. "Oh no! Two bounty hunters are going to beat me up! What am I to do?" Immediately the soldiers surrounding the trio had their weapons charging and pointed towards Shattered and Kursed. "Oh yeah, the military's here too! And they're on my side." The avian laughed and continued leading them towards the hangar.

"Let it go Shattered, it was a joke." Kursed placed a hand on his shoulder. "But thanks."

The vulpine smiled but didn't respond. They walked behind the avian, sneaking glances at each other every so often.

"Oh yeah, try not to drool too much when you see what they've got." Falco laughed.

"I'll be sure to keep my jaw off the floor." Kursed muttered.

"You know Panther, if you weren't such a damn womanizer..." Leon slurred, taking another drink of this beer. "People might begin to think."

"Shut up Leon." Panther growled. "I don't care what people think anyway."

"I'm just sayin' is all, I mean think about it. When-" Wolf sighed and stopped paying attention to the useless conversation his teammates were having.

It was always the same thing with them once they got their pay. Beer, and whatever the hell else Panther did. Wolf however kept to himself, more so than normal after getting his pay. Like most people that worked, he enjoyed his time off. But it seemed like tonight he was going to have to play babysitter. Because sooner or later, Panther and Leon would get the bright idea to do something incredibly stupid.

Last time they nearly got a missile strike called on Sargasso.

Wolf shuddered at the memory; it took most of his night filling out reports and apologizing to Peppy for wasting Military time. His wrist comm signalling he had a transmission pulled him from the memory.

"Well I'll be damned." He quickly left the room before answering. The face of someone he'd never thought he'd see again appeared before him. "You've got a lot of nerve calling me."

"It's always such a pleasure talking with you Wolf."

Wolf growled. "What do you want Bowman? And make it quick."

Dash Bowman grinned wickedly at Wolf. "All business as usual. Alright then, you've got one of my agents in custody. I want him back."

Wolf narrowed his eyes at the ape. "Before I even get to the why - What the hell makes you think I'm willing to help an enemy of Corneria?"

"Really? We're going to play this game? Okay." Dash put a finger to his chin. "Let's start with the fact you've already helped my family before. Lylat Wars, remember? Oh, and how about that period after that? Pretty sure you stole supply ships from the Cornerian army to bring back to Venom to help Oikonny rebuild the cities? Or, and hey look at that, this one's pretty recent. Just after the Aparoid wars you went back to your old tricks. And guess who helped you out with fencing all of those hot items? Oh that's right. Venom." Dash cackled. "Really Wolf, the records show that you still owe Venom, and therefore me. I'm even willing to forgive the damage you and your team did you my army."

"I've worked with Corneria for years now Bowman. And my sins have been forgiven; I don't intend to start helping anyone else. Not until this cash cow is dry." Wolf had his finger just over the small digital screen, ready to end the call.

"I guess I'll just have to come get him myself."

"I'm going to call your bluff ape." Wolf snapped. "We destroyed everything you sent at us, and that was just Star Wolf. Now I can command an entire fleet if needed."

"I'll only offer this to you once more Wolf. If you help me get my agent I'll tell you a dirty little secret not even the old General Pepper knows. And believe me when I say, it'll change everything." Dash grinned as Wolf slowly moved his finger away. "Have I got your attention finally?"

"You'd better make this worth my time Bowman. If this cause me to lose everything I will come for vengeance, and this time I will tear Venom apart."

"Alright, my agent's name is Beast. You know the one that managed to fuck up on Fourtuna and lose me a critical staging area?" Dash paused, as if unsure how he wanted to word his next sentence.

"What about him?"

"Now that I think about it, he's become a loose end. So instead of you bringing him back here, I'll just have you kill him." Dash cackled again. "And to give you more of an incentive of keeping your end of the bargain, here's a little peak at what's coming at what's coming to destroy Lylat should you fail." For a few seconds, all Wolf could see was a large brain. But he knew who it was.

"But... he's dead. McCloud made sure..."

"You think Titania was the only place we hid labs Wolf?" Dash's face appeared before him once more. "No, we've been busy since our last defeat at your hands. I've personally overseen every aspect of his resurrection. And in a few short weeks he will be at full power, and then... NOTHING WILL STAND IN OUR WAY!"

"Andross."

"Choose your side carefully Wolf. Take out Beast, then come crawling back to Venom to serve the rightful ruler of this system once more."

Without even looking Wolf cut the link between them and raced towards his Wolfen. He now had two difficult decisions to make. To abandon the new found respect he had from Corneria and its citizens and join what was sure to be a monumental force from Venom. And whether to tell Peppy now or later.

Outside of a local Cornerian cafe sat two older people. They were sharing a light conversation; old stories of war and adventure. To the common eye they looked like regular patrons enjoying the late afternoon sun with a friend, but to anyone with a military connection these two were recognizable from a distance.

"Same table, every time." Peppy shook his head as he approached the two. He waited until he was close enough to hear their conversation.

"Slippy's a chip of the old block."

"I'm surprised he didn't replace you sooner. In all regards you could have been retired after the Aparoid wars. It's too bad we're only consultants now huh?"

"I must admit I do kinda miss it. But retirement is quite the life within itself."

"I'll have to ask you two what to do if I ever make it there." Peppy laughed as he sat himself down. "Pepper, Beltino."

"Well I'll be. What brings the General of the Cornerian forces down to this little piece of paradise?" Pepper grasped the hare's shoulder. "Finally found something that needs my expertise eh?"

"That'll be the day." Beltino looked over at Peppy. "But I'm curious as well."

"Zero is dead." Peppy said flatly. Both Pepper and Beltino looked at each other, before looking back at Peppy. They had lost their smiles, as this clearly was a business visit. "He was killed by two bounty hunters." He held up his hand as Pepper went to speak. "I've already dealt with them. But I fear that their employer might have gotten a hold of something we've kept secret for all these years."

"How many people know about this?" Pepper asked.

"Only the people who should. I've been keeping this under wraps as much as possible."

"What's their employer's name?" Beltino pulled out his laptop and stretched his fingers before opening it. "I've been wanting a good test for a while now."

"His name is Jay." Peppy sighed and closed the laptop. "That's how he got into our systems in the first place. He broke through the firewalls and all the proxies that you and Slippy set up."

"If Zero is dead than that means someone could be on to us." Pepper folded his hands and placed them on the table. "If they don't sell that information right away it would give us some time to cancel the project."

"But it's too close to being finished." Beltino whispered as a few people walked by their table. "It could cause a bigger issue."

"It's a choice we'll have to make later." Peppy waved off the waiter walking towards them. "I've sent Falco and his new team, including those two bounty hunters to track down Jay. But I fear it could where it could lead them. Slippy already found a trail, so it will keep them busy."

"For how long though? There aren't that many places in Lylat where Jay could hide. But if they get to-"

Peppy quickly cut Pepper off. "I will not go out of my way to stop them Pepper. I understand what the consequences are."

"They'll never forgive us for this." Beltino said sadly, swirling his drink around in his cup. "But this peace was never going to last long. Not with Dash acting like Andrew."

"It's a necessary act Beltino." Pepper grimaced, almost as if he was in pain. We simply cannot allow another uprising. By doing what we did it ensures that no questions will be asked when we start this war."

"We've created the same monster that took James McCloud away from us." Peppy placed his hologram on the table. A picture of Venom and Andross glimmered brightly, as if to demand some sort of praise. "I just hope Star Falco gets to Jay before they see this."

"They'll never forgive us." Beltino repeated, staring at the hologram. "No one will."

"Wake up."

Beast opened his eyes and turned to see Wolf standing just outside his cell. He chuckled, knowing what had to have happened for the leader of Star Wolf to be visiting him. "So, this must be what it feels like to defeat the legendary Wolf O'Donnell."

"You'd better be worth the information lynx." Wolf spat.

"Oh, I'm being traded for information? What a surprise!" Beast laughed as Wolf opened his cell. "I told your lackey Panther that the government keeps information away from its most trusted soldiers to keep loyalty. But in your case it-" He was cut off as Wolf grabbed his throat and squeezed as tight as he could.

"I don't care what you have to say. As I already told you I only speak with people worth my time." He released the pressure around the lynx's throat slightly. "You say something smart again and I will make sure you don't speak again."

"F-fine." Beast choked out. He fell to the floor, gasping for breath as Wolf released him.

"Get on your feet; we're headed to the spaceport." Wolf pulled a pair of bindings out from his pocket and quickly placed them on Beast's wrists. With a grunt he pulled the lynx to his feet and began leading him out of the prison.

With a nodded to the prison guard Wolf stepped into the elevator with his prisoner. He waited a few floors before hitting the emergency stop button, pushing Beast to the floor. "What the hell are you doing?" The lynxed looked up and felt a familiar cold steel pressed against his forehead.

"Choosing sides." Wolf grinned as he squeezed the trigger, sending a bolt through the lynx's head at point blank range. Beast's blood splattered across the elevator in a strangely artistic pattern. Wolf holstered his blaster and looked down at once feared lynx. "If you were still alive I'd get you to run back to Bowman and tell him to send his best. But since you're lying down on the job I'll have to do the next best thing."

Wolf tapped his wrist comm and patched himself through to Dash. "I assume it's done then?"

Wolf nodded. "And Corneria is ready for whatever kind of shit you can pull. If Star Fox could beat Andross twice than I know my team can bring him down permanently."

Dash chuckled, and slowly it became maniacal laughter. "Because took out a loose end I'll give you a week, just one week to prepare for the end. Good luck."

Wolf growled and pressed the button to take him to the ground floor. "General Hare this is Wolf. We've got one serious problem on our hands."

Within moments Peppy's face appeared before Wolf. "I know Wolf; bring Star Wolf to my office first thing in the morning. We'll discuss it all then." Wolf looked down at Beast once more before leaving the elevator.

"I don't think we're talking about the same thing General."

"We'll discuss it tomorrow morning Wolf. Take the rest of the night off. I've got to contact Falco, Peppy out."

Wolf sighed as he made his way outside. "Guess I should go join those other two for a drink."

"Ok, thanks Pep. Falco out." Falco looked over at his team. "Alright guys we've got our ship. Juggernaut class battle cruiser called Cayuga. It's launching out of hangar forty in two hours. By then Rob should be installed. Until then get you shit together and get ready to track down Jay."

"I can't wait to work with Rob again!" Slippy smiled. "It'll be almost like old times, eh Falco?"

"Almost." Falco smiled sadly.

'More that you know guys.' Shattered looked over at Kursed. "I'm heading back to my ship, feel free to tag along."

"Sure. Might as well get my stuff before they put that ship of yours into a museum." The vixen jogged a few steps to catch up with Shattered.

"Don't be late you two! Remember two hours!" Falco yelled with a laugh.

"He might not make it to Jay." Kursed growled, causing the vulpine beside her to chuckle.

*insert witty one liner here*

In a reply to:

Kazila - Dem feels. I've got them too.

Troy Groomes - I think we just might see all of that. Guess we'll find out sooner or later!

Blazehunter64 - Oh I'm sure we'll find out sooner or later.

bryan mccloud - Assume he's well informed. As for your idea, well I think I'll take parts of it.

Mr. U.N. Owen - Thanks a lot! Glad you're enjoying the story!