Dash was vibrating with adrenaline. Everything was going to plan – just as Jay had promised. They had met no real resistance in the beginning of the attack. The team that Corneria had sent out was a joke, an insult really. Never had any Bowman felt victory, the taste was sweet enough to almost erase the bitterness that years of defeat had so permanently left in their mouths. When Corneria fell his ancestor's spirits would finally rest peacefully – and stop haunting him so viciously. Dash moved calmly through his war room. The remote support team for his drones were all intently focused on keeping their squads perfectly in sync. The signal transmitters were located in the centre of the cluster, providing close range support for hardware issues and network integrity. It was the only weakness – the drones after all were just strings of code in cyberspace just as vulnerable to hacking as any other piece of technology.

Jay had provided the best firewalls in the system, and hired the best cyber warriors his dollars could buy – though truthfully many of them volunteered. Their egos too eager to be stroked to miss a chance like this.

Falco sat in his command chair, watching his team either pace or sit in thought. Despite having Krystal confirm everything he said, James McCloud had forced them all to question the truth behind his words.

All three men supposedly involved were not only respected figures in Corneria but close friends and family.

"Krystal, just... confirm for us one last time that James was telling the truth." Katt whispered, resting her head on her hand.

Krystal hissed in pain as Fox's emotions flared again at the sound of his father's name. "Everything he said was true." She walked towards the door leading off the bridge. "I need a moment alone, Fox is too emotionally charged for me to focus."

"Krys?" Fox turned as the doors closed behind her. He cursed slamming fist against the console in front of him. "Damn it."

"Fox, man." Falco turned to the vulpine. "I can't begin to know how you feel." He stood and slowly made his way beside his old friend. "But we've got a decision to make."

Fox glared at the avian. "We've got a job already Falco. We're going to bring Jay into custody and take him to Corneria."

Falco sighed, placing a hand on Fox's shoulder. "Fox. Krystal's confirmed everything James said. Hell, Slippy even knew something was going up on Corneria."

"And what if my father is a damn sociopath? Huh?" Fox spat back shrugging Falco's hand off him. "He'd be able trick a god damn lie detector. To him, he's telling the truth. Maybe Krystal got tricked too, I doubt she's used her power since..."

He stopped as Falco grabbed his arms and forced him to look the avian in the eye. For a moment, Fox noticed something different, Falco's normally carefree demeanour had changed. "You shut the fuck up and listen to me."

Fox scoffed. "And what if I don't want to?"

Falco's face didn't change. "You don't have a choice. It's either you sit here and listen to what I have to say or you wait in this ship's brig until you smarten the hell up. Your choice."

Fox grumbled and looked away. His bounty hunter persona told him to knock some sense into this bird and finish the job. Fox McCloud protested from deep within his heart. Falco spoke before either persona could win.

"You're too emotional. This is personal for you I get it – but we have a fucking job. Surely both versions of you can appreciate that." Falco said. "And you can understand what kind of position this put me in. You're here to prove yourself on this mission and get your life back – if you can't get this job done you might as well be DOA when we get back to Corneria."

"I get it." Fox replied evenly. "I'm just fucking pissed off."

"Then use it to finish this." Falco said releasing Fox finally.

"Fine, then let's go finish it."

Ghost was moodily swinging her sword around as she paced. Tyronos looked out the door to the Cayuga while Jay sat on the entrance ramp.

"They're almost out of time." Ghost said looking pointedly at the two males.

"They can have a couple more minutes." Tyronos said without looking at the vixen.

"This is pointless." Ghost growled.

"Only to people with no emotions." Tyronos snorted. "The last thing we need is Fox in a mentally unstable position."

"Yeah, cause crazy people are so useless." Ghost waved her arms dramatically.

"Ghost, you're being childish." Tyronos snorted.

"I just want to get this shit started." Ghost sighed.

"You and me both." Jay said softly. "Ghost you will accompany me to Venom. Hopeless, take Fox to Corneria."

"What if he wants to go to Venom?" Tyronos asked leaning over the man, hanging off the top of the door frame.

"You know he won't." Jay snorted. "I'm not the only on he's mad at."

"Sometimes I like to pretend I don't understand him as much as I do." Tyronos grinned wryly.

Ghost sheathed her sword and looked over at the Cayuga. Truthfully she couldn't understand why Shattered only tried to beat the shit out of Jay. If it were her – there would be no guess-work. A blade to the throat and it all would be settled. Why would Shattered willingly leave the target alive. (Well maybe it wasn't wholly wilfully, she did play her role). Maybe there was still too much Fox left in the vulpine just as there was still too much Ghost left in her. Too much Tyronos in Hopeless.

What was there left of James in Jay though? Anything at all of the once hero now terrorist slash assassin? He'd been working the web of the biggest scheme the system had ever seen for years. Was there a part of the old vulpine now that still longed for afternoons of catch and fishing with his son? Or was it all erased in the devastating bomb blast that was the death of his wife. All kindness lost to the shrapnel – his son barely even a memory – just a tool. Ghost knew she was just a tool. She had always been the tool. Hopeless, the orchestrater conducting infinite symphonies at once – but even he was a tool in this one.

"I can smell you thinking too much." Hopeless chuckled as he watched Ghost's eyes glaze over and she delved deep into her dark brain. "Anything useful?"

"Never is." Ghost laughed.

"You ain't wrong." Hopeless laughed with her.

Again Jay felt the old jealousy. He once had friends like this, whom he could laugh and joke with. Make fun of without meaning it. Every insult a veiled expression of affection. Now when he tried to picture their faces he was filled with hatred and with agonized jealousy. Even Pigma got the life he wanted. Jay left stranded on this planet with the apes that hated everything and after a while he couldn't help but agree with them.

Corneria brought pain and suffering and ruled their population with lies and propaganda. No more. Jay felt reconfirmed in his plan and stood slowly.

"Go get them." he instructed no one directly. Tyronos and Ghost looked at each other and shrugged. Tyronos started to walk down the ramp towards the Cayuga.

He didn't make it two steps before he saw Star Falco making their way towards his ship. "Looks like they made up their minds." He cocked his head back to see both James and Ghost walking towards him.

They waited in silence until Star Falco was within speaking distance. James took another step forward, noting how Fox had managed to keep himself composed. "So, what's your decision?"

Falco folded his arms across his chest. "Even if most of us shouldn't agree to do any of this... By assisting you we finish our mission as well. We'll help you out James, as long as you let us turn you in."

James nodded glancing at Fox. "If I don't come quietly like I have promised, I'll let Fox deal with me." Fox shook his head and turned away from his father. "So like I said we're going to break into two teams. I will stay here since I have a great deal of experience with this planet."

"I'm headed to Corneria." Tyronos pointed at Fox. "You're coming with me."

"I'll head to Corneria as well." Falco stood beside Fox. "I've got my reasons."

"I'll tell you this place is going to be TONS more fun than Corneria." Ghost giggled resting a hand on her sword. "I'm rocking Venom for this one."

"From what we knew about Dash he uses mostly unmanned patrols. Maybe he uses similar robots down here. If so, I should be able to adjust my EMP device. The one I used on your blasters. I was working on it before we got here." Slippy pulled out his EMP remote, studying it intently. "I'll need some more time to work on it, but I think I should stay here and help out. Besides, I don't think I could bear watching my dad admit to all this."

"Fair enough." James said softly. He looked at Krystal and Katt, waiting for them to make their choice.

"I'll stay here as well." Fox turned as Krystal made her way beside James. She hadn't spoken to him since she had left the bridge, he cursed mentally. He had forgotten that his emotions pushed through their mind link. But how had she, let alone anyone else thought he'd react to seeing his presumably dead father standing in front of him?

"Guess I'm heading with you guys." Katt's voice forced Fox to look away from Krystal. "Guess you'll want your best sent to Corneria."

"It's not so much who is better at what here Katt." James said. "Everyone here is quite capable to finish any part of this mission. Otherwise none of you would be here." Fox scoffed. The older vulpine pulled his sunglasses out of his pocket and put them on. "For obvious reasons some people are not on the same team as others."

"James, we need to get moving." Tyronos began walking up the ramp. "I can explain on the way if you want."

James shook his head. "Get your ship ready, I'll let them know what the plan is." Tyronos gave him a mock salute before disappearing into his ship. "You four will obviously be heading to Corneria. You'll be using Tyronos's ship and his gateway codes to get there as quick as possible. Once there head to Peppy's office. He'll mostly likely be there with Pepper and Beltino. If not Falco you'll need to create an emergency meeting in the war room. It'll be up to you guys how you get the information out of them, But I am your bargaining chip, so they should pretty much give you what you want."

"We could act as if Fox joined with you and we captured him. That should get them into the war room real quick." Falco muttered an apology to Fox as the vulpine glared at him.

"Do what you need to do." James replied. "Any questions?" He quickly glanced at each of them.

"What if they ask about Krystal?" Katt asked bluntly. "I mean, if we say you captured her, that isn't going to make them send in the cavalry."

"I'm collateral damage to them, I have been since I signed on to this mission." Krystal shrugged. "If they ask, I bailed already."

Fox went to argue but was stopped as Tyronos called down to them. "Ship's prepped, we're ready to move out."

"See you guys on the flip side!" Falco yelled before making his way up the ramp. Katt quickly followed suit.

"Krys?" Fox whispered, slowly making his way towards the vixen. She flinched as he touched her, as if she expected those raw emotions to pour through him. He rested his head against hers and pulled her into a hug. "I'm not saying goodbye to you again. I'm getting you that clean slate regardless of how this all ends." He sighed contentedly as she wrapped her arms around him. "I'm sorry I lost control early."

"Fox." Krystal squeezed him tighter. "I..."

"I know." He replied giving her a quick kiss. "I'll see you soon."

Krystal nodded breaking the hug and taking a few steps back. With a calming breath she hid her emotions once again. "Good luck."

Fox gave her a mock salute before disappearing up the ramp. Quickly after the ship began to lift off, sending a blast of hot air towards the remaining group.

Falco felt awkward in Tyronos's ship. Part of him was still hyper-aware of the vulpine's resume and he could almost see the bounty flash above Hopeless's head as he turned to hit a switch. He had to push away the solider in him. Tyronos was on his team now and he had his part like everyone else did. Falco looked over at Katt who had her eyes shut and her legs curled underneath her. She looked calm on the surface, and not for the first time Falco wished he had just a touch of Krystal's ability. He copied her posture and shut his eyes to think. He needed to know if he had any allies left on this mission. Fox was just on the cusp of returning, then James happened. Now Falco felt he was holding a grenade in a forest fire and the trees were coming down.

"You have a similar look to Ghost when you're sitting like that." Tyronos's voice made Falco flinch, he was standing right in front of him. "I'm letting Fox fly for a bit, give him something to do."

"Probably for the best." Falco grunted.

"You did good you know, I don't think Shattered would have come along if it wasn't for whatever you said to him I think he'd be dead on Venom."

"Are you saying you would have let Ghost kill him?"

"I'm saying I was prepared to." Tyronos replied sharply. "And you might need to be too."

"What makes you think I'm going to kill my best friend?"

"Already back to besties? You avians are so fickle." Tyronos laughed. "He's bounty first. Crew second. Lose end third. Friend? Last. Dead last. We aren't done playing games yet."

"Games." Falco snarled and stood. "You think this is a game?"

"All of it is." Tyronos laughed and grinned at the Avian's anger. "Politics and drama. It's all just chess to the higher-ups. One day you'll be among them and you'll see the moves you have to make. You're already playing them with your team. You're perfect for the position."

"What position?"

"The hero's medal they'll give you when this is over." Tyronos said with the cynical laughter still playing in his throat.

"Are you making fun of me?" Falco asked, his fists clenched into painful fists.

"Yes." Tyronos laughed and pat Falco on the shoulder. "You're too serious."

"You say I might have to kill him and then you tell me to joke about it?" Falco growled. "I thought Ghost was the psychopath."

"More likely a sociopath." Tyronos disagreed calmly. "But no, you won't have to kill him. If that kid needs a blade to the throat I would have brought Ghost. You just be ready to pull him off of the brass."

"You might have to pull me off too." Falco looked away and confessed.

"You add your shit show to this circus and I will kill you." Tyronos said evenly. Falco looked up at him, all the laughter was gone from his face. "This goes smoothly, you control your team and in the end you get a medal. Got it?"

"Fuck you." Falco shook his head in disgust.

"Perfect." Tyronos clapped his hands together and returned to the pilot's chair.

Fox was staring into space, though he wasn't deep in thought, he was trying to avoid it. Tyronos had done nothing to veil his conversation with Falco. Fox couldn't help but agree with Tyronos. He understood the game better than anyone. He was playing before he even enlisted. The son of James McCloud had brought him more good than bad in his life – even now he couldn't dispute that. Falco made a better captain than he did, Fox was always too emotional. Heart on his sleeve and hero complex shining on his chest like armour. He was young and impulsive and just lucky enough to always come out on top. Maybe that's why being Shattered had calmed him so, he was completely new and unreputable. He could remake himself from the ground up. Why he chose to make himself a man who kills for money probably said way too much about his psyche. He'd leave that to the therapist though. He didn't look over when Tyronos sat back down in his chair.

"Making friends?" Fox asked with a touch of sarcasm.

"Always." Tyronos grinned.

"Did you mean it?"

"What?"

"Would you kill me?"

"Probably, if I needed to."

"So why stop Ghost? Couldn't have her making money off of me?"

Tyronos actually laughed so hard he leaned forward. Rather than being insulted Fox caught his amusement and grinned.

"Ah, shit no. Bless, you're worth a dime bag kid. I wanted to save you for a few years. Let you gain some interest."

"Is that a thinly veiled compliment?" Fox asked with a cheeky grin.

"It might be." Tyronos nodded a little. "I think you're better kid."

"Better?"

"Better than this. Better than who you are now." Tyronos said gently. "I don't think you can be Fox or Shattered after this is done, I think you are better than both of them."

"The remains to be seen." Fox said firmly.

Tyronos remained silent for the rest of the flight back to Corneria. Once they landed Falco made quick work of getting them into the base and to the Generals. Beltino saw them coming and quickly gathered Peppy and Pepper, setting up a meeting in the war room. Anner's was quick to give them a hard time but a word from Peppy had cleared him from the area.

"I take it this is not a pleasure visit?" Pepper asked.

Fox glared at the three, old feelings returning to the surface. He knew know why Krystal had elected to separate from him for this. Even he felt sick to his stomach from the force of the rage. Tyronos stepped forward while Falco was still trying to figure out what to say.

"So tell me Pep, did you know the whole time who Jay was? Or are you as pleasantly surprised as Fox was?" Tyronos grinned.

"Of course we knew!" Beltino said quickly. "How could we not? We know our role!"

"Tell me you didn't make me an orphan Peppy. Tell me he's just a sad scared old man who still hasn't gotten over his wife's death." Fox took a shaky step forward.

"Son. Please." Peppy's voice was weak and he cleared his throat.

"Don't 'son' me Peppy just fucking tell me the truth! Did you leave him on that planet?" Fox shouted and drew his blaster.

"Fox." Tyronos growled in warning. "This doesn't help us."

Anner was deeply suspicious of Tyronos, something felt off about the vulpine's hardened eyes and stiff posture. He was even more suspicious because of his apparent familiarity with Peppy. Anner felt the knot of doubt creep tighter. Peppy had been full of questionable calls for a while now. Mindlessly he flipped through a few files on his hol-odisc, all the while straining almost painfully to hear what the groups where saying. His pacing drifted closer and closer to the office before finally he was right in the doorway. Too stunned by confusion to even pretend to not be listening in he just stood in awe. Fox McCloud? Back from the dead – and apparently with his father in tow? Something was deeply, deeply wrong here. Then Fox drew his blaster.

"General?" Anner stepped in with his own blaster drawn. "Drop your weapon, hostile!"

"Remove him!" Falco commanded stepping in front of Fox with his own weapon drawn.

"General?!" Anner yelped in shock as Katt grabbed him by his collar and shoved him roughly from the office. "The General is being attacked!" Anner bellowed as the door was shut abruptly in his face.

"Dammit!" Falco cursed and rushed to the war desk and after some hurried fumbling hit the button hidden on the underside. An alarm howled into life and the door sealed itself with blast-shields and audibly clicked into place.

"Guess now we have lots of time to talk about this. Calmly." Beltino sighed and walked to the desk, silencing the alarms.

"Luckily Ghost isn't here." Tyronos chuckled. "She has a way of removing the calm from most situations."

Fox's harsh stare was still locked on Peppy. The ageing hare sighed deeply and rubbed his face.

"I understand your anger Fox but what the hell was I supposed to do? Pigma was the only one of us with no children – that's why he was chosen. How could I be expected to make a choice between my daughter and you? James was my closest friend – don't dare assume that I haven't suffered." Peppy's voice was passionate and shook with emotion. Fox was unmoved.

"Fox I've warned you once." Falco said stiffly. "We have a job."

"Well now it's come to bite you in the ass. We're here about Venom." Fox snarled. "And you have a lot of explaining to do."

Pepper sighed deeply and walked to the nearest chair and took off his hat. He looked at his two comrades and shook his head in defeat. "We knew it was coming, let's just get it over with. Better it's from the McCloud's anyway."

"Yes." Beltino agreed gently. "They have earned it."

"Let's get started." Tyronos said walking over and disarming Fox before taking a chair himself. "Fox, come sit by me – just in case we need to rearm you."

Fox wordlessly went over to join Tyronos, still glaring dangerously into the eyes of one Peppy Hare.

James felt the calm of a plan going smoothly wash over him. With his team he felt adequately armed in case things went south. Krystal, when she became Kursed was a logical, deadly killer. Ghost had a vicious aura and could move undetected if needed. Slippy gave him more tech support than he could ever dream for.

"If my clearance still holds we should just be able to walk in the front door." James announced as he punched in his landing codes for Dash's base.

"And if it doesn't?" Krystal asked.

"Then it gets fun real quick." Ghost laughed.

"Fun, right." Slippy muttered and he worked feverishly to get his anti-drone weapon ready.

"You kind of freak me out." Krystal said raising an eyebrow at Ghost.

Ghost grinned. "Don't flirt with me like that during a mission."

Krystal didn't reply, instead she looked at Slippy in confusion. He looked up briefly and shrugged as if to say "You're the telepath." She walked instead to the cockpit where Jay was busy with landing preparations.

"She gets like that." James said.

"Hm?"

"Ghost, before a mission. She gets like that when she should be nervous." James laughed. "She's a very talented fighter – but it cost her a lot in terms of humanity."

"I can relate." Krystal said with a thoughtful nod of her head.

"I suppose you could." James agreed. "It does seem to come with the territory."

"What is going to happen in there?" Krystal asked.

"I'm going to betray Dash and get him to give me what I need to prove Corneria's guilt."

"Just that simple?" Krystal asked with a snort of disbelief.

"No. Dash is more fucked up than me." Ghost laughed as she entered the conversation.

"You'll stay hidden Ghost." James said as he hit some buttons. "I get the feeling we'll need an ace up our sleeves."

"And me and Slippy?" Krystal asked.

"I need you to take Slippy to engineering, he'll be able to get the coding he needs to finish that off switch for the drones."

"You think it's that important?" Slippy asked stunned.

"I know it's always better to have more advantages than none." James replied evenly. "Everyone take a seat, we're touching down."

Krystal was pleased to be stuck with calm Slippy during this mission. He was more even emotionally than anyone else (well Ghost was okay but sometimes the emptiness that she projected was terrifying.) and after her mental assault from Fox and James she was very ready for a break. It would be good to use her skills again too. She was starting to feel like her old self – and it scared her. She liked being Kursed. She felt dangerous, sexy, deadly and empowered. She knew she shouldn't feel empowered, but after being scared for so much of her life it was refreshing to be in total control.

"Alright. I'm going in first. Slippy and Krystal you go in after I've been taken into the offices. No one will talk to you, if they do direct all questions to me." James said standing and preparing his combat vest and weapons.

"And Ghost?" Slippy asked as he gathered his things.

"She's already gone." Krystal grinned as Slippy looked around in awe. "Damn she's good."

"Let's go." James said with a final nod of his head. "Keep an ear out, I'm going to need that weapon done in twenty."

"What?" Slippy asked in shock.

"I have confidence, get it done. I'll need you at the right moment." James said.

"Come on Slippy. We have our jobs." Krystal said ushering Slippy along.

Dash welcomed James with open arms – literally. The ape had James in a tight hug as soon as he stepped into the offices. Krystal watched from her post by the door and as soon as they disappeared into the office she ushered Slippy into the hanger.

"James said Engineering has set up in the lower offices." Slippy said in a fluttering voice.

"I know. Just be calm Slippy." Krystal said and sent him some gentle emotions to soothe him a little. "Just keep your brain ready to process that code."

"No problem." Slippy said responding well to the emotions he was sent and feeling confident at the mention of his role. "I will do it."

"Perfect. Now act natural." Krystal said as they approached the engineers. She walked up to the closest one and tapped his arm gently. "Hey, we're here with Jay-ames. James. We need to use a terminal for like twenty minutes."

"If you need something done our Engineers would be more than capable-"

"It's a classified project." Slippy said with his best snoody scientist voice. "I'm afraid no one but myself is authorized."

"We work for Dash directly." the Engineer huffed.

"Well we work for James." Krystal said with a glare. "And surely you know what happens to people who question him?"

"Ye-yes of course. You can use that terminal in the corner." the engineer bowed and turned away.

"So glad that worked." Slippy sighed.

"Yeah. I had a feeling we could bank on James being an asshole to everyone." Krystal grumbled and quickly ushered slippy to the terminal. "Work quickly."

"Quickly is my default speed." Slippy said bringing out his gear. "Right now – I need to be fast."

Krystal looked up at where she guessed James was roughly and then looked back at Slippy. She hoped that the most talented scientist in Corneria could give them the miracle they needed. It was too easy to be hypnotized by the blur that was Slippy coding the drone tech. The little scientist was muttering to himself and cursing periodically. Krystal felt the sweat drip down her neck – she hadn't realized how much of Slippy's adrenaline was getting to her. She sent some calming emotions and looked away from the toad. The guards were looking at her sceptically. She gave them a cautious hard glare and looked over her shoulder.

"We're catching attention." she whispered.

"If we weren't, this certainly would have." Slippy dared to laugh a little as he dug out his datacore and hooked it to the terminal. There was a flood of code and some colourful flicker. A face appeared on the datacore and winked at Slippy before chirping "Upload complete! Program running!" before Slippy quickly dismantled and packed his bag. "Time to go!"

"Go. Slippy we have a plan!"

"James said twenty minutes! I'm on schedule." Slippy laughed and pushed Krystal towards the door.

"What did you upload?" Krystal asked suddenly realizing what the datacore said.

"Just a...thing." Slippy grinned. "I admit I was feeling much more fearless when I was working with the code."

"Did you give them a virus?" Krystal hissed and started walking faster.

"Virus is a simple way of putting it." Slippy nodded. "But more completely – I rewrote their server."

"What?!" Krystal asked sharply just as the engineers started raising their voices in confusion. Kursed looked over her shoulder just as the man they were talking to looked at them.

"STOP THEM!" He bellowed. "They've done something!"

That was all the guards needed, they started moving on the pair. Krystal drew her blaster and tossed Slippy towards some crates for cover. She turned on her comm. "Task complete in the hanger, but the escape is getting complicated."

Krystal shot down a couple more guards, but a death cry behind her made her turn sharply. Guards had been sliced open and were laying in pooling blood. Ghost didn't reply over the comm but a rush of white was all Kursed needed to understand.

"She's covering us. Get to the ship and take off!"

"What about you guys?"

"You need to get that weapon set and start using it." Kursed said taking more shots at the reinforcements that were falling in.

"Okay." Slippy said with a nod. He nodded again before he clutched his bag to his chest and ran as fast as his legs could take him to the ship.

James smiled as he heard the progress over the comm. He turned to Dash, who had fallen silent as James announced his reason for visiting. The vulpine had held nothing back, buying as much time as he could while slowly revealing the betrayal to the ape. Dash was still teetering on belief. His hero worship he had for James was blurring his vision.

"Take a look Dash." James indicated the many screens surrounding the ape. Dash growled defiantly ignoring the vulpine's order. "If you don't give me what I need we will ensure Venom's destruction."

Dash's eye twitched as he glanced around. Most of his senior staff was already on warships currently engaged with Corneria. From what he heard on his comm it wasn't going the way he had planned. "You! You sent Corneria a warning! We had an arrangement, James!"

James chuckled as he holstered his blaster. "We merely had an understanding that I wouldn't interfere with your war. To my credit, I haven't. Star Falco however..."

Dash gasped, finally looking at his screens. He saw the small group taking out his security drones without effort. "They weren't supposed to be here! No... no, no no, NO!" The ape grabbed his head in his hands, slumping to his knees. "My plans, all these years... How could... Why is this happening?!"

Dash jumped as James placed a hand on his shoulder. "You can end this peacefully Dash. Can't you hear them coming closer?" James looked over his shoulder. "You know what I need Dash. You give it to me and surrender to Star Falco, I will make sure the courts go easy on you. I am a key witness after all."

"The courts?"

Dash felt a tear fall down his face. No, the courts wouldn't be fair to him. He was a descendant of Andross, a sworn enemy of Corneria. There would be no fair trial for him. They would use him as an excuse to fuel the Cornerian War-machine for the next ten years! "I refuse to help Corneria ever again!"

He grabbed James's blaster from its holster and turned away from the vulpine.

"Dash! NO!" James yelled. It all happened in slow motion.

It was clear Dash's already twisted mind had broken. The ape took a deep breath, hearing the echoing of boots from the Star Falco squad he had seen earlier. James had been right, they were close. Dash placed the blaster into his mouth, the edges of the gun were still hot and burned his mouth slightly. 'Grandfather... Cousin... I'll see you soon.' As he saw James's hand reach for the blaster Dash pulled the trigger. Instantly his head snapped back as his lifeless body fell to the floor. James stood still, mouth open his hand holding his blaster.

"No..." The rest of the Venom team rushed into the control room weapons drawn.

"James?" Ghost asked, sheathing her sword. There had almost been a maternal tone to her voice.

Krystal gasped as she saw what was left of Dash Bowman lying in front of James. "James, what happened?"

James fell to his knees, his blaster clattering to the floor. "I failed."

Hey, Hope you all had an amazing Holiday so far! This is likely my last update of 2013. So I wish you all a safe and happy New Year!

In a reply to:

KaijuKnight: Guess we figured out what drove Peppy to do what he did huh? I think you'll enjoy what direction we'll go next!

bryan mccloud: I think we can confirm... Star Wolf was K.I.A. I couldn't find my 'Nintendo button' and by that I mean they somehow survived certain death.

Chondra: Big reveals are big! And hey! We're deep in the shit storm now!

Blazehunter64: I think at this point rage is the only thing keeping Fox going.

Fox McCloud SNR: Thanks! I actually wrote James character to be semi obvious. And it was fun writing with the assumption that some (Or most) readers would know who James was before I confirmed it. =)

Troygroomes: To be fair, they've kinda been at war with James for a while now. But the rest of the crew, including Ghost and Tyronos have been pawns. In a sense, Corneria started this war against James.

Mitch3ll6900: Wow, Thanks so much for adding me to your favorite author list! And like I said to Fox McCloud SNR, James character was written to be obvious to some (or most lol) The way I wanted that reveal to feel was more like a reward to those that had been guessing who Jay was.

Guest: Wow, thanks for all your reviews! Continue to be awesome Anonymous Reader you!

Jeff: (Even though technically your review was to Chapter 16, I'll reply to it here.) I agree that Fox is somewhat bland when it comes to other Nintendo Characters, and I think it's because they never really thought he'd be as popular as he is. That said, I too like this darker version of him. It's given me a lot more leeway to play around with his character. Also, I'm glad you like both Tyronos and Chondra's characters. We put a good amount of time into them, and we made them as 'human' as possible. =)