Anner stared at the door to the war room. His mind was racing with situations that could be happening within. The last thing he had seen was Fox McCloud with a blaster pointed at General Hare. Which in itself was a whole different set of questions. How long had Fox been back? And why would he turn against the system he had protected for his entire career? And most importantly of all:
Didn't he die?
Anner shook those thoughts from his mind. Right now he needed to focus on the war effort. After the alarm had been silenced he sent for an interim General to act in Peppy's stead. There was only one person who had a level enough head to step in and take control of a completely FUBAR situation.
"Where's Colonel Whitefur?"
As if on cue, Whitefur walked into the comms room. He was dressed in the typical Cornerian officer uniform, red with touches of gold livery. The arctic fox had the air of authority about him as he made his way towards Anner. Despite not being one of the higher ranking officers, Whitefur had been hand-picked by Peppy as one of three potential successors once he retired. "Second Lieutenant Anner."
"Colonel." Anner saluted, his nerves cause just a moment's hesitation before he continued. "Sir, as you know General Hare has been taken hostage."
Whitefur waved his hand, stopping the husky. "I know what's happening there, I need to know how the war effort is going."
Anner shrugged and looked at the many screens in front of them. "The fighting started near Zoness and sector Z. As far as I- err we know, it hasn't passed that point. Thanks to Star Falco, we were able to get our defences ready in time."
Whitefur nodded. "So Falco got his own team eh?" He chuckled heartily. "I thought that was just another rumor."
"Sir, we need to address what's going on with the General." Whitefur glanced over at Anner before looking back at the screens.
"Get me Commander Erato. I want an update from someone who'll see things as grey." Whitefur turned to face Anner once again. "Anner, I told you that I already knew what was happening in there." He pointed towards the still sealed war room. "If what I heard is true that we'll be waiting at least twelve hours before we can even attempt a rescue. Right now we've got a war to deal with, and if you can't focus on this then you might as well step down now."
"With respect Colonel." Anner hissed through clenched teeth. "I have been at the General's side this entire mission. I will not abandon him now."
"Which is why your services are no longer needed here. You're too emotionally involved in this. I'm ordering you, as interim General to leave my comms room. I need someone who is able to see more than black and white here." Anner went to retort but felt a hand on his shoulder. "Don't embarrass yourself Anner, take the rest of the day off."
Anner took a breath to adjust his tone, and smoothed out his uniform before saluting Whitefur. "With your permission sir, I will return in a few hours."
Whitefur nodded and turned before replying. "Get some rest." Anner took this as his cue and turned on his heel smartly and walked out of the command centre.
Just as the door closed a message beep prompted Whitefur to bring up a hologram. His commanding officer grinned at him. "Colonel." Loden said saluting Whitefur smartly from his command post. "I'll assume this isn't a friendly chat."
"Come now Loden, when are our chats not friendly?" Whitefur mused before clearing his throat. "I've been informed of what's happening there, and I need a report. Give it to me straight Loden, how are we doing?"
Loden sighed. "To be honest sir, it's been back and forth for a while now. These Venomian ships are mostly unmanned. We're holding our own, but there has been casualties."
"Do you need additional support?" Whitefur asked. "We can have ten ships sent to you within five minutes."
"Negative. We'll be fine, but I would suggest have those ships ready for Sector Z."
"Consider it done. Whitefur out." The general closed the link and turned to the soldiers who studied him – waiting for orders. "Back to your battle stations, we have a war to win."
Just like that the ant's nest was alive again. Soldiers are immensely practical, they just need someone with rank to order them and they will follow. Whitefur clasped his hands behind his back and looked at the clock on the far wall. Eleven hours, twenty minutes before the General was free of his lock down. Could he have the war won by then?
"Call in reserve squad Alpha and Delta. Put Bravo on stand by." Whitefur called out to no one in particular. Three soldiers replied with a salute and an Aye aye." and made to obey. Whitefur looked to his left and to his right slowly. "Could someone please bring me a tea? Two milk and one sugar."
"Sir?" A young soldier looked up at Whitefur and took off one side of his headset.
"Two milk. One sugar." Whitefur repeated slowly.
"Aye sir." The soldier scrambled to his feet after a ranking soldier elbowed him. His knee caught on the desk and he limped slightly as he scurried to the mess. The ranking officer sat in the empty chair and placed the headset on his head. Whitefur watched the screens and waited for his tea. Eleven hours, eighteen minutes.
There had been some long moments of silence in the war room as awkward silence gave way to tension build up. Fox took to staring at his knees rather than anyone around him. Tyronos grinned at Pepper and Beltino like he had just stole their candy and then sold it back to them. Falco and Katt hovered awkwardly, pacing the length of the office in opposite directions.
Peppy looked from Fox to Beltino and Pepper, silently asking who would speak first. It couldn't be him, they wouldn't understand. They couldn't see the reasons he had left James on Venom, nor the reasons he'd help create a war. He couldn't ever forget, they echoed in every command he gave. He saw it in Beltino when they exchanged greetings in the morning. He saw them in Pepper as the old general sighed into cold coffee - forgotten in the layers of paper work. However, he refused to see it as a blood trail - if only he could get Fox to see - this was inevitable. His voice broke the silence like a train whistle.
"I know you're angry son."
"I think we're done with "son" Peppy." Fox hissed.
"Fox, please." the old hare pleaded.
"Give it up Peppy." Tyronos warned. "We've still got a long time locked up in here."
Peppy sighed, folding his hands and resting them on the table. "Very well. If you are this passionate after hearing one side of the story allow me to tell our side."
Pepper put a hand out to stop Peppy and cleared his throat. "I was approached by people who outranked me not in badge but in political sway. I was cornered and manipulated - I say this not to excuse myself but to explain the position I was placed into. Take our world's heroes, my friends, and turn them into political pawns - more simply - spies. The order was simple: send them to the one place that we'd been fighting since before I took over as General. Venom was the target and we had our bullets, and it was up to me to choose which one to fire. You already know Pigma was the original selection for the Venom mole. He was unattached, but lacked subtlety and was not a good choice. It was my emotions that led me to place him there - we all knew he was unhappy but we didn't realise how deeply it ran until he betrayed us."
"And your excuse for Peppy then?" Katt asked, temporarily pausing her pacing. Part of her still wanted these three to be innocent, but hearing them - these heroes - confirming what James told them earlier. It struck a nerve.
"He wasn't the only one with family Miss Monroe." Pepper looked at Katt until she continued her pacing. "It wasn't a decision that I made lightly. Regardless of who I picked, lives were going to be ruined. To this day, it was the hardest choice I made. I had to look at it logically. Peppy's ship was the only one in shape to make it back to the Great Fox. When I told him to retreat…" Pepper sighed solmely. "I knew exactly what I had done."
"You picked my dad…" Fox asked viciously "and then turned me into some poster child."
"We were trying to give James something to be proud of!" Peppy roared and stood. "We wanted his name to be known vicariously through you! It was the only way he'd be remembered as the hero he was!"
"You stole his son from him and molded him to your whims - don't pretend it was for James." Katt waved her arm to indicate Fox with a slight snarl.
"It sounds more like a damn marketing strategy to me." Tyronos waved his arms in front of him dramatically. "McCloud brand everything! And it worked too. This is the richest Corneria in centuries!"
"We all played our roles, it was James that broke our trust. He fell prey to the allure of power and turned on us - on Corneria."
"Can yah blame him?" Tyronos asked quietly.
"Isn't that what happened to you?" Falco asked eyebrow raised. His tone was even and powerful and made Beltino squirm uncomfortably in his chair.
"Fox, you could not escape your greatness - not with your genetics!" Peppy huffed. "To let you go - would have been a waste."
"A lifetime with my father would be a waste?" Fox asked viciously.
"How is he so endeared to you now? You hated him when we started this conversation." Peppy scoffed and rolled his eyes.
"He's my fucking dad! It doesn't matter if I hate him you still robbed a child of the life he deserved." Fox said standing abruptly. Tyronos looked up at him pleasantly, Falco found the overall effect slightly perverse. Damn bounty hunters.
"There would be no good life for you on Venom." Beltino said gently. "Corneria is your home."
"Yeah well, Corneria certainly doesn't owe me any favours." Fox hissed and stepped away from the table, starting to pace with Katt and Falco.
"As lovely as this talk is, can we get back to the point now?" Tyronos interrupted. "I mean, you can tear them a new asshole all you what when we're done Foxie, but we do have that whole war thing going on."
"Yes." Pepper said grateful for the new conversation. "We do. Falco - what do you need from us."
"Why me?" Falco asked in alarm. Behind Pepper Tyronos mouthed "medal" and indicated his chest before giving Falco a thumbs up.
"You're the ranking officer here." Pepper said with a slight nod. "We cannot bargain with anyone else. Fox and the rest of your team are technically wanted criminals and negotiation with them would be an act of treason."
"Well if that is the case I'm going to point out that since you admitted to the war profiteering, you three are also considered criminals now also. Guilty of the highest treason actually and I'm not making negotiations - I'm giving orders." Falco said standing still and steeling his face into a fierce glare.
Tyronos grinned into his hand, trying to be subtle. 'Can I pick um, or can I pick um.' Fox smirked a little in appreciation as he slunk into a seat beside Tyronos. Falco really was a better leader than he could ever be. Pepper, Beltino and Peppy all gaped at Falco. Pepper came to his senses first and stood slowly.
"Then, what would you have us do?"
"I think we all want the same thing at this point." Falco said calmly. "A honest Corneria - and justice for the McClouds."
"And I think I know how to do both." Beltino said with a serious, tight expression. "Pepper, Peppy I know you are realizing it too."
"You're right of course." Pepper agreed with a heavy sigh. "We know this ends. Peppy - it's for the best if you keep quiet when we make our speeches." Either in spite or just to follow orders Peppy remained silent.
"What's the plan then?" Falco asked.
"I think it's time we retire." Beltino replied with ghost of a smile.
"What do you mean 'failed?'" Krystal asked kneeling beside James as he cradled his head.
"He needed Dash for leverage in Corneria – to prove the corruption." Ghost said hovering by the door and staring at the corpse.
"So what do we do now?" Krystal asked looking over her shoulder at Ghost.
"It's over." James said pulling himself to his feet. "It was all for nothing."
Ghost and Krystal looked at each other in silence. Krystal felt the pull of the assassin's emptiness soothing compared to the McCloud's (now all too familiar) whirlpool of emotion. Ghost looked eerie in the flashing alarm lights, her white fur and empty eyes seemed to suck all warmth from the room. She looked too intently at the corpse of Dash.
"Ghost?" Krystal prompted a response from the silent assassin.
"What's going on in there? I have the anti-drone software installed. We're good to go." Slippy's voice shook them out of their moment.
"Slippy is waiting in the ship. Let's go." James said tonelessly.
"Wait? That's it? We just leave?" Krystal asked in confusion.
"I needed Dash." James said viciously. "And his brain – which is now splattered around this fucking control room."
Ghost looked sternly at Krystal before turning and leading the way out of the control room. There were some guards left in the building but Ghost slaughtered them all with her empty stare. Krystal no longer felt impressed by the assassin, she felt pity.
"We will think of something else - another way." Krystal said softly.
"What other way could there possibly be?" James snarled.
Krystal returned the snarl. "I'm just trying to fucking help you."
"I'm beyond helping now." James mumbled.
"James, get the fuck over yourself." Ghost sighed. "Let's get to the ship and call Hopeless, he will have a back up plan."
"Fine."
Slippy was hovering anxiously at the opened doors of the ship. He sighed and took a step towards the trio as they approached the ship. "What happened?" He asked as he saw their expressions.
"James fucked up." Ghost shrugged. "We need to call Hopeless."
"Wait what?" Slippy asked as Ghost slipped in past him. James shoved him a little so he could crawl into the back of the ship and claim a chair.
"Dash killed himself, we have no other way of proving Corneria's corruption."
Slippy looked at Krystal who shrugged. He heard Ghost trying to hail Hopeless in the cockpit and James was silent behind him.
"Data never disappears." Slippy said after a moment. "Always a solution."
"What?" Krystal asked as Slippy mumbled to himself.
"The data is always somewhere. Dash couldn't have run his base without logging the information - money trails, emails, reports. It's all just data and data is never lost. We have remote server backups for everything. If this was truly a Cornerian enterprise then it runs to Cornerian standards."
"You fucking genius." James said excitedly. "The server backups!"
"Exactly." Slippy grinned. "If you can get me to the server room I can get the files. A data trail even Corneria can't erase."
"What about the armies?" Krystal asked.
"The software is installed, you just need a pilot."
"Still know how to fly?" Ghost asked.
"Of course." Krystal grinned.
"You two deal with the armies, I'll go with Slippy and get the data." James ordered.
Krystal immediately jumped into the pilot's seat with Ghost beside her co-piloting. Slippy quickly gathered the things he needed to get the server data and followed James out of the ship and back into the building. They pair stayed silent as James lead the way deep into the complex, down stairs after stairs. They didn't meet a single person - which Slippy was grateful for he was tired of bloodshed.
The server room was locked room with coded access and a fingerprint scan. James held his breath as he entered his old code and scanned his right thumb - hoping he still had clearance. He exhaled with a sigh of relief as the door hissed open and cool air rushed them. Slippy shuffled into the room ahead of James and headed for the nearest server tower, looking for access ports. He needed to check a further three towers before he found a port and with a little chuckle of victory he set up his datacore to download the information. James hovered awkwardly as Slippy typed furiously to bypass the firewalls and encryption. After a few silent minutes Slippy smiled and stood to face James.
"Now we wait." he said with a shrug.
"How long?"
"It's a lot of data." Slippy said looking back at his datacore. "It might take up to twenty minutes."
"Well, we better get comfortable." James said walking over to a server tower and sliding down it to sit comfortably.
Slippy paced for a while, mulling over the information that he had gathered since leaving Corneria. The information from James fell too conveniently into the gaps in the information he had already gleaned from working closely with numbers. He knew the money he had been getting exceeded the rational amount he should have been getting from the taxpayers. He knew that the odds of a resource low and population poor planet like Venom being a real war-threat were impossible without external aid. Slippy had always assumed that it had been some other planet - Kew or even Zoness that was supplying Venom with the resources. For it to be coming from his own planet, his father, it was a hard blow. He could understand where some of James's bitterness came from. Now that there was an end in sight, Slippy wondered what James had planned next.
"Do you ever think about life after this is all over?" Slippy asked breaking the silence and causing James to open his eyes briefly.
"No, I don't." James replied dismissively and closed his eyes again.
"Don't you think that's problematic?" Slippy asked looking over his shoulder at the vulpine.
"How so?"
"You run the risk of short-sightedness, don't you? All this plot and revenge – what for? Your son grew up without you and your wife is gone. Your friends now your enemies. You had to have an end goal?"
"Exposing Corneria was my end goal, using my life to make that possible is all I have been wanting since they left me on that planet." James replied stiffly.
"I don't believe you." Slippy snorted. "You mean to tell me you didn't once think of the son you left at home? You were angry for a long time before you started scheming this."
"Shouldn't you be concentrating on the download?" James growled.
"It's self-sufficient." Slippy shrugged and indicated the download's loading bar, easily ignoring the vulpine's annoyed replies. He was used to pushing people's buttons for information. "You must have wanted to get back to your son."
"Yes I did, at first." James confessed.
"What changed?" Slippy asked looking over at the vulpine again. James was quiet for a long while before he spoke. Slippy took this as a good sign. He was happy to make the vulpine think critically about himself.
"I lost hope." James replied in barely a whisper.
"Fair enough." Slippy nodded. "But now that you're almost done. What will you do?"
"Why the interest?" James asked, remembering his surroundings.
"I just I'm just naturally curious." Slippy shrugged. "It's important to always be calculating the next move when executing a plan this grand."
"You don't know whether to trust me?" James asked. "But you still follow my orders."
"I can see the logic in what we're doing now." Slippy replied softly. "But I don't trust you to remain logical, not after Krystal was brought to her knees with emotional overload."
"I think that had more to do with Fox than me. She did come with me after all." James shrugged. "And she goes by Kursed now."
"Don't imply you have more of a claim on her than me." Slippy snarled. "She was my friend before she was your employee!"
"How quickly logic fails to the will of emotion." James chuckled. "Not so easy is it?"
"Just because it isn't easy doesn't mean we shouldn't try." Slippy huffed.
"You remind me of your father."
"I don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing coming from you." Slippy replied with a twitch of a smile.
"I have no reason to hate Beltino." James said quickly. "He was trapped in an awful situation when Peppy came back to Corneria solo."
Slippy stayed quiet for a moment while he processed what he was feeling. James didn't blame Beltino – yet Slippy still had lingering feelings of frustration when he thought of the situation. Surely his father could have figured something out to get James back from Venom. There must have been a solution that didn't involve sentencing someone to a life of misery.
"I think I blame him. A little bit." Slippy confessed.
"For what? What happened to me?" James asked with sincere confusion.. "Why?"
"There is always a solution." Slippy replied firmly. "He raised me by that. There is always a solution if you are smart enough. He should have been smarter. It's not right that Fox grew up alone and became this horrible person that kills for sport and money. It all could have been prevented!"
"You waste your passion on this cause. Nothing could have prevented Fox or I turning out this way." James shook his head. "I have reserved myself to this life many years ago. No amount of logic or reason is going to find a way of fixing it. There is only revenge."
"Now that is problematic." Slippy mumbled.
James stayed silent from then on. Slippy raised too many questions that James had far too simple an answer for. 'He still thinks I'm likely to get out of this with my life and my freedom.' James chanced a wry grin as Slippy stopped to check his datacore. 'The innocent naiveté of scientists. You raised him perfectly Bel.'
After the discussion came to an end, there was only one thing left for the group to do - wait for the lockdown time to pass. The room didn't feel as large as it once did after hour seven, Katt and Falco had stopped their pacing. Katt was curled up with Falco's jacket as a pillow in a corner and had been sleeping for the past hour. Falco had exercised, meditated, planned his retirement speech, designed a new racer and thought of fifty new ways to outrun a battle cruiser in a dogfight before he realised - he was very bored. Pepper and Peppy had been talking in low tones and now played some word game on a pad of paper. Beltino was thoroughly occupied with his datapad and had been the only one yet to yawn. Tyronos and Fox had pulled a coffee table and two chairs to the corner farthest away from Peppy and Pepper and were comfortably playing a game on Ty's datapad. After Fox had lost too many times he became bored and Tyronos was left to play a game solo. After another hour, everyone in the room except for the pair were asleep.
Tyronos glanced over at Fox, the vulpine had his arms crossed and stared hard at the floor. "You look like someone stole your favorite toy." Tyronos chuckled before pulling a tin out of his pocket. "You know, you really ought to come to peace with what's happening."
"How?" Fox snapped, watching Tyronos light up his joint. "By smoking that shit?"
"Well, if it helps then go fucking nuts." Tyronos took a long drag and held in the smoke. "It certainly helps me and Ghost deal. But I meant more as in what kind of life you want."
Fox shrugged and shook his head. "I don't know."
"Let's see." Tyronos released the smoke with a practiced ease before resting the joint on top of his tin. "You as Fox McCloud obviously isn't going to work, but I feel like this Shattered persona of yours isn't one hundred percent what you want either."
"Why do I have to be anyone?" Fox asked bitterly.
"Ghost and I once had a friend who tried not to be anyone." Tyronos mused and watched the smoke curl around. "Worked okay enough for her until she got tangled up with us. But that's not a life you want Fox, it's lonely and sad."
"I'm used to that."
"Doesn't mean you should reserve yourself to it." Tyronos shook his head. "Even someone as damaged as Ghost knows she needs a home."
"Where is that?"
"For Ghost - it's people not places." Tyronos said in a exhale. "She clings to people that make her feel like she belongs and it works pretty well for her."
"So you're saying I need to find home in a person?"
"I'm saying you can't have a home until you decide to be a person. Home comes when you find something that fits you - if you're nothing, nothing can fit you. I see a lot of stuff in you Fox, too much for me to believe this pity party shit you have going on."
"Why do you care?"
"Well fuck Foxie, someone has to."
"Krystal does." Fox said softly.
"When then you're halfway home, aren't you?" Tyronos grinned.
Took January off for reasons. Should have Chapter 20 up later this month!
Colonol Whitefur is owned by ~generalwhitefur and is used with Permission.
Ghost is owned by ~KazilaKills and used with Permission.
Loden is owned by ~KazilaKills' other half and used with Permission.
In a reply to:
dajuanwilliams : Thanks! I'm glad you liked the chapter =)
Troygroomes: Yeah, I'm pretty sure Peppy showed his true colors in this chapter.
bryan mccloud: James is a 'great' negotiator Dash just happened to be mentally unstable.
Mr. U.N. Owen: I hope this chapter answered your question.
KazilaKills: You flatter me, and you also change your pen name was too often lol
Jeff: You know I have that same problem, focusing on those characters I mean. I'm glad to hear your thoughts on Tyronos and Chondra, and I've already passed on how you thought to ~KazilaKills. Please get a real account so we can thank you properly!
Guest: Ask, and you shall receive!