Chapter 3: The Hands of Fate
(The Great Fox Bridge)
"Wait. General. What the heck are you talking about!? Rival ANDROSS!? I don't think that's possible." Fox exclaimed.
"It's true, Fox. Lately, we've been informed that terrorist attacks have been occurring in nearly all areas of Lylat." the General explained.
"What!? How can that be? This is the first I've heard of it!" Fox said, shocked to hear such devastating news.
"That's it, Fox. We've been keeping this information under wraps because, the terrorists, their identities, they were normal citizens, many of them never had any marks on record, not even a traffic ticket."
"Ok, General, tell us the real reason you called us here. This has to be a joke" Falco said, assuming that the General was trying to pull something on them.
"It's no joke, Falco. We've got contacts telling us that there are even members of the group within Corneria. We need you, Team StarFox, to learn the identities of this group. We need to know their names, their objectives, and their means. We've got several of them in custody. Come to my office and I'll brief you further there. General Pepper, over and out." the General finished, his holographic head disappearing in a blink of light.
"Sounds serious. We better be ready for this group. Ok, everyone get set and ready, we're heading for the Cornerian Command Building in five minutes, gather what you need and head for the door." Peppy instructed.
"What could be causing this, Fox?" Krystal asked, concern resonating in her eyes.
"I don't know, but whatever it is, I'm going to stop it. I can't let innocent people get hurt, I said I wouldn't." Fox returned, showing the determination in his eyes to Krystal.
"And I'll be there to help you." Krystal said, smiling in his direction.
"Thanks Krystal, I know I'll need everyone's help with this."
"Hey, you two. Are you coming or not!?" Falco said, his head in the doorway.
"Ugh."
"Coming Falco." Krystal said for Fox. "Come on, Fox, let's go."
"Fine."
Fox went to his room. It was a simple enough room, bed, drawer, closet, and a shower/bathroom off to the right. He pulled his backpack out of his closet, put it on his bed, and stuffed it with the essentials he always brought on a mission: A medical kit, a blaster, his translator, a water bottle, and several different types of dehydrated food for rations. His provisions set, he went for the door. As he passed his drawer, he noticed something shimmering, reflecting the ceiling lights. He went over to it, it was the StarFox Emblem, the one he had received all those years ago. One side was slightly glossier than the other. As he remembered why it was, a wave of pride washed over him. He picked it up and placed it in his shirt pocket.
"Who knows, it might come in handy again."
(Outside the Cornerian Hangars)
"Alright, team, time to head out." Peppy said, leading the rest of the group.
"Gotcha, Gramps"
The team started down the sidewalk, heading towards the Cornerian Command Building. The building was several blocks away from the hangars. It took another five minutes for the team to reach the building.
Once inside, the team marveled at the interior of the building. It was still exciting to see the building in all of its grandeur. The lobby, reaching up to two stories, resembled that of a hotel. Many different animals could be seen walking in and out of the different portals on the upper floors. At the front of the entrance was the reception desk. Behind it, sat 3 animals, a dog, a bear, and a lynx. The dog was the first to greet them. She had a wireless earpiece around her left ear, and she smelled of paper that was just recently printed. She greeted the team with a gleaming smile.
"Ah, Team StarFox, we've been expecting you. The General said you'd be coming about right now. You know the protocol." she turned around. "Horstann, please escort Team StarFox up to the General, please."
As soon as she asked, the bear stood up.
"Of course, please, Team StarFox, follow me if you would." the bear said in a gentle voice, leading the team behind the reception desk to the elevators behind them. The bear took the card hanging around his neck and swiped it down the card slot, then pushed the up button on the elevator. In seconds the elevator came down, opening up for the team and Horstann. They all stepped on, and Horstann entered the floor number for General Pepper's room. The elevator door closed, pulling up immediately.
As the elevator went up, another animal entered the building. It was a husky, and it wore a hat and an overcoat, which was odd, considering it was the middle of summer on Corneria. Both the hat and overcoat were green. A noticeable part of the coat was an insignia, depicting a yellow-hand, with an open eye in the center, that sat upon the right part of the chest. The husky walked up to the front desk and was greeted by the dog.
"Good morning, sir. Do you have an appointment here today?" the dog asked, flashing her brilliantly white teeth again.
"I'd…like to see General Pepper." the husky muttered.
"Sorry, he's in a meeting at the moment. If you could show me your identification, I can tell him you came by." the dog asked, ready to type in the needed information on her computer.
"I said I'd…like to…see the General." the husky repeated, adding a certain sternness to his voice.
"I told you, sir, he's in a meeting. But I can-"
"I WANT TO SEE THE GENERAL!!!"
(Inside the elevator)
The crew stood in the large elevator, which was slightly crowded now due to the large stature of Horstann. As they elevator climbed steadily upward, Horstann's gentle voice piped up.
"It is good to see the StarFox Team alive and well. I really appreciate what you do for us on such frequent occasions. I am truly in your debt." Horstann said, sounding as if he would bow any second, which consequently, would result in Falco's face being pressed up against the wall.
"Well, we do our best." Fox said modestly.
"No, really, there's much that is owed is to you. If anytime you ever require assistance and it within my jurisdiction, please, do not hesitate to ask." Horstann offered.
The elevator then dinged. The doors opened. They had reached floor 56, General Pepper's Offices.
"Here is where I take my leave. I wish you luck in whatever it is the General asks of you, Team StarFox." Horstann excused as the team filed out of the elevator. The door closed, Horstann's large face beaming as the door shut completely. The light above the elevator showing what floor he was on as it descended steadily.
"He was quite polite." Krystal said as the team walked down the hallway towards the General's office.
"I haven't seen him here before, he must be new." Peppy said, racing through his memory to see if he recognized Horstann's face.
"Well, here we are." Fox said, stopping in front of the door labeled 'General Pepper'.
Fox knocked on the door, waiting for a response.
"Yes? Who is it?" a voice behind the door asked.
"Team StarFox, General." Fox announced.
"Ah, yes, come on in."
Fox opened the door and the group filed in. General Pepper sat in a high-back chair, a large window showing the Cornerian Skyscrapers behind him. He was facing the window, but turned around when he heard the team enter.
"Team StarFox, thank you for coming so quickly." the General began.
"No problem, General. So, about that briefing…" Fox jumped to the point.
"Yes, of course. As I told you before, we have several of the terrorists in custody. We'd like you, Fox, to question one of them to see if you can find out what he knows about their organization." the General said, tossing a file onto the desk. "His name is Anthony Cooper. Worked as a salesman for one of the companies that are on Katina. Recently blew up a military base on Katina using Class-3 explosive charges. Nothing on his record before this. We have no idea why he did what he did or how he obtained those charges. We need you to interrogate him as soon as possible."
"Of course, General." Fox said, saluting.
"Good, take this elevator down to the holding chambers." the General said, inputting a couple of key presses on his desk. An elevator appeared in the wall to the right. "Good Luck, Fox."
"Thanks, General."
The team filed into this new elevator. As it went down, the team was silent. An air of apprehension hung in the air. The elevator opened and the team entered into the holding area. There were several glass windows down a long hallway, showing blank, square rooms, each containing a different animal behind its surface. Cornerian Soldiers stood at the entrance to each holding cell. When they reached the door with Anthony Cooper upon the door, Fox moved to enter.
"Take this, Mr. McCloud." the nearby soldier offered, giving Fox an earpiece. "It's to communicate with us out here."
"Thank you." Fox replied as he opened the door fully.
"Be careful, Fox. We're right outside here if you need us." Krystal reminded him.
"Thanks, Krystal." Fox said and closed the door behind him.
(Cornerian Command Main Lobby)
Horstann waited patiently as the elevator descended. Going back to work was something he didn't quite look forward to.
"Paperwork, paperwork, and more paperwork." Horstann sighed.
When the elevator door opened, however, he was greeted by an unnatural silence. Most of the time, animals could be seen wandering every inch of the building. Horstann could still see animals, but they were just standing there. Cautious about his predicament, Horstann slowly approached behind the reception desk, extending his head out slightly. He saw a clothed animal reaching his arm out at an animal at the desk. When he peered out further, he saw Kim, the dog, and Mordecai, the Lynx, with their hands raised, a look of fear upon their faces. When he looked at the animal's arm, he saw a blaster, with his finger trembling on the trigger.
"I know…the layout of the…building. I know…in order…to see the General, I need a key…card. Now, give…me…the KEYCARD!!!" the animal yelled, raising the blaster up to Kim's head. She flinched, and reached below the table. She pushed a button, activating the speaker connecting to General Pepper's office.
"General, there's a…AN INTRUDER IN THE BUILDING, CALL FOR HE-" Kim screamed into the speaker, until the husky blew out the speaker.
"NOOOO!!! NOW YOU DIE!!!" the husky yelled, raising the blaster back up to Kim's head, pulling the trigger.
"NOO!!!" Mordecai roared, diving over the desk counter, reaching for the blaster, only to have the blaster point at him and blast him through the chest, leaving him to drop to the ground, limp.
"MORDECAI!!!" Kim shrieked.
Horstann took this opportunity to bum-rush the intruder. He ran out from behind the desk and ran headlong into the intruder, knocking them both to the ground, the blaster falling out of the husky's hand. The two continued to struggle on the ground, Horstann punching the husky in the face. All the husky did was laugh. Horstann then struggled to his feet, lifting the husky up at the same time, then he tossed him into the wall, off to the left. The husky hit the wall with a thud, and fell to the ground. Horstann, gasping for air, walked over to the reclining husky, to see if he still posed a threat. When Horstann was only a couple of feet away from the intruder, he jumped back to life, laughing. He opened his coat to reveal a bomb secured to his body.
"We may not have gotten what we wanted, but we will get our message across! The Hands of Lylat will soon take over!" the husky yelled.
Horstann, seeing the bomb, began running in the opposite direction.
"MOVE!!! EVERYBODY MOVE!!!! GET DOWN!!!!!!!!!!!" Horstann yelled at the on-looking animals.
At that moment, the husky detonated the bomb, sending Horstann up in the air, smacking against the opposite wall. All of the windows in the room shattered, the shards of glass cascading to the ground in the firestorm of destruction.
(The Holding Cells)
Fox entered the room and took a seat at the lone table in the room. He sat opposite a retriever, who nervously glanced back and forth at his unfamiliar surroundings, unsure of his predicament.
"Are you Anthony Cooper?" Fox began.
The retriever focused on Fox. "Y-yes."
"Do you know why you're here?"
"N-no. All I remember was being in a bar, then I remembering things going black, like I was falling asleep, but I didn't feel sleepy. Now I wake up here. Wh-where am I?" the retriever continued, resuming his nervous glances.
"You're on Corneria, apparently you've been involved in some acts of terrorism as of late." Fox informed Anthony.
"Corneria!? TERRORISM!? I don't know what you're talking about."
"It says on your file that you just recently blew up the Katinan High Fields Point Military Base. You used Class-3 explosive charges to damage the main infrastructure of the base. Now how did you go about doing this?" Fox asked.
"WHAT!? I don't know what you're talking about! I told you what I did remember, I was at the town bar, blacked out, then woke up here!" the retriever insisted.
"Why were you at the bar, meeting someone there?" Fox asked.
"No, my wife divorced me recently, about a week ago, May third." the husky informed Fox.
Now Fox looked puzzled. "May third? It's July eighteenth, Anthony."
"That can't be…I remember clearly, it was on the news! I remember it said that the stocks dropped on May third! I wouldn't dare forget!" the retriever said in a confused manner.
"One second please." Fox said as he turned around, his hand covering his mouth. "Krystal, are you reading anything on this guy?"
"Nothing, Fox, he's telling you the truth. His brain waves aren't fluctuating." Krystal informed Fox.
Suddenly, a message came from an intercom on the wall. General Pepper's face appeared instantly, a look of concern on his face.
"Soldiers, get up to the first floor lobby now! We have a situation!!" the General yelled.
The soldiers followed the orders immediately, entering into the elevators.
"A situation?" Slippy asked.
Falco, intrigued by this new message, started making his way towards the elevators.
"I'm gonna go check this out. You guys stay here. I'll be right back." Falco said, dashing down the hallway.
"FALCO! Wait! Ugh, he's gone." Peppy sighed.
"Keep going, Fox, you're doing good." Krystal reassured Fox in a shaky voice, concerned about Falco's leave.
"So the last thing you remember doing was over two months ago?" Fox asked, getting back on topic.
"Yes, if it really is July eighteenth, oh, what did I do to deserve this!?"the retriever asked. "First my wife, and my kids, probably my job, and now my TIME!?"
At that moment, the whole holding cell shook. Outside in hallway shook as well, causing the lights on the ceiling to sway back and forth.
The retriever suddenly turned very pale, then he started shuddering.
"FOX!!! SOMETHING'S ATTACKING HIS MIND!!! HE'S NOT HIMSELF ANYMORE!!!" Krystal yelled into the intercom.
"Ah, yes the plan has been set into action. The die has been cast. The hands of fate are being moved by the Hands of Lylat. Soon all will be in the palms of our hands!" Anthony yelled out, a blank look in his eye. He shuddered again, and fainted.
Fox left the room immediately, instructing the remaining soldiers to look after the fainted retriever.
"What just happened?" he asked as he met up with the others.
"I don't know. But, I'm worried about Falco…" Peppy said, worrying what possible situation the avian could be in at the moment.
(General Pepper's Office)
The General reclined in his high-back chair as he saw the elevator doors close and begin to descend. He sighed as he contemplated the current events of his unnatural predicament. He picked up two of the files on his desk, each explaining a different event that had been brought to his attention.
"Aircraft hangar demolished on Titania. Cornerian Supply Route raided near Fichina…what is the reason for these attacks?" the General asked himself. "Hopefully, Fox can get something out of Cooper…"
As the General was lost in thought, a communication link opened to the reception desk.
"General, there's a…AN INTRUDER IN THE BUILDING, CALL FOR HE-" was all the General heard before he heard the sound of a blaster fire, then static.
"AN INTRUDER!? The General switched his communications link to the lower levels.
"Soldiers, get up to the first floor lobby now! We have a situation!!" the General ordered. He waited a few moments then proceeded to his own elevator and went to the lobby.
(Holding cell elevator)
Falco was waiting for the door to open, apprehension gripping his mind. He was standing amongst the soldiers, who were also apprehensive about a "situation" occurring right here on Corneria.
"Come on, damn elevator! Move faster!" Was all Falco could think as he impatiently began tapping his foot.
When the doors finally opened, all of the soldiers rushed out. Falco went out alongside them. The lobby looked normal, and Falco could see Horstann. He was slightly ragged and was running towards the opposite wall, yelling something. Falco looked down to see what exactly he was running from. He saw a limp body on the ground. The lower torso seemed paralyzed, but the upper part was shaking. He looked up at the animal's head, it was laughing. He had his coat open. What Falco saw on the animal's body made his eyes dilate.
"Son of a b-" Falco gasped out as he was sent flying backwards into the wall.
As Falco was sailing backwards, he saw the soldiers in front of him fall over in slow-motion, as if the whole scene was being shown to him in a demented clip-show. The whole lobby was tinted a dark red color, and chunks of debris could be seen flying into the air. Falco hit the wall behind him and fell unconscious.
(Holding cell elevator #2)
The remainder of Team StarFox rode the elevator up, each one of them concerned about the blast they heard earlier.
"What could have caused that noise?" Slippy asked.
"I don't know, but you said Falco went up before the explosion?" Fox asked instead.
"Yes, he went up after the General gave out a message to the soldiers about an incident occurring in the lobby." Krystal informed Fox.
"That doesn't sound too good." Fox concluded. "Let's just hope Falco wasn't there when that thing went off."
(The General's Elevator)
"Now we're getting attacked here!?" Those creatures think they can get away with attacking our stronghold!? They've got another thing coming if that's what they think." the General incited himself.
He watched the numbers above the elevator doors, a light shining behind each number as the elevator went down. 6…5…4…3…2…
"Here we are." the General said.
Just as the light was about to shine on the one, the whole elevator shuddered, causing it to rock back and forth in its shaft. Suddenly, the lights inside the large elevator, blinked, then went out.
"What in the name of Corneria is going on!?" the General yelled.
He waited a couple of moments, and when it became apparent that nothing was going to happen, the General took out his blaster.
"Try and keep me in here, will you? JUST TRY!!!" the General yelled, aiming his blaster at the bottom of the door.
The General shot several shots at the door, tearing away tiny little parts of the metal with each shot. Finally, the metal door gave way, creating a small hole that led out into the elevator shaft.
"Time for the hard-part."
The General knelt down to the hole he created and shoved his fingers into it. He started pulling off to one side, struggling intensely to get an effect out of the doors. After a while, the door finally squeaked slightly, sliding two centimeters to the right. The General relaxed his grip and sat upon the ground.
"Accursed door…open!" the General panted. The General began to think of an easier way to open the door. He checked his person for a sturdy object. He found nothing.
"Oh well, guess I better use this." the General concluded, taking the point of his blaster and shoved it into the gap. He pushed on the handle, the door creaking even more than before.
"Come on, blaster, hold…" the General encouraged.
The door creaked more and more, sliding inch by inch, until it finally slid it a reasonable gap.
"Time to get out of here."
The General looked down the shaft to see the door. The door to the lobby was a few inches away, except it was closed. Luckily, the General knew of a fail-safe button located on the inside of each floor-elevator door. The General looked down the gap further. He saw a dark expanse open below him, leading down to the building's basement floors.
"Better not slip." the General said to himself.
He swung his legs down into the gap in the elevator door. He counted to three, then on three, shoved himself into the door of the first floor. He grasped the side of the door, his feet barely fitting on the edge of the door alcove. The General immediately reached for the button on the side. The moment the door opened the General fell onto the ground of the lobby.
He looked around at the lobby. There were several fires going on around the whole room. There were chunks of rocks lying scattered on the ground before him. He looked forward to see the body of a large animal lying on the ground. To his right were the other elevators, with a couple of bodies strewn the ground before them. Standing next to those bodies was a figure standing there. When the General focused his vision, he saw the figure standing there to be Peppy.
"Peppy, what happened here?" the General asked, getting to his feet.
(Holding cell elevator #2)
As the elevator reached the first floor, the team ran out immediately into the lobby. What they saw shocked them. The once extravagant lobby was now demolished, its lavish decorations now ablaze and falling apart. Before them, they saw the soldiers that had rushed out of the holding area.
"Where's Falco?" Slippy asked, looking around.
When Slippy looked to the right of their elevator, he saw Falco lying upon the ground.
"AAAGHH!!!! FALCO!!!!" Slippy said, rushing over to Falco's body.
The whole team rushed over to their teammate.
"Hey, Falco! Are you alright!? WAKE UP!!" Fox yelled at Falco, violently shaking his shoulders. After a couple seconds, Falco jerked awake, the back of his head throbbing.
"Ow, that frickin' hurt." Falco said, putting his hand on the back of his head.
"Oh, thank goodness." Peppy said looking around at the rest of the room now. "Now that Falco is safe, let's look for survivors and bring them over here. Krystal and Fox, you two take care of that. Slippy, find some fire extinguishers and take care of those fires. I'll look over everyone over here." Peppy instructed.
"Right." everyone said, going to their duties.
"Hey, Gramps…what about me?" Falco said, attempting to get to his feet.
"What!? Are you serious!? You were just knocked unconscious, you're lucky to be alive!"
"So. I think I'll help Slippy take care of those fires." Falco said, going towards the nearest fire extinguishers and headed towards the fires.
"Ugh, fine." Peppy said as Krystal pulled over the unconscious body of a soldier.
After several minutes, the team had extinguished most of the fires and collected a majority of the bodies. They found Kim, panicked but uninjured. They took her and the heavily breathing Mordecai over to Peppy.
"He was shot by a blaster." Fox told Peppy. "He needs medical attention now, he was bleeding a lot but it's mainly stopped now since Kim here cleaned him up."
"Ok then. I'll get my medical kit out. You keep getting people over here." Peppy assured Fox. He took the medical kit out of his backpack and started treating the blaster wound.
"Is he going to be alright?" Kim asked, sitting next to Mordecai.
"Yeah, it looks like he'll make it. He might not've had you not helped him." Peppy said, using a wet cloth to clean the remaining blood from around the wound.
"Oh, that's good, he saved me from being killed." Kim said.
"Then this guy right here's a hero." Peppy said, taking out bandages and beginning to wrap them around Mordecai's torso. "Could you hold him up?"
Kim did as instructed and Peppy wrapped up Mordecai. When Peppy had nearly finished, he heard his name called from behind him.
"Peppy, what happened here?"
Peppy turned around and saw General Pepper coming over to him.
"General, I'm not sure, we were in the holding area when we heard an explosion. Fox interrogated Cooper, but he just fainted after the explosion. We came up here and saw all of this." Peppy explained.
"There was an intruder, General." Kim said. "He said he wanted to see you, but then when I told you on the intercom, he got angry. Horstann, he got the upper-hand on him while he was distracted, and then an explosion went off while I couldn't see. OH NO!! WHERE'S HORSTANN!?"
"Don't worry, he's over here." Falco said as he and Fox carried Horstann over to the corner. "He's burned in some parts, and pretty bruised, but he'll live."
"General, I…took care of…the intruder." Horstann coughed as Fox and Falco set him on the floor.
"Good job, Horstann." the General thanked.
"He said something…before…before he activated the explosive. It was about something, like the 'Hands of Lylat' I think." Horstann said, remembering the speech the husky gave.
"Hands of Lylat? That's what Cooper said down in the holding cell." Fox informed the General.
"What exactly did he say?" Peppy asked.
"He said that 'The hands of fate are being moved by the Hands of Lylat. Soon everything will be theirs.' something like that." Fox said.
"Sounds like your interrogation went successful then." the General said. "This whole incident has something to do with these 'Hands of Lylat'. We'll look into this right away. In the meantime, finish cleaning up the damage. Kim call for the authorities."
"Ok." everyone said as they went off to do their jobs.
Outside the Command building, there stood two lone figures, standing in an alleyway. They wore the same jackets as the husky, the yellow-hand with the eye imprinted on the right.
"Message sent." one animal said into a communicator, looking at the fires that could be seen through the window. People were already gathered outside the range of the debris, and the authorities had just arrived.
"Good." said a voice from into the communicator. "Return back to base, now."
The two animals in the alleyway smiled malicious smiles, and turned and walked further into the alleyway.
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Author's Notes: Terrorism!!! The General can still kick ass!!! Time jumps!!! Action abounds!!! This chapter was fun to write, considering I got to do those point-of-view timeline parts again. The enemy is mobilizing. I'll probably get another chapter out soon, it's the weekend after all. I hope this picks up more fans soon, it'll get more intense later on.
Review Board:
- paranoidsocialclub 2008-11-21 . chapter 2
Great chapter again! you never cease to amaze me. I need to convince my bro to add this to his C2.
Thanks, glad to see I have a fan now. Go ahead and talk to your bro, I could use more reviews. Thanks for your input. :]
Only one review? Come on people. Hopefully this chapter impresses some more people…