CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Family Ties

Grand Cornerian Airway

Hours until doomsday: 5

"You DO know how to drive a space fighter, right?" Marcus asked Peter as the Cornerian military came streaming into the airway. "I don't want you getting smacked around up there if you have no idea what you're doing."

"Of course, mate!" Peter replied. "How do you think I got to Macbeth and back in two days?"

Marcus smirked. He couldn't tell whether Peter was just bluffing or not, but he had no options left, so taking his word for it was his best bet.

About two hundred Cornerian soldiers came walking toward Marcus, Peppy, and the team. Peppy stepped up onto a podium. As soon as the soldiers saw him and the Star Fox team members standing there, their chattering stopped.

"Now obviously you're all wondering why you're here, so here are the facts." Peppy said to them. "At 200 local time two days ago, the Star Fox team uncovered an ancient relic that revealed that the soul of Andross' soul has somehow been transferred into the core of Corneria."

The soldiers started murmuring. Marcus could tell they were beginning to panic.

"We've also confirmed that his soul is severely affecting the planet's surface. If something is not done about it in a maximum five hours, the planet will self-destruct."

Even more murmuring, a few panics, and a lot of "Oh my God"s.

"However, the Star Fox team's technician, Chase Toad, has come up with a plan to prevent this apocalypse. Chase?"

Chase stepped forward and held out his pager. A giant diagram of Corneria appeared. A giant satellite appeared orbiting around it.

"As most of you know, the Beltino Orbital Gate orbits around the planet within a monthly basis. If I can use the warp link on the gate, I'll be able to open a wormhole leading to the planet's core. When the warp is open, a small number of fighters can be deployed through the warp to halt Andross' resurrection cycle before it finishes."

Anna came forward.

"But to unfortunate extremes, the Venomians have already caught wind of our plan and are advancing toward the gate as we speak. It is also clear that the warp can only be activated manually."

"….which makes us vulnerable." Peppy said. "Chase will link his Arwing to the gate and transfer the necessary data to open the wormhole, but it will take some time. We need all of you to keep the Venomians from damaging Chase's ship or the gate until the data transfer is complete."

Peppy looked around at the soldiers. They all stood up straight and had their arms to their sides. They were prepped for combat.

"This is do-or-die, time, soldiers. We can't fail now. The fate of our world is depending on you…all of you! Understood?!"

The soldiers, male and female, all saluted Peppy.

"SIR, YES, SIR!"

"LET'S MOVE OUT!"

The soldiers all broke off toward their ships. Peppy turned to the Star Fox team.

"I'm gonna be up there with you in my flagship." he said. "If this world's near to its end, I'm going to do whatever I can to stop it."

Falco smirked.

"You just never give in to your age, do you, gramps?" he asked.

Peppy chuckled.

"I guess retirement's just not in my books anymore. Besides, this old hare's still got some vigour left in his old bones."

Peppy jogged toward the large ship bearing the military symbol. Marcus turned to the team and nodded.

"Alright, gang!" he said. "Time to go up there and show 'em who's boss."

He put out his hand. Chase's put his hand on top, followed by Anna, then Falco, then Katt, then Damalgo. Marcus glanced at Peter, grinned, and cocked his head forward. Peter smiled and put his hand at the top of the heap. The seven broke.

"ROB, prepare the Great Fox for take-off." Marcus said into his wrist comm.

"Confirmed." Rob replied.

"Let's do this!" Falco shouted.

Peter jumped into a spare military ship while the team ran underneath the Great Fox and beamed up. The hundreds of military ships, Peppy's morphing flagship, the Great Fox, and the six Arwings (Damalgo had created one that he called the "Bonesetter", with a custom skeleton emblem painted on it) shot up into the atmosphere. Within in a minute, they could see the massive Beltino Orbital Gate floating slowly in an elliptical orbit around the planet.

"Your granddad built THAT?!" Peter asked.

"We Toads always had a knack for mechanics." Chase said with a smirk on his face.

Chase piloted his ship toward the satellite hook-up on the far side of the gate. He flipped a switch on his dashboard and extended two robotic arms from his ship, which then locked onto the hook-up.

"Data transfer's beginning." Chase said. "It should take about…"

"WARNING!WARNING!" ROB blared. "Venomian units detected!"

Sure enough, hundreds of Venomians units had appeared on the radar and were flying right towards the Cornerian Army's current location.

"Here we go again." Peppy grumbled.

Fifty of the enemy ships came streaking toward the gate, firing their lasers at full-auto.

"All ships, activate all-range mode." Marcus said.

The wings on every ship extended and shifted backward. Marcus swooped out of the way of a barrage of laser fire and rounded back after the fighters.

"Greyhound unit!" Peppy instructed. "Move forward to intercept the enemy! Retriever unit! Pull back and defend the gate!"

"Yes, sir!" shouted the Greyhound commander.

"Affirmative, General!" replied the Retriever commander.

One half of the Army U-turned back toward the gate. The rest of them shot out toward the incoming enemies.

"Let's show these punks how real men fight!" Falco shouted.

"What a time to be sexist, Falco." Anna said, raising one eyebrow.

"What else could I say?"

Peter boosted after a group of Venomians and laid his thumb down on the fire button. Lasers shot through the air and hit the enemy units with a powerful force. Right away, another enemy targeted him.

"Blast!" he growled. "I got some yak tailin' me!"

One of the few female Cornerian soldiers took notice of Peter's pursuer, locked on to it and shot it down with a charged shot.

Peter breathed a sigh of relief.

"Phew! Bye-bye, bogey…"

He got a glimpse of his rescuer and immediately went gaga.

"And hellooo, lady!" he finished with a chuckle.

The soldier rolled her eyes.
"There's time for that later." she said in a serious tone. "Keep an eye on your ass from now on."

With that, she darted back to assist the other soldiers. Peter frowned.

"Alright, fine. See if I care."

One of the younger soldiers was about to jet after another group of Venomians when his radar beeped. He got to a safe spot and then looked at it. A small dot had appeared on the south-western edge of the area and was heading right toward Marcus.

"Marcus!" he called. "Unidentified aircraft coming your way from the south side. Not a Venomian."

Peppy took a look at where the soldier had directed.

"Oh, no!" he moaned. "Star Wolf!"

As soon as Marcus heard "Star Wolf", he growled.

"That back-stabbing little bitch…"

"Did it have to be now?" Katt grumbled. "We're kinda booked already."

"Don't start whining. I'm on it." Marcus said.

He turned his ship toward the incoming vessel and flew toward it. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the person driving it was the absolute last person he wanted to see right then.

"Coyote, I told you SPECIFICALLY to stay out of my face!" Marcus yelled. "You better have a good reason for coming here!"

"I know you don't trust me, but I want to help!" Coyote said

"Pff! Yeah, right! You're just gonna pull off the same stunt you did two days ago! Don't you have better things to do than waste my time?!"

"If you mean help you save Corneria, then yes!"

Marcus didn't even begin to consider how she found out about that. She HAD helped him before (even though she stabbed him in the back later), and he was aware that she couldn't try anything sneaky right now with hundreds of Cornerian soldiers watching her.

"I don't even wanna know how you found out about that…but fine." he finally said.

"Thank you...so, are we friends again?"

"I said you could help. That doesn't mean I forgive you."

"...I'm sorry."

"It's too late for sorry. You had a choice, and you made the wrong decision. When this is over, you're going to leave and never come back."

Marcus didn't understand what Coyote had gone through to come help him, and now she knew he wouldn't listen. Hearing him talk to her like that made her want to fly away and start crying all over again, but she wasn't going to let millions of innocent people die. She'd do her part to help, whether Marcus liked it or not.

Coyote floored her ship's boost pedal and streaked after a group of enemies. Katt and Falco looped underneath the gate and blasted down three more enemies. Falco dropped, swerved to the left and looped over the enemy behind him.

"Aren't you finished that data transfer yet?!" he shouted.

"I'm working on it!" Chase replied. "This isn't as easy as it looks!"

"Oh, come on!" Katt said. "I bet I could do it faster than that!"

"Do you know how to hack past the firewall, hotwire the hard drive and reboot the system?"

"…never mind. Take your time. We're doin' fine."

Chase looked behind him. Three Venomian units were jetting right at him.

"Oh, crud! They're comin' right at me!"

Anna swooped in and hit the enemy swarm with a smart bomb.

"Phew! Thanks, Anne!"

"No problem, Chase." Anna replied coyly.

"Ooookaaaayyyyyy…what's wrong with just a quick 'You're welcome.'?"

Anna chuckled and rolled her eyes before swerving away again. Damalgo was still fresh with piloting, but already he had shot down three bogies before swooping between two lasers and taking down another one with a charged shot.

"Score one for the new home!" he cheered.

"Al, watch out!" Katt shouted. "There's one behind you!"

Damalgo hit the brakes. The Venomians crashed into him and went hurtling into another one. Since the Bonesetter was heavier than the other Arwings, it wasn't damaged too badly, but Damalgo was left a bit shaken.

"That wasn't right, was it?" he asked in a dazed voice.

"You're supposed to LOOP when they're on your tail!" Anna said.

"Gotcha. I'll get it next time."

Coyote noticed Anna and remembered what she had seen on the way back to Fortuna.

"I must be out of my mind." she thought.

She still took the chance. She swerved over to the Punk Rock-It and flew alongside it. Anna took one look at Coyote and began glaring at her.

"What the hell do you want?"

"You're Anna Grey, right?"

"Yeah. What's it to you?"

"There's something I've gotta tell you."

"Now?!"

"Yes, now!"

"Uhh, you know we're in the middle of a WAR here?!" Falco said. "Could you save it 'til later?"

"No, Lombardi, I can't, so mind your Ps and Qs. Anna, your dad had a younger sister, right?"

"Uhh…yeah. I think her name was Lori…I've never met her, though. What's she got to do with this?" Anna replied.

"She's my mother."

Marcus shook his head in disbelief. What did she just say?!

"Wha…what are you…how is that…huh?!" Anna sputtered.

"She ran away to Fortuna to find Wolf O'Donnell, who you all know is my dad."

"Okay…where's this going?" Chase asked.

"I'll make it short and sweet: They went out for a while, got married, and had a kid: me. Since they're married, that means Bill Grey is my uncle, thus making Wolf YOUR uncle. If that's so, what does that make me?"

Anna's mouth dropped open.

"You're…my COUSIN?!" she shrieked.

Marcus was just as shocked.

"Holy s***."

Anna meekly slumped into her seat with her eyes wide and her mouth still agape. The most catastrophic thing in her young life had just happened today: the girl who tried to kill Marcus was blood-related to her. Even worse, the galaxy's most wanted criminal was her uncle!

"This isn't happening…this is just some crazy dream…" she muttered.

Peppy was thrown off slightly to hear that his own granddaughter was related to Wolf O'Donnell, but that didn't keep him from using his flagship's massive cannons to shoot down ten enemy ships at once.

"Putting the…err…'family reunion' aside," Katt spoke up. "Can we fasten our heads on and actually DO WHAT WE CAME TO DO?!"

Peter swerved over to the right and was about send a smart bomb careening into a pack of enemies when he saw an end flickering to the south.

"Uh, mates?" he said. "I think somethin' BIG is headed our way."

Falco had a look.

"Hang tight, everyone!" he said in an alert tone. "Looks like enemy reinforcements have arrived!"

A wormhole opened at the place where Peter had seen the flickering. A large starship slowly came out of the warp before shooting three robots as large as Arwings into the warzone. The robots themselves were armed with large laser rifles.

"Don't party just yet, scum!" a thick voice with a Brooklyn accent said from inside one of the robots.

"Oh, great!" Marcus growled sarcastically. "That's what we need! More damn robots!"

"I'm guessing you can't analyze their shields right now, can you, Chase?" Anna asked.

"Sadly, yes." Chase grumbled. "Looks like you're gonna have to just guess when the thing's getting…"
"Got it." Damalgo suddenly said. "Shield gauges should be coming up right now."

Three energy bars appeared on Marcus' monitor. He was satisfied that SOMEONE knew what they were doing, but what was surprising about it was the fact that it had been Damalgo.

"Before you ask, ROB taught me how to do that." Damalgo said. "Trust me; it's not as hard as it looks."

Marcus was quick to notice a highlight on one of the energy bars.

"Uhh, why's this one highlighted?" he asked.

"The blue and yellow ones are actual robots. The highlighted one is the white one. That one's just a guy in a suit, but he has tougher armour."

"Alright! Let's take 'em down hard and fast!" Marcus ordered.

The yellow robot immediately spotted Chase connected to the gate and rocketed for him.

"Yellow one's comin' for me!" Chase yelled. "I need backup!"

Coyote and Marcus swooped in after the robot, but immediately got in sour moods when they saw each other.

"This one's mine, Mark." Coyote said.

"Like hell!" Marcus shouted. "I've got dibs!"

"I'm trying to help, and all of a sudden you won't let me?!"

"Don't try talking sense into ME, convict!"

"Convict?! I don't have a prison record!"
"You will if you don't get your ass outta my way!"
"Don't threaten me, or I'll claw you up like catnip!"

"With what? Your sour personality?"

"You son of a…"

"Hey!" Chase shouted. "Would you both just shut up and shoot that thing down already!"

Coyote and Marcus shook their cross moods out of their heads and zoomed after the robot. A loud beep came from inside Chase's ship. The robot was targeting him.

"He's kinda got a lock on me!" Chase screamed. "GET HIM BEFORE I GET SMOKED!"

Coyote fired a missile, and Marcus a smart bomb The two explosives slammed into the robot at full force and penetrated its metallic exoskeleton. It seemed to writhe around in suspension for a few moments before finally self-destructing.

"…good job, Mark." Coyote said, smiling slightly.

Marcus nearly smiled himself and congratulated her, too, but right away he remembered what she had done to him and got launched back into his sour mood.

"Bite me!" he snapped.

Coyote grew angry as well.

"Oh, goody." she said sarcastically. "You figured out the rest of my 'horrible scheme'. I'm so flattered."

"I oughta smack you upside the face, twerp!"

"Can't hit a girl, smart one!"

"Wanna bet, jailbait?!"

"Coffin jockey!"

"Filthy traitor!"

"Asshole!"

"DUMBASS!

"GOODY TWO-SHOES!"

"SATAN'S MISTRESS!"

That did it. Coyote's eyes filled with tears again, but this time out of total fury.

"Fine! See if I help you again, you jerk!" she shouted.

Coyote flew away to go help Anna. Marcus didn't feel even slightly sorry for what he had said.

"Serves ya right!" he shouted after her.

Just then, the blue robot dropped on top of the Iron Maiden and began repeatedly pummelling it with its titanium fists. Coyote saw that her ship was rapidly taking heavy damage from the robot's heavy punches. She looked over and saw that Marcus was the only one who could get to her in time. Even though she knew he was still mad at her, she also knew that he couldn't turn his back on someone in need.

She did what she had to do: she called for help.

"Mark! Help me!" she screamed.

Marcus wanted to do no such thing aster calling her so many rude names, but then again she HAD been the only girl he ever kissed.

But she tried to kill him! ….But she saved him, too….AND she listened to him when he needed someone to talk to.

"Please!" Coyote screamed. "Please!"

He made his decision. He was willing to let it go just this once. He floored his boost pedal and shot toward the blue robot. He flew underneath the Iron Maiden, slammed the ejector seat button, and catapulted up into the cold, empty space. As he neared the robot, he pulled out his staff. He seized the cyborg's head in one hand and used the staff to impale it with the other. The robot was now aware that something was attacking it. It reached up and made a grab at Marcus, who retaliated by pulling the staff back, leaping off the ship, and hitting the robot with the staff's Hyper Beam.

The beam collided with the robot and sent it hurtling into the enemy starship, where it exploded into several small pieces. Marcus landed back in his Arwing, shut the cockpit, and took in three deep breathes. Performing that kind of stunt out in open space was extremely dangerous. The air was warmer than it was in the Solar System (because the Lylat System had two suns instead of one), but an average Cornerian couldn't survive for more than a minute without any kind of support.

Coyote was one to know that, too. He saved her yet again. This time, he probably didn't care, but he had still gone on the edge to do it. But before she could speak, he said his reply.

"Don't think this means you're off the hook."

Coyote's ears drooped.

"I know…but thanks, anyway."

Marcus looked away. He couldn't stand to look at her when she was sad. He was still furious with her, but at the same time, that fury was mixed with pity.

"I shouldn't have been so mean to her…" he thought before boosting away.

The white robot, which was about twice as big as the other two, began flying after Peppy.

"Alright, old man!" the pilot shouted. "Let's see how long it takes me to break that fragile spine of yours!"

Peppy noticed the robot flying toward him at high speed and began firing at it with his ship's plasma cannon. The robot swiftly dodged the shots and aimed his laser rifle at its target.

"Dagnab it!" Peppy growled. "I can't get away!"

Katt dropped out of nowhere and zoomed toward the robot.

"Not on my watch, you rotten fleabag!" she shouted.

She activated her Mach 4 convertor and pummelled through the robot's right hand, sending the deflector shield flying away from him.

"You cocky little freak!" the pilot shouted. "I'll teach ya to screw around with me!"

The robot swung its left fist at Katt. She dropped out of the way and swerved away from the robot just as it aimed its laser rifle at her.

"Whoa, nelly!" she said, using a quick barrel roll to deflect the robot's blast.

Falco and Peter swooped in and began firing at the robot.

"Pickin' on the old man." Falco said. "Tsk, tsk. How cruel of you."

"Back where I came from, harmin' a lady was still an offense." Peter said smirking. "Or has that already changed with you scumbags?"

The robot turned and began shooting at the approaching two.

"You little pukes want some of this?!" the pilot mocked.

"See, the thing is that asking for pain guarantees you're gonna get it." Falco said.

He and Peter locked onto the robot and each launched charged shots. The robot, however, batted them away as though they were feathers.

"Oh, snap!" Falco said as the robot fired at him again. "Those charged shots ain't workin'!"

The robot suddenly focused on Marcus and began flying after him.

"He's behind you, Mark!" Peppy shouted. "Do a loop!"

Marcus looped over the robot and hit the left arm with a smart bomb, sending the laser rifle flying away. The pilot growled.

"Damn! This ain't happenin'!"

Right then, the robot flew off toward the starship that had ejected it. The robot landed on a small platform at the top of the starship and generated two more guns; one a missile launcher, and the other a plasma cannon.

"I'll take you guys out from the ship!" the pilot bellowed.

It began firing at the Cornerian fleet. Marcus and a few of the Cornerian soldiers tried to get in closer, but right then, several turrets produced from the starship's sides and began endlessly firing.

"General, there's too much gunfire!" one of the soldiers said. "We can't get close."

"Alright, we'll beat this punk at his own game, then!" Peppy said. "Divert all power to your main guns!"

Marcus fiddled with a few levers until the main power source in his Arwing was linked to the cannons.

"Guns are set!" he called.

"FIRE!" Peppy shouted.

Every ship (including Peppy's ship and the Great Fox) fired powerful energy beams that tore through the starship like paper. When a large amount of them had hit the fuel reserve, the starship exploded, taking the robot with it.

"AaaaaaaaaAAAAHHHHH!" the pilot screamed.

When the massive explosion had cleared, the starship was just pieces of metal and debris floating around the air.

"ROB, anymore bogies out there?" Marcus asked.

"Negative." ROB replied. "Vicinity cleared of all Venomian units."

"Well, I'VE got some more good news for ya." Chase said. "The data transfer's finished."

"About bloody time!" Peter grumbled.

"Alright, buddy." Marcus said. "Activate the wormhole!"

Chase pressed a few buttons and began to remotely control the gate.

"Zypher Ring now expanding and relocating."

A large ring on the far side of the gate turned toward the planet and expanded.

"Main re-block disengaged."

The ring grew a small pair of crosshairs and focused down on a spot on the planet.

"Commencing energy exposure."

Three small probes flew out and locked onto the sides of the ring and sent three beams surging into the center.

"Expanding gate lens."

A large gun-like object turned toward the ring and shot a small beam through it. The beam itself surged down to the spot that the ring had locked onto. Chase's monitor beeped. He smiled.

"Gate creation successful. No malfunctions detected"

Marcus checked the time. The whole battle had eaten up one hour. They only had four hours left.

"Alright, team." he said. "Strap in and buckle down. We're heading in!"

Suddenly, an alarm from ROB's side of the comm blared loudly.

"CODE RED! CODE RED!" ROB blared. "Venomian fleet entering northern planet hemisphere at 45 degrees north, 30 degrees west! Attack commencing in T-minus two minutes!"

"Son of a bitch!" Falco shouted. "They're attacking the city!"

Marcus was even more shocked about what coordinates ROB had stated.

"No…" he whispered.

Without warning, Marcus slammed the boost pedal and began flying back to Corneria as fast as he could.

"Where the hell are you going?!" Katt shouted after him. "You can't go down there by yourself!"

"I have to!" Marcus shouted back.

"What?! Why?!" Anna called.

"THEY'RE GOING AFTER MOM AND DAD!"

...well, that ain't good.

Getting closer and closer to the end it looks like. I think I'll include a little surprise for you guys following Chapter 30...becaue I can, really. And for those of you who were surprised that Coyote and Anna are related...did it really come as that much of a surprise? Not to sound like a dick, but i did kinda make it blatantly obvious. Ah, whatever. What's done is done. See ya guys later!