Malice: Journey of Scarr Ruddlocke

[Guest Para Astaroth]

Prologue:  Who I Am

I'll remember it like it was only yesterday:  seeing my parents fend for themselves against the Sporakian... and merging an alliance with Corneria.  Then, saving countless lives against an Aparoid invasion.  Doing all this isn't hard... but most people know that it isn't.  I've made numerous attempts to make an agreement with the Cornerian fleet to lend me a ship to return to my home planet... but they won't hear of it.  So, I'm stranded here on Corneria, with no alternate to return home, and trying to fit in with them.  Sometimes they're polite as can be, but the same can't be said to outcasters...  I'm considered as one, but I don't know why they have to be so prejudice towards me..  I just DON'T understand!

But, I do have a living in helping them as much as I can.  Soon, I think they will start to get accustomed to having me saving them so much that they will soon turn to me all the time for help... but I can't always do it, so I just stand back and if the situation gets a little out of hand, THEN that's when I'll step in.

[Guest Julius Quasar]

Cool!  I like it!

[Guest Para Astaroth]

Chapter 1:  Planet D' Sorphis

My home planet, D' Sorphis.  Home to the world renowned heros from countless systems, coming there to have their chances at becoming a warrior like myself.  I haven't been there since my parents forcefully shipped me out of the planet due to a Civil War with the Sporakians, the War Race.  When I was about thirty miles into the sky, I saw something that I will never forget as long as I live;  the Sporakians launching their Airial Nuke Strike onto the location of my parents, and that includes thousands of more warriors.  I don't know if my relatives were there, but I only saw my mother and father... no one else.  I've thought that I was the only one that survived the assault, but I have my doubts.

I drifted in space for what seemed like weeks, until a Cornerian Juggernaught ship flew by on patrol and sent one of it's Scouters to come and investigate.  That's when it connected a cable to my pod and it pulled me all the way into the massive flagship.  I looked around and saw several marines and soldiers walking around on patrol and some waiting as they saw my pod being hailed it.  The ship came to a halt and I the pod was slowly, but gently, set down.  A few soldiers came near the pod, guns aimed at it, and my pod door unlocked it's supports.  Steam started to flow out as the door slid open, and I got up walked out, hands rose up.  Some looked at each other and then lowered their weapons.  One soldier turned and issued a few protocols to someone, but he was speaking so quietly that I could barely make out what he was saying.  "I need for you to follow me, sir." He said.

As we walked down a massive hall with soldiers walking by and some running, I heard commands over the intercoms to have some soldiers report to another deck.  Then as we went down hall after and door through door, we came to an elevator and we went up a few stories, until we came to the Main Deck and walked in.  I could see numerous people working and several guards keeping tabbs.  Then, I followed him to a walkway that lead up to the Colonel's chamber, and the door shut behind me.  He turned and put his hand out.  "Hello, Stranger!"  he said.  "My name is Peppy Hare.  General of all the Cornerian fleet.  May I ask what's yours?"

I stood there for a second, then I gripped his hand.  "My name is Scarr Ruddlocke."  I stammered out.  We then loosened our grips and he walked up to his monitor with his hands folded behind his back and stopped.  "Do you know the Venomian Army, Scarr?"  He asked turning to me.  I looked off and thought for a second.  Where have I heard that from?  It sounds so familiar, but I can't recall where I know.  "It rings a bell, but I have no clue, sir."  I answered.  He then turned fully to me and walked up to me.  "They are the sworn enemy to the Lylat System and we are to use extreme measures if they are to get out of hand."  He turned back to his monitor.  "They're currently stationed at a Supply Depot off of the Sargasso Asteroid field.  Our sources tell us they are staging an ambush and possibly a war, so we are ready for any situation they oppose to us."  I looked at the guard who was still guarding the door and he just nodded to me.  I looked back at Peppy and he was staring at the monitor watching what was going on, so I walked up beside him and looked at what he was watching.  It had numerous red dots stationary at a base.

"Have you heard of the Star Fox Team, before I ask for your permission?"  he asked.  I looked at him and I told him I've never heard of him and he looked back at me like I was some kind of animal.  "Well, that's Inconceiveable.  Well, I'll tell you the tale of them."  He walked back to his seat and sat down.  "The Star Fox Team was once a heroic team that fought off the Venomian Army numerous times, and I was part of both teams."  He stopped him and asked there were two Star Fox Teams and he aknowledged it.  "The first consisted of James McCloud, Pigma Dengar, and myself.  James was soon set up by Pigma and died at the hands of Andross, the once leader of Venom.  Pigma soon disbanded from Star Fox and then joined Star Wolf, a squadron of mercenaries hired by Andross to take down the new Star Fox team."  He paused.  "The Star Fox Team then reassembled and allianced with three new members:  Fox McCloud, James' son, Falco Lombardi, and Slippy Toad, Beltino Toad's son.  I remained with the Star Fox Team as long as I could, and after a few years of flying with them, I retired and they hired a new squadmate.  Her name was Krystal."

Memories came back to the day I was introduced to a blue young blue vixen named Krystal.  I was very young at the time, so I don't remember much from that day.  I came to my senses when he finished his story.  "... and so I retired, fully, from Star Fox and took General Pepper's spot at General of the Cornerian Army."  He then stood up and came to my side.  "Scarr, we are in need of some experienced pilots and know their ways in battle, so I'm asking if you could assist us in battling the Venomian if they launched their assault."  I nodded in agreement.  "I would be more the glad to help, sir!"  He stood straight and then saluted.  "Thank you for your time, Scarr Ruddlocke.  We will see each other soon!"  I saluted back and the guard escorted me out of his chamber.  I stopped and ran back.  "But WAIT!!  I don't have a ship."  I told him.  He chuckled somewhat and then patted me on the shoulder.  "Don't worry.  We already have a dropship set for whatever needs necessary pop up.  You're good to go to land where ever you feel.  How's Corneria sound?"  I lowered my head and then looked back up at him.  "Is it safe there?  Will there be anyone out to kill me if I make a living there?"  I asked.  "Only if you're wanted, then that's when you will have to worry.  But, Corneria is a well-suited place for a person such as yourself.  I'm sure you would LOVE it there!  Now, off you go."

I followed the guard down the massive halls, again, and down the elevator.  No sooner than we walked out the elevator, red lights started to flash and VERY loud alarms went off.  Over the intercom came the announcer, "ALL PERSONAL!  REPORT TO YOUR SHIPS!  THIS IS NOT A DRILL!!  I REPEAT:  THIS IS NOT A DRILL!!  THE VENOMIAN FLEET IS IMBOUND ON OUR POSITION!!  REPORT TO YOUR BATTLE STATIONS IMMEDIATELY!!  The guard turned to me.  "Seems like we'll have to cut your little ride short! Follow me!  We have some spare ships for you to use!"  We then strided out to a full sprint as I followed him to numerous decks of ships.  Row by row, ships were launched out.  The roar of the engines as they left were among the loudest I've heard in years, until we came to a deck with soldiers still getting into theirs.  He pointed to one that was almost to the far right and I jumped in.  I almost knew what I was doing as I started up the ship.  Lights, schimatics, everything came up and I turned everything online. 

I looked over at the pilots to my left and right and they both nodded and saluted me.  I saluted back and I gripped the handles.  I smirked as I got ready to launch.  A light at the far right was still red...  then it 'booped' loud and went to yellow... my heart started to race as I waited for the green... and then it went green, and before I knew it, A loud clang was heard, and I'm being held back from a massive G-Force as I was launched in formation with the other Cornerian Fighters out in space.

[Guest Julius Quasar]

cool...nice job!

[evilwaffles]

0.o

Very n0ice, keep up the good work dude. :yes:

[Guest Para Astaroth]

Chapter 2:  New Alliance

The ships roared as we were launched out.  We probably flew a total of 20 miles at the least and then had caught up with the other fighters.  A screen came up and General Peppy's voice chimed in.  "The fleet has amassed in the Delta Four Sector!  Sgt. Thomas, you take your group and fan out to the left to cut them off.  Lt. Makenhour and Lt. Runinhise, take your groups and advance to the squadron ahead of you."  I looked over and saw the pilot to my left aknowledge his command, and I knew that HE had to have been one of the luitenants.  I turned my focus back in front of me and gripped the handles as I waited for the word.  "Sgt.  Konraid, you take the last groups coming in and flank the right side.  Everyone, strike!  NOW!"  After saying this, our ships started increasing speed and then we spread out.  I looked to my left and saw the squadron above me turn sideways and veered off to the left, as did the squadron to my right.  I looked behind me and saw that some of the ships veered to the left and some to the right, but the main squadron stayed down center;  I was with the second squadron in the center.

"You ready for this, Scarr?  I hope you know how to handle a Cornerian fighter.  Some newcomers don't usually fully understand the extent to the fighters' capacities and end up getting shot down."  The General told me, only speaking to me through a single channel.  "Yes, sir, I know how to fly one of these.  I've flone several ships before, but only when I desperately needed them."  I gripped the handles more.  "I won't let your fleet down...  Count on that!"  He chuckled over the intercom.  "You remind me so much of James' son, Fox.  Goodluck, Scarr!  And Godspeed be with you."  "Thank you, sir."  The transmission ended and our ships kept a steady pace as we advanced further into the asteroid fields. 

"Keep your whitts about you, men!  They can be anywhere amoung this asteroid field!  Keep your eyes peeled for any rogue ships flying amoung us and keep tabbs on your radar screens!"  One of the luitenants chimed in.  I looked down at my radar, but no red dots came up.  "None so far, sir!"  I responded.  Some others agreed with me and we continued on.  Then, out of no where, one of the ships above  me exploded and veered off.  "I'M HIT!!!  BOGIES DOWN FRONT!!!"  the hit pilot said.  We looked down at our radars and then a wall of red dots slowly appeared.  "QUICKLY!!! ATTACK IN FORMATION 'V' ALPHA!!!  PUNCH DOWN CENTER AND BREAK OFF!!!"  The Lt. yelled through his intercom.  The groups, including my own, veered up in formation and we punched it down the center.  We were going so fast, my cockpit started to shake and rumble, plus the roar of the engines in front and beside me grew louder as we increased speed.  We were about half way when the ships pulled off in different directions.  I peeled off downwards, spiraling back up and coming face to face with other fighters.  "SCARR!  BOGEY ON YOUR SIX!!"  I heard one of the pilots yell to me and a red laser shot rang by my cockpit.  I took a hard G-turn to the left and veered over on of the flagships and under a small frigate.  The ship behind me still tailed me and I punched the throttle and started taking wild twists and turns around the fleet.  Then, I went behind the flagship and did a loop around the tail of it and remerged behind the ship that was chasing me.  I heard a beep and a robotic voice came through.  "TARGET LOCKED!!"  I pulled the triggers and the laser shots flew out and the ship exploded.  I veered left to avoid the exploding debris and started back to help the other fighters.

I was pushing the ship's throttle nearly to the max when I saw several of the Cornerian Fighters explode from being chased.  I took another hard G-turn to the right and followed a Venomian fighter as it tailed a Cornerian fighter.  It shot a few lasers shots, but the Cornerian evaded the rounds just barely.  I lined my ship up with it's and the voice chimed back:  "TARGET LOCKED!!"  I fired several shots, some missing, then a round sabotaged the right engine, causing a small explosion and the external gases extinguishing.  It then veered off course and stared spiraling out of the battlefield and then it exploded down below the fight.  "Thanks, Scarr!  I owe ya one!"  The pilot I saved chimed through my communicator.  "Don't mention it.  Just don't make me have to do that again!  Understand?"  I told him while shooting out more Venomian fighters.  He chuckled through his communicator and said, "You won't have to worry about that, man!"  I snickered and fended off the raid. 

As soon as the Cornerian Juggernaught flagship approached our position, General Peppy chimed through our intercoms, "ALL UNITS!  REGROUP INTO FORMATION OMEGA DELTA!!"  I had no clue until he sent me a message through the ship's database and showed how it would look.  It showed most of the ships line up behind each other in the Delta 'V' formation and then break off into a into separate groups and formed large circular squads.  After I read the message and the ships started forming in the Delta 'V', I got into my position and waited for the word.  Lt. Makenhour chimed through, "MY SQUAD!!!  LAUNCH!!!"  I punched the throttle and we went straight forward, heading into the Venomian fleet's path, and then peeled off to the right and formed up into a circle.  I looked over below me and saw that other ships were doing the same exact thing, but going in different directions.

"General Peppy, sir!  All ships are in correct formation!  Awaiting your orders!"  One of the Luitenants chimed in.  "Good.  All frigates and flagships!  Fall in behind the fighters and await my orders!"  The General chimed in.  No sooner than he signed off, I heard this massive rumbling and roaring, and turned around to see about twenty frigates slowly stopping behind the fighters, and about ten flagships lining up all around us.  I looked around at the ships and marveled at it as they stopped behind us.  In all, there were probably a hundred and thirty fighters, twenty frigates and ten flagships with spare ships on each, and one Juggernaught flagship.  It's possibly the biggest fleet I've seen in ages since the start of the Sporakian/D' Sorphis Civil War.

Then out of nowhere, the Venomian's sent out more frigates, and this time, a massive flagship that towered even the Cornerian's Juggernaught!  I just stared there, loosening my grip on the handles, and just sat there as it's massive engines roared through the gateportal.  Then, everything went silent as we sat there and waited for a response.  It seemed like hours as I looked over at some of the pilots near me and below me looking over at their fellow teammates and asking questions.  Then, someone chimed through, "Hey, there, buddy!  How you doing?"  he said.  I knew off the bat that it HAD to have been the guard from earlier.  "I'm doing ok, minus the fact that there's a HUMUNGOUS planetary flagship in front of us about to decimate this entire fleet."  He laughed over his intercom.  "haha... Don't worry, the Cornerians have dealt with far worse ships than this.  This just a one of many Leading Flagships they have.  Their size may be daunting, but their exterior hull is EXTREMELY fragile.  One shot from a smart bomb and you could create a crater sized hole in that spot.  Problem is, it has so much armor that it would take us awhile to penetrate it, and then storm in, plant a bomb on the ship's engine core, then escape."  I asked, "How long does that generally take you guys to do all that?"  He paused for a second and then chuckled as he responded back, "About a good two to four hours."  "WWHHHAAAATTTTTTTT????????!!!!!!!"  I yelled back.  "Hey, whoa, no need to yell!  A ship that size is bound to take some time to destroy, depending on how experienced you are."  I asked him how long would it have taken if the pilot was experienced enough to do the job.  "Estimateddd....mmmmm... I'd say about twenty minutes at the least." He responded.  "That's STILL too long!  The Venomians would have time to strike back if it took that long!"  I retaliated.  "But that would ex-out one of their major Leading Flagships.  So, don't worry about it."  I aknowledge him and we signed off. 

"Ok, men, the Venomians are NOT, I repeat NOT negotiating peacefully and we are to exterminate the fleet!  Leave no room for remorse, just show them what the Cornerians can--"  He was about to finish when two ships flew in and chimed in, "HEY!! Don't have all the fun without me, guys!"  He said.  "And don't minus me out, Todd..."  She muttered back to him.  "Oh, sorry, babe!  Don't have all the fun without Lola and I!  We won't a piece of the action!"  "That's a bit better, hun."  She chimed back. 

The fight was about to begin.  The Cornerian Fleet, along with two fellow Cornerian pilots, along with myself, against the Venomian Fleet.  We outnumbered them a hundred and sixty, plus spare ships, to a hundred and two, along with a massive Leading Flagship.  "Ahhh, Todd and Lola!  Nice to meet you two again!"  The General pleasantly told them.  "Heh, thanks General!"  Todd chimed back.  "The pleasure is all mine, sir."  Lola giggled back.  "Now then, Cornerians, and D' Sorphian!  ATTAAAAAACKKKK!!!!"  At ordering this, our ships punched the throttle, and we were off!

[Guest Julius Quasar]

LOVE IT!!!  Cool, dude!  Thanks for including Todd and Lola! (sorry for not reading this earlier, I was RP'ing, and just now remembered to read this newest chapter)

[evilwaffles]

Interesting to say the least, keep it up.

[Guest Para Astaroth]

Chapter 3:  Honor Among A Warrior

Our ships floored it;  roaring as the engines pushed as far as they could have gone, and then lining up with each other.  The Omega Delta formation slowly broke up into standard lines.  "ALL UNITS BREAK OFF AND ENGAGE ON SIGHT!!!"  The General ordered us.  "Todd!! You and Lola, plus your new backup, Scarr, punch it down center and take out as many frigates as you can so our Juggernaught can get a clear shot at their Leading Flagship!"  "Roger that!"  Todd confirmed.  "Affirmative, General!"  Lola agreed.  "Yes sir, General Peppy!"  I aknowledged, staying in a line with Todd and Lola.  The other ships flipped their ships sideways and teared off, scattering among the other Venomian fighters that had been sent out from the other flagships. 

As soon as we lined ourselves up along side each other,  our ships were in formation;  Todd in the center, Lola to his left, and myself to his right.  Todd and Lola's monitors popped up onto my screen.  "Hey, kid!  Where you from?"  He asked.  "Now, Todd, that's not the way to treat a newcomer!"  Lola snapped at him.  I chuckled and replied: "No, he's fine.  I'm from D' Sorphis.  A planet off a few thousand miles from this system.  I was picked up in my emergency--"  "Sorry to cut it short, kid, but get ready!  HERE THEY COOOOMMMMEEE!!"  Todd yelled.  Ships then flew over, below, and pasted us as they went and intercepted the Cornerian fighters.  Todd's ship then increased speed and Lola's did the same.  "Cover us from the rear, kid!  We'll go in and take out as many as we can!"  He told me as Lola and him punched the throttle.  "Be careful out there, hun!  We're counting on you to cover our backs!"  She also told me.  "You can count on me!  Just make sure you get this over and done with!"  I replied.  I slammed on the brakes and saw three fighters fly over me and I let go of the brakes and increased speed.  "SCARR!!! WHERE ARE YOU???  BOGIES ON OUR--"  "I'M RIGHT BEHIND THEM!!!! JUST DON'T WORRY ABOUT THEM!  I'LL HANDLE IT!!!"  I yelled back.  Todd, along with Lola and the Venomians tailing them, started dipping under ships and around the sides of them, but I stayed RIGHT behind them;  Following where ever they went.  I lined myself with the two behind the one in front and the robotic voice chimed in:  "TARGET LOCKED!!!"  I fired several laser shots, hitting one on the right wing and the other in the left engine.  They then spun into each other and exploding, forcing me to risk flying through the debris.  I flew through the debris and continued my pursuit with the last fighter.

"SCARR!!! WE'LL PEEL OFF AND LET YOU TAKE HIM ON YOURSELF!  GOT THAT?"  Lola told me.  I sent a confirmation signal to them, and as soon as they recieved it, Todd did a hard G-Turn to the left and Lola did the same to the right.  The ship stopped and went to turn but was hit by my laser shots.  The lasers slammed into the cockpit and into the engines, causing it to explode in it's tracks.  Todd and Lola flew to the frigates in the Juggernaught's line of fire, and disappeared inside.  I went into the one in front of me when the latch to the side opened and the Venomian fighters flew out.  Before the door shut, I shot a bomb out at the door, creating a hole in the side, and I flew inside.  Ships were stationed on their decks while some were being pulled out and placed onto launching padds and flew down the runways.  I kept a steady pace with the ship and continued down the runway while the other ships were lowered.  I nearly crashed into one that was being lowered, and I increased my pace whenever it broke free of the machine's grip and took off after me.

I zipped through the corridors, through holes, and emerged in a core that had electricity flowing everywhere.  I continued to race around the core as the ship behind me shot at me.  I did a quick U-Turn, turned to the left, leveled my plane out, and fired a smart bomb at the core.  It whistled as it soared towards it and struck the core.  A blinding light emitted, causing me to go blind for a second and regain my sight.  I hammered the throttle as the ship became to rumble and huge chunks of the ship began to fall off and explode.  As soon as I left the core, that ship was behind me... AGAIN.  I couldn't manuver my ship because of the small space on the runway, and so my ship was vulnerable to the Venomian's laser shots.  I heard the alarms in my ship go off and I looked down at the screen and saw that my ship had a lock-on.  I looked around frantically for an escape route, but there wasn't any.  Chunks of the frigate began to fall and errupt as interior parts exploded.  Then, my ship was hit by several laser rounds and I looked at the screen.

"SHIELDS REDUCED TO SIXTY-FIVE PERCENT!"  The robotic voice chimed in.  I saw the hole, but then my ship rocked violently when I was struck, again, and heard a loud explosion.  I looked back down at the screen and saw that my left engine had been shot.  "LEFT ENGINE DISABLED!!  SHIELDS REDUCED TO TWENTY-FIVE PERCENT!  HULL INTEGRETY:  FIFTY-FIVE PERCENT OF SHIP OFFLINE!  SEEK REPAIRS IMMEDIATELY!!"  The ship then started to rock around and I struggled to keep control as I veered the ship as best as I could towards the hole.  I started yelling at the top of my lungs as I pulled the ship towards the opening, making the engines roar loudly, and my right wing was torn off and the ship started to tail-spin violently out of the ship.  I held onto what support I had left.  "SHIELDS DEPLETED!!!  HULL INTEGRETY AT MAXIMUM CAPACITY!!!  CRITICAL MASS:  IMMINENT!!!"  I started to press buttons randomly and the ship's alarm blared faster.  "5...4...3...2...1..." 

...After that, I saw a blinding light and an extremely loud explosion...  I don't remember anything after that.

[Guest Julius Quasar]

So far, so good!

:yes:

[Guest Para Astaroth]

Depending on how dull minded I am after school, I'll get home at about 4:30, 4:45'ish, but I may go jogging since my Rec soccer league is starting soon.

[evilwaffles]

Nice chapter, keep it coming.

[rainfyre66]

This is pretty good, you write the flight and battle scenes well, very exciting!

[Guest Para Astaroth]

Chapter 4:  Requiem

I remember floating around in space, hearing dulled, and ships rapidly racing by me, laser shots flying by, and Cornerians and Venomian ships exploding.  Although I somehow managed to get out alive, I slowly looked down at what I was left in and slumped my head back.  The windows were cracked from the explosion and parts of my clothes had been burnt off, shards of the interior were floating around, and my body floated only centimeters from the seat.  Hearing was still dulled out, but I could just barely hear someone calling out to me when I looked back down at the control panel.  It was Todd and Lola calling out to me.. but I couldn't reply because the blast took nearly all the breath out of me, and minus the fact that I survived, my body was too exhausted to respond.  I could still barely hear people's voices as I just stared off into space in what was left of my ship and watched as the remaining frigates were destroyed and the Cornerians focused their fire on the Leading Flagship.

I watched as much as I could of the fight and then blacked out.  It seemed like hours had passed and I woke up seeing other ships slowly flying by and amongst the debris were the ships of Todd, Lola, and other ships... they looked like they were part of a special team... but I couldn't make out what they were.  They were scattered about, zipping through large debris after huge debris.  I tried to force myself to move and I could barely pull myself forward.  I had to reach the distress button and send out a signal for them to pinpoint my location, but I slowly made my way to the control panel.  I looked around and saw a red button and the message read:  "In case of emergency, press and Search Team will be dispatched."  I pressed the button and my body stopped responding after that.  I looked up only briefly and saw that the tip of my ship was flashing a red light and some of the ships stopped and zoomed to my location.  I saw Todd's monitor come up and he was right at the screen saying something... but I just lowered my head, and blacked back out.

I awoke being hailed into a flagship, but this one was a lot smaller than the Juggernaught.  I was lowered down and the release hatch opened.  Todd leaned over and grabbed my arm, along with an orange furred fox, and helped pull me out.  They put me under their arms and dragged me to an elevator with the other squadmates... I still could barely hear them.  When we got to the elevator and the doors shut, my hearing came to and I looked around at them.  Todd was under my left arm, the orange fox was under my right, a blue bird to his right, a todd out to the left, a blue vixen right beside the orange fox, and Lola scanning my body for any internal injuries, and the door slid open.  "Ok, slowly... we need to get him to a bed and set him down."  Todd said.  "Are you sure he's going to be ok?"  The toad asked.  "He doesn't look like he's in any shape to be doing anything for awhile, Fox."  The blue vixen exclaimed.  "Yeah, I know.  He looks pretty beaten up from his encounter with the Venomians."  The orange fox, probably named Fox, agreed.  He looked over at Todd, "Hey, do you know this guy by any chance?"  "Not really, but judging by how General Peppy responded to this guy's ship blowing up, he's a good guy."  He said, looking back at Fox.  "Well, we'll see if he is when we get him fixed up and put his drapes back on, huh."  The bird said.  "Shut it, Falco!"  Lola snapped at him.  "Hey, we don't clearly know this guy!  How do we know if he'll turn on us at the last second, huh?  How do you know he just helped the Cornerians just to set them up?"  He retaliated. 

The blue vixen stopped him, "You have no right to think that just yet, Falco!  And how do we know that you're secretly helping him?"  Fox stopped and the rest of them did so.  "Alright, ENOUGH, you two!  Just drop the subject and let's get this guy to a medical bay soon."  They remained silent after that and we came to a room and the door slid open.  There was a glass chamber and they set me down inside and attached wires and put a face mask on me, and they closed the chamber.  It started to fill up with water and soon the whole chamber was filled up.  I opened my eyes to see Fox and Falco leave, along with the toad.  I looked down and saw that Todd, Lola, and the blue vixen were standing at the chamber and staring up at me.  Todd and Lola left, but the vixen stayed and stared up at me.  I stared back and she came up to the chamber and put her hand to it.  "I know you can here me in there.  I'm speaking through to you telepathically, and I just want to have a full insight on who you are.  I, and probably the whole team, does not want to have an outcast on our ship and not know anything about them, so I'll be the first to know and tell them."  I put my hand to the glass and nodded my head to her.  She smiled and she asked, "Let's start off with your name, shall we?  Mine name is Krystal.  What's yours?" 

Hours pasted and the team came and retrieved her.  She told me that we would continue our conversation later and that she would promise to let everyone know that I meant no harm.  I slowly went into a trance as memories flashed back to seeing that familiar face before...  I swore I have seen her before, but it's probably been whenever I was just a child back on D' Sorphis... YEAH, it was!  I remember being introduced to her and her just being shy and hiding behind her parents' legs.  I just looked back up at my parents and asked them something, but it's been so long back I can't remember word for word what I said.  Then, after that flashback ended, the moments before I was sent off D' Sorphis came to.  Following my parents as my fellow warriors doing their best to shoot out the Sporakian fighters only to be shot back at.  Debris, dirt, a lot of stuff flew up in our way as we ran as fast as we could.  Ships were steadily being shipped off in the docking bay there was only one ship left and my parents hailed me in.  "GOODLUCK, SCARR!"  My father yelled through the door.  My mother put her hand to the window, "WE LOVE YOU, AND WE'LL SEE YOU SOON, HUN!"  "WILL I SEE YOU GUYS AGAIN???"  I yelled back.  "YES, SON!  YOU WILL!  I PROMISE!"  My father replied back as a D' Sorphian soldier pulled them away from the door.  The ship hummed, then rumbled and launched off the pad.  I didn't leave the window as I watched my parents wave at me from the ground and I waved back.  Before I reached the clouds, a huge missile flew over our ship and divebombed towards the ground.  I watched as the nuke increased speed and whistling towards the ground... and seeing the blinding flash, and the ground be abliterated with a large shockwave, along with an enormous mushroom cloud.  I barely remember much after that since I went into a blind rage and tried to escape, but was held down by the guards inside.  I snapped to and looked around.  The team was standing in front of the chamber, a bit worried, and I looked around.  The blue vixen had her hand against the glass, head lowered, and eyes closed.  She then backed up from the glass and nodded to Todd, who walked up to the control panel and pressed a few buttons, and the water level inside the chamber started decreasing. 

The water drained fully and I was kneeling over, recollecting myself.  The door slid open and Todd put his hand to my shoulder, "Hey, buddy.  You ok?"  He whispered.  I looked up just slightly.  "Yeah...  I.. I'm just fine."  He patted my shoulder and walked back out, as I rose to my feet.  Lola walked in and helped take off the wires strapped to me and I took off the face mask.  She grasped my arm just slightly, and walked out.  I stepped out, and looked around.  "You feeling fine now, Scarr?"  Fox asked.  I looked back at him and nodded, "Yes.  Very much so!"  He walked over to me and extended his hand to me.  "Hi, I'm Fox McCloud.  Leader of the Star Fox Team.  Welcome aboard!"  I shook his hand and he introduced me to everyone.  He pointed to the toad first, "This is our engineer and techy, Slippy Toad."  "Hiya, Scarr!"  He replied waving at me.  I chuckled and waved back.  "This is our ace pilot, Falco Lombardi."  "Don't touch my drape, and we're just fine."  He told me.  We all chuckled and Fox continued.  "This is our newest recruit, Krystal.  I'm sure you know her from the conversation you two had a few hours ago."  "Fox, I'm pretty sure AND positive he already knows." she muttered to him.  "The pleasures all mine, Scarr!"  She said in calm tone.  "He then pointed to Todd and Lola.  "Those two are part of another team helping Team Star Fox.  The team they're affiliated with is named 'Nebulae Fox'"  He told me.  "Todd sent me a message saying that the Cornerian fleet he was helping were losing men fast and that he needed some of our assisstance."  He looked over at Todd.  "He also told us that General Peppy had another recruit that helped defeat the Venomians, and so we accepted to come and aid them... and search for you after he told us that your ship hit Critical Mass."  Flashbacks of the ship blowing up pierced my vision.  I turned my head slightly when seeing it.  I shook it off and he motioned to me and tooke me aside.  "What happened to your planet?  Krystal told us all about it, but she couldn't make out what you saw since your thoughts were in such a blurr."  He whispered to me.  "Mind telling me, or is it too personal to describe?  I won't pressure you if you don't want to talk about it."  I looked at the team and then back at him.  "It's best if I keep it to myself.  It's something that I have to live with EVERY DAY of my life...  as well as she does."  I whispered back and pointing to blue vixen, Krystal.  "You mean, Krystal, right?  She hasn't told us that much about her past, but it may be linked to yours.  You've both lost your parents in some way, as did I, but you know we have to put those aside."  I felt a bit offended by this, but I knew he was right for his word.  So, I just nodded and he walked back to his team.  When he took them aside and spoke to them, I looked over at them, and just walked out.  I walked down the hall and didn't care where I went.

I was stopped whenever I felt someone watching me, and I looked over my shoulder and saw them standing outside the door.  "Leaving so soon, Scarr?  Weren't you going to come with us to General Peppy's meeting?"  Fox asked, half yelling down the hall.  I turned around and walked back.  "What meeting?"  I asked.  "General Peppy has invited us to come to Corneria's HQ for a special meeting.  He didn't go into detail about why, but he wants us to meet him and the army there."  He then patted my shoulder.  "And he wants you to come as well."  I looked back at him and smirked at him.  "Sure, I'll come along."  He smiled back at me and looked at his teammates, "Well, guess we better get moving, huh, Team?"  "But, Fox!  He doesn't have a ship to pilot.  What are we going to lend him?"  Krystal asked.  "That's right!  His ship was shot down whenever he left one of the frigates."  Lola chimed in.  Fox looked at them and then thought for a second.  "ROB, do we have a spare ship in the docking bay?"  ROB's voice came through, "AFFIRMATIVE!  IT IS LOCATED IN DOCKING BAY BETA!"  He looked back at me, along with the team, and he nodded.  "Well, get dressed and we'll meet you in a couple of hours!"  He said to me.  He motioned to a room and told me that it was my room, for now, and to get dressed in there.  They would get dressed themselves and then head out.

I entered the room and saw that my clothes had been redone, design and everything, and folded neatly onto the bed.  I saw a not and picked it up and it read: 

"I saw that your clothes were nearly torn apart, and so I took the liberty and making you another one. 

Hope you like it,

~Krystal" 

I folded the note and put it on the table and picked up the coat and looked at myself in the mirror.  It had a silver design with a few red stripes on the arms, and a D' Sorphian Element Warrior symbol on the side... that's what stood out the most to me.. and I put it on.  I smiled as I clenched parts of the coat and looked at myself.  "So...  I guess she DOES remember me back in the day... And our formal glory symbol."  I said to myself, thinking back when I first met Krystal.

[Guest Julius Quasar]

COOOOOLLLLL!  :yes: :yes: :yes:

[evilwaffles]

Nice work, keep this going, I am enjoying it.

[Guest Para Astaroth]

Chapter 5:  Heroism Within

I snapped to when I heard someone knocking on the door to the room I was in.  "Hey, Scarr!  You finished yet?"  Todd asked on the other side.  "We're going to head on down to Corneria and meet up with General Peppy!  See you there!"  "Alright!  See you soon!"  I turned around and walked to the bed and put on the pants that were folded up.  They were silver toned with two red striped going down the side of my legs and with a kneepads attached to it.  I put on the gloves that were under the pants.  They were cut-off fingered gloves with a square cut out on the back palm side.  I slid on the metal boots they lended me and I looked at myself in the mirror, smirking while I did so. 

Spiffy clothes..  I thought, turning around and looking at my back and looking at the front of my body at the mirror.  I'm surprised that she fully remembered the design and layout of our flight uniforms.  I looked down at the stripes on the coat and touched them.  I straightened the coat out, patted my pants down, and tightened them up with a belt I saw lying around.  I walked out and proceeded to Docking Bay Beta.  I looked at the directions on the wall near the elevator the team went down and saw that Docking Bay Beta was to my right and down another elevator.  I walked down the hall a few paces and came to an elevator at the end of the hall.  I pressed the button and it lit up, with a AI voice coming through:  "Elevator comencing.  Please remain calm as the elevator down to Docking Bay Beta approaches.  ETA to arrival:  one minute."  I snickered at the 'calm down' part, thinking that some of the members had to have put that in the program if one of them had to leave in a rush.  The elevator door opened and the voice chimed in:  "Elevator has arrived.  Welcome to the Main Deck!"  I pressed the button that pointed to DB, probably meaning 'Docking Bay', the door slid closed, and the voice chimed back in:  "Commencing to Docking Bay.  Relax and enjoy your ride."  I rolled my eyes at the bogis response and rested against the wall of the elevator.

I looked around and decided to ask the AI if it was respondable.  "Uhhh... Excuse me, but can you hear me?"  No response.  I asked again, and a chime came through.  I looked around and then asked another question:  "How much longer do I have before the meeting starts?"  There was some silence in between the interval of time and the AI chimed back, "One hour, thirty minutes, twenty seconds and counting."  "How far down at the surface is the Star Fox Team?"  Another silent interval.  "Approximately one thousand, two hundred miles out."  I sat back against the wall and thanked it.  It chimed back and there was silence through the remaining trip.  The windows opened and the docking bay slowly appeared.  It was more bigger than the original Docking Bay, and I saw two ships docked.  The elevator stopped and the door opened.  "Elevator has arrived.  Welcome to Docking Bay Beta!"  I walked out and walked to the left ship.  It's hatch opened automatically, I don't know why, and I jumped into the cockpit.  I pressed the buttons that blipped up and the ship's cockpit hatch sealed up.  The ship's lights came on, the engines fired up, and the Docking Bay hatch slowly opened, blowing smoke out as it opened up.  "LIFT LOCK RELEASED!"  ROB's voice came through, and my ship jerked down and the locks slowly slid back away from my ship.  "LAUNCHING SHIP 'A'"  The same clang, and G-Force that held me down back on the Juggernaught came back and I was launched back out into space.

There was a waypoint that was set and I followed it while watching the Star Fox Team's flagship slowly get smaller as I sped away from it.  I looked back around and saw the team hit the atmosphere, ships turning into fireballs while entering it, and then veering forwards.  I kept a constant speed and began to slowly enter the planet's gravitational pull.  My cockpit started to rumble and shake as the ship increased speed and velocity.  I looked down at the nose of the ship and saw a small red spark, and the ship formed into a red fireball, and I pulled up and flew down behind the team.  They must have saw me coming on their radars, because when I began to follow up behind them, they increased their ship's speed and we disappeared into the clouds.

I tailed Todd's and Lola's ships into the clouds and we stayed in formation for about twenty minutes before nose-diving downwards.  "Everyone:  Follow my ship and we should be in Cornerian City in no time!"  Fox said, as our ships rocketed downwards out of the clouds.  My ship was shaking a little, and I looked slightly up and saw Fox's ship, along with Falco's, Slippy's, and Krystal's, soar down towards the waves, and started flying straight towards the city.  I pulled my handles back a little hard, and my ship leveled down and in postion with the others, and causing waves to form a half tunnel around our ships as we pushed the throttle.  "So, Scarr.  Like your new clothes?"  Krystal asked, bringing up her monitor to mine and looking at me.  "I love them!  I appreciate what you did for me.  Means a lot!"  I told her and she giggled a little.  "hehe, you're welcome."  Fox's communicator blipped up in the middle of the Monitor with Krystal in it and her spoke to us:  "We should be nearing Cornerian city shortly.  Stay in formation and let's make our landing as heroric as possible, team!"  We all aknowledged him and Krystal's monitor blipped off, along with Fox's communicator. 

We were about two minutes out, and the horizon showed land appearing off in the distance, and we all started cheering.  "Ok, Team, PUNCH IT!!!"  Fox ordered, and we floored our ships, increasing to about four hundred and thirty knots and kept that pace.  We started to see smoke rise up in the sky, and we all started to get a bad feeling that this wasn't going to be a pleasant meeting, and we increased our ships velocity.  We started to see more and more of Cornerian City... and the whole place was coming apart:  Buildings being destroyed, ships being shot out of the sky, and explosions happening everywhere.  Then, General Peppy's monitor came up and he was more terrified than I've ever seen him, and the whole place he was in was blinking red and siren was going off.  "TEAM STARFOX!!!??  Thank GOODNESS you're here!!!"  He said, letting go of the monitor.  "General, what happened here??!!!"  Fox asked, his tone changing to disbelief.  "We were anonymously attacked by the insectoid race we told you earlier about named the 'Aparoids', and one of our flagships was attacked by a small Aparoid virus and it spread throughout the ship, infecting all the crew, and disabling the ship's controls.  It then tumbled down towards Cornerian City, and crashed into the ocean, sending out fragments of the infected parts in the wave to Corneria City."  Krystal's communicator popped up and she was without words.  "...my god... This is horrible!!!"  She said.  "Fox!  We HAVE to do something!"  Todd chimed in.  "I KNOW!! Alright, Krystal, Falco, and Slippy, you're with me!! Todd!! Lola and Scarr are yours!  EVERYONE SPLIT UP!!!"  Fox ordered to us.  I hammered the throttle, turning my ship sideways, and followed Lola's ship, who was RIGHT behind Todd.  We started to take manuvers in and out of buildings, and came to a clearing and saw a person wrapped with parts of his clothing over his face killing most of the Aparoids.

I peeled off away from Todd and Lola's group and Todd's monitor came up:  "SCARR!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING???!!!"  I turned off the monitor and soared over one of the buildings that happened to still be standing, and landed on top it.  The hatch opened up and I jumped out.  I heard a loud 'BBOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM', and saw that smoke had arisen to the other building next to me, and when it cleared, I then realized who it was.

"Shirrage...?"  I stammered out.

[Guest Julius Quasar]

SWEET!

[Guest Julius Quasar]

Sorry for the DP, but I just finished reading this (I would've read it earlier, but I had to run some errands for my stupid parents)...awesome story!  Great Job!

[evilwaffles]

Nice chapter, keep it going dude. :P

[Guest Para Astaroth]

(Time to get back to Scarr  )

Chapter 6:  Saving Odds

Shirrage slowly rose to his feet and drew his sword out; emitting a bright orange color, representing his Omnar fire element.  He looked up and then towards me and waved over at me, while I kept my eyes on him.  "COUSIN!!! GLAD TO SEE YOU'VE MADE IT AS WELL!!!"

I snapped to my senses and waved back, acknowledging him.  He leaped over to my side, and hopped several steps before turning to me and touching his 'X' marking on the bridge of his nose; as did I.  "So, you came to help the Cornerians out as well, I see?"  I asked him, looking around at Fox's team taking out several Aparoid ships, and helping out other teammates. 

"Yes, but there's some bad news, Scarr..."  He stammered out, setting his sword down against my ship.  He waved his hair out of his face and put his hand on my shoulder.  "Our planet, D' Sorphis... Is losing the fight with the Sporakians...  It's only a matter of time before they conquer our home, Scarr!" 

I looked off and rested my hand on his, and pulled it off.  "That's... really unfortunate.."  I replied to him, walking to the edge of the building and looking down at the soldiers fighting off the Aparoids on the ground.  "I last remembered our race fending them off, and driving them back,"  I turned and walked up to him.  "What do you suppose might have happened?"

"This:"  He replied showing an amateur video of a rookie warrior filming several aerial nuke strikes being launched and hitting several areas of D' Sorphis.  The rookie just watched as several element races were blipped off screen, and only a slimmer of them remained;  this included Shirrage and I.  "Turn it off... That's all I needed to see..."  I retaliated, shoving the communicator away.

"You're just going to let our planet succumb to these fiends?!  How can you betray your glory for--" 

"I told you, 'That's all I needed to see'... Their lives aren't of my concern now.."  I growled back, cutting him off.  I looked up at the team fighting off the Aparoids in the sky and looking down at the soldiers fending for themselves.  I looked over my shoulder at him and glared. "...The Cornerians need our help!  If we leave them as they are, they will more than likely NOT survive the ambush!  Now is our time to prove to them that we can help, and show that we are heroes, just like the Star Fox team."

Shirrage looked away and nodded his head, irritated.  "...You STILL don't understand our heritage, do you... Well, in any event,"  He pulled out two long head cloths that stretched down to our legs, and held the red one out to me.  "We will have to disguise ourselves FIRST, then reveal ourselves to them."

"Plotting a 'mysterious' hero moment, eh, Shirrage?"  I joked.  He shrugged and he put his cloth over his head, concealing his face except his eyes. 

"Just try to save as many of the Cornerian soldiers as you can!"  He spoke through the cloth.  I put mine on and we stood at the very edge of the building;  staring down at the ground, which seemed as though we were higher than we were.  We exchanged glances and nodded; pulling out our swords and readying ourselves.  Everything stilled for a split second, and upon hearing a clock tower bell, we leaped off the side and positioned ourselves as arrows, hurtling towards the ground.

I fanned my legs and arms out, slowing down my decent, and looked around for any Aparoid I could destroy to break my fall.  I kept looking around, frantically searching for one so that I wouldn't risk causing a break in my legs, but at the corner of my eye, I saw a civilian, mouth covered with cloth as well, being smashed against a light pole, and into the wall.  That's when I saw the vehicular style Aparoid, and veered off to the right, wind dulling out the noise, and causing my clothes to flap violently, and I rose my sword over my hand and thrusted downwards.  I sliced RIGHT through it and landed on the inside of it; wires sparking and purple ooze squirting all over me.  I just groaned as it splatted onto my face, coat, and sword.  Then, it groaned and exploded, sending debris flying, and not scratching me one bit.  I stood up, pulling my sword from the ground, and walked over to him.  He seemed a bit shocked to seem me, but he stood his ground as I approached him.

I told him to leave and that my cousin and I had it under control.  He nodded, without a response, and ran off with a rifle in his hands.  There was several explosions behind me, so I turned around to see Shirrage helping the Cornerian soldiers take out ground and air Aparoids; throwing his sword at them, and slicing through them.  I started to walk over to help him, but was halted by a stray Aparoid landing in front of me, and growling with ooze dripping from it's mouth.  It rose up to my height and we stared each other down; I, gripping my sword, glared back at it.  We probably stared at each other for about ten minutes before we moved.  It swung it's arm around, but I ducked down and swung my sword horizontally across it's underbelly; only taking off a chunk of it's armor.  I stepped back and got into a common D' Sorphian fighting stance, holding the handle away from my face, down towards my right foot, my body turned to the side, and leaning on my right leg, and waited for it's next move. 

It shroared at me and started galloping at me, and lunged, but I leaned outwards, and struck down onto it's back with the flat side of the sword.  It hit the ground, but jumped right back around, and swung again.  I didn't calculate where it would strike, and it knocked across the road, skidding to a stop.  My side started to pulse from the impact, and rose up to my feet.  It was on me before I could react, and swung at me again, but I blocked it with my sword, and pushed it away; advancing swiftly onto it.  I put my hand to it's underbelly and thrusted the sword towards it, and hearing a low 'CRRRRRUNNNNCHHHH' as it went through.  I stood shocked, not able to move, while it's mouth latched onto my shoulder, and bared down; piercing further and further.  I had to react quickly, or I would risk being infected, so I grabbed it's neck, while pulling the sword out of it's underbelly, and gripped both it's neck and the handle of my sword tighter.  I bared my teeth as it sunk it's teeth deeper, and that's when I had enough, struck it's neck with the sword.  It's eyes went wide and it's grip loosened.  I gritted my teeth more as I pushed the sword through it's neck, squirting ooze out and landing on my head cloth.  I leaned down, and thrusted my sword back into it's underbelly, and sliced upwards through it.  It fell to the ground squealing, and spraying ooze out while it laid on the, slip from it's belly to it's head, and died. 

I held my shoulder and was somehow out of breath, and looked back over at Shirrage.  He was doing better than I was; dodging all of the Aparoids' attacks and lining himself up to destroy them.  Everything grew silent for a second whenever I heard several growls, and I slowly looked over my shoulder to see about twenty Aparoids advancing towards me.  The leader leaned down, sniffed the dead one, and quickly rose up.  It shroared louder than the others, attracting Shirrage's attention, and they all galloped towards me.  I charged at them, sword swung behind me and gripping with both hands, and slammed into the Aparoid that was directly in front of me; sending it crashing through the others behind it, and the rest circling me.  One by one, they lunged at me, but I quickly reacted with a parry, and either sliced through it, or severed it in half.  Then, I was suddenly attacked from behind, and I saw my sword slide away from me and into the middle of the road away from the group.  I sensed it attacking, and leaned my head to the right as a claw slammed into the ground beside my head, and I rolled over and put my hand to it's chest, and yelled one my the few elemental energy blasts:

"DIA-RETORA!!!"  A light emitted from my hand and the Aparoid exploded in front of me.  All that was left were it's lower half, and it slumped onto the ground.  I flipped myself to my feet and waited for the next attacker, but the leader was the only one left.  I extended my hands out to my sides and tensed my arms, while quietly chanting a command, thus forming two fireballs in my hands which then shot up my arm, and eventually I was covered by flames, and I chanted louder which made the flames grow intenser, and heighten.  It then shroared and charged at me, but I leapt up about ten feet above it, and stopped in mid-flight while forming a huge energy ball, which drew the inferno that was around me towards it.  I smirked as it reached it's max and the leader jumped up towards me, firing a shot of ooze, which evaporated before it reached it, and I rose the ball above my head.

"hehehahahhhh... Now, you're finished...!  DIA.... AUXILIUM!!!"  I threw the ball towards it, and it was imprisoned inside of it.  It started screeching and roaring as it was being torched alive, and I glared at it and clenched my fist; causing it to explode and sent parts of it's body flying everywhere.  I fell to the ground onto one knee, and gasped for air, since that last attack took a lot of energy out of me, and felt a hand pat my shoulder.  "Cousin, was it necessary to use that attack on a weak entity such as that Aparoid?"  I grinned and looked up at him.

"Well... if it got the job done, then yes."  He smirked and helped me to my feet, brushing dust off and nodded to me.  "...Scarr!"  He said to me as he noticed my shoulder.  "You're--"

"Don't remind me, Shirrage.  I know it's there, but I managed to only get a bite, and not an infection."  I told him, assuring that I was fine.  He nodded to me and we rushed back to the Cornerians and helped them fight off the rest of the Aparoids. 

As we cut down the rest of them, memories came back from us defending against the Sporakian several years ago, and one thing stayed with me while I continued to hack them down.  Something that will haunt me for as long as life still remains in me.  The entity that was the cause of the Sporakian/D' Sorphian Civil War, and that's you:

...Dark Sovereign...

[Guest Julius Quasar]

nice!  :yes:

[Guest Para Astaroth]

Still got to think about the plot for chapter 7.

[rainfyre66]

Hope you think of chapter 7 soon, would love to see more!

[Guest Para Astaroth]

Chapter 7:  Parting Ways

Shirrage rested his hand on my shoulder and assured me that everthing was ok.  "Cousin, is there something troubling you?"  He asked a little concerned since I was staring off into space like I was somewhat ticked off at something.  I snapped to my senses and glanced back to him, shaking my head, telling him that I was fine and that I was just thinking about a certain someone.  He looked off and nodded, agreeing with me.

"It was...  Dark Sovereign that you were thinking of, wasn't it?"  He asked again, looking back towards me.  I knew that Shirrage must have thought of how much I hated Dark Sovereign, since he was one of the main causes of the Civil War back on our home planet.  "Scarr, how long are you going to have a grudge against--"  I cut him off before he could respond. 

"I don't expect you to understand why.  So just keep your questions to yourself and I'll handle it my own way..."  I agrevatingly told him and began walking towards the injured soldiers on the ground.  As I knelt down, trying to aid one of them as they hung onto what little life they had left in them, and Shirrage stood over beside me, looking at the rest of the injured and wounded. 

"If this is your way of telling me you don't care, then so be it.  I won't hesitate to stop you if you plan on taking Sovereign out yourself."  He said as he put his sword away and pulled out a med-kit.  "Even so, Sovereign is much more powerful than you and I.  There's no reason to taking him down headon.  We HAVE to think of something in order to exterminate him once and for all."  Shirrage knelt down, injected some morphine into the soldier's arm and he slowly closed his eyes, breathing his last.  Shirrage reached over and closed the soldiers eyes, shaking his head in disapproval.  "...It's no sense in having such wars.  So many lives are lost for unjust reasons.  I just can't see why we're stuck in the middle and having to fight for our freedom once again..."  He murmured, standing to his feet and walking to another.  I just sat there, knelt down, staring at the dead soldier as I thought about what he said.  He kept on talking to me, but it all dulled out as I continued thinking to myself.

Why are we involved in this?  How did this all happen in a matter of days?  Volley of questions started popping up in my head without the proper answers.  I just kept coming up with more as Shirrage continued on.  Is war this bad?  Does it corrupt as many people as I have heard?  Who or what are the Aparoids?  Who was that person I saw earlier with ripped clothing over his face?  I shook the other questions coming to me and stared at the other soldiers.  I heard a faint call for help and looked about, searching for him.  I saw the soldier pinned to a wall with a small part of an Aparoids claw in his upper shoulder. As I neared him, and finally got to him, I could see that he had coughed up a simmer of blood -judging from the red stain on the ground, on his uniform, and matted on his furr around his lower jaw- from the claw. 

"Can ya'...  Give me a hand, pal?  I'm...  Sort of stuck here."  He hoarsely asked, chuckling while ignoring the pain that must have been shooting through his body.  I nodded and grasped the claw with both my hands and he shook his head, "Won't work...  I've already had one of my comrads try that...  For about, what...  Ten minutes, and he was impaled right in front of me...  And the Aparoid's claw pierced... URGHHH, that shoulder...  and it pinned me, and it, against the wall...  So...  I cut it's claw off and shot it with my only arm, which had my assault rifle in it."  He shook his head after completing himself and looked back to me.  "I don't remember anything after that....  Everything went black...  And I woke up seeing you and your friend slicing up those creatures..."

"Well, ignoring the fact that we fended them off, how do you suppose we get this out of you?"  I asked pointing to the claw.  He rested his head against the wall and slowly shook his head, smirking in triumph.

"To tell you the truth...  I REALLY have no clue..."  He replied.  "...I guess I'm going to die slowly...  from blood loss, since I've lost a good amount...  erhhh, as it is..." He hoarsly coughed and rested back against the wall. 

"Here;  don't move and keep your body still."  I said, pulling out my sword and standing beside him.  He looked at me bewildered and asked, 'why';  staring at me in shock.  "I'm not going to cut you in to tiny bits;  I'm just going to slice that part of the claw off so we can pull the other half out."  I explained and he pressed himself against the wall, a little shakey.  I reared the sword up in the air and swiftly sliced half of the claw off;  spewing out green ooze and flopping on the ground and the soldier falling to his knees, hunched over and coughing after the side of the claw I cut off fell to the ground.

He gripped the ground and motioned for the other side of the claw and I pressed my feet down onto the ground, grasping the other half of the claw, and he braced himself.  I pulled a little hard but that thing was in his shoulder pretty good!  He looked over his shoulder and kind of chuckled to me, "You're gonna have to pull... HERggghhh...  A little hard than that, buddy...!"  I nodded and clenched the claw tigher and bared my teeth, pulling as hard as I could -closing my eyes.  I felt like my arms were weightless as the claw flew out, sending a gutrenching splatter and I felt drops of something splatter against my face and my outfit.  Opening my eyes, I could see the soldier in shock and grasping his shoulder that had a hole in it from the claw. 

"Well, it's out.  That's the main thing."  I told him and he nodded along, snickering under the pain.  Shirrage appeared out of nowhere beside me and put his hand on my shoulder -I let him take it from here since I had no medical experience than he did.  He stood over the man and looked over his shoulder at me, shaking his head, wanting me to not see what he was about to do.  I nodded, walking off, and could just barely hear him talking to the soldier.  He slowly pulled out my sword and stared at my reflection, slightly moving it to see both Shirrage and the soldier, and the soldier pulled out a blaster and handed it to Shirrage.  Without hesitation, Shirrage aimed it to the soldier's head and pulled the trigger.  I quickly cringed and pulled the sword away from my face, and holestered it.

"Scarr?  Respond, buddy!"  Todd's voice came in through my communicator and I brought his cam on screen.  I told him that I was ok and that the Aparoids on the ground were exterminated.  "Great work, man.  Well, we're sorry about this but...  We're going to split up now.  The team, I mean."  He said and I asked him why were we.

Lola cut in to answer it for me -Telling me that the Starfox team had to tend to the Aparoids on their homeland and that her and Todd were going to go their separate ways as well, together.  "Do you wanna come?  We have some rooms for you and--"  I told him the offer was tempting, but I declined it.  I had some unfinished business of my own that I had to attend to that I never got the chance to get to, so I had to pull off for awhile.

That was the last time I heard from both Todd and Lola, along with the Starfox Team...  But Shirrage and I managed to get off Corneria, with the help of the General Peppy, and head out to the edge of the Lylat System.

"Well, boys, this is as far as we go."  The general told us.  "Anything you two need before I dismiss you on your ways?"

"No, sir.  We'll be fine.  Thank you for the ride;  it's a pretty spiffy ship, if I might add!"  Shirrage complimented to the General, and he chuckled, motioning for us away.  We rode the elevator down back to the ships bay and followed one of the soldiers back down the huge hall that led to the ships.  Announcements echoed over the entercom in the bay, engineers were working on damaged ships as sparks flew up from the sides of the ships, some soldiers rushed by us on guard duty, and most of the saluted us as we pasted them.  We finally came to Ships Bay Delta and Shirrage and I got into two of the spare Cornerian fighters.  The soldier that lead us to the ships tapped on our cockpit windows and motioned to us, making sure we were ready.  Shirrage thumbed up, as did I, and he threw his hands forward -quickly walking back. 

"GOOD LUCK, YOU TWO, AND GOD SPEED." The generals voice said over the intercom.  "LAUNCH SHIPS TWELVE AND THIRTEEN IN ALPHA SHIPS LEVEL."  After ordering this, the lights on the side of the ship 'boop'ed' green and the G-force pulled us against our seats, throwing our ships into space, and we pulled the throttle, rocketing out of the Lylat System.

Our next destinatin:

Our home planet, D' Sorphis.