Star Fox

                      by Theodore P. Perrotti
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WARNING:  This story has been written and posted free of charge
solely for entertainment purposes.  Star Fox, Fox McCloud Jr, Falco Lombardi, Peppy Hare,
Slippy Toad, Venom, Corneria, Fara Phoenix, General Pepper, Andross, and all other principle
characters, places, and other indica created by Nintendo are TM and copyright (C) 1993 Nintendo
of America Inc. Used without permission.

     Vessic and all other characters, places, and other indica  created by me, Theodore P. Perrotti,
are copyright (C) 1996 Theodore P. Perrotti. (However, feel free to use all of this story's
characters, events, and places as you wish as long as you abide by the conditions described in the
next paragraph.)

     This story may be redistributed, stored, or archived in any
way just so long as it is unaltered, this entire disclaimer
remains with it, and such action is taken free of charge.  In
short: DON'T SELL OR ALTER THIS STORY!  Also, please ask my
permission before using any of my creations (any characters or
events I've created) and give me credit.

     Parts of this story were based on characters, places, and
events in both the Star Fox video game and the Star Fox comic
which appeared in Nintendo Power.

     This story has also been influenced by the "Star Trek: The
Next Generation" episode "The Defector", as well as the movie
"Star Wars" and the TV series "Babylon 5".

     Those of you who are familiar with the comic and the
backstory established in the game's instruction booklet will
probably notice that, in some places, my version deviates from
the "cannon" version presented by those sources.  I tried to keep
the basic story intact, and made only changes that I felt would
result in a better story.  You can think of this story as an
alternate version of the events that led up to the attack on
Venom.  I hope you enjoy the fruits of my labor.

WARNING:  Recommended for mature readers only.  Contains some
adult subject matter.  (Seriously, this story is darker than its
predecessor, Star Fox: Armageddon)

     I welcome your comments.  Please e-mail them to me at
author@galaxycorp.com.
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     Chapter 26: Confrontations

     "Fox, there's something I think you should have before we go," Peppy said, pulling
something from behind his back as the five of them hurried toward the docking bay.  It was Fox's
cape.  Apparently, in the rush of the moment, Fox had failed to notice that Peppy was hiding
something.  Fox felt half-happy, 
half-angry, and all-surprised.
     "I knew that not taking this along would be a mistake," Peppy explained.  "Remember, he's
with you."
     WHO? thought Fara.
     "Why did you wait until now to show me?" Fox asked as he took the cape from Peppy.
     "So you wouldn't have time to protest," Peppy replied.
     "We're here.  Let's go," Fara said as they approached the docking bay, which had been
cleared so they wouldn't be seen.  They quickly boarded their arwings and put on their flight suits
(which had been tucked under the pilot seat).  There were many other pilots in the locker rooms,
and they weren't about to risk exposure at this late juncture.  Though, Falco probably would've
preferred the risk to trying to change in his arwings' cramped cockpit.  "Couldn't they have made
this hole a little bit bigger?" he complained, while trying to get his uniform pants on.
     "Stop grousing, Falco," Fox replied.  "This is a cockpit, not a luxury resort!" he half-joked,
grinning.  As he spoke, Fox could see two armed guards lead Vessic into the bay.  The grin
disappeared from Fox's face, and he just watched silently as Vessic boarded his vessel.  "All
ships... check in!" Fara commanded.
     "Ready!" Fox replied, putting the cape underneath his seat.  That way, it would be near
him without getting in the way during combat.
     "Everything's go here!" Peppy answered.
     "Prepared," Vessic responded.
     "Can we go now?" Falco contributed.
     "We're ready for launch!" Fara announced.  One of the guards then touched a few buttons
on the control panel.  As the bay doors slid open, the ships sped down a long, narrow tunnel
towards it.
     Within seconds, the dimness of the tunnel was replaced with the bright light of a beautiful
Cornerian sky.  Vessic looked out the canopy and sighed.
     Some time later, the team found itself flying amongst the immense boulders of the asteroid
belt.  As they flew, Fox began to feel an increasing sense of dread, as if this region of space held a
kind of ill will toward him.  His father had died around here somewhere, Fox knew.  Everything
seemed dark and cold-not simply physical darkness and coldness, but darkness and coldness of the
soul.
     Ahead of him, he could see Fara's ship.  She, as mission commander, was flying ahead of
the rest of the group.
     Eventually, the dim outlines of the black hole came into view.  It was a dark piece of
nothingness, as if the universe ceased to exist at that point.  Fox, knowing the time was near, took
a deep breath and waited.
     Then, Fara ordered, "Vessic-It's time.  Go on in.  And...good luck.  The rest of you, follow
me."
     I WONDER IF IT'LL HAPPEN AGAIN, thought Vessic as he entered the black hole.
     Some time later, Pepper finally heard the words he was hoping would never come. 
"General, they're here!"
     "Raise the shields...Put them on the viewscreen!" Pepper commanded.  The image of
several of Andross' hulking battleships appeared before him.  Suddenly, one of them opened fire
on one of the SpaceForce battleships.
     "Advise the ships to keep moving, and not to get within 10000 Km of those ships!" Pepper
commanded.  Then, he turned to tactical and ordered, "Launch all of our fighters and prepare to
fire all cannons!  Ready the nova bombs for launch!"
     Meanwhile, in sick bay, there were people running to and fro, making last-minute
preparations for expected casualties.  All the patient could do was watch and wish that he could
help, instead of watching helplessly from his bed.  The only other person not in on the frenzy was
the guard by the door.  The guard seemed confused.  He looked around with a puzzled
expression,
as if he was unsure of where he was.  Then, the patient thought again of the person behind the
door.  Several times now, he had heard the voice coming from behind that door, and he knew for
sure that it was him.
     Then, the base was hit by several blasts.  "Medical team to area 4!  There are heavy
casualties!" came an announcement over the sick bay comm system.
     "Stay here and watch over the patients," the Chief Medical Officer ordered a member of
his staff.  "I'll be back soon."  Then, he turned to some others and said, "Come on."
     After the medical team had left, there were maybe three people in the sick bay other than
the patients and the guard.  He looked up at the guard again.  There was definitely something
wrong.  He was rubbing his head a lot, and had a wild look in his eyes.
     "General!" an officer walking quickly into Command Central called out to Pepper.  "I need
to see you in your office right away!"
     "I can't leave Command Central in the middle of an attack!," Pepper shot back, as another
shot struck the base.  "What is it?!"
     "I found something in Lt. Kosis' log.  Something big."
     "What did you find?" Pepper replied.
     "It's a very short message, only about three or four words.  But, it's very clear. 
Counter-attack...Venom...black hole....
06-3.  It was sent from his ship to a Lt. Dac on Starbase Alexus about three weeks ago."
     "That's today's date," Pepper noted.
     "That's why I thought it might be important.  Those ships we launched...are they part of a
counter-attack?"
     "What else did you find?" Pepper asked, looking sick.  That was answer enough.
     "Some information about our ship deployments.  But nothing else about this
'counter-attack' or the black hole, either before this message or since."
     Without hesitation, Pepper commanded, "I want you to contact Lt. Fara Phoenix.  Now. 
Tell her that Andross knows that they're coming through the black hole."
     As the comm officer carried out Pepper's orders, Security Chief Lessa turned to Pepper
and said, "You can't call them back, General...They're our last chance.  Besides, they're probably
at the black hole by now.  They've been instructed to ignore any messages once they enter the
hole."
     "If they choose to believe it, they've been warned," Pepper explained.  "If they think it
might be a trick by Andross to dissuade them...Well, why would Andross try to trick them unless
he knew that they were coming?"
     Vessic's heart beat faster as he finally emerged from the black hole.  Any second now, he
would be spotted by the Lizards.  Once that happened, there would be no turning back.  He
decided to use his fear to prepare his mental defenses for his inevitable confrontation with
Andross.
     Andross sat in his throne room, giddy with excitement.  Soon, his empire would be expanded
and his vengeance against the SpaceForce would be complete.  He was careful, however, not to
get too excited.  With the aid of his TK amplifier, it was not difficult for him to maintain a
"control
field" with which to keep the Lizards loyal, especially now that they had been conditioned for so
long.  However, too big a break in his concentration could still result in a disruption of his
control. 
He feared what might happen if he allowed the Lizards to regain control-even for just a short
time.
     Andross' anticipation was interrupted by a call from one of his officers.  "Emperor, there's
a ship approaching Venom.  There are signs of battle damage, and its shields appear to be down! 
It's Maj. Vessic, and he says he's come to surrender himself!"
     Andross' hair bristled with ire.  WHAT!  THAT #&*%^(%((!!!'S HERE?  I THOUGHT
HE WAS DEAD!!  "Blow him out of the sky!"
     "He says he brings news of a SpaceForce trap!"
     "Order him to power down his shields, weapons, and engines and lock a tractor beam onto
him.  If he tries anything, destroy him!  Then, stand by.  I'm on my way!" Andross rumbled,
storming out of the room.
     As soon as Andross arrived in the control center, he turned to the main comm station and
growled, "You were very stupid to come back here!  You're only alive now because I thought you
were dead!  Now, I can fix that oversight!" 
     "If you shoot me down now, Venom's forces will be doomed," Vessic replied in a carefully
controlled voice.
     "Why should I believe you, traitor?!"
     "What I did was wrong.  I was confused," Vessic muttered softly.  "But, when I found out
about this trap, I realized that the SpaceForce is as cold and callous as you say.  I couldn't let our
people die... So, I escaped.  I told them nothing.  You must believe me, Emperor.  Please."
     Andross couldn't afford to focus his concentration enough on Vessic to tell if Vessic was
telling the truth or not, and he felt an intense, almost primal fury toward his former second.  But,
if
he were telling the truth...  And Vessic had always been loyal to his people...But he'd betrayed
Andross!
     "Tell us about this trap, and I might let you live," Andross demanded.
     "I can't tell you of the plan from my ship, Emperor.  It's too complex.  I'll need the base's
equipment to give visual aids."
     For several seconds, Andross did and said nothing.  Then, he made his choice.  "Bring him
in."
     Vessic felt the tractor beam start to tug his ship toward the base, and held his breath.  As
he neared the base, he reached for the shield control with one hand and tightened his grip on the
joystick with the other.
     Then, once he was past the shield, he knew it was time.  He quickly activated his ship's
shields and engines.  Even as he did so, he knew that it would be several seconds before he could
barrel-roll.  He could only hope that his shields would hold out that long.
     "Emperor!  Maj. Vessic's just activated his shields and is powering up his engines!  Also,
I'm picking up a weakening in the tractor beam around his ship!"
     "Open fire!" Andross barked.  
     "Firing!"
     Then, Andross turned to tactical.  "Have our nearest ship launch a squad of fighters to get
him!"
     "Come on, move it!  You %*))%_%_%!!!" Vessic muttered, desperately jerking the
joystick back and forth.  WHAT ARE YOU DOING, YOU FOOL?!  YOU CAN'T ESCAPE
FROM MY TRACTOR BEAM!  Andross thought to him.
     Vessic wanted to break loose from the beam as soon as possible.  The engines seemed to
take forever to warm up.  A bolt slammed into his ship, knocking Vessic forward in his seat.  As
he whipped forward, his hand slipped off the joystick, only to grab it again a second later.
     As yet another bolt was unleashed upon him, Vessic looked at his controls and saw that the
engines were now at full power.  Once again, he yanked the joystick to one side.  This time,
however, he could feel his ship move.  He was almost free! 
     While Vessic was emerging from the black hole, Fara turned her ship toward the black
hole and activated the autopilot.  As she started forward, she took one deep breath in anticipation. 
Behind her was Fox, followed by first Peppy, and then Falco.  Each of them kept a safe distance
from the ship in front of them, just in case the hole's gravity proved to be even more unpredictable
than expected.
     Soon, the four of them found themselves travelling through a cornucopia of color.  They
tried to keep their attention focused on their course and speed (which was not easy, considering
that they were being shaken up like cans in a paint mixer), but they couldn't help but notice the
bright pastels that surrounded them.  The colors around them seemed to be continually changing. 
Even had their pattern been static, they could not honestly tell where any one color stopped and
the next began.
     "Wwwwwoooowwww!" Falco exclaimed, his speech being somewhat garbled by the
constant shaking.  "Iiiiiitttt'sssss bbbbbeauuuutifuuuullll!"
     "Iiiiiitttttt'ssss dddddangeeeerrrouuusss!" Fox replied.  "Aaaandddd wwweeee'vvvveee
gggotttt aaaaa mmmmmissssionnnnn tooooooo connnnceeennntraaaateeee ooooonnnnnn!"
     As if on cue, the gravitational forces began to increase greatly, causing the stress on their
ships to skyrocket.  However, Vessic had told them that this might happen, and they were
prepared.
     Then, Fara's voice crackled over his transmitter.  Her message was garbled and mixed with
static, but Fox could still make it out.  "Mmmmmmmesssssaggggeeee ffffr.... Ccccornneria! 
Aaaandrosssss knowwwwwssss... cccccoooommmmiiiiinnnnggggg!  Bbbbbbeeeeee
pppprreeepppaaaaarrreeeeddd!"
     That was not good news, whether or not the message from Corneria was a trick.  Fox
quickly glanced down where he knew the cape to be, perhaps searching for some security at this
time of crisis.
     As Fox guided his ship onward, he noticed several objects ahead of him.  THE SHIPS'
GRAVEYARD!  The black hole was beautiful, indeed-like a siren song.
     Then, there it was: a light brighter than any other Fox had ever before seen.  He had to
shade his eyes from the bright, white, light with one paw while keeping the other on the joystick. 
NOT A MOMENT TOO SOON!  BUT, WHY COULDN'T IT BE RED? Fox thought, squinting
his eyes as he saw Fara's ship swallowed up before him.  Then, it was his turn.
     As Fox entered the nexus, Peppy wondered just what he would see in there.  After all, it
was not every day that one passed through a junction between universes, and he had no idea what
to expect.
     But then, his ship jerked, as if it had been buffeted by a powerful explosion.  He quickly
looked at his instruments, and saw that he was being pulled toward the side of the black hole! 
The
gravitational forces were so powerful that his shield strength was dropping by the second and the
hull stress was off the scale!
     "PPPPPPPPPPeeeeeeeepppppppyyyyyyyyy, yyyyyyyyoooooouuuuuuu'rrrrrrrreeeeeeee
dddddddrrrrrriiiiiiffffttttttttiiiiiiinnnnnnnggggggggg!" Falco yelled.  "PPPPPPuuuuullllll
hhhhhhhaaaaarrrrdddddd lllllllleeeeeffffftttttt!"
     Peppy was trying, but the hole's gravity was very powerful.  Suddenly, he heard the sound
of metal tearing.  He pulled even harder, but his ship continued to be pulled by the hole's mighty
force.  Ahead of him, Peppy could see half of his right wing flying toward the side of the hole!
     But then, just as suddenly as it had appeared, the gravitational pull subsided.  It had
showed its power, and was satisfied with that.  For now.
     "YYYYYYYoooooooouuuuuuuuu OOOOOOOOOOOKKKKKKKKKKK?" Falco
asked.
     "YYYYYYYYYeeeeeeaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh," was all Peppy could manage.
     Seconds after having hit the great white wall (or, perhaps hours-Fox couldn't tell in this
dream-like state that he found himself in.), Fox found himself in a very strange place, indeed.  Or,
rather, he felt as if he were in many strange places at once.  He couldn't see himself, but he could
see many bizarre lights.  They had been told that their minds might play tricks on them under
extreme conditions such as the black hole, but this was too much.  It was very unusual, and
should
have been disturbing.  But, Fox felt no fear.  Then, he heard a voice that he hadn't heard in many
years.  It seemed barely a whisper, but Fox recognized it instantly.
     JUNIOR.
     DAD? FOX ASKED INCREDULOUSLY.
     YES.  JUNIOR, DON'T MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE I DID.  WHAT'S HAPPENED
HAS HAPPENED, AND CANNOT BE UNDONE.  I WANT YOU TO LIVE...NOT JUST
EXIST.  FORGIVE.  I LOVE YOU, SON.
     I KNOW, DAD.
     SHE'S NOT WITH ME, THE VOICE SAID.
     Similarly, Peppy and Falco were hearing more than they expected.
     I'M SORRY!  I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT I WAS DOING!  Falco exclaimed.
     I DON'T BELIEVE IT!  IS IT REALLY YOU, FOX?!  Peppy exclaimed.
     Then, there was another bright light, and the stars returned.  "G-guys?!" Falco asked,
obviously shaken.
     "We're here, Falco," Fox said, somewhat mystified himself.  "Did any of you..."  Then, he
noticed Peppy's damaged wing.  "Peppy, what happened to your wing?!"
     "Let's just say the hole relieved me of some of my burden," Peppy sighed.
     "How's your shield strength?"
     "It's back up to about 65%, but it's got a ways to go."
     "Well, there's no turning back now."
     Fox was right, Andross had seen them, and was prepared.  "They're here!  Launch the
fighters!"
     "Heads up!" Fara interrupted.  "Venom fighters coming in at 3-5-7!  Activate nightview,
sweep scan!"
     "Here they come!" Peppy confirmed.
     "Let's light 'em up!" Fox commanded.
     "Lt. Phoenix to Maj. Vessic.  Have you succeeded in opening the shields?"
     "Yes, but my ship's taken heavy damage, and there're several fighters pursuing me.  You'd
better hurry-the opening won't last long."
     "We're on our way.  We've met...some resistance."
     "I count at least ten bogies!" Peppy announced.  "No sign of any stealth ships!"
     "Let's hope it stays that way," commented Fox.    
     Back at the sick bay, the guard reached down and clicked a switch on his gun, and then let
out a horrifying roar and dropped to his knees.  A look of pure madness shone on his face.  A
nurse ran over to him and asked him if he was alright.  A blast in the chest was the only answer
she got.  As she fell to the ground, the guard lifted his gun up and fired several more shots,
striking
the other medical personnel.
     As near as the patient could tell, he and the guard were the only ones left alive in the room
now (besides the other patients, most of whom were unconscious for one reason or another).  As
the guard shot the last of the medical personnel, another series of shots struck the base.  The
patient could hear the roof collapsing nearby.  This sound momentarily confused the guard, and he
(the patient with the broken leg, not the guard) took the opportunity to throw himself behind the
table, out of the guard's line of sight.  The patient winced in pain as he landed, but resisted the
temptation to scream.  The guard was obviously insane at the moment, and the patient hoped that
the guard would forget that he was there.
     It seemed to work.  The guard showed no interest in him, and for that, the patient was
grateful.  The guard was a large bear gone mad.  Even if he hadn't had the gun, his claws could
probably tear the patient to shreds.
     The guard turned toward the door and began pushing buttons on the control panel.  As the
patient watched, the guard started literally pounding on the controls when the door wouldn't
open. 
The patient quickly looked for a way out of the room, but was disheartened to find that the ceiling
he had heard collapsing had blocked the only exit from sick bay.
     His eyes quickly searched for something to use as a weapon.  While he searched, he
suddenly realized what the guard was trying to do.  He had been so frightened for his own safety,
that he'd failed to realize that the guard was trying to open the door to Slippy's room.  Then, he
looked up and saw a bottle of anesthetic on a countertop.
     The patient heard the door slide open, and quickened his pace.  The guard ran into the
room where Slippy lay, confined to his bed by his injuries.  Slippy looked up, confused, as the
guard aimed his gun at him-and hesitated.  The guard just stood there, as if frozen in time.  
     "Wh-what are y-you d-doing?" Slippy asked fearfully.
     The patient pushed the nearest gurney up against the wall across the room from the door to
Slippy's room and pulled himself up onto it.  He opened the bottle and poured its contents onto
his
right hand.  He then hung his broken leg over the side and used the other one to push off of the
wall, forcefully propelling himself forward.
     Crash!  He smashed into the guard full force, spilling the both of them onto the floor and
knocking the gun from the guard's hand.  The patient was so excited that he didn't even feel his
broken leg hit the ground.  While the guard was stunned, the patient quickly reached out and
placed his right hand tightly over the guard's nose.
     When the guard recovered, he slashed the patient's face, leaving a deep, 4-inch-long cut. 
But, the patient still managed to keep his hand on the guard's nose.  Soon, the guard's claw hit the
ground.
     The patient then wiggled past the unconscious guard and grabbed the gun.  When he saw
that it was set on stun, he felt both confused and relieved.
     Slippy sat up in his bed as the patient made his way over to it.
     Tad looked at his brother and smiled.  "Hello, Slippy.  Listen, we don't have much time
before they wake up."
     "Stay in formation!" Fox reminded the others.  The four of them were in a diamond
formation, so that they could cover each other's flank.  As he spoke, a series of blips started
appearing on his sensor screen.  "We've got SAM's!...about a dozen of them at 15,000 km and
closing!"
     "I see them!" Fara replied.  "Switch to single laser!  There're too many to avoid, so we'll try
to clear a path through them!"
     "What about the Venom fighters?" Falco questioned.  "If we turn our attention to the
missiles, then they'll nail us!"
     "Keep making evasive maneuvers!" Fara replied.  "But keep moving toward the missiles! 
Maybe we can get the missiles to take some of them out for us!"
     "Better hang back a little, Peppy!" Fox recommended.  "With that damaged wing, you
won't be able to maneuver as quickly!"
     Meanwhile, Vessic had his hands full just trying to stay alive.  He was outnumbered 6 to 1
and his shields were failing.  He couldn't get to the tunnel entrance.  Then, as if things weren't bad
enough, Vessic felt Andross enter his mind.  YOU WILL DIE, GASTA (TRAITOR)!  Then,
before he knew what he was doing, Vessic found himself in a power dive right toward Venom's
surface!
     NO!  I WILL NOT DO AS YOU SAY THIS TIME, ANDROSS! thought Vessic, as he
struggled to regain control of his own body.  As he saw the planet rushing up to him, a warning
buzz told him that one of his pursuers had locked onto his ship.  With one final desperate rush of
strength, Vessic pulled back on the joystick, sending him into such a curve that he nearly blacked
out.
     Meanwhile, back on Corneria, another life-and-death struggle was unfolding.
     "How's our shield strength?" Pepper inquired.
     "60% and holding," Tactical replied.  Then, a shot struck the base.  "56%.  At this rate, the
shields will fail in approximately 16.7 minutes."
     AT LEAST WE DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THEM DEACTIVATING THE
SHIELDS BY REMOTE!  THAT FEATURE'S BEEN REMOVED. Pepper thought.      "Is
there any sign of a power drop in their weapons?"
     "No, Sir."
     WHERE ARE YOU, MCCLOUD?  DON'T PROVE ME WRONG! thought Pepper.
     "Here they come," announced Fox as the first wave of SAM's approached them.  He
aimed and fired as quickly as he could, taking out several of the missiles.  Falco, Peppy, and Fara
each took out a few more.  But, the first wave was soon replaced by another.
     As Fox prepared to squeeze off several more rounds, he found not one, but two bogies on
his tail.  One of them fired, scoring a direct hit on Fox's rear.  Before either of them could fire
again, Fox barrel rolled to his left.  As he did, a SAM streaked right underneath his right wing and
slammed into one of his pursuers.  The ship exploded into a ball of light and flying debris.  A piece
of that debris struck the other Venom fighter.  ONE DOWN! thought Fox.
     Just then, a series of bolts struck Fox's lone remaining pursuer, causing it to explode. 
"How many do you owe me now, Fox?" Falco asked smugly.
     "Aaaah!  The debris did most of the work!  You just finished him off!" Fox teased.
     "Humph!" replied Falco.
     Several other Venom fighters met similar fates at the hands of their own missiles.
     "This would be a whole lot easier if those fighters weren't so willing to chase us into the
missiles!" Fara commented, as a shot just missed one of her wings.  "The missiles could lock onto
a Venom ship as easily as onto one of ours."
     "I don't think personal safety's foremost on their minds," Fox replied.  "If necessary, they'll
gladly die for their 'Emperor'."  Then, he added, "I think we need to break formation.  It'll give us
more room to maneuver.  We can pair off.  Falco with me and Peppy with you."
     "Agreed," Fara replied.  "Let's do it!  Also, whoever gets to the tunnel first goes in first. 
That window won't be open forever, so we don't have time to worry about who's in charge."
     The four of them parted ways, with Falco following Fox and Peppy following Fara.  They
destroyed as many missiles as they could, but the missiles just kept coming, and the Venom
fighters were nipping at the team's heels all the way.  Fortunately, they found that the missiles,
while smart enough to lock onto them, weren't smart enough to maintain or reestablish that lock
once they'd been dodged once.  So, the missiles just kept flying by after having missed their target.
     Peppy found himself being chased by a particularly determined Venom Lizard.  He
wouldn't stop coming, regardless of any danger to his life.  Every move Peppy made, the Lizard
matched.
     "This guy's all over me.  I could use some help," Peppy told Fara, all the while, dodging
and destroying missiles.
     Fara quickly managed to get behind the Lizard.  "Just hang in there and keep an eye on
those missiles-I'm on him!"  Fara switched to photon blasters and took several shots at Peppy's
pursuer, but only managed to hit one of its top wings.  She quickly aimed and took several more
shots.  This time, her aim was true.  The Lizard's ship lit up space in front of her as it exploded.
     Fara quickly dodged to the side to avoid the flying debris.  But, as she did so, she noticed a
blip on her sensor screen.  "I'm picking up something on Nightview directly behind you!"
     A series of shots, seemingly from thin air, lanced out and struck Peppy's ship.
     "Are you alright?" Fara asked.
     "I'm fine," Peppy replied.  "Where is that thing?"
     "I've got nightview locked onto him, but I can't do anything until he decloaks.  Just keep
moving.  I'll take care of the missiles and try to get a shot at him when he decloaks!" Fara  replied. 
AND IF I CAN PULL THAT OFF, I'LL APPLY FOR SAINTHOOD!
     Fara then pulled up, trying to keep herself in position to shoot the stealth ship, and, at the
same time, destroy as many SAM's as possible.
     Fortunately, the current wave of missiles seemed to end just then.
     For the next couple of minutes, Peppy managed to keep himself alive.  But, his shields
were weakening and the ship's computer was registering a hull breach just below his right wing. 
Also, he was finding it difficult to concentrate.
     "I'm having trouble concentrating!  I think it's Andross."
     "Fight it!" Fara instructed.  "Remember how!"
     He tapped his instinctive fear to build a wall of defense around his mind.  As he did, the
influence began to subside, and he was once again able to concentrate.
     At the same time, the next group of missiles began to show up on Peppy's and Fara's
sensors, and they were coming fast.
     Then, finally, the ship started to become visible again.  Fara noticed, but found that if she
turned to help Peppy, she'd never be able to turn back in time to destroy the missiles.  Unless she
used a nova bomb.
     "We've got a problem," Fara warned him.  "There are too many missiles!  I'm going to
have to use a nova bomb to destroy them all!  You've got to loop back and get as far from them
as
possible!  It's going to be one helluva' blast!"
     Peppy pulled back on his stick, with the stealth ship still in hot pursuit.  His arwing, missing
one of its stabilizers, began to shake violently.  But, it started to climb, just the same.
     Fara fired a nova bomb off in the direction of the missiles, and then turned her attention
back to Peppy's pursuer.  Quickly, she bore down on the Lizard.  She aimed and fired, scoring a
direct hit to the ship's rear.  She was able to score one or two more hits before noticing something
on her sensor screen.  The nova bomb was about to reach the missiles, which were starting to turn
toward them.  Now was the time.
     Fara pressed the button to detonate the bomb.  The power of bomb and missile combined
to form a glowing ball of force of immense proportions.
     With that done, Fara turned her attention back to the stealth ship.  She got it back in her
sites and pulled the trigger, releasing twin balls of energy.  The balls slammed into the ship,
turning
it into a bright orange ball of light.
     "We'd better floor it, Peppy!" Fara warned, seeing missile debris flying toward them. 
"We've got to let that debris spread out some before it reaches us!"
     Meanwhile, Fox and Falco sped toward the planet.  The missiles had finally stopped
coming, but the fighters hadn't.  Fox quickly checked his sensor screen to make sure the hole
Vessic had created was still open.  It was.  But Fox knew that it wouldn't stay open for much
longer.  Another look showed some Lizard fighters speeding around some mountains and valleys. 
It appeared that Vessic was still alive, and giving them a run for their money.  I'VE GOT TO
ADMIT, HE IS GOOD.
     Then, something else appeared.  Or rather, three things appeared.  Three bird-like objects
sped into Fox and Falco's path and then matched speeds with them.  Each of them appeared to be
about four times the size of each of the arwings.
     "That's gotta' be Phantron!" Falco concluded.
     "That'd be my guess," Fox agreed.  As he finished his sentence, two of Phantron's parts
opened fire on him and Falco.  "Fire on the one on the right!  I'll try the one on the left!" Fox
ordered.  "But don't forget about the fighters!"
     "Got it!" Falco confirmed, switching to photon blasters and opening fire.  His blasts just
passed right through their target, as if it wasn't there.  "Damn!" he yelled.
     Almost simultaneously, Fox also fired his photon blasters...with the same result.  "It must
be the one in the middle!" Fox exclaimed.  "Take it..."  But then, they changed positions before
Falco and Fox could fire.  Fox looked at his sensor screen yet again, but the three pieces of
Phantron all looked the same, even to nightview.  Then, he noticed an even bigger problem.
     "The shield hole's closing!" Fox announced.  "If we don't get down there in 30 seconds, it'll
be gone!"  Just then, an alarm warned Fox that a Venom fighter had locked onto him.  He quickly
pulled back on his stick, looped behind his enemy, and downed it with a series of photon blasts.
     "We've got to get down there, now!" Fox said.
     "Maybe if we split up, Phantron'll go after one of us-allowing the other one to get down to
the planet!" Falco suggested.
     "Good idea!" replied Fox.  "Let's do it!"
     As he said that, the two of them split up.  Phantron and its two holograms elected to go
after Falco, leaving Fox to approach the planet (though he was still being chased by a couple
fighters).
     As Fox sped toward the hole, he saw it shrinking quickly.  So, he accelerated to maximum
cruising velocity.  As he did so, shots continued to race by him.  And he continued to dodge them
skillfully, while staying on course for the rapidly-shrinking hole.
     As Fox sped through the hole, it closed behind him.  His pursuers saw this and quickly
pulled up, just missing the shields.
     Chapter 27: Final Moments

     Fox yanked back on his joystick, levelling his ship.  Ahead, he saw several ships
approaching.  As they sped toward him, they opened fire.  Fox barrel-rolled out of the way and
returned fire, striking one of his attackers.
     Vessic's signal was still there, but appeared to be stationary.  So, he either was hiding in
some cave or mountain, or had crash-landed.
     Meanwhile, Falco had his talons full with Phantron.  Between dodging fire from Venom
fighters and trying to keep track of Phantron's "real" part, all of his attention and skill was
required
just to survive.
     Fortunately for him, he was not alone for long.  "Hang in there.  We'll get those ships off
your back," Fara said as she and Peppy sped in behind Falco.
     "I can handle it!"
     "I wasn't asking your permission!" Fara replied.
     "Besides...we're not here just to stand around, Falco," Peppy contributed.
     So, while Fara and Peppy occupied the Venom pilots, Falco turned his full attention
toward nailing Phantron (grumbling something under his breath as he did so).
     Phantron's constant switching of positions made hitting it difficult.  But, eventually, Falco
scored enough hits to its head to send it hurtling down to the planet below.
     "Ha!" Falco yelled, exhilarated by the fight.  "All right!   Who's next?"
     "They are," Peppy replied flatly.  "3-3-7!"
     Falco looked out of the canopy and saw a Venom battleship heading toward them. 
Springing from the battleship were several squadrons of Venom fighters.
     "Ahhhhmmmm," Falco chocked out.  "This could be trouble."
     "I'd suggest a strategic withdrawal, but there doesn't seem to be anywhere to withdraw to!"
Peppy commented.
     "I guess he decided to hold back a few ships, like expected," Fara concluded.  "Peppy, take
position behind me-your ship's damaged.  We've got to try to survive and hope that Fox can take
out the core.  No heroics...let's just cover each other's backs."
     "I almost wish that I was in Fox's place," Peppy commented, taking position behind Fara.
     Then, Fara's face went from determination to fear for just an instant, before switching back
again.  "I'm picking up three stealth ships bearing down on us..."
     As Fox sped forward, he could finally see the entrance to the tunnel up ahead.  It jutted
dozens of feet up from the ground, just waiting for him to arrive.  He had managed to dispatch the
last of the fighters that had been pursuing him (while taking only a few hits himself), and no more
seemed to be coming.  However, Fox knew enough not to let his guard down.
     Vessic had said that there were not many stealth ships in existence, so Andross was
probably holding back on using most of them until someone (such as Fox) got too close to the
core.  Also, he had not yet seen the second Phantron.
     Until now, that is.  Three bird-like objects sped out of a nearby hole in the ground and
headed toward him.
     "So, you must be the second Phantron," Fox commented.
     Once again, Fox found himself trying to dodge Phantron's blasts and get a lock on the real
Phantron.  It was difficult, but he eventually landed enough hits to cause Phantron to appear to go
down.
     But instead-it changed.  The three Phantrons became one, and two legs unfolded from its
underside, and Phantron landed on the ground with a thud. 
     Vessic had told them that that would happen, but he was taken aback, nonetheless.
     Fox quickly shook off the surprise and got back down to business.  A pair of blue energy
balls shot out from under Fox's wings and struck Phantron in what could only be described as its
head.  It seemed to jerk back momentarily as Fox continued to fire.  But, then it managed to fire
off a missile at him, forcing Fox to dodge to the side.  While he dodged, two more Phantrons
seemed to appear out of thin air.
     Eager to get at Andross, Fox looked for a way to get around Phantron and into the tunnel. 
But, the robot had set itself directly in front of the tunnel entrance.  Andross must've known what
they'd be after, and programmed Phantron to cover the entrance.  The arwing was much quicker
than it was.  But, that would make no difference with Phantron right where he needed to go.
     "Where is he now?" Andross demanded, pacing back-and-forth in the Control Center.  He
had wanted to be in the Control Center for his final victory.  But now, he was furious that Fox
had
gotten as far as he had.  "I want him stopped, NOW!!!  Do whatever it takes!"
     Several times, Fox darted in and out, trying to draw Phantron away from the tunnel
entrance.  But, it was of no avail.  Phantron was not moving away from it.  And, whenever Fox
tried to go around Phantron to get to the entrance, Phantron repositioned itself to block his path. 
He had no choice but to fight it out.
     For several minutes, Fox battled the guardian Phantron.  He managed to score several hits
on it, but it seemed that nothing could bring the giant machine down.  Several other would-be hits
only passed harmlessly through the holograms, and Phantron let loose with a seemingly unending
stream of blaster shots and missiles.
     Fox scored yet another hit to Phantron, knocking it sideways.  Just as he did so, Phantron
fired another missile, which seemed to veer off into nowhere.  By now, Fox could see that
Phantron was beginning to falter.  So, he poured on the blaster shots as quickly as he could.  He
was about to fire again when a lone Venom fighter approached him from the side.  It fired,
striking
Fox's arwing, and jolting it furiously.  Fox quickly turned and destroyed his attacker with a few
well-placed photon blasts.
     But then, the missile came out of nowhere and headed directly for Fox.  He flew close to a
nearby mountain and quickly fired the booster rockets, jolting his ship out of the missile's path. 
With insufficient time to change course and pursue Fox further, the missile slammed into the
mountain, spewing rock and dirt everywhere as it exploded.  
     Fox felt the arwing lurch forward as it was buffeted by the shock wave.  He heard a
warning tone from the ship's computer, indicating that the shields had fallen below 20% strength.
     Enough was enough.  Fox had been saving the three nova bombs he carried as a last resort
due to their extreme power (and potential danger to those too close to the explosion), but he
wanted this fight over with now.
     Fox turned his ship toward Phantron and was about to fire a nova bomb when the two
holograms disappeared.  Then, Phantron picked up its left leg and kicked it out in Fox's direction. 
Fox could see a large, massive object come out of it and head toward him-more than enough to
finish him off should it hit him.  The object was traveling toward him at high velocity, but Fox still
managed to take aim and fired the nova bomb before barely dodging the speeding bit of material.
     The bomb quickly sailed toward Phantron and struck its target.  Fox swiftly took cover
behind the mountain as Phantron exploded in a brilliant ball of light.
     "Finally!" Fox exclaimed.  Then, he checked his shield strength.  "18%!  It'll take several
minutes even to recharge to half-strength!" Fox bellowed in frustration.  "But, they may not have
several minutes back on Corneria.  Well, ready or not, Andross, here I come."  Then, Fox
approached the tunnel entrance.  It was up higher than he had anticipated, so he pulled his arwing
into a steep climb, then flipped over once he was above it, and plunged straight toward the door. 
It was almost a completely vertical dive.  As expected, he found it closed off.  But that was no
problem, for he knew exactly how to handle closed doors.
     But then, something gripped his mind like a vice.  Fox found part of himself wanting to
dive right into the ground!  Then, as he sped toward the ground, he could hear a voice in his head. 
STRAIGHT AHEAD.  KEEP GOING.
     Meanwhile, Vessic peered out of the cave he had landed in in an attempt to lose his
pursuers.  His shields had been down to less than 5% strength, so he ducked into a cave too deep
for their sensors to penetrate and shut his ship down.  He didn't want to be seen, so he stayed
behind the wall and peered out the cave entrance.  He saw a couple of his pursuers above him. 
They circled around for several seconds, and then moved on to look elsewhere.  ONE OF THE
OTHERS MUST BE NEAR THE CORE BRAIN BY NOW.  WHICH MEANS THAT I'D
BETTER GET THOSE SHIELDS REGENERATING NOW.  THEY MIGHT NEED HELP,
AND I HAVE NO DESIRE TO GO INTO BATTLE WITHOUT SHIELDS!
     The voice was Andross'-Fox knew that.  He was very close now.  Fox's heart started to
beat faster and faster at the thought of Andross' presence.  His grip on the joystick tightened, until
it seemed he would pull it out of the control panel at any second.
     FORGET IT! Fox thought, pulling his ship back on course.  Before Andross could do
anything else, Fox aimed at the door and opened fire.
     Once he was inside, Fox once again checked his shield status.  "20% and rising.  I just
hope I can block him out until it finishes regenerating!  He almost killed me!"
     It was most likely that any ships that might be waiting for him in the tunnel would approach
him from behind.  So, Fox set the nightview sensors to scan the area behind him.
     Meanwhile, Andross was watching his progress with a great deal of interest (and temper). 
IT MUST BE MCCLOUD!  WHO ELSE WOULD BE FOOLISH ENOUGH TO ATTACK
ME ALONE?!  "Get the stealth ships in there-NOW!  I don't want McCloud getting to the Core
Brain!"  Then, he added, "I'll be in my private laboratory.  I do not want to be disturbed!"
     "Aye, Emperor!"  
     Andross stormed out of the room and hurried to his lab.  Once he was there, he switched
on a large monitor and set it to show him the Core Brain.  With that done, he proceeded to put on
his head a rather strange-looking helmet.  "If he thinks he's going to win, he has a very nasty
surprise coming!  And not even that traitor Vessic knows about this surprise!"
     Then, Andross decided to switch the monitor's view to show the maintenance tunnel. 
There, he saw Fox's arwing speeding through the narrow corridor.  "Here comes the son!" he
grumbled.
     As Fox sped down the narrow, winding tunnel, his fur bristled with excitement-the kind of
excitement that comes only from meeting one's greatest challenge (or rather, the anticipation of
doing so).  Several other tunnels crossed the main one, like streams flowing into a river.  The
tunnel was dark and gloomy, and only because of his keen night vision was Fox able to see what
lay ahead without consulting his sensor screen.
     Then, an alarm went off as his nightview sensors picked up two stealth ships on his tail! 
THEY MUST'VE COME OUT OF ONE OF THE INTERSECTING TUNNELS IN HERE! 
WHAT I WOULDN'T GIVE FOR REARWARD-FIRING GUNS RIGHT ABOUT NOW!
     Both of them opened fire, one of them striking Fox's left wing.  Then, they fired again. 
But, this time, Fox was able to dodge the blasts by performing a half barrel-roll.
     Trying to distance himself some from his pursuers, Fox sped up as much as he could and
still navigate the tunnel.  A glance at his control panel had told him that the ship's autopilot was
inoperative.  So, the only thing keeping him from colliding with the walls was him.
     Unfortunately, the ships stayed right with him.  Fox checked to see how far he had yet to
go before reaching the core, and found that he was only about halfway there.
     Then, the tunnel turned sharply to the left.  Fox pulled hard left, but not soon enough to
avoid his right wing banging into the side of the tunnel.  With that hit, his shield strength dropped
all the way down to 9%!
     Once again, Andross made a stab at influencing Fox's mind.  Sundry confusing images
appeared to Fox.  He didn't know what was happening at first, and felt like his mind was rapidly
slipping away from him.
     Then, he was jolted back to reality some as his ship was struck by a blast from one of the
stealth ships behind him.  He quickly dove to avoid another series of shots as he realized what
must have happened and rebuilt his mental defenses.
     There was not much room to maneuver in the tunnel, so Fox had to keep a constant eye
out for both the walls and the stealth ships.  He kept diving and climbing and moving left and right
as much as the tunnel would allow in an attempt to keep himself out of their line-of-fire.
     For several seconds, Fox managed to avoid being hit again.  But finally, another shot hit its
mark.  After the hit, Fox glanced at the control panel to see what damage had been done, and
noticed that the nightview sensors were no longer working!  Also. his shields were only at 7%,
and
he still was only 3/4's of the way to the Core Brain.
     He knew that the two stealth ships were behind him somewhere, but he had no idea where. 
So, he sped up still more to try to outrun them.  He could only hope that he'd be able to make the
turns at such a speed.
     He kept moving right-and-left and up-and-down to make himself a more difficult target. 
But, not being able to see his pursuers, he could only hope that he didn't wind up flying right into
their line of fire.  One shot struck near the rear of the canopy, causing some of Fox's controls to
smoke and spark.  Fortunately, his ability to navigate was unaffected by the hit.  The shield was at
7% and holding, and it wouldn't go up to a more useful strength as long as Fox kept getting
pounded.
     He knew that they'd have to decloak any time now-if he could only hang on until then, he
might stand a chance.  Then, he saw his chance-his sensors were showing a turn just up ahead. 
He quickly moved toward the outside of the turn and pulled left as hard as he could.  Fox could
feel the g-forces piling up as his ship sped along the tunnel wall.  He knew he'd have to straighten
out soon, or risk losing consciousness.  A shot rang out at him and struck the wall behind him. 
One of the Lizards was directly behind him!
     But, that was just where Fox wanted him to be.  As the turn steepened, Fox opened fire on
the wall ahead of him.  Then, as the wall lit up in an explosion of sparks and fury, Fox hit the
retros, slowing him enough to turn away from the small explosion.  While Fox was able to
distance
himself from the explosion somewhat, the Lizard behind him was taken totally by surprise.
     The Lizard flew straight into the explosion and, blinded by the light, flew right through the
wall of the tunnel!  By the time the Lizard realized what had happened, his ship was already
starting to de-cloak.
     The explosion may not have been large, but it was powerful enough to kick some debris
Fox's way.  The debris and the shock wave slammed into Fox's arwing with a jarring smash!  
     Fortunately, what had been left of Fox's shields was enough to deflect the debris away
from Fox's hull.  Unfortunately, his shield generators were now inoperative!  (They were broken. 
So, they wouldn't regenerate.)
     As he continued down the tunnel, he saw the remaining stealth ship decloak behind him. 
To make matters worse, Andross' mental attack was now worse than ever with Fox's shields
down. 
Fox felt as if he were on the edge of reality, and he found it more and more difficult to distinguish
between reality and the images that now flashed before his eyes.  Only the primal instinct to
survive kept his mind from succumbing to the illusion.  Fox knew that emotion was the key to
blocking Andross, but he knew not whether he could possibly excite himself any more than he
already had-at least not while staying under control.
     He was now almost all the way to the Core Brain.  But, his shields were down and the
Lizard behind him was relentless.  Fox knew that he couldn't try firing at the wall again, for he had
no shields left to protect himself from flying debris.  He tried darting toward the wall just to see if
he could get the Lizard to crash into it before recloaking.  But, the Lizard wasn't about to repeat
his compatriot's mistake.  He stayed well away from the walls and waited until Fox was forced to
come back toward the center of the tunnel.
     Fox's mind was racing, trying to reject Andross' influence while trying to keep him out of
the Lizard's line of fire.  Fox managed to dodge several blasts from the Lizard.  Even so, Fox was
unsure how much longer he could keep it up.
     Finally, Fox (still being pursued by the Lizard) reached the Core Brain chamber.  At first,
the core looked like a giant cube floating in the center of the room (It transferred power to the
other systems on Venom in much the same way that the Power Transmitter sent energy over
interstellar distances.  That way, there were no physical connections to maintain).  But, then what
appeared to be a giant face appeared over it.  As the face appeared, the room seemed to vanish,
being replaced by a surreal reddish haze surrounding him, his pursuer, and the face.  Fox blinked,
trying to shake off the effects of the haze, which seemed to move in an almost hypnotic pattern. 
It
seemed very soothing to him.
     He tried to circle around the face.  But, no matter where he went, it stood in his way.
     Fox didn't recognize the face, but the voice with which it spoke definitely rang a bell.
     "McCloud," Andross started.  "So nice to see you again.  Now, I get to repay you for all
you've done over the years."
     Andross' voice was enough to snap Fox's mind back to reality.  Though the illusion
remained, it was no longer affecting Fox.  He knew that the haze must be an illusion set up by
Andross to confuse him.  But, he was determined not to lose his grip on reality.  He knew what he
had to do.  "I think you're the one who's going to be 'repaid'!" Fox replied hotly, aiming at the face
and firing his photon twin blasters.  Nothing.  He then tried a nova bomb.  Still nothing.
     "My new invention here uses solid-hologram technology like Phantron does, but, this
hologram can actually absorb shots and bomb blasts!  And my mind shapes this being and gives it
my intelligence!  That and a small illusion provided by myself should keep you quite...entertained! 
How do you like that?"
     Just then, Fox's pursuer took a shot at him, but missed.  "Caught between a rock and a
hard place.  Huh, McCloud?" Andross teased.
     For several minutes, Fox dodged the fire of his pursuer and tried to get behind him.  But,
the Lizard was on him like glue.  And, to make matters worse, the face spewed out what appeared
to be large solid-hologram planks at him.  Each one appeared to be about twice the size of his
arwing!
     But then, Fox noticed on his sensor screen that another ship was approaching.  IT'S
ABOUT TIME! he thought.
     Then, that other ship sped into the chamber.  It was Vessic's.
     "The traitor returns!" Andross yelled.  "Now, you both will be destroyed!"  Vessic turned
his ship toward the face and attempted to fire, but nothing happened.  His guns had been damaged
earlier, and had only been working sporadically ever since.
     Just then, the mouth of the face fired more planks at Fox and Vessic.  Fox saw several of
them spinning toward him, flipping end-over-end.  Once again, he tried firing.  But, once again, it
did precious little good.  He did a partial barrel-roll and managed to slip between two of them. 
The Lizard, however, wasn't so lucky.  He tried to dodge the pieces, but was hit by not one, but
two, of the pieces.
     "Why didn't you say anything about this, Major?!" Fox snarled at Vessic.
     "I didn't... know about it!"
     In spite of the hits, the determined Lizard stayed on Fox's tail.  Suddenly, the face exerted a
tractor beam-like pull on the ships and the planks.  Fox felt himself being sucked in, unable to turn
around and barely able to move to the side.  He fired the retros, but it was of little use.  Luckily,
Fox was not hit by any of the planks on their return trip.  But, the Lizard, who was also being
pulled in, slowly moved in directly behind Fox.  He knew that this was a perfect opportunity to
nail
him.
     Vessic saw the Lizard and Fox being pulled in, as was he.  Then, Vessic started to feel
Andross' presence in his mind more and more.  Andross must have activated a wide-angle tractor
beam of some sort, and his shields had automatically adjusted to cancel it.  Vessic found it harder
and harder to think, as Andross focused more and more of his power on Vessic's mind.
     As the Lizard zeroed in on Fox, Vessic got the Lizard in his sites.  He reached for the fire
button-and stopped.  He had fired on Lizards before, but this time was different.  Before, he had
always done so for self defence, when there was a chance his target might escape.  Now, even if
his guns failed to fire this time, they would fire eventually-and this Lizard couldn't escape.  He felt
like an executioner.
     But, he had made his choice.
     He saw the stealth ship start to re-cloak.  His ship must've cooled enough to do it again,
and the pilot must've figured he could destroy McCloud and protect himself from Vessic by 
re-cloaking as he fired.  If he didn't fire now, the Lizard would indeed escape, after all.  Finally, he
pressed the fire button.  His guns fired this time, and he kept firing until the Lizard was destroyed.
     Hearing the explosion, Fox was taken aback.  He then felt a tingling sensation as what
looked like a phased piece of metal flew through him without leaving so much as a mark on his
body!  
     Seconds later, the suction released its grip.  Simultaneously, the mouth ejected another
bunch of planks.  As soon as he was free, Fox quickly turned away from the face and headed
away from it.  He managed to out-run the planks.  But, eventually, he'd have to turn and fight
once
again.
     Suddenly, Vessic took up position next to Fox.  "Your shields are down," Vessic said to
Fox.  "But mine have...regenerated.  I will...share them."  Fox felt uneasy about that arrangement,
but had no time to argue.
     NOW YOU, I KNOW VERY WELL! said Andross' voice in Vessic's head.  The next
thing Vessic knew, he could see that pile of rubble again.  It was so real that he felt he could reach
out and touch it.  And that horrible smell!  Vessic looked as if he had just seen a ghost as he
struggled to get a grip on himself.  He could see himself rooting through the pile, searching..., his
heart racing...  NO!  I WON'T LET YOU DO THIS NOW!  I WILL NOT FAIL MY PEOPLE!
     Just then, a plank came between them, forcing them to separate.  But, as soon as it had
passed, they came together once again.  Then, Vessic dropped his shields long enough to reset
them to cover Fox's ship as well, and re-established them.
     "I can fire out from here, right?" Fox checked.
     "Yes.  But we'll have to...stay together.  You fight...I'll follow.  Your guns are
more...powerful, and mine are damaged."
     "All the power in the world may not be enough to take this thing out, unless we can find a
weak spot," Fox commented.  Then, he warned, "Try not to look at the red haze.  It can have
strange effects on one's mind."
     HAZE? Vessic wondered.
     Fox climbed above yet another series of planks.  As he did so, he noticed something about
the face-the eyes were a different color from the rest of the face.  Acting on a hunch, he pulled up
quickly to take a shot at one of the eyes.  "Steep climb!  Stay with me!" he warned Vessic.
     "Now, we'll see how well you can take it, Andross!" Fox grumbled, and then unleashed a
vicious volley at the eye.  The shots struck their target precisely.  As they did, the entire face
seemed to flash and then dim.  "Got you!" Fox exclaimed.  THE SOURCE OF THE
HOLOGRAMS MUST BE BEHIND THOSE EYES!  THE HOLOGRAM CAN'T BECOME
COMPLETELY SOLID UNTIL FURTHER OUT FROM THE SOURCE, SO THERE'S MY
WEAK SPOT!
     Fox kept pouring it on, until another series of planks  started blocking his shots and heading
his way.  Instinctively, Fox barrel-rolled to avoid the flying slabs, forgetting momentarily that he
and Vessic were sharing a single rather oversized shield at the moment.  As a result, one of the
blocks struck the shields, even though they missed Fox's ship.
     "Shield strength...dropped 20%!"
     "We've got to keep closer," Fox commented.
     "I am trying.  But, it is not...easy to keep up."
     "General, the Talera's shields are down to less than 10%!" the Tactical officer informed
Pepper.
     "Advise them to drop back to 20000 Km!  Order the Calipso to come to coordinates
4-6-9!" Pepper instructed.  "What's our shield status?"  
     "We're down to about 30% strength.  I estimate that they'll collapse totally in about 5
minutes."
     "If the Lizards are able to board this station..." Pepper's exec started.
     "You don't have to remind me," Pepper assured him.  "We have men in place to handle
that contingency."
     As Pepper spoke, a large explosion appeared on the main viewscreen.
     "General...The Talera's been destroyed," one of his officers reported soberly.
     "Why do I find myself wishing that we hadn't come here?" Falco cracked, trying to shake
about four Lizard fighters, while firing on a fifth.
     "Could it have something to do with them?" Peppy replied, himself taking a shot at a
Lizard, while dodging the shots of a cloaked stealth ship.
     Back in the Core Brain chamber, Fox shot the eyes once more.  "Enough playing around,
Andross!  Now the mask comes off!"  Then, Fox fired another shot into the face's eyes.
     This time, the face seemed to just fall apart, revealing the cubical core underneath.
     Andross was filled with rage.  His invention was now little more than a pile of useless junk
until the backups could kick in (which would take several minutes), now that Fox had knocked
out
the hologram generators.  Only the monitor was still working.
     In fact, he was so enraged, that he focused all of his mind powers on invading Fox's and
Vessic's minds.
     Several seconds later, a curious thing happened.  The Venom fighters and battleships
stopped chasing and firing on Falco and the others.  They just seemed to be flying around in a
daze, as if they were just waking up from a dream.  Their comm channels were filled with chaotic,
confused chatter.
     Falco, who had just been about to take down one of the Lizards, seemed even more
confused, however.  "What's going on?  They've all just stopped fighting!"
     Fara was puzzled as well, but guessed.  "Maybe Andross' lost control of them, somehow?"
     On Corneria, a couple minutes later, Pepper was receiving much the same news from his
tactical officer.  "General, the Lizards have powered down their weapons and shields!  They're
just
flying around aimlessly!"
     "Are you sure?" Pepper asked doubtfully.
     "Aye, Sir...Wait-a few of them have now reactivated their weapons and shields.  But about
80% of the Lizard fleet is still doing nothing!"
     "Whoa!" Falco yelled as a shot streaked across his arwing's nose.  "I wish these guys'd
make up their minds!  First they want to kill us, then they just sit there, and now they want to kill
us again!  Even politicians are better at making up their mind than this!"
     "Not all of the Lizards are attacking, Falco!" Peppy noted.  "Most of them still aren't
attacking!"
     Meanwhile, Fox couldn't couldn't believe his eyes.  Sitting there on the cube, staring him in
the face, was Andross!  "Do you see that?" he asked Vessic.  "Andross' face is on the cube!"
     "Y-yes.  I do," answered Vessic weakly.
     "I'm not going to make it that easy!" Andross fumed, now totally consumed by hatred of
his former second and the 'pirate' who had taken so much from him.  He channeled that fury
through the Core Brain.
     Fox wasn't sure whether or not it was just his mind playing tricks on him, but he could
swear the cube was moving!  Illusion or not, however, he didn't want that mask coming back.  He
was running low on fuel, and wouldn't be able to keep up the fight much longer.  So, he aimed
and
fired as quickly as he could.
     He managed to hit the cube several times before it spun and darted out of the way.  Fox
could see Andross' face on each face of the cube, and wanted even more to destroy it every time
he saw the hairy ape.
     The cube moved far away from Fox and Vessic, and seemed to hover momentarily.  Then,
it sped back, directly at Vessic!  Vessic reacted swiftly, but the cube still managed to catch part of
his shield.
     "Are you alright?" Fox asked coolly.
     "Yes, but the cube's moving definitely is not...definitely is real!"
     Having missed Vessic, the cube then started toward Fox with equal fury.  Andross was
now livid.  "You...will not survive!" he yelled to no one in particular.  Then, he added quietly,
"I'm
sorry, Vixy."
     Fox dove quickly to avoid the cube's charge.  In fact, he dove so quickly, that Vessic
couldn't keep up.  As a result, Fox slammed into Vessic's shield, jarring him momentarily. 
Fortunately, the collision did little damage to his ship.  But, he'd lost sight of the cube.
     So, he glanced down at his sensor screen.  The cube was directly above him, and heading
toward him at a high rate of speed!  If his ship weren't so damaged, Fox might've been tempted to
let the cube hit him.  After all, why should he destroy the cube, when he can have Andross do it
for him?  But, instead, Fox darted forward just as the cube arrived, causing it to miss.
     Fox rapidly turned about and took aim at his target.  A nova bomb would be much too
slow to hit the cube, so Fox let loose with several more photon blasts.  He scored several hits on
the cube before it veered out of his line-of-fire and up, over his ship.
     Once again, Fox came about.  In front of him, he saw the cube pause as the mask started
to reform!  "No!" Fox yelled, launching a nova bomb at the target.  Then, he pressed the button to
detonate it.  The mask reformed around the explosion, and  absorbed much of the nova bomb's
energy as the core was blown apart, but the bomb's remaining energy was still enough to slam Fox
and Vessic against the side of the chamber!  Then, the mask vanished.
     With the Core Brain destroyed (and the TK amplifier therefore no longer working), Fox
and Vessic's heads rapidly cleared.  The explosion had knocked out Vessic's shields, but they were
both alive.  Relieved, they started back out again through the tunnel.
     Several minutes later, the Lizard ships around Corneria finally lost their power supply. 
"General, the Lizards that were still fighting have now lost much of their weapon and shield
power!  The Lizard invasion force has signaled their surrender, Sir!"
     "They know they can't win with only average weapons and 80% of their force not
fighting!"  Pepper concluded, smiling from ear to ear.  WELL-DONE, FOX MCCLOUD!  VERY
WELL-DONE, INDEED!
     Fox and Vessic emerged from the tunnel battered, but  victorious.  Though, it appeared
that their victory might come at the cost of their lives when they found themselves confronted by
several Venom fighters.
     I THOUGHT I'D LOST THEM! thought Vessic.
     Fox watched cautiously and prepared to fire as the fighters drew near.  Neither his ship nor
Vessic's was in any shape for combat, but he wasn't about to go down without a fight.  Then, a
voice came over Fox's comm unit.  It was Fara's.  "It's all right!  They aren't fighting for Andross
anymore.  He's lost his hold on them!"  The shields must've gone down when the Core Brain was
destroyed, because Fox could see Fara, Falco, and Peppy approaching.  And were they a sight for
sore eyes!
     "A few of the Lizards still seem to be loyal to him," Fara explained.  "But, they retreated to
who knows where soon after they lost their main power supply."
     Fox had only one word to say to Vessic as they flew onward-a rather hesitant "Thanks".