An aged bent over scientist hobbled over to a metal slab, where his subject was laying strapped.

"Happy 16th birthday Kalihn" the scientist, an old camel spoke through cracked lips. The subject, naked except for a small pair of pants, looked painfully up,

"Thank you Doctor Dean" Kalihn replied.

"I bring ill tidings" Dr Dean sighed, "I am forced to retire, as of tomorrow"

"What?!" Kalihn struggled with his bonds, "But I trust you when you do those strange things to me!"

"Experiments Kalihn, and yes, I'm afraid someone might try to hurt you terribly" Dr Dean lied, he KNEW that someone was going to try and hurt Kalihn, "And that's why I am setting you free"

"Free?" Kalihn asked confused, "What's free?"

"Free, is when you get to make your own choices, whenever you want"

"You'd do that?" he eagerly asked,

"Yes, but you must follow my plans perfectly" Dr Dean leaned forward and whispered into Kalihn's ears, "My pocket is near one of your claws my keys should be hanging out of it"

"They are" Kalihn noted,

"Good, now I want you to take them and undo your bonds" and barely before he had finished,

"Done"

"Very good, now stand up and run from this lab out the front, there’ll be a car there, and I want you to get into it, it’s blue so you won’t get into the wrong one”

“Thank you Dr Dean, I’ll remember this always”

“I’m not done with you yet, I shall teach you all about living in the real world”

“I’ll see you in the car” Kalihn smiled and hugged the old camel,

“Now god speed Kalihn… be a Flyer…”

The Shadow of FlyerFox

It Begins

"Although my name is FlyerFox I do not have all that much to do with the character's emotions, I am more happy go-lucky. I wanted to create a dark character to go in the 'Pirate Killers' stories, and I thought my own name and character was a good basis to start on." ~ FlyerFox, Earth.

"Jeez! These guys are everywhere!" Flyer yelled into his comm-link as laser whizzed past his Arwing Class B "Anyone able to assist?" The 'Pirate Killers' were flying a mission just outside Sector X, and were defending a Space Station against Pirates, and there were a lot of pirates.

"Sorry Flyer, I got my flippers all tied up" Finnius' annoyingly familiar voice crackled into his comm-link as a laser struck Flyer's wing.

"Same here, except with my paws" Lyn's voice was the next. Tourican wasn't on this mission, as he had a nasty case of a problem, a disease that affected Avions, causing their beaks to ache painfully.

"Anyone else?" Flyer asked worried as he dived through a hole in some space junk. All the replies from the rest of the 'Pirate Killers' were no's and static. "Well that's just freaking great!" Flyer yelled as he pulled a half somersault and boosted away from his pursuers.

"Just hold on Flyer, and don't drift too far away from the others" Finord cautioned from the Space Station,

"Easy for you guys to say" Flyer doubled back on his path and blasted the pirates who were attacking him, but not before a laser shot pounded into his Arwing's body, "Jeez! Radar's down! Can anyone hear me?!" Flyer called out, but his reply was static.

"Hey Finnius" Lyn asked, "Can you find Flyer on your radar?"

"If it was working" Finnius frowned, "The darn thing suddenly shut off"

"Same" Lyn gave a worried look that only she knew she was making, "What about on the station?"

"The whole radar scanning system is jammed" Finord groaned, "It could take awhile to fix"

"Anyone?" Flyer became agitated, but no-one could hear him, suddenly a large battle cruiser drifted in front of him, the only identifiable marking was a flame symbol, "ANYONE?"

"Got it!" Finord smiled, "We've fixed the problem! Sweeping now..."

"Well?" Finnius asked eagerly,

"Nothing..."

The halls of Andross' bunker were filled with the sound of hard footsteps, as a figure made its way to Andross' throne room. This was not unnatural, but the fact they kept at EXACTLY the same time in-between steps was amazing. The figure reached the doors to the Throne Room, and was stopped by the guards,

"Halt! State you name and business!" the guard bellowed,

"Name, Amber Squires, and I'm here to see Andross" the figure replied curtly,

"Your name and picture match, you may enter" the guard opened the door for Amber, who stepped in, keeping the same rhythmic pace. Amber Squires was a Red Panda, a rare species in Lylat, lacking the strength of their common relatives, but with a greater agility which made up for it. She wore a pair of blue jeans and a tight black shirt with no markings, her hair as expected was red, and it was short cut off level with her chin. Her entry was acknowledged by the guard,

"Emperor Andross, Captain Amber Squires, special agent" the guard announced like a herald of old.

"Thank you guard" Andross dismissed the guard, "Thank you for coming Ms Squires"

"It is not only my duty Emperor, but my pleasure" Amber smiled as she bowed,

"Thank you again Ms Squires" Andross bid her to rise, "I have a task for you"

"What task is that Emperor?" Amber raised an eyebrow,

"Before the war, and my exile, I had several labs working in secret with chemical and genetic experiments. While most of these were flushed out, a few remained"

"How does this involve me oh Emperor?"

"This is one of the labs, based on Fortuna" Andross took out a small remote control and aimed it at a screen on one of the walls. At the press of a button the screen displayed a satellite photograph of the lab and the surrounding area, "This lab was, and still is based around genetic experiments on living subjects. One of the subjects escaped a fair while ago, almost a year from now"

"You wish for me..." Amber started,

"Not yet Ms Squires" Andross interrupted "We searched high and low for this subject, but could find no trace, even interrogation periods on the subjects Doctor, who was very apathetic to the subject, reaped nothing. Until a month ago, Star Wolf were on a mission to kill a scientist, and while they succeeded, they unwittingly discovered the subject."

"Why do you need this subject?" Amber asked

"He was about to undergo the ultimate experiment" Andross smiled proudly, "He was to be injected with my DNA so that I might live on if killed in this war"

"I will find him my Emperor, just tell me who it is and I shall get them alive for you" Amber eagerly started,

"This is the subject, code-named D" Andross flashed the picture up of 'D' onto the screen, "Otherwise known as Kalihn," the picture on the screen was of a figure strapped to a table, fear in his eyes, the legs, face, and part of the arms were like a fox's, but the figure had the wings, fangs, and body of a bat. "Or under his new name... "

"I will get him for you" Amber saluted,

"You'd better" Andross replied threateningly.

Rudarius walked through a street in downtown Corneria City, smiling and waving to all whom he passed, he proceeded to do this till he reached a jaguar playing basketball.

"Mind if I have a shot?" Rudarius asked,

"Not at all" said the jaguar politely, if not surprisingly responded before passing the ball,

"Thank you, for the ball and for being so polite" Rudarius passed the ball back,

"Your welcome, now give me some fur!" the jaguar smiled, and raised a paw. The two clapped their paws together, and Rudarius proceeded on his way, slipping a small box into his pocket along the way.

Rudarius walked on till he reached an old building, he entered, walked up the creaking stairs till he reached a level with an old door, the markings on the glass reading 'Rudarius Cormack, P.I.'. Rudarius walked in the door and looked around, to his left, typing at a desk was a female Avion, a toucan to be exact. Her name was Zaphir Down. To his right was another Avion, a male kite, who was filing folders. His name was Joseph Mozac. Together these three formed an elite team, with a darker side. Zaphir was the explosives expert and also the good looker of the team, she was an ex psychiatric patient who was committed because she burnt her wife-beating father alive in his bed. Joseph was a more subtle agent, ideal at sneaking into places and stealing information, he was also a kleptomaniac with a police record, at just five Joseph stole a set of General Pepper's medals, right off General Pepper's chest, and nearly went unnoticed. Finally there was Rudarius, the leader of the team, he was a Doberman, and master of disguise. This was due to the fact he had an absolute identity crisis.

"Good morning sir" Zaphir smiled warmly as she passed him a device that looked like a lap-top, only smaller.

"Good morning yourself" Rudarius smiled as he opened the device up.

"What'chya got?" Joseph asked as he leaned over Rudarius' shoulder,

"Another mission, and can you give me the box back?" Rudarius looked at Joseph, who smiled guiltily and handed the box over. Rudarius pressed a button on the box and out of a slot came a small CD. Rudarius took the CD out and placed it in the drive of the device, the screen immediately lit up.

"Hello Mr Cormack" a voice spoke clearly through a speaker as he three listened and watched intently, "Your mission should you take it on, is to remove this man from his position." The small screen showed a picture of a Komodo Dragon, dressed in red robes like a monk, "This is Shoi-Lao, second in placing in the holy order known as the 'Apostles of Flame'. This religious organisation is led by another Komodo Dragon known as Kai-Dora. This organisation is well known by both Andross and General Pepper, and is left alone by both. Shoi-Lao is suspected of kidnapping Cornerian and Venomian pilots to brainwash and build as part of his militia, which he plans to overthrow Kai-Dora. Your mission is to access Shoi's prison stationed close to Solar, remove Shoi-Lao and rescue any Cornerians that are in the prison. If caught all knowledge of you will be denied, and no rescue attempt will be made. All necessary plots and locations have been encrypted and sent to your central computer. The password is 'Jahotec'. This CD will destroy itself in five seconds."

"Well guys" Rudarius closed the lap-top and smiled, "Looks like we have a computer to see about some encrypted files" and as the five seconds ticked over, smoke hissed out of the closed lap-top.

Flyer sat up and rubbed the forehead, he'd been knocked out cold in his arwing by some sort of beam that jolted his aircraft causing him to bash his head on the, and he could not recall getting where he was. Getting up, Flyer looked at his surroundings, he was in a white cell, with the only window at the door, obviously for when food came round. Where am I? he thought as he walked up to the door, behind him was a bed and a toilet, Have I been caught by Venom soldiers? Are they gonna take me back? Flyer's mind was filled with panicked thoughts. Flyer waited for his eye sight to return fully, but it didn't appear to be getting better, Oh grand, they've drugged me as well. He reached into his left boot and pulled out a small sachet from a hidden pocket, he then ripped it open and swallowed the powdered contents, within seconds his eyes adjusted to the room.

"Hello?!" Flyer yelled and banged on the door with his right arm (his left was still injured from when a knife connected with it) "I demand to speak to a superior!" Flyer suddenly found himself praying that the superior wasn't a certain torture-happy chameleon. His cries were answered when a cowled guard stepped up and opened the food hatch.

"Place your hands where I can see them" the guard ordered, and Flyer reluctantly obeyed. A few seconds later the door was opened and three cowled guards came in, Flyer thought them to be almost like monks, with their red robes and faces hidden by hoods. After he was searched one of the guards stepped out of the cell and knelt facing someone out of Flyer's vision,

"Your Honour" The guard spoke like he worshipped the one he was talking to, "He has been checked, and is unarmed"

"Good" a soothing voice carried itself into Flyer's ears, "Cuff him". At a gesture Flyer's arms were jerked behind him and his wrists had metal bands connected round them. When that was done a fourth cloaked figure stepped in, the face hidden, but this figure's cloak was black with a symbol on it, the same symbol on the battle cruiser.

"Good evening" the voice, now more irritating than soothing spoke,

"I wish I could say the same" Flyer answered in a stale tone,

"I figured that" the voice retorted,

"Question, your not Venom are you?" Flyer got straight to the point,

"No"

"And your not Pirates?"

"Not really, we have ex-pirates in our group"

"Right" Flyer tried to adjust the position of his wrists "So why the god-damn-hell am I here?"

"I'm not permitted to say" the voice, now extremely annoying to Flyer, replied almost bitterly,

"What? They call you 'Your Honour'! I thought that would be a good enough reason"

"Silence! I am only second in command to his Holy-ship" at those words the cowled figures bowed, all except the one talking to Flyer.

"Oh great, some help that is for me" Flyer rolled his eyes,

"You will find out in due time however" the figure sounded like he was stifling a giggle,

"Just before I die?"

"No, we don't intend on killing you, unless you try to escape"

"One more thing" Flyer suddenly realised a very important question he hadn't thought of yet "How many of the team I was in did you take?"

"Only you"

"Good... I think" Flyer frowned,

"Good, now that I've cleared your mind somewhat" the figure found the words 'cleared your mind' very amusing, "I shall leave you to your room, we have to prepare for the arrival of his Holy-ship"

"I hope he can explain to me why I'm here, is there any chance of seeing me?"

"Oh contraire my strangely feature prisoner, you're the reason he's coming!"

Chapter Two

"We are not a cult. We are a religion devoted to the worship of Solar. My followers are devout. There is no chance they would turn on me, we are all dedicated to the worshipping, and don't need petty squabbles." ~ Kai-Dora, High Priest or 'Holy-ship' of the religious group known as 'Apostles of the Flame.

"Reporting sir!" Finnius and Lyn saluted General Pepper in his office,

"At ease soldiers" General Pepper looked up from his papers,

"Thank you sir" Finnius and Lyn replied at once,

"I take it Tourican is still sick?"

"Yes sir, though he is getting better" Finnius explained,

"Any news on Flyer?" Lyn asked,

"I'm sorry" General Pepper picked up a sheet of paper and read from it, "There is no trace of Flyer, or his arwing called... what is it called?"

" 'Shadow of FlyerFox' sir" Finnius replied,

"What an unusual name" Pepper scratch the side of his head, "Why'd he choose that?"

"We have no idea" Lyn shrugged,

"Anyway, we've been attempting to track his position using the tracker but it appears to be so close to Solar that there is no chance of him surviving the heat" General Pepper gave the sheet to Finnius,

"Are you sure that he wasn't captured?" Lyn asked hopefully,

"We have spies checking it out, but no known Pirate group, or Venom prison has him. I'm afraid we may have lost a fine soldier"

"No way" Finnius disregarded Pepper's remark, "Remember when he made an emergency landing on Titania, he survived a whole day in the sun with barely any supplies"

"This is in space sergeant" Pepper sighed, "We have very slim hopes. And we don't have resources for proper search parties"

"What about Zaphir and the others?" Lyn snapped her paw,

"They're on a mission, which I can't divulge the information of"

"So that's it then" Finnius looked down at his tail, "We play the waiting game"

"Dismissed" General Pepper looked back down at his papers as Lyn and Finnius slowly walked out.

"What now?" Lyn asked in a defeated manner, "There doesn't seem like much we can do!"

"Except see Finord, and try to find out more about Flyer by accessing almost every god-damn computer file we can"

"Good idea" Lyn suddenly cheered up "That way we can blackmail him into doing stuff for us!"

"That was the other part of my plan" Finnius smiled cunningly.

Amber carefully navigated her transporter round Pirate space, hoping that no-one would notice her. Just before she had left Venom she received extra orders from Andross. The orders where to kill a clone of this FlyerFox character. She had at first found this a dilemma, which to do first? But she realised all she needed was to get FlyerFox and let him do the dirty work, with a little help of course. She had made up the disguise of Amber Squires, bounty hunter, and would find Flyer and tell him his life was in danger from one of her targets, she would play him along till the clone was dead, then she would simply capture Flyer and return to Venom. Simple.

"Prisoner" a guards voice floated into Flyer's cell,

"What is it?" Flyer asked annoyed,

"His Holy-ship has arrived, and requested that you meet him at once"

"Great!" Flyer jumped up from where he was sitting on the ground and ran to the door, "Right now?"

"Yes, now raise your arms, we can't go until we know you're unarmed"

"Fine, fine" Flyer raised his arms and wondered why they needed to frisk him over three times, he thought maybe they like unnerving prisoners or... he dismissed the second thought quickly.

Kai-Dora stood ready to meet Flyer. Kai was a tall, proud, yet old Komodo Dragon, who was the unquestionable leader of 'The Apostles of Flame' group. Kai believed he had full control of his disciples and worshippers, for in the sixty years of him leading it, he had never been close to being usurped from below. Normally he kept his group out of war business, but now he was to dive deep and save a lost soul drowning in a sea of ill-fate.

"Your Holy-ship! We have brought you the prisoner!" a guard bellowed across the room. Kai gestured for the prisoner to be brought forward.

As Flyer was pulled near the old lizard looked at him with analysing eyes. Flyer was to Kai, of medium build, with brown eyes, brown fur, and black hair, he was wearing a pair of deep blue jeans (known as Aqua-wash), a shirt with planets and stars on it, and a white coat, much like a scientists.

"Good evening" Kai addressed Flyer

"Good evening to you too" Flyer smiled,

"You seem much more polite than I was told" Kai mused,

"With respect your Holy-ship" Flyer caught on fast to a situation to help his position, "You are the first person to treat me in a manner which could be called 'polite'"

"Really?" Kai put on a face look of half-shock, "I'll sort that out as soon as I can"

"Thank you" Flyer bowed again, "But your Holy-ship, it confuses me as to why I am here, against my will"

"We apologise for the inconvenience..."

Inconvenience? Flyer thought, Being captured and leaving his friends worried was an inconvenience?!

"...but we had to get you here somewhat secretly, because of who you are"

"If you would please, tell me more"

"Certainly, follow me" Kai gestured to his guards who lifted Flyer up and took him into a room nearby, Kai-Dora followed right behind.

"Thank you" Kai dismissed the guards who placed Flyer down and left the room, closing the door behind him.

"Straight to business please" Flyer insisted,

"Well FlyerFox, we know who you are, and what you are"

"Um... what do you mean" the room suddenly got stuffy.

"Well Kalihn..."

"Oh boy" Flyer placed his face in his claws.

"Yes indeed. We know of how you escaped, but that isn't important right now. What is important is that Andross wants you back"

"Me?" Flyer looked confused, “Does he go after everyone that escapes his…”

"No, but he holds a very sinister fate for you, and so we plan to hide you till Andross is dead"

"What! No! You can't do that! I have friends! I need to find my real parents! I..." Flyer stopped as the last words suddenly flashed in his mind,

"I'm sorry, but we cannot allow Andross to recapture you"

"But..." Flyer was about to start pleading when one of the guards entered,

"Your Holy-ship" it was the 'Your Honour guy' "We have just picked up an injured transport"

"Anyone on board?" Kai asked,

"Yes sir"

"I'll go meet them. Escort FlyerFox back to his cell"

"Right, you heard him"

"Damnit I don't like this idea!" Flyer yelled as he was dragged out of the room,

Down at the docking bay the monks helped three figures out of the crippled transport, as Kai-Dora ran in.

"Names?" one of the guards inquired,

"Lt Dun" a female voice replied, "Cornerian Interplanetary Police,

"Sergeant Mack" a male voice this time, "Cornerian Interplanetary Police. And this" Mack pointed to a handcuffed figure, "Is Pirate Joey Flandell, our prisoner"

"Ah! Welcome" Kai said as he walked up

"Thank you" Dun replied, "Wait a minute, aren't you the leader of this religious group?"

"Indeed"

"Oh my" Dun stammered "We are honoured by your presence"

"Thank you" Kai was used to flattery, "What brings you here?"

"We were part of a convoy transporting prisoners to an asteroid jail when we were attacked. We escaped, barely." Mack explained,

"Well, we shall repair your ship and give you what you need. Including accommodation for you pirate friend here. Guards take this prisoner to a cell, and treat him well" Kai spoke authoritatively,

"Thank you" Dun and Mack bowed.

"Hey Flyer-fruit-cake" one of the guards taunted, "We have a cell mate for you! A pirate!"

"What! Are you guys nuts?" Flyer took up a stance, "He'd better not try anything"

"Doubt it, he's a real weakling" the guards opened the door and threw the other prisoner in, who landed face first, "Enjoy yourselves" the guard let out one more burst of taunting before leaving. Looking down Flyer saw his new companion was an Avion, and grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up, in a show of dominance in a small space, but when they came face-to-face...

"Joseph?" Flyer whispered,

"Flyer?" Joseph Mozac whispered back,

"Am I glad to see you!" they whispered together.

"Welcome" the cowled figure known as 'Honour' hissed to Lt Dun,

"Thank you" Dun smiled, "Any particular reason why you've come to speak to me?"

"Yes" 'Honour' took off his cowl to reveal a lizard's face, younger than that of Kai-Dora "I am Shoi-Lao, second in command of this religious group, and leader for defences in case of attack.

"Really? I am honoured" Dun smiled even wider than before “But why have you asked for me?”

“It isn’t really for you that I am asking, it is for your prisoner” Shoi-Lao really wanted to tell Dun what he wanted to do with HER, but common sense got in the way, “We wish to take him off your hands”

“I couldn’t do that” Dun replied, “I’m not to hand the prisoner over to anyone except my peers”

“Fine fine” the lizard frowned and turned away, “That is all Lt Dun”, Dun turned to leave,

“If anything happens to my prisoner, don’t think I won’t tell Kai” those words caused Shoi-Lao to snarl and half reach for his pistol.

“Kai… won’t be able to save you when I’m done” he hissed to himself,

Chapter Three

“I’ve always wondered about Flyer, I mean, he could be anything from a spy to God knows what. At least I didn’t know about my past” ~ Finnius Krill, Sergeant in Special Forces Team ‘Pirate Killers’, Corneria.

“What the hell are you doing here Joseph?” Flyer hissed under his breath,

“We’re here to take out some bad guy” Joseph replied, “And I’m the bait!”

“Jeez” Flyer mopped his brow with his sleeve, “I’m glad something is going on that doesn’t involve me”

“What do ya mean?” Joseph,

“You know how that Holy-guy is here?” Flyer started to explain,

“Kai-Dora” Joseph raised his eyebrow,

“Yeah him, he’s here cause of me, like they’re trying to protect me from Andross” Flyer groaned,

“You should be honoured” Joseph tried to cheer Flyer up,

“Being locked up? No thank you, I prefer my freedom” Flyer sighed, and stood on his hands, “Tell me about yourself Joseph, so at least if we can complete your team’s mission on more familiar grounds” Flyer finished his sentence before pushing his feet up onto a bar on the roof,

“Er, okay,” Joseph took a breath and thought back, “I was born on Katina, and became hooked on the new technology when I reached 6”

“That’s pretty early” Flyer commented, “And what technology?”

“I was getting to that” Joseph replied before continuing, “The technology was a new system of advanced computers and modems… You should know this Flyer you’re…”

“17, two months ago. I lived a pretty isolated life” Flyer half smirked, Joseph didn’t know the half of it, and he wasn’t gonna know either.

“Anyway, I soon started to run out of money to use these things, and that led me to stealing. The first job I did was a break in, and I got such a rush I continued to go into more difficult ‘jobs’, stealing anything and everything. I eventually ran out of difficult places to steal from, I knew every security system backwards, and so I turned to my computer, and started stealing from there.”

“I take it you got caught?” Flyer asked from his perch,

“Yeah, but only after I stole over 1 Billion credits from EVERY bank there ever was at that time. And I’ll tell you this…” Joseph smiled very slyly, “I deliberately let them catch me. Soon after, I was arrested, my computer systems destroyed, and I was not allowed to even use a pocket game system. That’s when Rudarius stepped in, he gave me new thrills, new challenges, and now I’ve met another thrill junkie, and she is damn hot if you don’t mind me saying” Joseph laughed at the last part of his sentence,

“You mean Zaphir right? She is definitely an interesting person, though I’m not sure she’s a fire junkie” Flyer gave Joseph a look which was uninterpretable,

“She uses her powers of mayhem much more in the team, believe me!” Joseph smiled even wider, “So how about yourself?”

“No time for that Joseph, I just thought of a plan!”

“Plan? But we already have a…” Joseph argued,

“Not for you lot, for me!” Flyer smiled and dropped from his perch,

“Huh?” Joseph gave Flyer a confused look,

“I learnt a lot living on Titania. Such as how to conceal items from others” Flyer reached down into his right boot,

“Like what?” Joseph asked,

“Like your basic explosives” Flyer smirked and pulled some tiny bottles, a cotton bud, and some wires, “The only down side is that I could end up blowing my foot off if I’m not careful, but apart from that…” Flyer sat down and dabbed poured some of the bottles contents onto his cotton bud, then attached the long wires to it,

“Jeez Flyer, wouldn’t your foot hurt?” Joseph asked as he made himself some cover out of one of the beds,

“A little, but not too much” Flyer stuck the cotton bud onto the spot where the lock was on the other side of the door and rolled the wire out to behind the bed, “All I need now…” Flyer muttered as he reached into his left boot, “This is bad, I lost my battery”

“Here, use one of mine” Joseph sighed and handed Flyer the small battery marked ‘Duracell’, “You aren’t gonna kill that guy for us are you?”

“Nope,” Flyer replied, “I’m getting out of here, and causing a diversion for you as well”

“Thanks… I think”

“What’s going on in there?” a guard yelled into the door,

“An escape attempt” Flyer laughed and placed the wires on each end of the battery, the result was one missing door, and one dead guard, “Have fun!” Flyer called the Joseph as he ran round the corner of the doorway, scooping up the laser rifle as he went,

“Meanwhile, I’d better look hurt” Joseph muttered and got some capsules out.

Zaphir was in the centre zone of the space station. The area was circular, with a large abyss spanning endlessly below. She expected that stupid Komodo Dragon to make a move soon, and then they would wipe his miserable existence off the face of the planet. Zaphir hated how he acted like she was some fool, she would personally put an end to his brainwashing techniques. All they needed was him to make a move.

Suddenly her attention was drawn to the sound of an alarm going off, and a group of armed monks moving in and training their guns on the other side of the area.

“What’s going on?” Zaphir immediately acted her part as LT Dun, but she got no answer, “What’s going on, I demand to know!” Zaphir grabbed on of the monks shoulders and looked into its eyes, they had rolled back into their skull, “Ew!” Zaphir looked away and placed her eyes where the guns were aimed. What’s going on? She thought, and her answer came soon after, as a figure in a white coat dashed across the room towards a door on the other side. Almost immediately the monks opened fire. Zaphir was confused as to who would be heading towards the hangars when everyone knows of their escape, rather than an escape pod, but there was no time for thinking about it, because the figure was actually making it across the area unharmed. Suddenly, a lucky shot stuck the figure in the leg, and sent him toppling to the ground, but still sliding along to the door. The figure then glanced up at Zaphir and waved as he slid along, laser beams cutting holes in the floor around him, it was then as the figure missed the door and smashed through a vent did Zaphir realise who it was,

“What the hell?” Zaphir hissed, and looked down at her watch. They were moving Joseph, now was their chance.

Flyer came screaming down the vent shaft and slammed out into a locker.

“Damnit, next time I’ll be more careful” Flyer moaned as he rubbed his leg. Groggily standing up, Flyer checked out his surroundings. By some pure stroke of luck he was where all the weapons that were taken from prisoners were kept. Flyer checked his leg again before continuing, it was alright, it was hit by a level 1 laser. Flyer limped along, searching for a locker marked with his name, after what seemed like an eternity, he found one with his name. Inside was his pistol, and his sword. Flyer holstered his pistol and used his sword to break open another locker. Inside this locker was a pump-action demolition class shotgun, designed to propel a large explosive shell into an object, and explode. It was just what Flyer needed. Flyer grabbed it’s sling so he could carry it, and then he turned all his laser equipment down to level one.

“Now, where’s that hangar…”

Chapter Four

“Stupid monks think they can hole me up in a prison and like it? Man, these guys have bad morals, someone oughtta nuke them or something, not that it would do much” ~ FlyerFox, Pilot in Special Forces Team, ‘Pirate Killers’, Corneria.

“What do you mean he’s escaped?!” Shoi-Lao yelled,

“He burst out, and injured the pirate inmate as well” one of the retainers explained,

“Really? Very good, bring the pirate to the experiment room, we have a task he can complete for us” Shoi-Lao hissed,

“And what of FlyerFox?” another retainer asked,

“Leave that to me” the dragon dismissed everyone except for a huge grizzly bear, who looked rather out of it, “Find FlyerFox, beat him up, but bring him back alive”

“Yes” the grizzly moaned before thudding off down the corridor.

Flyer was finding it difficult with all the guards looking for him, so he travelled along some maintenance walkways, which hung over the bottomless pit, and now he was almost there, he just had to pass the experiment zones, before he reached the hangar. Kicking out a vent, Flyer cautiously crept along the corridors that wound they’re way along. Flyer suddenly paused and twisted one of his ears behind him, and heard a loud, blunt thudding along the floor. Turning Flyer saw that the source was a huge grizzly, with metal implants in it’s huge paws, and dilated eyes.

“Jeez man, I thought you’d have been able to escape with paws that big” Flyer remarked as he fires a stun shot into his opponents chest, and much to Flyer’s shock, it did nothing. In a matter of seconds the bear was looming over Flyer, who fumbled for his sword to late, and went skittling along the floor into a wall.

“Patient is prepped up” the attendant said to Shoi-Lao, as he looked at the still form of Joseph sitting in a chair with wire connecting to his brain.

“Good… start the procedures” the Komodo dragon smiled,

“Don’t try it” Zaphir cut through the air and caused Shoi-Lao to wince,

“We’ve got two guns and can take out two of you while you fumble for your weapons” Rudarius smiled, his face mask removed,

“Nice trick fools, but there are five of us, and if you so much as try anything I’ll flick the switch, and this pirate of yours will become a vegetable,

“Pull that switch and you’ll be spaghetti sauce”, Zaphir smile evilly,

“Yes, but your friend will be no more” Shoi-Lao laughed triumphantly. Suddenly, a series of thuds, laser shots, and the sound of metal on metal filled the room,

“What the?” Shoi began, but his voice was cut off by the sound of an explosion, and the body of a grizzly bear, smashing through on top of him, the rest to Shoi, was darkness. When he came to, he was still in the room, but in the chair. At his feet was the bear, stretched out like a rug, to his left were the two officers and the pirate, and to his right, next to the switch, was a grinning FlyerFox. The last words he heard were,

“Great timing I must say”

Back on Corneria Lyn, Tourican (who’s beak was still wrapped up with and ice pack attached) and Finnius watched as a transport, and an Arwing Class B, touched down on the airstrip at the Corneria City Military Base,

“That should be them” Finnius remarked,

“Well duh!” Tourican muttered from his half opened beak,

“He’s got some explaining to do” Lyn gave a slightly angry look,

“Yeah yeah” Flyer said as he walked up to his friends, “Give me a break. This wouldn’t have happened if you guys had of saved me before”

“We have one question Flyer” Tourican gave his friend a pat on the back, “Who the hell are you?”

Flyer raised his claw to explain, when a female voice made the whole group turn,

“FlyerFox?”

“Yes?” Flyer looked at the source of the voice,

“The names Amber Squires… Bounty hunter.”

Kai sat in his prayer room and thanked Solar for the plan it delivered to him, for the mutant bat had delivered them from the evil within, and the special forces team were just a bonus. Now all that remained was for them to wait till the war was over, and kill the survivors on either side, then they would rule supreme, under the watchful eye of their god Solar…

This story will be continued in the next Part of The Shadow of FlyerFox, called: ‘Facing Yourself’

*Authors note: The characters FlyerFox, Amber Squires, Rudarius Cormack, Joseph Mozac, Kai-Dora, Shoi-Lao, Tourican Down, and Zaphir Down were all created by me, so no using them without my permission.

The Characters Finnius Krill and Finord Krill belong to Finnius Krill, so contact him at [email protected].

The character Lyn Veaver belongs to Lyn Veaver, so email her at [email protected].

The names ‘Pirate Killers’ and ‘Apostles of the Flame’ also belong to me, so no using without permission.

Finally a big thank you to Lyn and Finnius for allowing me to use their characters.