Kalihn walked with Dr Dean through the downtown area of the town of Tress, Fortuna. It had been

several months since Kalihn had escaped from the labs, and now Dr Dean was to tell him something

very important, for he had now finished his training for the real world.

"Kalihn?" the old camel spoke,

"Yes Dr Dean?" Kalihn replied,

"Though it pains me to say this, It is time for you to move on" Dr Dean looked at the ground, and

watched as the grass grew,

"Dr Dean I…" Kalihn started, but Dr Dean raised a hoof,

"You HAVE to move on, every day Venom agents are hunting for you, and I… I will only slow you

down" the camel shed a tear and watched as it splashed onto the grass and became absorbed by the

soil, "You must find new friends, move on, make something out of yourself"

"I'm not sure I want to" Kalihn replied and looked up into the sky, it held new promise for him now,

but still it held the dangers for him also, and it was now he felt so small.

"Here," Dr Dean handed Kalihn a small envelope, "Use the money in here to buy yourself a shuttle

ticket, and go anywhere, but don't stay here" the sound of a twig snapping was heard nearby startled

them,

"Go" Dr Dean took of his coat and handed it to the trembling Kalihn, "Remember what I have told

you to do… now GO!" Kalihn turned and ran away, he didn't know where he was running to, but

he still felt as though he was free, though he thought it should feel better than the feeling he was

having at the time.

The Shadow of FlyerFox

Father Lost

Chapter One

"Nothing worse than waking up in the arms of the enemy" ~ Rudarius Cormack, Corneria.

The world was spinning, twirling like a kaleidoscope, bright lights twisting and turning. Flyer shook

his head and looked forward, he was moving down a dimly lit, brown hallway, and yet he wasn't

moving his legs. As his sense slowly came back he realised he was being half dragged, half carried,

and that whoever it was didn't know he was awake.

"1…2…3!" one of the carriers said, and on cue Flyer was dropped to the ground, his fox-like

features planted on the ground with a thud. Flyer saw his chance and whipped his arms and legs out,

knocking the carriers to the floor, and almost as quick he grabbed a pistol off one of them and

moved to rise, but the sound of a rifle powering up, and the press of cold metal on the side of his

head dissuaded him.

"Nice try FlyerFox, but you move too slow" a familiar female voice spoke, "Now drop the pistol".

Flyer had no choice but to obey, for now.

"Amber Squires, you back-stabbing, scum-worshipping two-bit piece of…" Flyer started to insult,

but the rifle's butt connected with his temple and sent him reeling into unconsciousness once more.

Vixette Fulvain sat reading a magazine in her old house, trying to ignore the sounds of some kids

taunting her from outside. Since she was smart, at the age of 13, the younger Cornerians thought it

would be funny to poke fun at her. The insults stung sometimes, but Vixette knew she was going to

become something better. Vixette Fulvain was born on Corneria, and lived on the outskirts of

Corneria City. Her mother ran away and her father was taken to Macbeth, and no she lived by

herself.

"Get away from here you little brats! Go bother an ice cream truck driver or something!", well, not

completely by herself, she lived with Fara Phoenix in the house.

"Heya Vix" Fara said as she placed her bag on the ground,

"Hi Fara, what's up" Vix looked up from her magazine,

"Another day, another mission complete" Fara replied, and sighed as her mobile rang, "Hello?

What? Yes sir" Fara hung up and sighed again,

"Another mission?" Vix smiled,

"Yep" Fara grumbled and picked her bag up again, "Say, when I get back you wanna go for some

ice cream?"

"Sure, I'm gonna go for a walk in the forest now, I'll see you when I get back" Vix put on her boots,

and the two went their separate ways.

"Hello? sir?" a small voice crept into Flyer's mind, pulling it from the darkness.

"I… I can't see!" Flyer gasped, and moved to rise, a sharp pain in his back stopped him,

"You need rest" another child's voice told him,

"Damnit, where am I, am I dead or something?" Flyer asked,

"Sorry sir, but your in Area 29" the first voice spoke again,

"Area 29? What's going on? What the hell is Area 29?" Flyer spluttered as he reached into his right

boot,

"He doesn't know, poor fool", the second voice groaned, then Flyer popped a pill into his mouth,

"What are you doing? I hope that isn't poison"

"No, it'll restore my sight quicker" Flyer replied,

"Good, cause we ain't letting you get out of this that quickly" the second voice again. Flyer's sight

came back to him quickly, and what he saw confused him, standing over him were two children, as

he expected, but both had haggard, worn faces on, and when he turned his head to the side, he saw

in an adjacent cell, two fully grown soldiers, whimpering not in sorrow, but in fear. Flyer rose slowly

and went to lean against a wall, but the first child, a cat, stopped him.

"Careful you fool! those bars are electrified!"

"Well, that adds another great event to an interesting day" Flyer groaned,

"What's your name kiddo?" the second child, a dog, asked,

"Kiddo? What's going on?!" Flyer snapped,

"Oh yeah, you must be feeling pretty confused about this" the cat sat down and sighed, "We were

part of Annex Squadron, the first group to go and fight Andross after he killed James McCloud. Of

course, we ended up toasted, and we've been lab subjects for Andross' scientists ever since"

"That explains how you got here, but how come you're only children?" Flyer rubbed the side of his

aching head,

"Andross had successfully figured how to swap the brains of his subjects, we are the successes" the

dog shook his head, "The last two of the Squadron" the dog shed a tear and then turned his head

back up to Flyer, "What's your story? You aren't dressed like a normal pilot"

"I'm not a normal pilot" Flyer replied while looking at the bars, "I'm part of the Special Forces Team

known as 'The Pirate Killers'"

"You must be proud to have a name like that" the cat laughed,

"Right kiddo, but what's your name?" the dog interrupted,

"Sorry boys, but you won't be finding out!" Amber Squire's voice span into Flyer's ears, and before

he could do anything, the two pilots were shot into the electric bars.

"You bitch" Flyer narrowed his eyes and spat,

"We'll have time for insulting each other later, you have a vid-screen meeting with Andross" Amber

replied smugly, "And don't bother trying to escape, this base is impossible to get into"

"What about getting out?" Flyer asked,

"That's twice as hard" Amber smiled and switched off the electricity, letting the two bodies hit the

ground,

"Why does Andross want me so bad?" Flyer asked, "I mean, my clone tried to kill me because of

it!"

"You'll see. But unfortunately, I have a subject on Corneria to pick up" Amber laughed, and walked

away, leaving Flyer with ten guards,

"I take it you guys heard about my escape attempt?" Flyer asked,

Chapter Two

"Andross is the meanest, most horrible creature in the system. But the worst part is… he's damn

ugly" ~ Falco Lombardi, StarFox.

Flyer had to wait two hours before he was finally to see Andross on the vid-link, after a slight

malfunction occurred, but in truth Flyer had kicked the machine as hard as possible. As soon as the

all clear was given, Andross' ugly mug appeared on the screen.

"Hello again Kalihn" Andross laughed, "I haven't seen you since I possessed your team mate and got

him to shoot you!"

"With a tranquilliser dart" Flyer reminded,

"Yes, well, he had some control" Andross muttered, but then resumed his laughing, "I'm betting you

want to know what I have in store for you!"

"You win that one Andy" Flyer smirked, expecting Andross to bellow in anger, but unusually, he let

it pass,

"Well, firstly let me tell you how you came to be" Andross took a deep breath and began, "Your

parents were both poor wretched souls, who laid you on my Fortuna lab's doorstep before fleeing

into the night. I had you raised normally at first, but then I decided to have some fun with you, after

all, you were an unwanted baby. I had you messed around with, and made you look more like a fox.

I had you cloned, and then added some metal to your arms."

"Thanks a bunch" Flyer remarked sarcastically,

"I'm not done with you yet. I let you escape, let you get a firm position in Corneria's Army, and now,

I'm going to add some of my genes to your body, mix them up, and then swap brains with you!" at

this Andross laughed, while Flyer gaped uncontrollably,

"I hope it fails and you die!" Flyer cursed,

"That is all, I'll be having the injections done to you tomorrow, have a good rest now!" and at that

the screen went blank.

"Stupid old ape" Flyer cursed again, and smashed

Vixette trudged through the forest on her way back to her house, she had gone a long way out, and

Fara would be back soon. The sun had sunk and she was walking in darkness, the native animals

starting their nocturnal cries. Vixette wasn't afraid, she knew there were no dangerous animals in this

particular forest, but the risk of meeting a stranger made her apprehensive. As she neared the edge

of the forest she heard a groan, like an animal in pain. At first, she thought it was the wind, but it

persisted, and moaned out the words 'help me'. She crept closer to the source of the sound and saw

a silhouetted figure caught in what appeared to be a spring loaded trap.

"Are you alright?" Vixette whispered cautiously,

"Help me," was all the figure moaned,

"Okay, I'm coming over, is there anything you need me to know?" Vix asked as she approached,

"Yes… My name, Amber Squires" the figure spoke, and now in full view Vixette could see who she

was,

"H-hello Amber, my name's…" Vixette stammered to introduce,

"Vixette Fulvain" Amber finished, struggling not to smile,

"How do you know my name?" Vixette began to walk backwards,

"I've met your father" Amber smiled, catching Vixette off-guard,

"M-my father?" Vixette stopped, this was getting very creepy,

"He tried to escape once" Amber laughed and raised a pistol, not thinking to pause, but firing a

tranquilliser pellet into Vix's arm. The world span. Vixette ran. It seemed like hours, the way the

tranquillisers worked, and yet they were seconds. Stumbling, she reached her house, and

systematically knocked everything to the floor. Cups, magazines, radios. They all fell, and then

Vixette dived into the darkness that the drugs created, and as she fell she thought she heard her

father…

Fara arrived an hour later and saw the mess of the house, and the words scrawled in dust…

'Venom' 'father' and 'help'.

"Crap" Fara swore, and grabbed her mobile, she immediately dialled up the rest of the StarFox

team, but no one answered, after she let Great Fox's phone ring 20 times. Fara decided she couldn't

wait for them to answer, they were probably out getting drunk. She thought of who else could help,

and after a few minutes of deliberation, she decided upon the Pirate Killers. She hoped at least they

were at the base.

"What?" Finord read the note on the fridge, "Gone on a mission?!"

"This is looking bad" Rudarius said as he zoomed in on the tracker, "He's in Area 29"

"Area 29?" Finord asked, "Where the hell is that?"

"Macbeth, and it's an impregnable base too" Rudarius looked at his feet, "The only place I haven't

been in Lylat, bar several mercenary bases, but I haven't a need to find them"

"Oh great" Finord sighed, "Where's the rest of your team?"

"Zaphir and Joseph?" Rudarius raised an eyebrow and smiled, "They're on a romantic getaway. The

love-birds have poor timing I must say"

"Great again" Finord wheeled over to Rudarius and looked up at him, "We'll have to get him

ourselves"

"That's obvious" the Doberman groaned, "But I think we'll need a group of at least four to get this

one done"

"Why?" Finord asked,

"Well, to be honest it's a four member operation. You'll need to stay outside the base, disabling their

security points, while myself and two others rescue Flyer, and maybe others into the bargain"

"Great, where are we going to get two members?" Finord asked. Suddenly a knock on the door

startled them, and in walked Fara,

"Hi Finord, are the others here?" Fara asked hurriedly,

"Sorry, their out on a campaign mission" Finord sighed,

"We meet again Fara Phoenix" Rudarius held out a paw,

"What? I haven't seen you before" Fara asked, befuddled,

"At least not looking like I do right now" Rudarius added in,

"I still don't get it" Fara shook Rudarius' paw,

"That's because I'm a special agent, freelance mainly, but at the moment I'm on Corneria's side"

Rudarius took his paw back, "The name's Rudarius Cormack"

"Right" Fara shook her head in confusion, and suddenly realised what she was there about, "Oh

yeah, I'm sorry, to have bothered you two" she made to leave but Finord wheeled into her way,

"Wait a second, tell us what's up" Finord insisted,

"Fine, fine. Though I'm not sure you'd be able to help. My room-mate has been taken by Andross'

forces" Fara explained, "But I'm not sure how to find her"

"We can help with that" Rudarius spoke, "There's a base on Macbeth that holds the records for

where all the prisoners of Venom are kept"

"Really?" Fara asked, but then gave a cautious look, "What's the catch?"

"Help us bust a friend out of the same base?" Finord asked,

"Well, as long as you guys will help me get Vixette back"

"Vixette? You must mean your friend. Sure thing" Rudarius agreed, "But now all we need is at least

on more for the group" he then moved over to his bag that was on the kitchen table, and took out a

bundle of files,

"This prison'd have to be pretty lock-tight, and I can't reach the other members of my team. Who's

gonna be crazy enough to help?"

"Aha!" Rudarius pulled a particular file out from the bundle, "I think I've found someone fitting that

description" Rudarius showed them the label on file, it was marked 'RedVixen'.

Chapter Three

"We're all a little mad" ~ Zaphir Down, Corneria.

If you had been walking through downtown Corneria City that day, you'd ask to mistaken, for you'd

think you saw a vixen, dressed in baggy jeans, a tight top and jacket, with a tattoo of a crescent

moon, and six pointed star on her right forearm. Nothing unusual about that, except that this vixen

was arguing with a floating metal sphere, and the most strange part was, the sphere was answering

her.

"I'm getting sick of this Archimord" the vixen addressed the sphere, which was actually a droid,

"I don't care, I'm not telling you Red, and I'm not leaving either!" Archimord replied with a metallic

ring. Archimord had followed RedVixen as long as she could remember, and the droid was always

whining, and to top it off, Red had no idea of her past, and this droid wouldn't tell her either.

"Stupid tin can" RedVixen muttered, and received an electric shock from Archimord, "Ouch! Quit

that!", Red rubbed her arm, and as she walked along, she grabbed an apple from a stall,

"Hey!" a shopkeeper called, "You have to pay for that"

"No I don't!" Red replied cheekily, and then laughed, much to the chagrin of the shop keeper, who

drew a shotgun,

"Um Red…" Archimord warned, "You'd better pay him"

"Nuts to that idea" Red didn't notice the laser dot trailing up to her neck,

"How much?" a voice asked the keeper,

"20 sub-credits" the shop keeper replied, and the sound of credits passing was heard,

"It appears you have a friend" Archimord clicked,

"What? Who? Is he good looking?" a shock followed "I said quit that!"

"Hi" the figure held out a paw, "The name's Rudarius Cormack"

"RedVixen" Red smiled and placed the apple core in his paw, and received a third shock from

Archimord,

"Yes, anyway. I have a need of your services" Rudarius threw the apple in a dustbin, "I need a

fourth member on a mission of importance"

"Oh no you don't!" the droid shot up between the two, "You ain't getting her killed!"

"Sure he is!" Red laughed and pushed Archimord away, "So what exactly will I be doing?"

"You'll be assisting in two rescue attempts" Rudarius replied,

"Cool, who are my team-mates?" Red asked,

"Myself, Finord Krill, and Fara Phoenix"

"The Fara Phoenix?" Red asked excitedly, she so wanted to meet Star Fox.

"There is only one Fara Phoenix, RedVixen" Archimord sighed,

"Stupid rubbish can. Ow! Sure, I'd be glad to join!" Red grabbed Rudarius' paw and shook it

vigorously, and as they walked back towards the base, Archimord whispered into Rudarius ear,

"You do know about her problems and such?"

"You mean the healing tattoo, latent but untrained telepathic powers, and the fact she can get very

angry and go out of control?" Rudarius whispered back,

"Did you say that? Or did I read your mind?" Red interrupted.

Flyer sat in his cell awaiting the next day, praying that his friends would find him, or at least that he

would die so that Andross wouldn't fill him with his bloated presence. Flyer looked across the cells,

they were all filled with children, and he wondered, what fate befalls them? Flyer recognised half the

children as the ones he'd saved from Doppelganger, the others could have been from anywhere,

even Venom. Flyer then wondered to himself Am I just a child? Awaiting Andross' experiments?

Maybe I just didn't grow up. Oh Dr Dean, I've failed you.

Flyer's attention was aroused by the sound of one of the blast doors opening, and the sounds of

protest. When the sources of the sounds came into full view he saw two lizard guards, struggling to

hold onto a young vixen. One of the soldiers broke away and opened the cell door, keeping his laser

rifle trained on Flyer.

"Send her in. And you don't move there!" the lizard hissed,

"Let go of me you jerk!" the vixen swung her elbow into the chest of the guard holding her, and

made to run,

"Nice try" the second lizard aimed his rifle at her, but in a split second he was against the electric

bars, his life draining. The vixen didn't even falter in her run, and ran through the doors. Flyer

grabbed the rifle off the lizard he had killed and grabbed the one still alive, pressing the barrel on the

neck, and moved to leave. But standing in the doorway, in an almost similar position was Amber

Squires, holding the vixen around the neck, her pistol placed against her temple.

"Damnit!" Flyer threw the guard to the floor, and Amber let the vixen walk over to Flyer,

"Sorry" she said gingerly,

"That's okay, we wouldn't have gotten out anyway" Flyer sighed and threw his gun to the lizard, who

crawled over to Amber and then rose up, his rifle primed, "The name's FlyerFox"

"Vixette Fulvain" Vixette introduced herself,

"Okay, you've been introduced each other" Amber spat and shot both of Flyer's knees with her

pistol,

"Bitch" Flyer growled through gritted teeth, and fell onto his face, he must have struck something

when he fell, as he once more drifted into darkness, "This is becoming a habit" he mumbled.

"Team, meet RedVixen" Rudarius introduced them. They were all standing in front of an unmarked

hangar. The droid coughed.

"Oh, sorry. And Archimord"

"Thank you"

"Pleased to meet you" Finord smiled, but was slightly befuddled by the floating sphere, "Uh, you too

Archimord"

"Same here" Fara casually replied. Red just laughed.

"Um, she's not all her is she?" Finord whispered to Rudarius,

"Not all in this system anyway" Rudarius whispered back, "She's come from another system, which

was colonised a long time ago, that's why she has a droid and we don't"

"Uh-huh?" Finord shook his head, it was starting to ache,

"So what are we doing at this old hangar?" Archimord enquired, "I hope we aren't taking a biplane!"

"Um, no" Rudarius replied, and then pressed a button at the door, and it slowly rose, "Quite the

opposite" when the hangar door finally opened, they saw a huge black, sleek ship, the size of a

transport, only so much different, "It's experimental of course"

"I get to drive first!" RedVixen yelled and ran up to the stairs leading into it,

"That was the whole idea" Rudarius smiled,

"Are you mad?!" Archimord asked,

"No, we need someone to get us through, and fast, which means via some Venom space stations.

This baby can go very fast, and Fara usually only drives Arwings, so I figured that RedVixen'd do

fine"

"And you're leading this mission?!" Archimord blurted,

"Pity they gave him an AI huh?" Red laughed as she stepped into the ship, Archimord whirred after

her, and a zapping sound was heard,

"I can't figure out who is worse" Fara said,

"Same" Finord added,

"It doesn't matter, we just need to get on with this mission" Rudarius rolled his eyes, and led the rest

onto the black ship.

Chapter Four

"A team that gets along usually succeeds in their mission, but the team that doesn't usually get over

their problems once the fighting starts… usually" Finnius Krill, special forces team, 'The Pirate

Killers', Corneria.

"Missed us again!" Red laughed as the ship darted through the invaders that attempted stop her. Red

was making it hard for the enemy by looping, u-turning, and generally creating havoc, but it wasn't

helping the team either.

"My lunch is trying to be digested twice" Rudarius gagged as the closed in on Macbeth,

"It's not that bad" Fara remarked, but then again, she was a seasoned pilot.

"I've crashed worse than this" Finord stated,

"Really? What happened?" RedVixen asked, not looking where she was flying,

"Um, you haven't noticed?" Archimord whirred, as he bounced of the walls,

"Oh, I thought he got that doing something else" Red grinned sheepishly,

"Something else" Archimord grumbled to himself, "WATCH OUT!"

"Woah!" Red narrowly missed hitting a space station by mere centimetres, and the scrape jolted the

ship around,

"Should I drive now?" Fara asked Rudarius, and Rudarius saw she was enjoying herself,

"I don't think we should bother" Rudarius groaned, "We're almost there, I hope she knows how to

land though" another jolt, and Rudarius was on his back, "I'm getting too old for this"

"How old are you anyway Rudarius?" Finord asked,

"Over 30" Rudarius didn't like talking about his age,

"Over?!" Red laughed, this time looking straight ahead, "That could mean anything from 30 to 100!"

"Just concentrate on flying" Finord ordered,

"Aw lighten up a little! I've flown more planes than you've had grilled fish!" RedVixen stated proudly,

"She flies a lot" Archimord stated,

"Obviously" Fara commented, "Otherwise we'd already be dead"

"Steady on!" Red called out again, "I see that big ball of dirt you call Macbeth comin' up!"

"On radar?" Rudarius asked,

"No, on the big screen!" and sure enough, Macbeth loomed in front of them, suspended in space,

"Right, make a landing half an hour's walk away from these Co-ordinates" Fara ordered, and

handed Red a piece of paper,

"Righto!" Red laughed, and shot into the atmosphere.

Flyer came too for the third time that day, and when he tried to move, he found himself unable,

fortunately he could see.

"H-hello?" Flyer looked around, and then down, and saw himself bound in heavy chain,

"Welcome back Flyer" Vixette half-smiled,

"I-I-I can't move!" Flyer panicked,

"Yeah, they chained you up, so you wouldn't get away" Vixette stated,

"Get them off me!" Flyer's eyes widened with fear,

"Settle down, settle" Vixette gestured to Flyer in an easing motion,

"I can't! I hate having no freedom of movement!" Flyer was sweating,

"Okay, okay, just calm down. Why exactly do you fear it so much?"

"I've been in a poor situation, with no freedom, for almost 16 years" Flyer gasped, his breath going

harder, and he was starting to freak Vixette out,

"What do you mean?" Vix asked,

"I've been a test bat for Andross' scientists before, and they're going to do it again" Flyer started

straining against the chains,

"What did they do to you?" she asked,

"I'm not really a fox, if you haven't noticed, I'm a bat. They made me look like this! They put metal in

my arms! The cloned me!" Flyer screamed, and started shouting words with no meaning, and no

amount of calming could stop him,

"Flyer! Flyer! Snap out of it!" Vixette yelled,

"Flyer?" a voice in a cell down the far end piped up? "He looks like a bat I once knew, his name

was Kalihn"

"Dr Dean?" Flyer suddenly stopped, and looked up to the cell that contained an old crumpled form

of a camel,

"Kalihn?" the old scientist gave a gasp of shock,

"Kalihn?" Vixette asked, "You said your name was Flyer?!"

"They captured you? Oh god…" both Flyer and Dr dean spoke the same words at the same time,

"I suppose you know what they're going to do to you?" Dr Dean asked sorrowfully,

"Don't ignore me!" Vix yelled into Flyer's ear,

"Yeah, the brain swapping with Andross" Flyer sighed, "And time's running out"

"What?!" Vixette gasped,

"Who's the lovely vixen you tried to escape with earlier?"

"The name's Vixette Fulvain, and help's on the way!"

"What do you mean?" Flyer asked,

"I'm friends with Fara Phoenix" Vixette proudly announced,

"Fara who?" Dr Dean asked,

"She's a very important pilot" Flyer explained, "I've met her, fought along-side the team she's on"

"Really? You mean…" Dr Dean asked,

"I found friends, I joined the Cornerian Military. I'm a special forces soldier" Flyer smiled,

"You've made a name" Dr Dean, "You've done me proud"

"Okay, okay, I'm confused. Camel, and bat. You sound like you're related though" Vixette

interrupted,

"I never met my parents, and Dr Dean helped raise me. He freed me from Andross' labs on Fortuna.

Although he was the one who did most of the tests, he was like my father, and he freed me. That's

all that counts"

"Hmmm, circumstances unite" Amber Squires sprang out from almost nowhere,

"Oh great, the bitch" Flyer cursed,

"I thought it'd take awhile for you two to recognise each other" Amber laughed as more guards

appeared,

"What do you want?" Vixette asked, "And where's my father, you said you've met him before"

"I wouldn't bother asking any questions" Amber growled, "You're about to die"

"What?!" Vixette gasped as the cell door opened and soldiers grabbed her arms,

"Andross wants to what makes you so smart" Amber explained,

"Leave her alone!" Flyer struggled to rise, but his knees buckled, "I'm warning you!"

"You aren't going to get a chance once you're in Andross' body" Amber laughed, and closed the cell

door.

Shortly outside the base, three amusingly dressed figures stood out of camera range.

"What's the use of this suit?" Fara asked, seeing that she was dressed like a nun. RedVixen was

dressed similar, though she had a large hat on, which seemed to wobble. Rudarius was wearing a

priest's outfit.

"Well, simply put. Did you ever hear about the preacher named Morgan Tetzel?" Rudarius smiled,

"Only a little bit, about how he was the greatest preacher Venom ever had, but I heard he died"

Fara replied,

"He did, I killed him" Rudarius started to walk towards the base, and the other two followed, "But I

took his place, and have been doing this for awhile. Lucky for me he was a Doberman as well" what

Rudarius didn't want to tell them was that Morgan was his brother.

"Interesting" Finord's voice crackled into the intercom. He was stationed in the transport, watching

all activity via the base's security systems. And when you guys are ready to do some rescuing, just

remember I can't disable the whole system in one go. It'll have to be done one sector at a time"

"Got it" Rudarius replied.

"Who goes there?" A voice cam across through an intercom, which Rudarius found rather crude for

a heavily armed base.

"Morgan Tetzel, with two of my preaching sisters" Rudarius announced, "With plans to settle the

souls of those inside"

"Come right on in" the voice replied after a brief pause, and the small door on the huge metal gates

opened. Greeting them at the door were three lizard guards,

"Welcome to… argh!" the lizard started, but RedVixen silenced the three of them in less than a

second,

"I hope no-one noticed," Rudarius commented,

"No one did" Finord chuckled in response,

"Right, this is where we split up" Rudarius announced, acting like an officer, "Finord, you direct me

to the main console"

"Right" Finord crackled over the link,

"Good. Fara, you, Red and Archimord find Flyer, and rescue the other prisoners in his cell zone"

"Right" the team had already taken their disguises off, and Archimord had floated out of the hat Red

had been wearing.

"See you when we get back!" Red waved to Rudarius as they split up.

Chapter Five

"Life is fleeting. Unless of course you know a trick or two" ~ Andross, Supreme Ruler of Venom.

"How much further?" Rudarius asked his dolphin team-mate,

"About… the next left should do it"

"Right" Rudarius panted, and burst around the corner, straight into a force of four armed guards,

"What the?" the first guard raised his rifle, but was kicked directly in the face,

"I've been a karate teacher as well" Rudarius laughed as he somersaulted over the guards and

plugged the rear guard in the back with two laser shots to the head,

"Get him!" the remaining guards lowered their rifles and blazed away at level 5, catching Rudarius

off-guard, and forcing him to fall back into the computer room. Swiftly, Rudarius slammed the door

shut, and barred it so that none could get in.

"Okay, I'm in position, how about at your end?"

"Great, great" Fara replied, obviously not amused. RedVixen just laughed.

"Right, I'm going to search for Vixette now" Rudarius typed in a few commands. Of all the things

Rudarius could do, the worst was typing. Soon, the monitor flashed up with a picture of Vixette, her

statistics, and her location.

"Good news Fara! She's right here in this base! In sector 21-D" Rudarius called,

"Really! Great! We're almost at Flyer's cell, and we're at sector 21-C!" Fara replied happily.

Rudarius smiled to himself, but was distracted as a small dent appeared in the door behind him.

Flyer sat quietly in his cell, he and Dr Dean had not spoken much since they had taken Vixette, and

both were worried. Dr Dean coughed heavily and lay on the ground.

"Dr Dean?!" Flyer yelled,

"I-I'm fine" Dr Dean replied,

"No you're not! I gotta get us out of here!"

"If you break out Kalihn, go yourself. I'm too old, and will only end up dieing soon anyway"

"At least you'll die with me at your side" Flyer gritted his teeth and thought, Not now.

"I'm not your father Kalihn" Dr Dean reminded,

"You may not have given me life physically" Flyer looked up with tears in his eyes, "But you gave me

freedom. And I couldn't have really been considered alive if I didn't" Flyer nodded and then yelled

out, so all could hear, "You are my father!"

Suddenly, and explosion diverted their attentions, and three lizard guards flew across the room.

Then, came walking along to vixens, one Fara, the other one Flyer had never met before, and also,

there was a ball following her.

"Careful, the bars are electrified" Flyer warned, his strength gaining,

"There you are Flyer" Fara smiled as she glanced around,

"Hi" Red smiled as she shut the power off to the bars "The name's RedVixen, and this here floating

ball of metal is Archimord"

"Pleased to meet you er, both" Flyer replied,

"Don't you get any ideas about her mister!" Archimord hissed at Flyer, who leaned back in shock,

"Ignore him, he's just a whining hunk of junk" Red giggled, and promptly received another electric

shock "Ouch!"

"Say, this is Sector 21-D" Fara realised, "Where's Vixette?"

"She said she knew you. She was taken by the soldiers, it appears as though they're gonna open her

up" Dr Dean hoarsely replied,

"Oh my god! Finord, give me directions to the surgery rooms!" Fara shouted into her comm-link,

"Right on!" Finord replied, and Fara ran from the cell area.

"Let's get you out of here" Archimord whirred and mover towards the door, but was sent spinning

after he opened it, a hole in his side.

"Stupid thing" Amber Squires growled, and changed the aim on her rifle, firing at Dr Dean, striking

him in the head, and killing him instantly,

"You stupid bitch!" Red yelled, and drew her rifles, Flyer just sat there gagging in horror,

"Fight me up close coward, cause either way I can kill you in a heartbeat! At least you'd have more

of a chance fighting paw to paw" Amber threatened,

"You're on!" Red's eyes flared bright red and she lunged at the Red Panda.

RedVixen fought with the fury of ten lions, and hooked her right fist at Amber's head. Amber was

skilled, and more calm, and so easily avoided the swing, but was unprepared for the left fist

uppercut dealt by Red. Amber retaliated as best she could with a leg sweep, knocking Red onto her

back. Red moved to rise, but felt a kick strike her chest, causing her to almost throw up. Another

kick followed, and Red was battered immensely, into a state of near defencelessness, but rose again

quickly, countering with a roundhouse that made Amber's head spin. And so the two fought, Red

with her blind rage, and Amber with her calculated blows. Just as Red looked to be gaining the

advantage, Amber drew her knife, and slashed at Red's throat. Red quickly stepped back, but

tripped on Archimord, as he lay inoperative on the ground.

"You came close girl, but not close enough!" Amber laughed as blood dribbled from her lips, and

she brought her arms down in a blurring arc, Red wincing before they fell. Then nothing. Red

opened her eyes and looked up, to see Amber panting, an extreme look of pain in her eyes, Flyer

holding a chain around her neck, twisting it round and tying it to the bars.

"Archimord?" Red looked at the droid, who suddenly sprang up, the hole no longer existent,

"Is she gone?" the droid asked in a dazed manner,

"Why you! You almost got me killed! You utter fool!" Red yelled,

"We'd better get out of here" Flyer advised as he took Dr Dean's body from the cell and slung it

over his shoulder, "Strange, but I was shot in both my legs, and yet I can walk!" Flyer shook his

head in confusion, Red just giggled,

"Baggage collected, we're moving out!" Red chirped into the comm-link.

"Fara!" Vixette sighed in relief as her friend untied her, "It came pretty close!", Vixette was right, the

head doctor was about to open her head up, without anaesthetic, and the saw he was using was still

whirring. When Vixette was untied she asked, "What about Kali-I mean Flyer?"

"We've got it under control" Fara reassured her, and helped her up,

"You mean Star Fox came?" Vix asked,

"Nope, just two lunatics, a crippled dolphin, and me" Fara replied, and they ran back out, nearly

colliding with the other two, Flyer holding a dead body.

"Let's go" Flyer suggested. They'd passed some lockers, and once again Flyer had retrieved his

sword and pistol.

"Hey guys!" Rudarius called, "Meet you at the entrance"

"Right!" the others with comm-links responded, and rushed out.

At the entrance, Rudarius was sporting an arm injury, but apart from that he was extremely worried.

Looking outside, the others saw the forms of 30 infantry units, and two tanks, which was more than

they could take on.

"Looks like they sent a lot to keep us indoors!" Flyer remarked, and primed his laser pistol to level

6.

"Let's take 'em!" RedVixen eagerly smiled,

"I don't think so!" Archimord zapped Red,

"Couldn't you have gotten Star Fox?" Vixette asked, picking up a rifle from one of the guards at her

feet,

"Hey Finord, we're being held up, could you radio for help?" Rudarius asked,

"Can't they'll track me, and I won't be able to fly this plane" Finord replied,

"Alright you lot! Get your sorry Cornerian asses out here! Or we open fire!" a soldier called out,

"Go suck on some dirt!" Fara responded, and shot a laser out, striking home on a lizard,

"We warned you! OPEN FIRE!". The beleaguered team hid behind whatever cover they could get,

and put their heads down as a barrage of laser shots struck of pieces of the surroundings. Slowly,

the number of laser shots diminished, till silence came.

"Finord? What's going on out there?" Fara asked,

"I think you should see for yourself!" a friendly voice cut in,

"Finnius?" Rudarius asked,

"In the blubber!" Finnius chirped,

"But how?" Rudarius asked again, as several figures walked in through the door,

"Easy" Lyn smiled, "Finord left a note"

"Fara!" Fox ran in and gave his girlfriend a hug, "You had me worried!"

"Hey Lyn" Flyer smiled and climbed over the cover, to his friends, who now had all assembled in the

doorway, "I've thought a lot, and I think it's time you were told about me"

"About time" Tourican replied,

"But first we have a burial to make" Flyer looked back at the body of Dr Dean lying on the ground,

"Sure" Lyn smiled, and holstered her pistol, "Oh, and Falco? You have to have gotten a kill ratio of

0!"

"Why you little! I got more…" Falco yelled before Lyn switched off her comm-link.

Chapter Six

"Goodbye is the hardest word to say in any language" ~ Anonymous.

"Goodbye Dr Dean" Flyer knelt at the grave of his half-father, and looked out across the snow

capped mountains of Fortuna Back to where it all started, he thought.

"Hey man, after hearing your story, I'm surprised you wanna stay in the team" Tourican placed his

wing on Flyer's shoulder,

"Nah, I've got nothing to lose by staying, but by going, I could lose you guys as friends"

"He has a point" Vixette smiled,

"I hope we'll be seeing you sometime soon" Lyn said to Vixette,

"You can bet on it" Vixette smiled even wider, "I just wish the computer hadn't been wrecked. I

might've found if my father was alive or not"

"Buck up kid" RedVixen sighed, "At least you can remember most of your past"

"Thanks for your help Red, you too Archimord" Flyer shook Red's paw,

"That's cool. I need no more thank you's now. I got myself some experimental aircraft as payment"

Red beamed and pointed at the new craft.

"Okay. Guys" Flyer smiled, "I want none of you to tell anyone about my story, okay?"

"Sure" Finnius said,

"Same here" Lyn nodded,

"I won't tell a soul" Finord smiled,

"Definitely" Tourican yawned. The rest of those gathered agreed,

"Good, cause now I've got the last part to tell you all"

Swiftly through the night a dark figure ran, he had little time before the shuttle left for Corneria and

he didn't want the soldiers to find him till he was safely away from them where they couldn't follow

him. Ducking between the shadows he ran, using anything to shade him from street lights, the light

rarely catching his fox-like features and only barely ever fully. For what seemed like hours of

ducking, crawling, remaining silent he made it to the shuttle station with five minutes to spare, which

was fortunate for him because of his fate if he had of failed to get there in time. Boarding the shuttle

he smiled, his last hurdle was almost over. In full light of the shuttles passenger compartment he was

visible, a bat with brown fur and black hair whose face bore a striking resemblance to a fox, it was

little wonder that the stewardess didn't greet him when he got on. Checking his ticket he found a

seat, an economy seat next to what seemed to be a Lemur shaking himself senseless, obviously it

had not confidence about flying. Sitting down and buckling himself in he found his reason for coming

onto this shuttle, a small crumpled envelope with a brochure and form, a way to escape his life and

move on, his last chance at a half-decent life.

"Welcome aboard the shuttle "True-flight" this is your Captain speaking," a crusty old voice cut

through his chain of thought, "We hope you enjoy your flight, and let me assure you that we have

never once been attacked in space by Venomian forces. Now please prepare for lift-off and leave

you seat belt on till the light above you goes out, thank you for listening"

Never been attacked, there's always a first time, thought the bat cynically. Now I need a new name,

he continued, but what? Thinking for a little longer he came up with the name he would use, Flyer.

The End

FlyerFox

*Author's note: Thanks for reading. I would like to thank the following, as the Trilogy would not

have been completed without them. Thank you's got to Vixette Fulvain, for the use of her character

of the same name; RedVixen, for the use of her character of the same name; Finnius Krill, for the

use of Finord and Finnius Krill; Lyn Veaver for the use of her character of the same name. All other

characters not mentioned belong to me, as does the title 'The Pirate Killers' if you want to use any of

the characters in this story, e-mail the creator, or me, if I created them. Fox McCloud, Falco

Lombardi, and Star Fox are licensed to Nintendo.

Thank you for reading. The Pirate Killers WILL return!