Star Fox: Eclipse

Chapter 10: The Last Lead

Krystal sat in the control room inside The Great Fox with her allies, exhausted. Other than being unconscious for several hours, the vixen had not rested since she traveled to Sauria and had endured three consecutive missions without sleep. After fighting with dinosaurs, being ambushed on Katina, and chasing after Oikonny on Fichina, she felt completely drained and longed for her bed. But it had to wait; General Peppy contacted them soon after their arrival and she knew that their conversation would not be overly pleasant.

Fox, Falco, and Slippy sat beside her, facing a large monitor at the head of the ship. Lucy and Katt positioned themselves further back while the Star Fox team addressed the Cornerian General.

Peppy was on the screen, giving all six pilots a rough stare. "The Cornerian military reported that Oikonny escaped," he began, pausing to allow the Star Fox team to explain themselves.

Krystal scanned his thought patterns and read that the old hare didn't want to be so upset with the team. Peppy was almost like a father to Fox, especially after the loss of James. It pained him to be in any form of conflict with them, but he had to be firm and show no bias as the Cornerian Military General.

"Yes, he did," Fox admitted, "but in the end we saved the climate control center at least. And we wiped out most of Oikonny's reinforcements in the area. It won't be long before we track him down again."

Krystal was hardly satisfied with saving the base on Fichina. She read her enemy's thoughts telepathically and knew that he showed no interest in the destruction of the climate control center. He couldn't care less if Fichina was plunged into an eternal blizzard or not. All that mattered to him was that he escaped, and he succeeded. The battle on Fichina was hardly considered a victory for the Star Fox team.

"But at what cost? How many times will it take us to finally defeat him? How many Cornerian lives will be put on the line?" The rabbit countered. "Besides, it is not only Venomians destroying our fighters and putting our pilots in danger..."

Fox gazed up at the screen with some explaining to do. Even Krystal was surprised that he shot down the Cornerian pilot, but what else was he supposed to do? They abandoned their positions and almost made saving the climate control center impossible. "I only shot the pilot down because he went after Star Wolf," Fox argued, speaking her thoughts out loud. "The Cornerians endangered Fichina by leaving us to deal with the tanks alone. Wolf and his team were trying to help us!"

Peppy paused, understanding the motives behind his actions but still unwilling to accept them. "The Cornerians are beginning to question your loyalty, Fox. I understand that as a mercenary team you don't strictly operate under the Cornerian Military's control, but you don't want them to think that you are working with a team of criminals. Star Wolf may have helped us in the battle against the aparoids, but they are still not to be trusted."

"How can you say that it is our loyalty in question?" Krystal interrupted, unable to continue listening. "Someone inside or related to the Cornerian Army wants us dead. A Cornerian pilot sent us flying into an ambush while the rest of the team was nowhere to be found! Not to mention that Beltino's aparoid files are locked down and Andross' army controls territory unknown to any of you. What is there to say in Corneria's defense?"

The General suddenly appeared shocked. It was as if he had no idea any of this was going on. "Are you sure that the pilot was not simply mistaken about your location? I'm not sure about the aparoid files, but it could have just been a bug in the system. We are all still recovering from their attacks; it will take some time before things are the way they once were."