Star Crossed [an old and terrible Star Fox fanfic]

C25 - Just A Moment Behind

Presently, McCloud flew back to the surface, ready to greet his team again. He sighed in this immense relief, knowing that the ultimate mission was complete, and he got away from it without a scratch. The same couldn't be said for his ship, but, hey, it was pilot-able. He was excited to greet his team, receive his congratulations, and thank them, most of all, for their support and cooperation.

He looked back down at the smoldering, half-rested explosion of the base, debris and smoke still raining down along the newly-formed crater. The chemicals and their reactions could very well set that toxic haze above this spot for until whenever physics and chemistry allotted, but it wasn't like this whole planet wasn't toxic, anyhow. He'd be back in his mothership in no time, and in his home country in little more, surely to a hero's welcome...

What he looked forward most to was seeing Wolf again. He didn't know where he was, or what he was doing, but he knew that he'd get to see him again, very soon. He'd make it a point to, if it wasn't bound to happen anyhow; Wolf deserved great thanks for what he did. He kept O'Donnell out of mind for now, though, as he dove back down to his friends on the squalid surface of Venom.

The Great Fox was resting, hangar open on the surface, engines off. Fox wondered why it was shut down, instead of on standby, where it would usually levitate a ways off from the ground. Maybe they forgot that this mode existed, though McCloud doubted this. He didn't think too much of it, though, as he made his way into the control room, sighing as he rubbed his neck.

"Well, guys... I did it!" he declared, with no shortage of pride, though it was mostly of relief, evident with the chuckle from afterwards. He looked down at his boots, hanging his head in exhausted victory, spreading his arms for a hug.

"Congratulations!" Bill remarked, raising his blaster.

Fox did a double take, then leapt with this sight. "What the— oh, SHIT!" he yowled, drawing a pistol and aiming it towards the confrontational bulldog.

"Put that down, Fox," the dog growled, now aiming. "I'm not gonna shoot until yo—"
Fox shot, and hit the Sergeant's side, but Bill fired back, hitting Fox's hand. The vulpine yelped as it moderately hissed and singed, holding the exposed burned skin as he dropped his gun.

Two Cornerian soldiers emerged from the turned corner of the room, taking one shoulder of the fox each.

"What are you doing...?" Fox asked exasperatedly. His troubles, he knew now, were far from over.

"I'm going to bring you, as secret hostage, back to Corneria... where you will face the Supreme General Pepper, and he can see to a swift execution by head blast," Sergeant Grey detailed.

"WHAT?! N— NO! What the HELL do you mean, EXECUTED? I did your JOB!" Fox confusedly shouted, his eyes widening. Oh no...

"Yes, you did. I never would have doubted it. But we can't risk you, or any of the team, coming back alive, really," Bill shook his head. "Becoming a figure of power... a figure past that of the General."

"I'm your best pilot," McCloud huffed. "You can't do this. Where is my team...?"

"Anesthetized, and bound in their rooms," Grey simply gruffed in his bulldog tone. "That old man Peppy might have died on his dose, though—"

Fox struggled free from the soldiers' grasps, and landed a punch on Bill's face. "HOW FUCKING DARE YOU! YOU WERE MY FRIEND! YOU WERE MY FRIEND!" he cried, still in disbelief. "Corneria will miss me. THEY'LL MISS ME!"

"Look on the bright side of it, Fox. We'll tell everyone you died here, That's why this is a secret. You'll be venerated as a martyr of the Cornerian cause, along with the rest of Star Fox," Sergeant Grey explained, with a soft smile.