Green flashed around the large view screen as the Great Fox III crossed through the single ship gate. The treip was slow due to the ship's massive size but the end of the worm hole was in sight.

Fox steeled himself for the first drop out of the gate and gave the order, "Drop out of the gate, discharge residual neutrinos and re-engage normal space engines!" 'Yes sir' resounded around the bridge and the ship lurched and the green aura dispersed from the viewscreen.

"Engines re-engaged, ready for a course." Krystal reported

"Set a course for the pole of Katina, full ahead." A thrum shuttered through the wall plates when the engines fired out of an idle.

"Fox! Fox!" Slippy burst from his station. "I've got good news! ROB hasbeen in the repair bay and he's now fully functional!"

"Very good. Bring him to the bridge then meet me in the launch bay on the double. Krystal, with me."

Slippy tapped a few commands on his console and bolted out of the bridge as fast as his stubby legs would take him as Fox and Krystal rose from their chairs and made their way to the science level.

"Remember how to run this ship, Old Timer?" Peppy grinned and stood up "Boy, I designed this ship, I know it better than my own hand."

"Thanks, Pep." Fox mad his way out of the sliding door and down the long neck of the ship, tailed closely by the blue vixen. They quickly moved down to the launch bay and stopped by the wall of weapons.

"Gear up, the foot soldiers ar tough." Fox stated. "The best weapon is heavy weapons." He reached for his blaster and a small cluster of grenades. As Fox inspected his loudout, Krystal reached for the gatling gun. The dull gray of the weapon contrasted well with the royal blue of her uniform and fur. The massive weapon also made the vixen look small but did not subtract from her intimidation. Slippy barged through the door and hastily grabbed a dull black mechanical device that strongly resembled a heavy plasma rifle.

"Slippy?" Krystal chimed "What is that?"

"It's called a 'shot gun.' It's an ancient weapon that uses chemically powered cartridges to fire either a hundred tiny ball bearings, or a large cone shaped piece of metal called a bullet. I've got the bullet loaded now." Slippy inspected the magazine underneath the barrel. "This will punch through an Arwing in no more than ten shots in a small radius."

"Why were they discontinued?" Fox inquired, impressed.

"They were inefficient, compared to our plasma weapons, and they were heavy. The redeeming factor is they'll stop anything in its tracks at least for a few seconds."

"Impressive, but now for business. Just before we arrived, Cara outpost succumbed to the Angler forces and we're getting it back by any means necessary." The vulpine pulled up a map of the base, pointed to a small sectionof a wall and continued. "This is our entry point. We will arrive just outside the bas using the transmition system and break through a panel that will lead straight to a corridor adjacent to the command center. Questions?" The room went silent.

"No? Good. Peppy, we're ready to go. Transport us to the highlighted coordinates!"

"You got it! Commencing transport in 3...2...1..." Fox's vision blurred with light as he felt himself being picked apart and recombined. The column of light dispersed and a ring of light shot out to the side. The sound of gunfire stopped abruptly as a large squadron of Angler soldiers stopped to look at the new arrivals.

"Not good." Krystal stated bluntly.

"Nope." Slippy confirmed.

"Dive!" Fox ordered. All three members dropped behind cover of metal boxes just as plasma fire resumed to sizzle past them. Fox unholstered his blaster and fired over the crate. He heard the satisfying sizzle of plasma on flesh but no thud of dead bodies.

Suddenly, a roar erupted from followed by a large clang and a heavy thud. Shortly after, two crisp clicks and the sound of a plastic tube hitting the ground

"Works like a charm!" Slippy reported

Fox shook his head to clear the ringing in his ears then looked around the corner of his crate. The body of Slippy's victim was thrown back from where it was standing befor it was shot but was being quickly overtaken. Fox took aim at the closest soldier and fired three successive shots straight into the chest, making it drop slowly to the ground.

"Slip, I'm gonna need one of those next time!" Fox looked over to Krystal, who was on the other side of Slippy, in time to see her rise like a beast from hell. Fangs bared she opened fire sending a stream of super heated plasma into the heart of the oncoming throng. Thirty soldiers dropped before Fox had a chance to arm a grenade.

"Krystal, Down!" Fox lobbed the grenade into the front of the surging mass of scales and steel. Fox waited for the detonation and sent in his own stream of plasma from his blaster effectively taking down another twenty.

"Slip, we need through that wall now!"

"I need cover first, I'm an open frog there!"

"Consider it done! Toss me the gun!" Slippy lobbed the shotgun to Fox but over shot by nearly nine feet. The vulpines ears drooped by the time Slippy's apology hit them. He sighed and took out yet another grenade and charged his blaster to full capacity and took a deep breath. He leaped from cover, launching a two-second fuse grenade as a distraction and it detonated as soon as the vulpine reached the weapon. Fox fired his blaster and simultaniously slammed his weight into the metal crate, moving it directly in front of the panel and diving behind it before plasma fire could be trained on him.

"Slip, move now!" The frog sprinted behind cover and dropped in front of the panel, plasma torch in hand.

"How long?"

"Two minutes minimum. This is thick stuff!"

"Right, Krystal cover fire!" the vixen gave a curt nod and propped her gatling gun over the top and pulled the trigger. The torrent of plasma did little to stop the advancing tide of Angler soldiers as they were quickly gaining ground.

Fox aimed the shotgun down range and pulled the trigger, unleashing the chemical powered beast. The head of a soldier suddenly cracked in half and the body came crashing down. The vulpine was knocked back by the sudden recoil but smirked and commented, "Thats my kind of weapon!" He pumped the action, releasing the spent cartridge onto the ground and aimed again. He unleashed another ungodly explosion followed by the pang of steel being pierced.

Krystal dropped below cover and pulled her gatling gun with her and ejected the large cartridge. "I'm out!" she drew he staff and extended it to full length.

"Krystal..."

"Not now," she growled to herself. "I'm busy!" the vixen sprang around the corner and swung the blade edge of her staff through the throats of three unsuspecting frontlinesmen before diving behind the crate again

"Krystal, move back..." the source of the voice seemed to call her from inside the base. The vixen flattened her ears and prepared to sprint.

"Slippy, move!" she bolted from her cover like a bat out of hell and, with a graceful spin, slammed her staff into the wall, making it collapse on itself. Krystal saw the corridor and sprinted in and rounded the corner to safety followed closely by Slippy.

Fox holstered the shotgun on his back and opened fire with his blaster, attempting to hold off the advance long enough to make his retreat. When a hole in the blaster fire emerged, he sprinted through the gaping breach in the wall, hooked his hand on the corner and swung around slamming his body against the inner wall

"Slip, seal it up!" Slippy's fingers assaulted a nearby keypad until two great metal sheets slammed over the breach in the wall and muffled the outside attackers.

The trio stood panting against the wall until Fox stood up straight

"Status!" he barked and handed Slippy's shotgun back to him

"I've got a few over forty five shots left for this."

"I'm down to only my staff until we can hit up an armory."

Fox ran his hand through the white streak on his head and took a deep breath. "The command center is to the left, lets get moving before the security system realizes we're not supposed to be here." with that, the vulpine set off down the long hallway tailed closely by his comrades.