Target: Venom

Solomon strode through the tight confines of the Orpheon, his claws making metallic clicking sounds as each footfall occurred. The Serpentis Major's mere presence parted a sea through the mass of lower ranking Serpentis, each of them catching sight of the glistening green armor and fleeing almost immediately.

The Major smirked behind his vacuum sealed helmet. Major Solomon Serant came from a long line of Serpentis military leaders. He had spent years planning, and today would be the day: He was going to overthrow Ulora Serant, his uncle. Ulora had killed Solomon's father years before, taking lead over the house of Serant. Now, Solomon had a strong following in the Serpentis military, both as a ruthless field commander and a master politician.

The doors to the bridge opened, revealing a single throne. Ulora sat just on the other side of the steel chair. Solomon unsheathed his energy blade, the steel cutlass slowly changing colors to a bright purple hue, the hot plasma making the already deadly blade even more of a force to be reckoned with in the hands of one of the deadliest swordsman the serpentis military had ever seen.

The bridge was quiet as the windows overlooking the blue planet let any observer see the planet for it's beauty as the fires had settled down. The only sounds were the low rumble of the ship's engines, almost a kilometer away at the rear of the ligate class destroyer, the sound's of both Serpentis officer's sets of four hearts each beating softly in anticipation, and the almost unheard whisper of Ulora's energy blade igniting.

"So" the deep rumble of the Serant House leader's voice boomed in the silent skirmish. "You have finally come to redeem your honor, the honor your father could not keep." Solomon's grip on the energy cutlass tightened noticeably. "Yes, and I've come to slay you just as well. You have no right to leade the house of Serant. You fled almost every battle you participated in, you took on my father while surrounded by your own bodyguards, outnumbering him 12 to 1. You will fall..." He paused to gather emphasis. "Today"

Ulora stood, turning and moving toward the Major, his blade dragging a ragged tear in the deck plating, his lips forming into a smile. Solomon reached to the back of his helmet and unsealed it, the hissing only antagonizing Ulora with Solomon's quiet confidence. "You will lose, Ulora. You have no skill with the blade you carry, and your ego will be your undoing."

Ulora only smirked, his scaly lips pursing together into a tight line. "Redeem your father's honor by besting me in a duel...if you win by killing me, then the throne is yours, if I win...then it will only mean you have about as much honor as your father...none" His smile widened into an ear to ear grin, igniting Solomon's rage as he leapt towards his uncle, sword in a striking position.

It caught Ulora off guard, barely giving him a chance to parry the blow. The room flashed as the two swords clashed together, Ulora struggling to keep up with Solomon's strikes, managing to see the rage in his nephews eyes, striking fear into his own. The battle lasted only seconds as Solomon quickly disarmed his uncle.

The Major put the blade to Ulora's neck, the heat blistering the scaly skin on his neck. Ulora closed his eyes, waiting for death, but the heat faded. When he opened his dark eyes, Solomon had turned away from him, his sword whispering as it was sheathed. "I'm not going to kill you. I feel it would be better to leave you alive, to live with your dishonor. Security forces are on their way to remove and imprison you." Ulora stood and stared after him. "Kill me! Kill me now!" He shouted at his nephew, but his cries fell on deaf ears.

Within moments, Serpentis military police stormed into the bridge, gathering the disgraced leader and removing him, his shouts of anger fading quickly as the bulkhead closed. Solomon smiled softly to himself as he placed his helmet back onto his head, taking his place in the ship master's chair, calling the bridge crew to man their stations.

(Transition)

Fox sat with his arms crossed next to Damon, Krystal, The Master Chief, and the rest of the Base's high priority personnel. Fox couldn't help but feel ill at ease around the others, this new threat was looming, even going so far as to completely destroy any planets they weren't using. Rumor had it that they had already obliterated Macbeth, hit it with so much orbital bombardment that it drove the planet into a nuclear winter, then the hollow core collapsed on itself, crushing itself into a ball no bigger than any asteroid in Meteo, Lylat's asteroid field that revolved between Corneria and the rest of the system.

Fox stared at the tactical display, noticing how normal the planets aligned in green, indicating an allied planet...were almost all a dark red, under enemy control. General Pepper stood at the head of the room, along with a Cornerian Admiral and the Human commander, another Admiral. The Cornerian Admiral was a gray wold, getting on in his years. Although the Admiral's fur had long ago lost it's shiny luster, the medals, ribbons, and nameplate, reading 'Lanner', shined like the sun against a mirror on a hot, cloudless day.

The human Admiral, going by the name and rank of Fleet Admiral Terrance Hood, studied the display, as if he knew exactly what to do. The room was silent as the Commanders looked over every bit of the map, as if each pixel was a possible enemy unit.

The silence was shattered as the door behind the group split, an Elite �" The shortened name given to the Sangheilli �" entered. Admiral Hood turned to him. "It's nice of you to join us Shipmaster, we were about to get this meeting underway." The Elite nodded, his mandibles clicking together almost soundlessly. His white armor reflected the light of the display as he took a seat next to the arbiter, his two remaining mandibles still twitching. He had lost the two that had been on the left from an attack by the flood, leaving him with a permanent reminder of how dangerous an enemy could be if underestimated.

The Admirals and General looked at each other, then at the crowd. "There's going to be an invasion, we're taking back Venom, and we will use it as a foothold in our struggle for Lylat. There is a fleet mustering, composed of Lylatian, Sangheilli, and UNSC ships as we speak. The Elites will be sending their Assault Carrier, Shadow of Intent, and the 2nd fleet of homogenous clarity, composed of mainly Heavy Cruisers. The UNSC will be sending numerous battleships, and two heavy troop transports, full of the best soldiers they have. These soldiers are ODST's, dropped from orbit around a planet. They're the closest thing to a Spartan that we have, besides the Master Chief himself. And we will send Frigates, Destroyers, and Light Cruisers."

Lord Hood continued where General Pepper had left off. "The UNSC will provide ground troops in the form of ODST's and conventional marines. The Elites will provide even more, in the form of Elite commandos, almost similar to the ODST's, yet bigger, stronger, and faster. Lylatians will provide orbital bombardment support along with the rest of the fleet, and their main units will be the Star Fox team and Colonel Ballard's specialized fighter �" bomber wing. Each unit will be given a briefing as soon as we conclude this by their commanders. Our estimated forces for Land will be at Theater strength, consisting of one Army from both the UNSC and Elites, The UNSC and Lylatians will provide air support consisting of two UNSC Shortsword and Longsword air wings, and the Star Fox team and fighter bomber wing. The Elites will handle suborbital glassing support as a last resort, and they will be deploying multiple mechanized battalions as well."

The white Elite that had entered earlier stood and moved to the front of the room. "The Shadow of Intent will carry all air units, and whatever does not fit, will be spread out across the 2nd fleet of homogenous clarity." He turned to the other leaders. "I will muster my forces, my preparations will be ready within seven cycles." He put one fist to his chest, then put it back down. The Elite equivalent of "until we meet again". As the Shipmaster left the room, the Arbiter stood and nodded at the others, then followed suit.

It had been only a week since the plans had been drawn up, and everybody was preparing for the big battle that would be the first push at retaking the Lylat system. Fox turned to go find his squadron and tell them what he had learned just before the meeting had begun. He turned to face Krystal, the blue vixen smiling at him as she took his hand.

Fox blushed at the sudden contact, trying to stammer something out. She didn't let him get far with it, quickly putting a finger to his mouth to shut him up. "Fox, the General said we could have a few hours to ourselves" She said, smiling softly, a twinkle in her eyes.

Fox's tail lowered slowly as he relaxed, understanding what she meant. He had promised her a small romantic outing before they embarked on their first mission. The vulpine took her hand and led her out of the room, the conversations inside being muted as the doors slid closed behind them, leaving the two Lylatians to walk in silence.

The vulpine broke the ice as they emerged at the surface a few minutes later. It was dark and the stars stood out. Bright against the small glimmers of the fleet engines in the void. He squeezed Krystal's hand softly and turned to her, smiling. The vixen returned the gesture as they slowly came together, putting their foreheads against the others.

Fox saw a flash out of the corner of his eye, a shooting star. He knew it wouldn't last long, and quickly got Krystal's attention. "Look, a shooting star, Make a wish, Krystal." The vixen only grinned and stood in front of him, allowing the two of them to face the falling meteor, taking it upon herself to wrap his arms around her waist as she closed her eyes and made a wish.