Chapter 2: Slippy's Task

Corneria City.

Fox remembered the good old days when the city was in harmony with nature and wherever he went, there was always green color. Ever since Alto came to power, he began using the city's free space for industrialization purposes. Parks and forest reserves were converted to lots where corporate headquarters and manufacturing plants took the place of trees and ponds. It was not the city he used to know. The eco city had become a concrete jungle dominated by lights, technology, and poverty.

Everywhere Fox went, he could see flying police drones scouting the streets and randomly scanning a passer-by. They were a threat and Fox made sure he stayed clear of them. Whenever a drone was close by Fox would somehow find a way to evade being spot-checked by hiding in an alleyway or pretended to do something like window shopping and reading the advertisement board. He noticed that many advertisements talked about the future of augmentation technology and the benefits they brought.

"I like my body natural," Fox said to himself.

At the sidewalk of almost every major street, Fox was greeted by homeless Cornerians and holographic models who advertised a range of products from humble household items to luxurious things like mansions and expensive cars. The nightlife of Corneria City was a sight to behold and again, Fox felt out of place. He was born and raised in the city and back then, it was never this busy late at night. He remembered the times when he and his father James would take nightly walks. Back then, the streets were usually almost quiet during midnight.

Fox noticed that the roads were heavily upgraded from medium density roads to high density avenues with streetcar rails in the middle of the avenues. It seemed like Alto had been putting the planet's funds to good use. Not many Cornerians drive a car and most of them prefer to utilize public transportation so the streetcars and buses were always full. Alto's government even subsidized public transportation and for that, the transportation department had received a lot of praise.

As Fox made his way to the city center, the presence of police got heavier. At every street, there were at least two police officers patrolling the vicinity. They wore heavy winter coats with the words "Police" printed at the back to keep them warm. Most of the officers were lightly armed but a couple of them carried shotguns and even the old machine guns from the time of the Aparoid Invasion. Despite heavy police presence, they were actually rather lax in their security. Fox even looked them in the eye and all they did was gave him a friendly smile. They were either under orders not to capture him or they were unaware of who he was.

Since Fox's intended destination – 5th Street – was across town, he had to cross the city center. At the very heart of Corneria City was a familiar sight: the pyramid-shaped Cornerian High Command. It had received plenty of new upgrades such as automated sentry turrets located at the building's entrance, high-powered spotlights at each corner of the pyramid, and a powerful holographic projector on the top of the pyramid which displayed video messages from President Alto Magnusson so that the whole of Corneria City could see.

At each face of the pyramid was a large holo-screen that displayed advertisements and news from Corneria Broadcasting Association. It was not the only building to have a large screen though. Many major buildings throughout the city such as Beltino Ballistics headquarters, BioCorp headquarters, and Highland Hotel had large holo-screens on them. It was obvious that Alto had spent a lot on communications technology as well. Fox heard he wanted to educate the people but it seemed more like pumping propaganda into people's heads. Still, he wanted to stop and watch the current news.

"As the Cornerian Space Fleet finalizes its sweep for possible enemies on Venom, several warships are being sent to the outer reaches of the system in response to alleged sightings of unknown vessels intruding the outer system. Fleet Admiral Dash Bowman said that the unknown vessels were nothing more than scout ships which his ships had wiped out completely. In other news, President Alto Magnusson is announcing the unveiling of Project Singularity, a piece of technology that – according to scientists – could further improve communications technology and increasing global network connection speed by a hundredfold. Project Singularity even allows for high speed interplanetary communications and messages sent from one planet could reach the other within a minute or two."

The newscaster seemed rather familiar to Fox but he could not remember who she was. Pictures correlating to the news the newscaster were reporting popped up beside her while below her was a news ticker. A particular news caught Fox's eyes: Kursed apprehended at Sauria. That was all that was said in the ticker. It seemed like one of the system's most notorious mercenaries was captured. Not that it mattered to Fox but he always thought Kursed would be smarter than to go to a heavily guarded planet. She did not strike Fox as the hot and brash type of mercenary who would go charging into battle.

Whatever the reason that brought her to Sauria, she was captured and it was a reminder to Fox to keep his head down and avoid attracting unwanted attention. So far, Fox had managed to avoid getting checked by police officers and police drones. He scowled. He hated the fact that he was unwelcomed on his own world. Fox's grip on his luggage bag tightened to the point where his knuckles grew white and his grip started to hurt his own palm.

Get a grip, Fox. You're out in the open. Better find shelter soon, he thought aloud in his mind.

At the same time, the sky started to snow.

Beltino Ballistics headquarters was one of the tallest buildings in Corneria City. This towering 900 meter tower was also a very bright object. Even at night, the lights of Beltino Ballistics headquarters shone like thousands of beacons. The flashing aircraft warning lights warned low-flying aircraft and spaceships to steer clear of it. From the very top floor of the building, one could see Corneria City as far as the eye could see. At night, the city was like a sea of lights with several waving spotlights in the distance.

It was the same sight that Slippy Toad sees almost every day. He was both fascinated and disgusted by the sight.

Many years ago during Alto's fledging rule, his father was running a company of his own called General Technologies Corporation, a company dedicated to researching technologies for the very mundane tasks to new weapons of war and spaceships. Alto looked up to Beltino's scientific prowess and sought to utilize his brilliance to upgrade the Cornerian Army's arsenal. Beltino was not in for the money but he shared Alto's sentiment that the Cornerian Army's arsenal was tad outdated in firearms technology. After what happened on the ground during the Lylat Wars and Aparoid Invasion, Beltino Toad was convinced that the introduction of new weapons was in order.

Slippy had worked for his father's company after the Anglar Blitz and it was Slippy's connection with Beltino that saved him from being pursued by Alto's men. Beltino was important to Alto and he threatened to leave the company should Slippy be apprehended. Knowing what was at stake, Alto backed off and let Slippy and his fiancé go while going after the rest of the mercenaries. After his father retired from the company, General Technologies Corporation had switched from producing everyday technology and weapons to solely weapons. The Great Economic Recession of 22 ALW (After Lylat Wars) did not slow the arms industry. Slippy, now CEO, renamed the company to Beltino Ballistics in honor of his father.

Alto was wary of Slippy but he dared no touch him. He was head of a very powerful company after all and Beltino Ballistics was one of the biggest benefactor's to Alto's government. Slippy's company helped revitalize some of Corneria's sagging economy by providing new job opportunities in the augmentation and space industry. The augmentation industry proved to be a money earner and the space industry was growing fast in popularity. Many fledging industries were popping up in resource-rich planets like Sauria and Fortuna and those industries helped to further revitalize the economy.

Slippy saw snow falling from the sky and it reminded him of previous years when he an Amanda had just married. He proposed to her during a snowy night like this in a pagoda at Corneria Central Park. It overlooked a lake and the park had only a few couples going about their romantic walks. The thought put a smile on Slippy's face but the past was the past. He wanted to live a quiet life with his family but his workload and problems with Alto's government had reduced the once happy and clumsy frog to a serious and calm person. Nowadays, it was rare to see a smile from him.

A knock on his office door disrupted his train of thought. "Mr. Slippy Toad, its Detective Rossi," a voice came from outside his office.

"Come in, detective," Slippy said and he turned away from the window to face the door.

The doorknob turned and the door swung open noisily. In came Detective Rossi, his coat and fedora covered in snow. He dusted them off into a trash bin and hung them on an oaken coat rack next to the office's fireplace. Without waiting from an invitation from Slippy, Rossi took a seat on a chair in front of Slippy's desk. Slippy noticed Rossi's ears were drooped and his expression spoke volumes of his disappointment in something. He knew what it was.

"I guess Fox rejected the job huh," said Slippy.

"Damn straight," Rossi said with a bitter smile.

"I expected him to do so. If you were to tell him that the CEO was me, Fox would no doubt listen but it would draw a lot of attention, especially Alto's."

"No, sir, even if Fox didn't know who you are, him coming into this building will rouse suspicion. The public may have forgotten about the Star Fox but not President Alto. If he gets word of your little espionage activity and plans to have Fox involved, he'll come down on you, hard. He's getting bolder, sir."

Slippy nodded his head slowly. "I'm aware of that. He held back because of my father and because he needs me to continue pumping out new technologies for him. I reckon he must've found himself a new genius to do all his bidding." The frog gave a crooked smile.

Slippy reached for the mini refrigerator underneath his desk and took out a bottle of vintage wine. He retrieved two wine glasses from a nearby drawer and poured the wine into each glass. Slippy offered one glass to Rossi while he took the other. Rossi took the glass of wine and the two toasted each other before drinking.

"Mm, the 415 Katina Special. My father loves these," Rossi said after tasting the wine.

"I got this many decades ago during the Lylat Wars. Peppy gave it to me as a gift for my contribution to Star Fox. Well…actually, everyone got one but it was a great gift," said Slippy.

"A great gift indeed from a great veteran. Speaking of Peppy, how's he doing?"

Slippy's expression immediately soured. Rossi saw Slippy's grip on his wine glass loosen a bit and the contents threatened to pour out onto the desk. Realizing this, he tightened his grip again and held the glass straight.

"Peppy's in a coma, Rossi," Slippy said in a low voice. "I'm not sure how much longer he can hold."

"Wow…has it gotten that worse?"

"He's been in and out of coma for a while and he can't remain conscious for too long. Inspector-General Langley is on the case but she hasn't reported any clues of foul play so far. Detective Rossi, I'd like to go help with the investigation."

"What about Fox McCloud?"

"You leave that to me. I think I can convince Fox to help me out if I met him in person and explain everything. Does he have your business card?"

"Yes sir."

"Then direct his call to me. I'll fix a venue to meet him."

Slippy wanted to offer Detective Rossi more wine but he politely declined, stating that he needed to get back to work. Since the bottle of wine was almost finished, he decided to drain the whole bottle. After the bottle was empty, he kept it aside so he could clean it later and keep the bottle in his trophy room. Rossi retrieved his fedora and coat from the coat rack and put them on. With a brisk farewell, the husky left Slippy's office. Once again, Slippy experienced complete silence and the loudest sound he heard was the crackling of fire from the fireplace.

He thought about Alto's increasingly bold behavior and the cause of Peppy's head injuries. It was no secret that Alto disliked Peppy because of his support for the mercenaries, especially Star Fox, but he and Peppy used to be friends and Slippy had doubts that Alto would kill an old friend of his. Then again, when it came to power and politics, anyone would do anything to silence opposition and stay in power unhindered. An honest and honorable politician was about as real as a can of striped paint.

Alto's influence was growing fast and it was only a matter of time before he decided to remove Slippy from the scene.

Fox nearly ran into an APC when he tried to cross the avenue to 5th Street.

He swore it just came out from nowhere and the driver did not even stop to see if Fox was alright. Instead, the APC driver sounded the horn at Fox as he drove past him at top speed, throwing up snow in its wake. Some of the snow was splashed onto Fox.

Why would they mobilize the military for? Fox wondered.

5th Street was the beginning of the suburbs. Fox had to take a streetcar to the last station to save time; otherwise he would be walking for at least two hours. The streetcar ride was surprisingly pleasant because they were clean and the heating system worked perfectly. It even had a television to keep passengers entertained though the shows were far less entertaining than watching the streets go by in a blur. The ride only cost Fox 10 credits and it was far cheaper than the streetcar fares more than 20 years ago.

The suburbs at 5th Street were quiet. The streets were illuminated by street lamps emanating orange lights and there were no signs of life on the streets save for a few stray animals and the occasional pedestrian having a late night stroll by themselves or with a loved one. The trees that provided shed during the summer had shed their leaves, leaving behind leafless trees with gnarly branches that looked like claws ready to grab someone. From the suburbs, the hustle and bustle of the city center sounded very distant and soft. Fox appreciated the change of scenery.

Following Jack's advice, Fox went to Number 4 Place where Jack's friend Jaden lived. It was at the east end of a poorly lit cul-de-sac. Most of the houses there were abandoned and the few houses that were occupied were rundown and in a dismal condition. They were a far cry to the well-kept apartment blocks and medium wealth houses just a street away. Number 4 Place may as well be a mansion among the houses at the cul-de-sac because of its size but its condition was just as bad as the rest. Some of the windows were boarded up while several of them hung from their hinges, creaking noisily as the wind blew.

Fox approached the door, knocked on it two times, and waited. He heard footsteps from within the house and moments later, a burly young fox answered the door. Despite the cold weather, he wore only a tight-fitting singlet and a pair of baggy brown cargo pants. He was taller than Fox but shorter than Jack and his long hair was tied into a pony tail. Fox looked out for signs of hostility but Jaden was all smiles.

"I heard you were coming, McCloud. It's good to finally meet you in person," Jaden said.

"It's good to see a friendly face," Fox said while entering into the house after being prompted.

Jaden locked the door and helped Fox hang his coat and hat on a wall hanger. After putting down his luggage in the dilapidated guest room, Jaden and Fox sat down in the dining hall where Jaden served Fox a plate of steak and a glass of wine. Jack was right. Jaden knew how to make someone feel welcome even though he looked like a gangster. Jack had mentioned that Jaden used to be part-time mercenary before Alto began stepping up his anti-mercenary hunts. Fox didn't know much about Jaden but he knew that Jaden fought on Katina during the Anglar Blitz. He even hung a piece of an Anglar-made fighter on a wall in the dining room as a trophy.

"Thanks for letting me stay here for a while. I appreciate it," Fox said.

"It's no biggie, McCloud. It's the least I could do for a legendary mercenary such as yourself," Jaden said as he poured a glass of wine for himself.

"Being legendary is gonna get me killed nowadays," Fox quipped. "And I've died more than once…emotionally."

"Lost your loved ones?"

"Yeah…I hope that she's fine, wherever she is."

"Oh, so you two separated? Well then…that does suck," Jaden muttered thoughtfully. "Who was your lover? Is it Krystal?"

"That's a personal matter I'd rather not discuss," Fox remarked quickly. "The past is the past and I'm not letting it hold me back."

Jaden chuckled. "If that's what you're doing, you're not doing a very good job then. I can see you're still frustrated."

Fox kept quiet and continued eating his steak while Jaden slowly sipped at his wine. The wall clock showed it was an hour past midnight but the feeling of sleepiness was not felt. The clock's ticking was masked by the sound of a rather old electric generator powering the house. It was located in the basement and if it were outside, the noise would be much louder. Old generators used diesel fuel for power while the newer generators utilized hydrogen fuel and was quieter and cleaner. They were expensive and Jaden hadn't got the money to buy one.

"You fought on Katina before, right?" Fox asked.

"Yep, I did. One of my most glorious moments in my career as a mercenary," Jaden said. He turned around to face his trophy. "That sucker on the wall is a reminder that old tech can always beat new ones. All you need is some knowhow, a good aim, and luck. During the attack on Katina, my team got hold of several anti-aircraft guns in an abandoned military base. They were old and used tungsten shells but nothing like a little elbow grease to get them working again. The Anglars thought they could bully us just because we used old tech. Guess what, we blew them out of the sky and kept doing so until we ran out of ammo. You'd be surprised at how effective they are at penetrating energy shields and punching holes in aircraft armor."

"Must be the 'Cornerian Slingshot'. I heard they were used in battles a century ago," Fox said.

"They didn't use the Slingshots much and we were surprised that they were still in serviceable condition after so long," Jaden remarked with a smile. "Anyway, where've you been all these years?"

"In hiding," Fox muttered. He looked at Jaden and said, "Been hiding for more than a decade ever since Alto started hunting down mercenaries. I hid in Sauria, Fortuna, and the abandoned Sargasso hideout. Eventually came back to Corneria after a friend of mine from the Army helped smuggle me and my Arwing into the city where he persuaded Quiggly to give me shelter."

"Must've taken a lot of balls to smuggle someone like you and an Arwing into dangerous territory. How does it feel to be back home after such a long time?"

"Unwelcomed. Corneria is my home and the worst thing that can happen to a Cornerian is when their own world rejects them," Fox said in a dejected tone.

"Yeah…it sucks when that happens. Don't you worry, Fox, I'll help you out. You're free to stay in my place but I ain't letting moochers get free food from me. It's time to earn your keep and your right to stay. I know a place where you can work at without being searched all the time. It's a legitimate job so don't worry. You know who'se the CEO of Beltino Ballistics?"

"Who? Beltino Toad?"

"No, it's your friend, Slippy. He took over Beltino's place after he retired. I think Slippy can help provide you a decent job."

"Wait, what?! Slippy's the CEO of Beltino Ballistics?!" Fox exclaimed and nearly choked on his food. "Hold on…that can't be right…"

"You've been hiding for too long, man. You need to get out more. I'm sure Slippy won't mind having an old friend work for him."

Fox thought about the conversation he had with detective Rossi a few hours ago. He realized he just rejected a job given to him by his friend. Still, Fox remained doubtful of what Slippy wanted with him. It was unlike him to send someone into the mouth of danger. Despite that, Fox felt obliged to hear what Slippy has to say. Maybe he could explain what he wanted to do with BioCorp's blueprints.

"Yes…" Fox said softly. "I think you're right. Jaden, do you have a communicator?"

"I do but what do you want with it?"

"I'm gonna make an appointment."

Glossary

Laser Hyperblaster: This weapon is the combination of the blaster and machine gun. Its compact size and high rate of fire makes it a reliable personal defense weapon.

Shotgun Blaster: The shotgun blaster is basically a blaster-sized shotgun which holds 3 shells. While powerful at close range, the shotgun blaster loses power at further distances.

Cornerian Slingshot: A little-known weapon built more than century ago as a cheap anti-aircraft solution. Despite being less advanced than laser anti-air batteries, the Cornerian Slingshot is a surprisingly powerful and accurate weapon. Its quad 30mm auto cannons can shred aircrafts.

Alto Magnusson: A soldier through and through since the outbreak of the Lylat Wars. Alto is a highly respected soldier though he has a strong hostility against mercenaries.

Beltino Ballistics: Corneria's top defense contractor after the liquidation of Space Dynamics. Although the company manufactures household products and civilian vehicles, defense contracts are Beltino Ballistics' major source of income.

415 Katina Special: A vintage wine made by Katina Westside Breweries (formerly known as Daniel and Bros.)

A/N: Yeah, I wrote this late at night so there may be mistakes so do forgive me if I made any. Do review because it's the only way I can improve the story further.