I sat in a chair outside of the bar, Bob's Tavern, (I know. Very original.) waiting for everyone to arrive. If they were going to arrive. I already had been on my second beer and I've been waiting for about ten minutes. I wasn't expecting them to come.
As I finished up the last few drops of my second beer, I just went through my past, remembering another event that occurred. My vision began to blur as I focused on a certain event.
"What the fuck do you mean you're leaving? Why the hell are you such a selfish prick?" I yelled at Falco, as he loaded his Arwing, getting ready to leave once again. "I'm tired of always living in your shadow. Time for me to do things my own way." He replied, closing up the cargo bay.
"You leave this hanger, you're not welcome back here. You got it?" I yelled at him, threatening him to try to get him to reconsider. "You know, there's something I always wanted to do to you." he said, swinging his right winged arm towards me, contacting the side of my head.
I fell to the ground, immediately grabbing the side of my face, feeling a stiff soreness on the side of my muzzle. "Get the fuck out of here." I said angrily, doing my best to not shoot him. My hand hovered over my blaster, I tried my best to not pull it on him.
"Gladly." He said, climbing up the ladder of his ship, jumping over the side to get ready to leave. "Oh, and by the way. You got one day to get off this ship. I'm the new owner of the Great Fox. Here are the papers." He said, lifting a piece of paper out of his flight vest.
They were the ownership papers to the Great Fox, he had bought this ship legally. He began to close the canopy, rage built through my body. I pulled my blaster and shot at his head. Lucky for him, the glass protected him in the nick of time. He gave me the middle finger as he launched out of the hanger of the Great Fox.
I watched him fly, taking my eyes off him and looking at a pink fighter that flew parallel with him. I could only assume that it was Katt Monroe. I stared at them until I could no longer see them, standing there with my fists clinched so hard, blood was dripping down my brown fur.
I looked down and saw blood building up on the floor, seeing the red liquid already starting to stain my hands. I looked up in their direction one last time, knowing that my eyes were red with anger. "You'll regret this."
I snapped into reality, hearing the sound of a car horn as it drove by. A waitress approached me, actually she had been standing there for about ten seconds, trying to get my attention.
I looked up at her, she had a confused look on her face. "Sorry. Another beer please." "Sure." She said, grabbing the empty bottle off the table, starting to walk away. I looked forward again, out at the street, thinking of what happened afterwards.
It was eight months after what had happened, six months of recovery with my encounter with Panther, then additional two when I met up with Falco. He still owned the Great Fox, by this time, I had the Matchitehew.
Comparing the two ships, Matchitehew was enormous compared to the smaller dreadnaught. It didn't look anything like the Great Fox, it looked more like a freighter. However, its weaponry was the state of the art. I only wanted the best for the ship. I had it completely redone, to make sure people wouldn't try and mess with me.
"Hello Falco." I said to him over a radio transmission, hearing a spine chilling noise in the background. It sounds like death was approaching you. It was my alarm system, (I can't describe this very well. It's the intro to the song Spiel Mit Mir by Rammstein.)
Falco stared at me, I could sense fear from him as he grew nervous with the noise in the background. I felt his fear building in him, this ship wasn't to be trifled with. "Fox? That you?"
"You betrayed me, old friend. I don't take to kindly to betrayal. You ever know what happened to Panther?" "He was killed, so what. No one liked him. Except Krystal." This built anger in me, I didn't want to hear anything about Krystal.
I pushed a button, firing the primary weapon of the Matchitehew at the Great Fox. A giant blaster cannon fired, impacting the side of the smaller vessel. The shot was powerful enough to pass right through the ship.
I watched as the one shot took off the top right wing and the lower left. "What the fuck you doing? This is your ship." "No." I said, evilly to get the feathers on Falco's neck to stand up. My voice sounded like you were talking to the Grim Reaper. "That was my ship."
I fired another shot at the Great Fox, seeing the blaster round shoot off the center engine, basically rendering it disable. That shot did a number on the engines, shutting them down from too much stress.
The smaller vessel that I once owned, drifted through space. Falco stared at me, fear at his peak. He felt like the Grim Reaper was staring at him, but it was just me. Little fur, burned marks all over my face, fire red eye, one optical implant.
"I told myself you were going to regret this." Was the last thing I said to him, before engaging the Matchitehew's engines, leaving the scene before I allowed Falco enough time to realize what had just happened.
I snapped back into reality once again, as I heard tires screeching to a stop in front of the bar, one of those looked familiar. The Taurus that belonged to Kursed, the blue-furred vixen as she stepped out of the car.
The vehicles that parked next to her were a Ford Excursion and a Dodge Ram pickup. The wolf got out of the Dodge and the husky got out of the Ford. They approached me, not looking to happy to be here.
They took a seat at the table I was at, growling when they stared at me. "What the fuck do you want us here for?" Adrian said, looking up at the waitress as she returned with my beer. "What can I get all of you?"
"Vodka. Smirnoff." The wolf said, pulling out a twenty to pay for his first drink. "Jagermeister." The husky said, pulling out a twenty to pay for his drink. "Cranberry Martini." The vixen said, pulling out…you guessed it. A twenty to pay for her drink.
"Be right up." She said, collecting the money as she walked away, to fetch our drinks. "Well? What do you want?" The wolf again said, trying to get me to talk. I raised my head towards him, growing anger coursing through my body.
I growled at him, but let it pass. "Alright. One. All of you, take your fighters and park them in my ship. We will make our journey to Earth tomorrow morning. Be there on my ship by eight. If you are not there, make the trip yourself." I said, with a deep tone, I could feel their chills through their bodies. My voice was haunting.
"Two. If we are going to get through this mission alive, then we better start showing each other some respect. Or you might find yourself getting shot. Probably by me. And I know none of you want that. Ain't that right, honey?" I said to the vixen, causing her to flinch.
"How do we find your ship? Which one is yours?" The canine, Ryan Cooper said, accepting his Jager. "You'll know." I said, taking a big gulp of my beer. Watching everyone look at me with confusion.
"Please tell me that you ain't our boss?" Adrian said, after he finished taking a sip of his Vodka. "Is there any problems if I am? You stay focused and listen to me, you might survive and never have to see me again." "I'm in then." He said, looking forward to working with me now.
I smiled, baring my white fangs. "How about you, Ryan? Sound like a plan?" "I'm probably the only one you'll get along with the best. I'm rather compromising. Plus I like money." "Interesting answer. I'll go along with it." I looked at the vixen, I could tell she was nervous with me. She nodded her head.
"Alright. We're respecting each other already. Let's make this business relationship…..fun." I said, raising my beer, waiting for everyone to take their drinks and cling it with mine.
The first one to take their glass and make it contact mine, was Ryan. "I look forward to this." He said, with a mischievous smile. Kursed and Adrian shortly followed. Almost simultaneously, we took a big gulp of our drinks.
I lowered my beer, setting it on the table. "Alright. What are your weapon specialties?" "Dual pistol and shotgun." Adrian said, nodding as he always favored one of those weapons. He was happier when he had both.
"Sniper or a heavy machine gun." Kursed said, taking another sip of her martini. I nodded with a classic choice. "Assault rifle. Now about you?" Ryan said, as he leaned his head on his left hand. Awaiting to hear what I had to say.
"Whatever I have. If I had to choice…" I hesitated, wondering what I really liked most. I pulled out a specially made revolver, semi-automatic, laser-sight. It was a one point one magnum plasma shot. "This…or my dagger." I said, pulling out the dagger, watching it glisten under the little light out right now.
The vixen was the first to pick it up, she stared at it, hypnotized by it. The blade was wavy, smooth on the bottom of the blade, jagged on the top. The handle was brass with a creamish colored handle. Though it was a plastic handle, it was comfy to hold.
She slid it back to me, I grabbed it and put it back into its sheath. I picked up the revolver and put it back into its holster. "Now, your ship. Is it at the Cornerian Military hangers or in space?" I didn't answer, I just stared up at the rainy sky.
"You say we'll know right?" I nodded to the husky, grabbing the beer with my right hand, bringing it close to my mouth so I could take a drink. Ryan just sat further back into his chair. "Somehow, I think I will." He said, taking a sip of his Jager.
"Eight o'clock. Be ready." I said, pushing myself out of my chair, using my arm strength. I straightened my shirt, still keeping my jacket unzipped. I walked away from the group, heading for my car. They watched me walk away, getting inside my station wagon.
I could feel their uneasiness, but they had confidence with me leading. When I took a seat inside, I smiled with their approval before I started up the engine. "What you guys think? You think….we're gonna be okay?" Ryan said, looking at Kursed and Adrian.
The wolf and the vixen looked at each other, then back at the canine. "Should be a fun trip." The wolf said, finishing up the rest of his drink. The vixen nodded, pushing her glass away from her. She stood up and fixed her sunglasses as they shielded her eyes.
"See you guys at eight on the…."She took a moment, trying to remember the ship name. "Matchitehew." They all looked back at me, just in time to see me drive away from everyone. "I don't know about you, but I got a weird feeling about him." "Yeah." The husky and the vixen said, replying to the wolf's statement.
Kursed was the first to her ship the next morning, seven in the morning to be exact. She looked around and saw an empty fighter space, that once sat my fighter ship, Zlogon Je, (Serbian for 'expels evil') She saw it once, and wasn't a fighter you see often. (for those who have played Descent one and two. The Pyro GX.)
She stared at her Cloudrunner, only for a moment or two, before she finally approached it, climbing up the ladder so she could reach her cockpit. She hopped over the side, leaning into her seat, feeling the leather against her back.
The first things on her checklist were to make sure that the engines had enough fuel, which she knew they would. She began to close the canopy, finally engaging the life-support systems.
Just as the canopy closed, she could smell and feel the fresh air that her ship was producing. She liked the ship's air more than the real air. Felt fresher to her. She pushed the button to engage her engages.
She heard a loud boom from behind as the thrusters fired. She smiled as she gave power to the hover jets, allowing her ship to hover. Passing five feet to thirty in a matter of three seconds.
And then giving power to the thrusters as she immediately began to pick up so much momentum. Allowing her to be able to exit Corneria's atmosphere, which she didn't approach for about thirty-five seconds.
After about a minute of flying, the bright sky began to darken, until all that was left was space, filled with trillions of stars. She looked around, seeing that space was busy this morning. Freighters, shuttles, cargo ships were busy loading supplies to the planet, and the Gate.
In the distance to her right, she could see the docking yards over Corneria. She could see vessels docking to the massive yard, or leaving, off to venture space. One ship she saw caught her interest. It was huge, about eighteen hundred meters in length.
It was brownish in color, maybe a little lighter towards the tan side. There were three massive engines in the back, two on the top, one on the bottom. It looked like a freighter more than anything else, but it had a rather evil aura around it, it sent shivers down her spine. "I think that's it." She said to herself, watching the massive ship get closer.
After five minutes, the once tiny ship, only about seven inches long, became its full size, making her nothing, but a dot. "Good for you to join us." A voice over the radio said, causing her to be startled at first. She looked down at her radio, seeing that someone was trying to reach her.
"Us? You mean I'm last?" "Actually, you're the first. I just wanted to annoy you." Laughter soon overcame the radio, it was rather of an evil laugh. "Where is your hanger bay?" "You'll see a white dot approach you on your left. After about another two thousand feet, you'll come across a large, brightly lit area."
"Do you need to lower a containment field or anything?" "The field is there for protecting the bay from exposure to the vacuum of space. Plus, it sanitizes your ship as you pass through the field. You can enter at your discretion, unless I want to fire upon you, preventing you from entering." I said to her, just trying to scare her.
She looked across the hull and saw a laser turret like every eighty feet. And they were fifty feet apart vertically. So eighty by fifty. This really wasn't a ship to be trifled with. "You don't plan on shooting at me…do you?" "You willing to work with me and be cooperative?" "Of course."
She heard a sigh over the radio, rather of an approval humph if we want specifics here, which is I know what you want. "Then enter. Plenty of space for you." I said to her, as I watched her pass the white dot I told her about.
"What is that white dot?" "Starboard pulse cannon. Fires a cannon blast about eighty percent of the main cannons strength. There's one on the port side too. But I'm sure you already knew that." I said to her, trying to make a joke out of it.
"What about the stern?" "No one has ever snuck up behind me, but just for safety measures. There are four guns, about thirty percent of the main cannon strength. Fires every four seconds, sequentially." I said, as I leaned back into the captain's chair, cocky as ever.
"How did you manage to obtain this ship?" "How about you come up here, and we wait for the others so I don't have to repeat myself two more times?" "Okay." She said, afraid that she might make me angry. I was doing this just for laughs. I loved to scare people.
She approached the hanger, seeing that every part of the hanger's entrance was protected by turrets. She chuckled with amazement. She wasn't expecting this ship to be so well armed. "Holy shit!" A new voice over the radio was heard between us. It was the familiar husky of Ryan Cooper.
I started laughing at the unexpected response, but I laughed for only a few seconds before I returned to what I was doing. Getting the ship ready for departure. I had to have enough time to allow the engine turbines gain enough power, which took about ten minutes. However, once they were spinning, power coursed through the ship, enough power would be able to light five cities.
"Thanks." Was my final response, before I went back to work. By this time, Kursed was now entering the hanger bay. It was huge, it had to have been about a four hundred foot entrance, but the inside, would be able to fit eighty ships. It was empty, except for a black fighter.
Kursed landed her Cloudrunner about twenty feet away from my fighter, the Zlogon Je. It was all black, with six laser cannons. Four on the wings and two underneath the where the wings connected with the fuselage. On top were two more wings, the tails and each were loaded with four missiles.
The one thing that stood out most, was its color. Jet black. The canopy window, the body, the missiles, the cannons, they were all black. The only thing that stood out, was the engine fire. Which was white. "So, this is the Zlogon Je." Kursed thought to herself, before she turned around to see two more ships entering the hanger.
One was a Wolfen, the only thing that was changed was that it was black and blue, and not red. The one who climbed out of the canopy was the husky, Ryan Cooper. He called his fighter, Yenko.
The next person to climb out of his fighter, was Adrian Wolf. His fighter was a different design. It looked like a troop carrier, but looked very agile. (Disclaimer: I'm using a Pelican drop ship. Just because those ships are awesome. I don't own it, nor claim it as my own. It's owned by the makers of Halo.) He called his ship, Cobalt.
"So, this is Matchitehew. Unbelievable." Adrian said, looking around the massive hanger. The ceiling had to have been about six hundred feet high. Even with the lights high up there, the hanger was extremely well-lit.
"Come on up. Meet me in the bridge." A voice from nowhere made its way throughout the hanger. Everyone looked around, confused where the voice could've came from. After searching for about ten seconds, unable to find where the voice came from, they made their way towards the bridge.
Along the way, everything was well mapped. There were either arrows pointing your way there, or there were maps on the walls along the way. According to this, the bridge was near the front, on top of what looked like a hood scoop.
Along the way, they passed the armory, seeing almost every type of weapon ever made, including ones made from Earth, back during the twentieth and twenty-first century. They were amazed of how much I had obtained. Ryan took most interest than any of them. He was basically trigger happy.
Soon, they passed the mess hall, seeing that there was a kitchen, but no chefs. You made your own food or you could just have them replicated. Of course, I had a bar, having a wide variety of booze included.
"I think I'm going to like this place." The wolf said, smiling as he saw all the food that was included. "I like to drink." The familiar voice was heard again, this time right above them. The three looked up, seeing an intercom right above them. "By the way, you're going to hear a loud bang."
"What?" The three said simultaneously, as they flinched when they heard the ship bang. It was the engines now starting to rotate, the bang was just for affect. I love to worry people. "What was that?" Kursed said, scanning the area, making sure that everything was still normal.
"Engines." Was my only response, as I prepared for my next, but most fun prank yet. The alarms. They began to go off, it immediately sent chills down their spines, they thought they were about to die. The sound was so horrid, they thought they were facing death. Just like Falco, but he never died.
"If that is the alarm? Then I am scared." Kursed said, nervously. She didn't want to hear this noise again, but it I had control of the ship. I could set it off when everyone is sleeping. "I know, right." Ryan said, continuing his way towards the bridge.
After about ten more minutes, they made their way to the bridge. There was only a few chairs, but two sat right in the middle. One was surrounded by advanced technology that made it control the entire ship.
"Welcome…..to the Matchitehew." I said to the three of them, spinning around in my chair, smiling mischievously. They looked around, seeing sophisticated equipment that ran the ship. When I wasn't controlling the ship from the center console, they were broken up into three other stations. Navigation. Tactical. Radar.
"Impressive." Adrian said, looking around the massive bridge, then looking out the window. It had to have been about thirty feet across, and twenty feet high. It was a viewing screen, not just a window.
"Get to your stations. I don't care where you go. Just don't fight over any of the equipment." I said, pushing myself out of my chair, and heading for the captain's chair, which stood on a podium, about a foot taller than any chair in the room.
I took a seat in the soft leather, and watched as everyone took a station, trying not to be too rough with anything. I pulled out my revolver, aiming it carefully at the navigation station, where Adrian was sitting.
I aimed carefully, as I was aiming just to the right of him, but at the terminal he was at. I squeezed the trigger, allowing the round to pass through the barrel, exiting the hollow cylinder and hitting the terminal a second later.
He jumped out of his chair, staring at the fizzing computer, but however. It wasn't melting or shorting out. It was as if it absorbed the attack. Everyone looked at me, and I just sat there smiling. "Go ahead. Be rough with the instruments. My design."
"Jesus man. You got to stop messing with us like this." Adrian said, trying to calm his heart rate. I just continued to smiling, maybe bringing a bigger smile to my face. "Why? It's fun." I responded, as I slowly looked away from him and towards Kursed, who looked at me nervously.
"Calm down. None of you are going to die under my control." I said confidently, though everyone looked at each other, still wondering about me. "Adrian. See the button marked engines? Push it." I ordered, leaning back into my chair, trying to get comfortable.
Adrian looked at the button, then raised his hand over it. He paused for a moment, then pressed down on the terminal. We started to hear a loud wind, before finally it became silent.
A small freighter was flying past the engines during this time, which is never a good idea. As soon as the engines fired, it releases a sonic boom, even in space. The boom travels for about a few hundred meters, but if you're right next to it. Hold on tight.
The freighter was shot that distance, spinning in a barrel roll fashion. The pilots inside held on, also doing their best to steady the ship, but it took them fifteen seconds to level the ship.
When the ship leveled, the pilots look left, staring at the rear of the Matchitehew. "Holy fuck. What the hell was that?" One of the pilots said, turning his head to face the other pilot. "A sonic boom?" "In space?"
"Never a good thing to do. Adrian, release the clamps." The wolf amazed after he just watched the freighter get tossed a few meters. He saw the clamp release on the other side of his terminal. He pushed down on it, being startled by the loud sound that coursed throughout the ship.
On the outside, the clamps released themselves from the Matchitehew, allowing the ship to be able to travel. "Full power." I ordered one last time, watching the wolf finding the thrust lever, pushing it forward.
All of us were pushed back into our chairs, Kursed, who was sitting at an angle, fell out of her chair. The engines pushed so much thrust that in a matter of seconds, the ship was traveling at one hundred meters per second, and that was only forty-five percent of its max speed.
Kursed, still laying on her back, was amazed at the ship. I could feel it. She wasn't expecting a hand to hover over her. She looked at it, then followed the arm to see who was offering her a hand. It was me.
She grasped it, allowing me to help her up. "Thanks." "Careful next time." I said to her, with a deep tone as I walked away from her, back towards my chair. She stared at me, then at the other two animals as they stared at her.
She dusted herself off, before she took a seat back into her chair, staring out the massive view screen. Adrian stared at her a little longer, before looking down at the speed indicator. "We are going over two hundred and twenty-two meters per second?" "Holy shit, Krieger. That's amazing for a ship this size."
I stared at the husky, and slightly smirked. "This ship was specially made. Took a lot of money and too many attempts to get it right." "How much money and how many attempts?"
I looked over at Kursed, narrowing my eyes a little at her. "The money ain't none of your damn business. It took six attempts. Mainly for weapon and engine purposes." "Does this thing have a jump drive…or anything like that?" The wolf said, looking at the panel, seeing if he saw something relevant.
"Press the NOS button. Just another name for hyper jump. I like to be different." I said to him, with a low voice, but also with a hint of enthusiasm. Adrian looked around and saw the button. It was blue in color, he pushed it.
A power level began to glow blue as a bar started to increase. Probably power building up in the engines and this was the indicator. It took a few seconds, but it was growing strength every second. I just waited for that moment.
Adrian sat there, hypnotized by the indicator, waiting for the power level to reach one hundred percent. His waiting paid off because ten seconds later, the level reached one hundred percent. Now a new thing appeared on the panel, 'Engage.' He slowly pushed the button, hearing a low pitched beep.
Everyone stopped as a loud wind was heard throughout the ship. It was the hyper jump drive spooling up, before long. Everything was pushed towards the rear of the ship as the ship took off at a tremendous rate. To be exact, over thirty-five hundred meters per second.
Everyone was pushed into their chairs, trying to be able to compensate for the sudden g-force, but it became easier all of a sudden. A protective, anti resistant shield surrounded the ship. It was invisible, but I knew it was there. I was able to stand up with no problems.
The husky jumped out of his chair, pumped with excitement. "Yes! That's the shit I was hoping for in this beast! Whoooo!" He yelled, yelling at the top of his voice, excited for the speed the Matchitehew provided.
I slightly chuckled at him as I started to walk towards Adrian. I typed in a series of coordinates, the coordinates to arrive at Earth. The ship began to turn, but you couldn't even feel it. Due to the protective shield, nothing was pushing you to the side. Everyone was amazed.
"I'll be in the mess hall." I said with a low tone, turning around and walking away from the center console. Everyone looked at me disappear behind the corner, finally looking at each other. "I don't know about you, but I could use some breakfast." Ryan said, as he started to jog out of the bridge, trying to catch up with me.
Adrian and Kursed watched Ryan disappear before they got out their chairs to try and catch up with me. When they rounded the corner, they saw Ryan slowly to a walk as he walked parallel with me. "How did you get this ship?" The two over heard the canine, asking a question.
I looked at him, sighed at him before I turned my head towards what was in front of me again. "I found it in a junkyard over Zoness." Was all I said, not making myself any clearer. The husky brought his focus on the other two as they finally caught up with them.
I slowly looked to my left, seeing that's where Kursed was. I gave her a look like I wasn't happy to see her, but I did nod at her. I felt an uneasiness from her still, I just wondered how long I was going to keep that going. I did have a lot of fun doing it.
We continued to walk down the hall, everyone was looking around the different corridors that led in different directions. "How did you manage to obtain all those different weapons in the armory?" Ryan asked another question, the one he was most eager to hear the answer to.
I brought myself to look at him, giving him a slight chuckle, but I respected his questions. I answered, but grief coursed through me. "I had a friend…..who collected guns. He used to live on Earth, well, he had a house on Earth. Detroit to be specific. He gotten himself into some trouble and I did my best to protect him." I lowered my head, trying to hold back what the two on my right saw were….tears.
"He may have been considered my best friend and I would've given my life to protect him. Anyway, a couple weeks after living with me. On Corneria, he approached me with a couple gifts. One being all his weapons. I asked him, 'where did you get all these weapons?'
He responds, 'wouldn't you like to know?' While having a big smile on his collie face. Next, he hands me the keys to his station wagon. The same one you see me driving in. I stared at him and I ask him, 'why are you giving me your stuff?' He says, 'because I know you'll take great care of them."
Everyone stared at me, tears were falling now. Kursed was seeing it too, even tears were coming out of the implant. Everyone, just looked at me, feeling sympathy for me. Adrian placed a hand upon my shoulder, I just looked at him, giving him a nod.
"Of course I accepted the gifts, making sure that I did a even better job to protect him. Two days later, he was killed in a drive by on the streets of West Corneria City. I did my best to save him…,but….there was nothing I could do for that collie. My best friend was taken from me that day. That's why I try to remain secluded."
"What kind of trouble was your friend in?" Kursed asked, curious about what could've happened to him to get him into that much trouble. "A man, a pit bull sent a bounty on him because my friend knew too much about what he was doing. He was out to try to start a war, my friend tried to prevent that."
"Cyrus Lector?" Ryan said, looking at me as I just nodded at him. "By that time, none of us knew his name. Which made it hard for us to try to find him. All I could do was try to protect him. I failed." "What was his name? Your friend." I looked at Adrian, taking in a deep breath, before answering.
"Matt Strong." "Matt Strong?" Kursed said, trying to remember something. She had met him before, but she couldn't remember. I just stared at her, seeing if I could pick out the memory. It was lost somewhere so I had no clue either. "It'll come to me." "Yeah."
We arrived in the mess hall, I just sat in a chair with only a cup of coffee in front of me. Ryan, as hungry as he was, came back with a plate full of eggs, hash browns, bacon and a glass of orange juice.
I looked at the husky, with a slight smirk on my face. "What can I say. I'm a growing boy. I need my strength for the day." "I guess." I said, turning my head to the left as Adrian approached us with a plate of french toast. Kursed was last to join us, with waffles and a coffee herself.
"Did you have any family, Krieger?" I looked at vixen, noticing that she had used my first name for once. "No." I said deeply, lowering my head to stare at the steam, floating off the coffee. "So…Matt was like a brother to you?" "Yeah."
"How long did you two know each other?" Ryan asked, before taking a bite out of his eggs. I leaned back into my chair, looking at the ceiling, trying to find the answer. "Over one year."
"Only a year? How did you two meet?" Adrian asked, putting his fork down so he had his full attention locked on me. I just laughed slightly, remembering that it was a rather funny moment.
"I just recovered from my shooting and I was traveling the streets on Fichina. It was dark and cold that night and I was just looking for a place to warm up. I heard yelling and its him yelling at a prostitute. He was yelling that he didn't want her business because she gave him Crabs and I just laughed.
As I approached him, she walked away and he was just standing there. He hears me approaching from my feet crunching in the snow. He sees me laughing and he just yells out one more thing to her. 'Hey you, cock juggling thunder cunt. I want my money back!'
I look at the hooker walking away one last time, only nodding. 'Looks like she gave good head though.' Is what I said to him, he just laughed. 'Oh trust me, she did. I just didn't want to pay for it."
I laughed when I finished saying that. "The guy was a cheap fuck, but had a sense of humor I enjoyed. We ended up going to a bar and chatted for a few hours. I spent that time in Detroit with him, but things got out of hand. Next thing I know, I take him with me to Corneria, after he told me his problem and I did everything I could to protect him. He turned thirty that day too."
"Damnit man. That sucks." Ryan said, finishing up the hash browns on his plate. I just nodded as I looked back up at the ceiling, thinking of that year of friendship I had with him. Everyone just stared at me, the one that I felt the most sympathy from was Kursed.
"Everything I've said or done to all of you….wasn't personal. I just try to keep myself secluded from everyone, so I wouldn't have to deal with this shit again." "I understand, man. Trust me. It's cool." Adrian said, patting me on my shoulder.
"Computer? How long till we reach planet Earth?" A feminine voice soon answered a moment later after calculating the approximate time. "Eight hours and twenty nine minutes." "Wish I had warp gate technology." I said, getting up out of my chair and walking away from everyone.
I heard a few chuckles, but it didn't slow me down as I walked out of the mess hall. Everyone just stared at each other, still feeling sad. This had brought up a painful memory for Kursed. She started to remember her life….with Fox. She then remembered who she once was….Krystal.
Everyone looked all over the ship, just trying to find me. Where was I? Nobody knew. I knew though, my room. I hid away there when I needed time to be myself, hence why it's called your room.
I looked at photos of Matt and I on our vacation at Fortuna. It was basically a trip to pick up women. Didn't go rather well, probably because of the way I looked. I wasn't exactly the friendliest looking of guys, so women tried to stay away from me.
Though, a girl did manage to hang with us a lot, Matt was really attracted to this girl, a female beagle by the name of Michelle Light. But she lived on Earth and had a busy life there. He was upset when he had to say goodbye. The only thing that kept him going was seeing her again. She looked forward to that day.
I lowered my head, sad to think that I had to find her and tell her that Matt was gone. It would devastate her because those two loved each other. He was considering having her live with him.
A knocking was heard from the other side of my door, I sighed when I was finally found. "Hey Krieger! You in there?" Ryan yelled, trying to see if anyone was home. "Enter." I was expecting only one, but I was surprised to have found all three outside the door.
"There you are! We were looking all over for you." Adrian said, stepping inside the large room, noticing the pictures. "What's that?" "Memories." Kursed took a seat next to me and saw one with Michelle on it. "Did you like this girl?"
I looked at her, shaking my head in response. "Matt did. He loved her to be exact. She loved him back." I saw her facial expression change, she wondered though if she knew. "She doesn't know. And it's going to suck when I find and tell her that….he's gone."
I felt her arm on shoulder, trying to console me, but it wasn't really helping. Ryan took the picture and stared at her. "Damn man. Matt had her. What a hound." "He did have a way with the ladies." I responded, asking for the picture back so I could put it back into the box I had for it.
Ryan handed it to me and I placed it with the pile of other pictures. I picked up the lid and placed it over the top of the small shoe box. I bent over and slid it underneath my bed as I straightened out my back and stood up. "Try to get some more sleep, guys. We still got over seven hours left."
"Sure thing, Aurelius." Ryan said, heading for the door that led towards the hallway. Adrian followed suit, Kursed did a couple minutes later. She just wanted to make sure I was okay. I was feeling a change with her. I was feeling her feelings for me.
I didn't know how to respond to that. It's been way too long since I been with anyone. In particular, I mean Krystal. I gave her a nod to assure her that I'm fine, but I think she knew I was faking it. She left anyway, but she didn't want to.
I watched the door behind her close, before I sat back down on my bed. I lowered my head, just trying to remember everyone that I had lost over my years. My mother, my father, Fara, Krystal, StarFox in general, then my best friend.
All that just made my mind snap, I guess. I just couldn't deal with all that bullshit. I decided to end Fox McCloud and I became Krieger Aurelius. I pulled out my dagger and held it in my hands.
I stared at the shiny blade as the lights reflected off of it. I walked over to my nightstand and placed the dagger, along with its quiver upon it. Along with my revolver and its holster.
I took my shirt off and threw it on a chair that sat about five feet away. I didn't bother to take off my pants. I took one final seat on my bed before I brought my legs underneath the covers as I laid down. I reached over to shut off the light, before long. I was looking at nothing, but darkness.