Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, but I bet whoever does must be a millionaire.
Chapter 3: Reprisal
"What have you got for me General Peppy?" Fox asked with his arms folded.
"It's great to see you again Fox! It seems only yesterday when we took down Andross-"
"Yeah, yeah," Falco interrupted, "Skip to the chase old-timer."
"Oh! Right," General Peppy snapped out of his reverie, "I almost forgot. There have been several reports of weapons being stolen from the Cornerian army supply. Even with our tight security, goods are being swiped right under our guard's noses. After looking through some old records and witness statements, we discovered that the parts stolen happen to match the exact models ships belonging to team-"
"Star Wolf," Fox finished for him. "So they're trying to upgrade their ships?"
"Exactly," General Peppy replied, "We need you to get those parts back, and to do whatever it takes to arrest the Star Wolf team members. They've been wanted for some time, with the exception of Krystal of course."
Fox chose not to say anything. Falco decided to break the silence, "We'll start right now. I think we can track them down easily enough."
"Good to hear. Your pay will be sent to you in-"
"I'm not in it for the money anymore," Fox said abruptly, walking out of the room.
"He's just going through a lot right now," Falco said, seeing Peppy's quizzical look, "I'm sure he'll be all right."
"Do you guys want an escort? I can send some backup to help you out."
"That won't be necessary. We'll take care of it on our own."
And without another word, Falco went to go join Fox.
"All systems are set and ready."
"Thanks ROB," Fox said, "Have you got any coordinates yet, Falco?"
"Hang on. . . . . . . . . Yes! Star Wolf is hanging around the Aquas system, not far from here. Maybe we can say hi to Slippy after we complete the mission."
The joke was to try and cheer Fox up, but Falco regretted it the moment he had said it. Just thinking of Slippy brought back too many memories of being with the gang, but now those memories were meaningless; what only mattered now was the present, and what was about to happen.
"All right ROB, set course for planet Aquas. Once we reach the outer reaches of the system go ahead and switch us to manual control," Fox said.
"Request granted. Course set. Prepare for launch."
Immediately the ships jumped to hyperspace to meet a foe they wouldn't soon forget.
As soon as they reached the edges of the planet's outer reaches, though not close enough to Aquas' gravity pull, ROB switched the controls to manual. The search had begun.
It had been a long time of flying around the system, checking behind asteroids, and generally just looking for other ships on radar. Falco and Fox were starting to lose hope before they finally yielded results.
"It's been three hours!" Falco complained, "Where the heck are these guys?"
"Does this answer your question?" said a familiar voice on the voice communicator.
"Wolf!" Fox exclaimed.
Four ships suddenly appeared from what seemed like nowhere and began shooting at Fox and Falco. The two friends began to take evasive action by doing barrel rolls and other maneuvers to avoid the oncoming blaster bolts.
"How convenient of both of you to come visit us, Star Fox. Now we can eliminate you once and for all!" Wolf said in his mocking, low voice.
"You won't even get the chance, Wolf!" Fox cried out.
Falco and Fox slowly started to fight back, shooting their own blaster bullets at their enemy. They weren't doing very well, considering that they were outnumbered, but they tried their best to drive back team Star Wolf.
"Don't try and resist us Fox; you just can't win," Krystal decided to speak unexpectedly.
"Krystal, I . . ."
Fox might have tried to say something really wise, or maybe even apologetic, but due to the fact that Panther's ship was bombarding him with silver-colored bullets, he was had to concentrate on more important things, such as not dying.
"Don't talk to her!" Panther yelled, "You have no right considering how you've treated her in the past! Besides, Krystal is with Panther now, and you don't deserve to even be in her presence!" Panther always had this thing for talking in the third person, and while that may seem adorable at times, it made him look as if he was the most annoying guy in the universe to Fox.
Falco cried out, "Fox! I don't think we can take them anymore! We have to retreat!"
This was the first time Fox had ever heard Falco sound this panicked, and he was right for that matter. Team Star Wolf had a strategy of teaming up two people to one. Leon and Krystal were surrounding Falco, while Panther and Wolf attacked Fox. To make things worse, all the Star Wolf members were shooting powerful silver blaster bolts. Fox assumed that these new weapons were stolen from Corneria.
"Your right Falco, I guess we'll have to-"
"Keep shooting the enemy!" a voice rang out. Another ship flew into view, and began taking on the foe.
"Slippy! What are you doing here?" Fox exclaimed, overjoyed.
"Peppy called me; He was worried you guys wouldn't last long against Star Wolf. Apparently he was right!"
"Shouldn't you be at home with Amanda?" Falco asked, still thrilled at hearing his long lost friend.
Slippy replied, "Amanda and the kids will be fine. I'm glad you guys were close; I might not have made it in time."
It was an enormous relief to have Slippy helping out, so Fox couldn't help but say, "We have some serious catching up to do when this is over."
"Copy that!" Slippy said happily.
Slippy's ship was quite famous for its plasma shot, and to top that off Slippy had supreme accuracy, even without a locking system. The fight around Aquas soon began to gradually turn around in Star Fox's favor.
As the fight wore on, all the ships on both sides were getting closer to Aquas' gravity pull. And as the brawl continued, Fox tried to tell Krystal anything he could: his feelings for her, an apology, anything. But every time he attempted to communicate with her, Panther would try and get at him with every bit of firepower possible.
Things were starting to look bleak. Falco and Fox were growing tired, and even Slippy, who had only just begun to fight, was not the pilot he used to be. But with new weapons and fast agility, team Star Wolf seemed fresh and ready to win the fight.
"Just give up Fox," Wolf said triumphantly, "You're not worth our time, and what we've taken from Corneria is none of your business."
"If we go down, then you're coming down with us!" Fox yelled.
"You fool!" Leon exclaimed, "Don't you know what we are capable of? Panther, deploy the PQ-7!"
"With pleasure!" Panther laughed. Panther's ship began to glow, as if it was a dim light about to flicker on.
"Get out of here now!" Slippy said in a worried tone, "A PQ-7 is a very powerful device! Save yourself while you can!"
"What about you Slippy?" Falco said.
"I can take care of myself, just get out of here!"
Star Wolf tried to hold them off, but Fox and Falco managed to get far away enough to jump to hyperspace. Slippy didn't have the same luck, however. Before making a getaway jump Fox watched Slippy fight like a wounded animal from a pack of hungry predators. Panther unleashed a giant beam of light, and it hit Slippy with tremendous force.
"NO! SLIPPY!" Fox screamed.
Slippy's ship hurtled down toward Aquas, being pulled to the ground. Fox couldn't watch anymore. He and Falco sped up to hyperspace away from the heinous act that had just occurred.
Falco didn't say anything on the way back to Corneria, and neither did Fox. A deep hatred began to overtake Fox; A powerful serge of anger flowing through his body. Star Wolf was to blame for every bad thing that had happened in his life! It was time that he destroyed them, never to be heard from again! No one would stand in Fox's way, for he would willingly crush anything that interfered!
Author's Note: Yes, I might have killed Slippy, and yes, Fox does seem to be getting in touch with his darker side, but it had to be done. I also apologize for the lack of detail; I was kind of in a rush to get this chapter done.
Oh, and in case any of you are wondering, reprisal means a violent act of destruction in retaliation of one's actions.
I hope you're all looking forward to my next chapters!
