Chapter Four
Doctors and Dragons
Despite a week of doing research, I was unable to find any clues as to the identity of either The Dragon or his work with absorbers. Even my talk with Professor Lucy Hare, Peppy's daughter, provided me nothing but the realization that whoever The Dragon was, he or she didn't live anywhere near Mobius, Earth, or the Lylat System.
The messages on my cellphone over that same week informed me that my friends on Team Star Fox were unlucky as well. It was while I was deleting those same messages that I remembered the one thing that worked better as a method of brainstorming than anything else.
When I started school at the University of Fichina, I took that first look at the bulletin board in the student commons and found a call for two players for Dungeons and Dragons. I'd heard of the tabletop RPG during my time on the planet Earth and I'd played the game with Chris Thorndyke and a few of his friends. I even ran a few sessions as the Dungeon Master and they were exciting.
And my experience playing in college was no different. When I had a big test coming up or anything else where stress would be higher than normal and I needed a way to recharge and regroup my thoughts, I would look no further than Tuesday Night.
My friends arrived at my dorm on time as usual. Professor Lucy Hare was our current Dungeon Master and she hid behind the DM screen as I took out my hand-carved model of Tiberon, my level eight wizard/cleric, and prepared my character sheet and other papers. The others did the same with their sheets and models.
We were told that we'd be heading into a huge swamp where it was rumored that a huge gibbering mouther was eating travelers in the area. If we were victorious, then we would receive compensation in the form of 5000 gold from the local survivors. There was also the chance of getting treasure from the travelers who were rescued.
As the DM placed the model that she'd created she officially went into DM character and told us that it was a mutated version of the monster and thus had the power to drain the abilities of anyone it engulfed as well as drain their health.
"The boss monster reminds me of a real creature that I heard was created on a planet a long way from here." Samuel Longsley told me as he reached for some popcorn.
"Don't tell me that someone created a creature that could eat people. Do you know anything else about it?" I asked my roommate as I looked at him.
"The creature couldn't eat people, Miles. But it could latch onto someone and absorb their energy. I recall that it was created on some planet by this pirate group but I don't know more. Every search engine I've checked says any information is classified and not available to the public."
Hearing this gave me goose bumps because I knew these creatures could be the absorbers that General Anglar was thanking The Dragon for in the document at Star Fox HQ.
Our D&D session lasted for another hour. After I'd cleaned up my dorm, I headed to the University Hangar and hopped in my ship and flew to Papetoon. When I arrived, I wasted no time in using the computer to search for information on these absorbers. Slippy was mad, of course. He had to end his game of Solitare to accommodate my needs.
"What's the damn hurry, Miles...Oh, I see, you may have some new lead on those documents." Slippy said as he got on the intercom and called the rest of the team into the room.
At every turn, despite my best effort, I only received basic information from my search for absorbers. But when I did a search on pirate groups, I found my back door into the information I really wanted. The entry was on a notorious terrorist group called the Space Pirates.
However, to my dismay, the entry only said that the organization of "interstellar nomads that look like humanoid insects" had been eradicated and that its research was now in the hands of the Galactic Federation and would not be available to the public.
"Damn it. I suppose we're going to have to contact the Galactic Federation and request the information directly. You have any contacts in that organization, Fox?" I asked as Fox nodded.
"The Lylat System isn't under their jurisdiction so my contact with them has been limited, but I do have two people in mind. They used to be a part of the Cornerian Defense Force a few years ago but now they're a part of the GF's administration." Fox told me as Falco shook his head and chuckled.
"You think that Bill and Kat are going to be able to help us get the information we need? Do they even have the security clearance to do that?" Falco asked while setting up the conference call with the GF.
"If they can't get clearance with the possible threat that the four documents we have describe then they'll direct me to the individuals who can. Guaran-damn-teed!" Fox replied as he finally got a hold of Bill Grey and Kat Monroe.
We uploaded the documents to their database and they read them for a few minutes. With every passing moment, their faces displayed a little more worry. I could see Bill calling someone, possibly his superior, and pacing as he held the phone he was using. Kat was scribbling some notes down and looked almost panicky as she held her pen.
"Our superiors have decided that the only safe way to go about this is to have someone come to your headquarters and confer with you about these documents and the classified information you seek. The bounty hunter Samus Aran should arrive on your planet by tomorrow night." Kat Monroe told us as she and Bill said goodbye and ended the conference call.
Meanwhile, on the planet of Venom…
"Gentleman, we are right on schedule. As soon as I can devise a proper delivery system, we can start transforming this planet back to its former glory. I can have that same system ready for testing by the end of the week. That concludes my report…" a small nanobot said as he whirred and clanked down a set of descending stairs.
"So Dr. Robotnik says. I have my doubts…but then again I am not the most trusting individual in this group. If he is right and this catalyst does work we could see the goals of all of us achieved in one deft and lightning quick stroke." a dragon-like being stated.
"I'm just glad that we agreed that mine would be taken care of first. It may also draw the foxes into a battle that they are not prepared for. As far as we know they would have no inclination that I am allied with individuals as distinguished as yourself and the two doctors. Our power would crush them where they stood."
"Well said, Andross. You are absolutely certain that the documents that General Anglar sent to us did not get sent anywhere else, right?" the dragon-like being asked as Andross noticed that he was getting a message on his computer stating that someone was trying to start a conference call. The individual just happened to be General Anglar.
"Speak of the devil. It looks like my lackey is trying to send me a message. Mind if I display him onscreen?" Andross asked as the dragon waved his hand in approval.
General Anglar was sweating and looked very nervous as he tried to compose himself before his master and the individual next to him whom he had learned to fear even more. Andross quickly gave the dragon a look apologizing for his servant's show of weakness.
"I've come with disappointing news. It is possible that the information that I gave to you could have fallen into the hands of our enemies…" Anglar stated as Andross suddenly leaned forward on the desk in a fit of rage.
"Explain how this could have happened and be thankful you are not here in person or I'd skip this part and just tear your head from your shoulders." Andross growled as General Anglar loudly swallowed the huge lump that had formed in his throat.
"I was unaware of it until just recently, but it is the policy of the government of Corneria that they create a backup of any heavily-encrypted files that are either uploaded or downloaded onto any public computer database. One of my spies informed me of this. Usually it is employed as a safety measure for files sent or received from Corneria's Defense Force but…" General Anglar struggled to admit as Andross turned his back and shut down the conference call.
"Our plans will hit a significant road block if the foxes gain our other enemies as allies. We must prevent this at all costs and we must do so as silently and efficiently as possible. As much as I loathe admitting it...we would be in a corner if all of our enemies joined forces." Andross stated as the dragon suddenly received a call of his own.
Within the span of a few minutes, the dragon-like creature called Ridley received confirmation that Samus Aran was heading for the Lylat System. It seemed that General Anglar had failed to protect the information from their enemies' hands. But he was not completely worried. It was one thing to have the information but putting all of the pieces together was another matter.
"Where are you going?" Andross asked as Ridley started to fly out of the makeshift headquarters that they were in.
"The foxes and my enemy are about to meet tomorrow night unless I prevent it…Heh, I guess my first batch of Space Pirates and Metroids will get to go through testing sooner than I'd planned." Ridley laughed as he left the headquarters with an evil grin on his face.
A few seconds later, a snake-like creature emerged from the shadows behind Andross and started rubbing his mutated hands together.
"Do you think that Ridley hass a chance against the foxesss" he hissed as Andross rubbed his chin methodically.
"It all depends on how much they know and how accurate what they think they know is. But I wouldn't worry yourself too much Dr. Elrod Purvis." Andross replied as the doctor violently shook his head.
"I hate that name…call me Dr. Viper. Anyway, I came to tell you that the countermeasures you requested are ready for your use should you need them."
"Thank you, Viper. And my hats off to you for keeping the kittens in the dark about what we're doing. I hear they are really good at seeing what's in the shadows." Andross smiled evily as he and Viper went downstairs to the hall and turned left at the junction.
"It was easy considering how many enemies those two have. By the time they fight off Pastmaster and my fellow scientist, Dr. Harley Street, we will have finished our work and they will be none the wiser."
After a few more minutes, Andross and Viper arrived at the main laboratory. The two of them covered their ears due to the slightly uncomfortable noise level coming across the hall. It seemed Dr. Robotnik was wasting no time making good on his promise.
"Do you really think these countermeasures will be necessary seeing as we will all get what we want after all is said and done?" Viper pointed out as Andross held the first of many thousands of specimens that he could summon at a moment's notice.
"We're the definition of evil, my dear Viper. By our very nature we are inclined to stab each other in the back. I'm just insuring that my blade will be faster and stronger than everyone else's. But you have nothing to worry about. I am not so stupid as to not reward loyalty or destroy my allies when there is no benefit in the action." Andross said to try and reassure Dr. Viper as they looked upon their creations and thought about the day when they would see the destruction of all of their enemies.