Black Skies
Author's Note: I spy a pattern here...V-StarFox, I thank you once again. You keep up with my story with exceptional regularity, and you are certainly the only one to do so who leaves constant remarks and comments. These really help with my writing style.
As for the preview...well, you're welcome to have it. Keep it mind, it may change- I've added lines here and there and removed one of the "damns" from Fox's initial line.
notfromEarth7, I kinda wonder how you could think my story's ending here. I'm not trying to offend you here, but war isn't all guns and blazing action. It really isn't, and how can it be? Keep in mind that Grall is Krazoa-knows far away. They're going to be scrambled soon, so don't worry about it. And cliffhangers are literary elements, and they do and will continue to crop up in here. As for Fox and Krystal, well, I'll get to it. Or try.
To Mr. Porqukat, well, yeah, this whole thing so far is essentially a prologue. Impatient for them to start blasting things? You're just like Falco. So predictable. No offense. Heheh...
Yeah, I'm just as fed up with pre-war scenes as y'all probably are, but they're just a few more left, I swear! In this chapter, you'll meet up with some gang which claims rights to Abbey, and exactly what Falco's response is. This is just a short chapter, because I don't want to quite get into everything on a chapter starting with a hovercar chase.
Chapter 5 Birds of a Feather...
The key turned in the ignition, and once again the hovercar whined to life. Then the engine coughed and spluttered, dying pitifully. Falco swore and opened the door, while Abbey just giggled.
"When's the last time you serviced this thing?" she asked with a grin, reach behind her to find the standard repair kit in these vehicles.
"About four years ago. Yeah, I know, it's out of date, but most places won't service this thing- it's a CityScape 9113 Vintage Model. But Slippy's managed to keep this thing on the streets. For all his mechanical expertise, he had a simple way of getting this thing to run...I think it went something like this."
The falcon suddenly reared back and slammed his footpaw into the car as hard as he could, leaving another small dent near a growing collection upon the door. Instantly, the engines and hover pads roared to life. Abbey looked stunned, but Falco just grinned.
"Don't say anything." he warned, then leapt into the vehicle and gunned the throttle. The craft shot off far more quickly then it should have, Falco weaving through the few early birds that were also plying the streets, both the ground and sky lanes.
Abbey looked over to see Falco give a whoop of exhilaration. The avian was in his element here, looping the hovercar around buildings with supreme skill. On the entire trip to her home, Abbey never saw Falco lose control or his temper. The raptor excitedly dodged trees and streetcars, and after she got over her initial vertigo, doubtless thanks to the bird's piloting, she began to enjoy the giddy feelings of this quick flight.
"Over there." she directed, pointing with a paw. Falco nodded, then turned a corner far more quickly then he should have, quickly darting down to avoid ramming a patrol vehicle.
"What'd you do?" Abbey asked nervously, looking behind her. Falco just laughed.
"The police gave up on giving me tickets long ago- and if they did, the public would hate them. So I can get off doing stuff like this, unless I wreck something."
"Thank goodness for that." muttered the otter, but Falco took no notice and increased the speed. The old car didn't even rattle as it sped up.
"Hold on a moment." said Falco suddenly, pulling the craft to a screeching halt. They were at the edge of Corneria Proper. Before them were rundown neighborhoods, shantytowns- no man's land. Where the rule of the police and the name of Star Fox was about as good as a dead blaster.
"You live here?" he asked. Abbey looked ashamed.
"After I was discharged from the army, I ran out of money pretty fast. Other than you guys, even for someone with high marks and an Advanced Academy Accomplishments Badge, there isn't much work for pilots, particularly combat pilots like me. And the guys in my dorm...were rough." The otter winced. "I tried for a dishonorable discharge. My officer understood and gave me an honorable one instead. Not like it made much difference." She laughed hollowly. "C'mon, I don't have much. I won't be long."
"I'm only going in there if you pick up the rifle I've got in the bottom of the car." answered Falco, already easing the throttle forward. The otter shrugged and picked it up.
"I'm better with a blaster, you know."
"Tough luck."
As they sped through the streets, many people looked at them go. They had good reason- Falco's shiny hovercar was easily the brightest thing many of them had seen for quite awhile. The falcon paid no mind and headed on, then stopped when Abbey directed him to.
"Make this snappy. I don't like this place."
"Who does?" came her answer. The otter darted into the ramshackle house. Her room now. She grabbed some of her prized possessions, her Academy Badge, an out-of-date blaster, and a few other things she wanted to read. She turned, and was about to head out the door when she was slammed into the doorframe.
"About time you came back." said the hulk before it was smashed aside by a feathery fist. Falco picked up the otter, who looked to be steps away from fainting with shock and placed her into his hovercar. He was about to gun the engine again when a leering gang surrounded them, blocking the hovercar's passage. One of them, a one-eyed pug with a mean face advanced.
"The girl's ours. And if ya give us your ride, we'll let you go." Abbey looked up weakly, fright stamped on her face. "She's ours, y'know. From after her discharge." Falco then noticed that the pug's voice was slurred. A drinker.
Just what I need. he thought, aggravated, then he flipped a blaster around his wing. "And if I don't?"
"Then we kill you and take the girl anyway." Then there was a whisper of air- and the pug fell dead, pierced through by a green beam of light. Falco turned, and saw Abbey, holding the rifle.
"That's the spirit." he said, backing towards the car before diving in. Around him, the gang seemed to be closing. One hefted an stun gun and another, a blaster.
"Who're you to shoot at us? Ye knocked down Frankie!"
"Oh, I did more than that." retorted Falco. "And I'm Lombardi from the Star Fox team. I remember you, Jeremy. You should've listened when I told ya Fox had openings at the Academy. But you didn't. Now get out of my way, or I'm going to shoot you."
"C'mon, guys." replied the gang member, drunkenly staggering forwards. Falco closed his eyes.
"Sorry, m'friend." he said, then started the engine. It whined, then died. "Damnit!" roared the falcon, ducking as laser shots pummeled his car. Abbey looked shocked when some of them bounced off.
"Don't ask!" he yelled, then fired off three quick shots from behind the door, felling two gang members. Kicking the ignition furiously, Falco swore until the car spluttered to life, running down two unlucky souls in front of it and speeding away. Abbey ducked as a shot shattered the windshield in front of her.
"Get down!" ordered the avian, nimbly dodging around a building. "I hate those freakin' idiots."
"Falco!" screamed Abbey, seconds away from hitting the floor. "Your right!"
The falcon turned just in time to see an EMP charge strike his craft, causing it to hit the ground and skid a good hundred meters in a shower of sparks and flame. The falcon leapt out, surveying the damage grimly, then grabbed the rifle from Abbey, holstered his blaster pistol, and stood before the car. At the far end of the street, he could see the gang chasing after him.
"Not over my dead body." said the falcon grimly, sighting with his keen eyes, then shooting. Down went a canine. Another avian. A panther. Then his eyes flew wide as he was struck in the belly by a laser bolt. Abbey screamed, but after doubling over from the concussive shock, Falco straightened. The body armor he was wearing was unscratched. He'd picked it up before leaving the ship.
"Damn, you're good." he muttered, thinking of Slippy. He spied a few old trash cans nearby, then kicked one down and rolled it at the approaching gang members. He shot it. The can blew up into shrapnel, felling the rest of the rushers.
He turned around, pleased, then his beak dropped. Abbey was gone.
"Quiet, girl." snapped the husky otter who'd taken her. His paw was tightly wrapped around her mouth. Her eyes were wide with fright, her paws pinned to her sides. Three other surviving brutes ringed her, looking ravenous. Abbey shook with fear.
Something clicked.
Could it- could it be? she thought slowly, her scrambled mind managing to piece things together. She wriggled furiously, but the male otter holding her only grasped her that much tighter.
"C'mon...pretty thing..." he said wickedly, then his paw reached out to her tunic. Something hissed, then an explosion rocked the room. When the smoke cleared, a dazed Abbey was in an empty room. She looked down at her hip. Her old blaster had been cocked when she'd left it at home, and it had just backfired. The armored holster it was in channeled the force away from her, and amazingly, it had struck the others around her, knocking them unconscious or killing them outright. It looked like two of them were dead.
"Oh..." she whispered. Her head still spun from the way she'd been grabbed, and she tried to stand up. Her legs were weak beneath her.
Before passing out, she was vaguely aware of Falco standing in the door, rushing towards her.
"Falco! Falco, damnit, come in!" The commlink in the hovercar was blaring when Falco dumped the unconscious Abbey into her seat. He hit the answer button.
"What?" he demanded.
"We were scrambled ten minutes ago! Where the hell are you?" The vulpine on the screen looked furious. "Out skylarking with the new teammate?"
"Ask Peppy!" roared the avian. "Fox, I don't-"
"We're already in the air, damnit!" shouted Fox. You're missing out on this, and we need you up here! Figure something out! You left your Arwing in Corneria's service hangar, didn't you?"
"Wait a moment...I did..." said Falco, then he grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, Foxie." He killed the transmission, then put his head in his wings. "Damn this."
A few minutes later found the hovercar back in Corneria Proper, heading towards the service department. Without a word, Falco passed disgruntled and angry-looking servicemen, still laboriously carrying Abbey in his arms. He opened his Arwing cockpit after shooing away an irate officer, then dumped Abbey into the tiny passenger seat designed only for emergency use.
Not like she's smaller then Tricky. thought the falcon with a grin, then he hopped in himself and closed the hatch. Abbey started coming to around then, groaning and looking around in a panic. When she saw Falco in front of her, she relaxed, despite the fact that she was curled up in the tiny space.
Falco powered up his ignition systems and eased himself forward, just in time to see his hovercar being confiscated.
"Bloody hell." he muttered. He'd solve that later. The Arwing sailed out of the hangar, alarms blaring after him to get clearance. The G-Diffusers were having trouble coping with Abbey's extra weight, but the falcon solved this by turning two difficult circles in the air, then hauling himself out of the atmosphere before engaging his limited warp drive.
On the ground, a technician shook his head. "That thing nearly came apart right there." he said solemnly.
"Unidentified warp signature detected off the port bow."
"Put it onscreen, and hail, ROB."
"Affirmative. Contact will be possible in approximately 10 seconds."
Slippy waited at the communications console while a timer ticked down the seconds. When it beeped, Slippy pressed a key sequence.
"Unidentified vessel, this is Slippy Toad. We have you on our scanners. Please identify yourself and-"
"Shut up, Slippy. Count yourself lucky I bothered to let you get that far. Hurry up and open the freakin' launch bay, I've got Abbey in here too and the Arwing's not happy with it." Slippy groused, muttered a comeback into the mike, and looked at Fox.
"Open the doors. Falco's just being who he usually is."
"Though he's not supposed to be late." grumbled Peppy, swinging his chair over and opening the launch bay doors. "He'd better have a good excuse, or else, I'm going to get him."
"You'll never get there first, old timer."