Okay guys, in order to ensure I have no mistakes; I have heard your reviews and will take my time on future chapters. DON'T WORRY; it won't be like a week between chapters, rather about 2-4 days. It's so I can give you all a good book to read. Besides that, I'm extremely happy that I am getting these views (I've almost broke 1000 with chapters 1-5 alone) and I thank all of you for giving me this energy and, above all, liking the book. I plan on making even more stories. Thank you on with the story!
Chapter 7: Corneria
Previously…
I walked back down the hall and back to my room to get ready. As I entered my room, I started to think about what to wear. I went over to my duffel bag that I had lying in the corner of the room and started to pull out clothing. I ended up wearing a purple shirt that had the words 'Zoo York' on it and a pair of dark blue jeans. I checked myself to make sure that I was appropriate enough to meet the General and to just be on Corneria. I then came to conclude that I looked fine.
Fox's voice then came over the speakers, "Okay guys, we are about 5 minutes from Corneria. I suggest you all get ready." He said.
"It's almost time." I said to myself.
Currently…
I walked out of my room and into the hallway. I passed by Falco's room just as he was leaving it. We exchanged looks until he finally spoke.
"So, you're wearing that?" he asked as he was looking at my clothing.
I felt a little silly, "Yeah, should I not?" I asked
"You are meeting the General, then again you just got here and don't own any clothing from Corneria." He said.
"I do plan on doing some sort of shopping on Corneria. I hope that I can get in style for casual occasions." I said.
"Yeah don't worry about formal attire; Space Dynamics will give you a flight suit and armor. The suit is like what I wear and the armor is like what Fox wears, the only thing is that Fox only wears some of his armor; he wears the shoulder pads, boots, and wrist comm." He said.
"So my armor will look similar but with more?" I asked.
"Yes it will." He said.
We finally started our walk to the elevator. About halfway down the hallway, Krystal showed up next to Falco.
"Why hello." She said.
"Hey Krys." Falco replied.
"Hey Krystal." I said.
"So Kevin, you ready to meet the General?" she asked me.
"To be honest, I'm more scared about what Corneria will think of me. I dress far more differently than your kind does and I'm sure your styles are different." I said.
"Well, I'll take you shopping so you can get used to the styles." Krystal said.
"Wow, thanks Krystal." I said with a smile on my face.
"It's nothing." She replied.
"And I can stay calm when it comes to meeting high power officials, I've actually meet my countries president a few times." I continued.
"President? Your planet had presidents?" Falco said. "Why not just one person to run everything?" he asked.
"I think it would be a handful for one person to handle the entire planet." I said. "Plus, each country has extremely different views; we never agree on anything." I said.
"How different were they?" asked Krystal.
"Well, my country is known as 'the land of the free' because we have many rights, but other countries are so strict that they won't even let women roam without a man or even allow them to give birth. One country actually enforces the 'no more than 3 in a family' law." I explained.
"Damn; I would like to live in your country then. Those other countries sound so damn boring." Falco said.
"There's a catch to this though. If you live in the 'land of the free', you get nice people, great rights, but average tech and bad economy. And if you live in the strict country, you get high tech cities, a slightly better economy, lower rights, and strict governments." I said.
"No offence, but, that sounds like a hard planet to live on." Krystal said.
"It's not hard to live on at all, actually, it's just complicated." I said.
"I'll say." Falco replied.
After Falco finished his sentence, the three of us continued the walk to the elevator. I was surprised that we took almost 5 minutes just to get there.
We finally reached the elevator and took it up to the bridge. When the door opened, Fox looked back at the elevator.
"What took you guys so long?" he asked us.
"Just a little detour." I said.
"Well you got here just in time; we're about to arrive at Corneria." He said.
Krystal and Falco walked over to their computer areas while I walked over to an open chair that was next to Slippy.
I looked at the front window and saw a tunnel of light that seemed endless. I was proven wrong when the tunnel instantly disappeared and replaced by an earth-like planet. I was amazed at its size and similarity to Earth.
"Oh my god, Corneria looks like Earth. Blue and Green just like it." I said.
"You know, it does look like it. I mean, the green is in all sorts of areas, unlike earth which only had I think 6 bodies of green." Fox said.
I corrected him, "Actually there are 7 bodies of land on Earth."
"Earth must have been small then." Slippy said.
"You have no idea. We estimated that seven billion people lived on Earth, and we estimated that by 2050 we will have about nine billion." I said.
"That's not good." He replied.
"Tell me about it." I said.
Fox suddenly spoke up, "ROB, open a communications line with the General."
"Affirmative." The machine replied.
ROB started to push a few buttons on the display that was in front of him. After he finished, a large picture of the Cornerian Defense Force logo appeared out of thin air and in the front of the room. Then a picture of a dark brown hound wearing a red uniform appeared.
"Ah Fox, it's good to see you. I heard about the incident regarding an anomaly. Were you hurt?" the hound asked Fox.
Fox then gestured in my direction, making the general look towards me. I walked forward so that he could see me better on the screen.
"This is Kevin. I crashed on his planet and he pulled me out of the Arwing. He was able to keep me alive, but I did sustain a few injuries." Fox said.
"My word, I've never seen a race like him." The hound said.
"My race is known as Humans, General Pepper. We aren't as advanced as Corneria, but we are incredibly similar." I said.
The general looked shocked. "H-he speaks Cornerian?" he asked Fox.
"My planet calls the language English, but yes, I do speak Cornerian." I said.
"Incredible." He said.
"We are just above the planet, General. We are requesting permission to land in a Dreadnaught size hangar." Fox said.
"Let me just process the request. It should only take a few seconds." The general said.
He started to push a few buttons that were in front of him. After about five seconds, he spoke. "There are 3 hangars available. You have access to land in hangar A-5." The general said.
"Thank you General. Kevin and I will see you at your office." Fox said.
General Pepper nodded at what Fox said and ROB cut the connection.
"The team has a house on Corneria. When we don't have any jobs we use the estate to live in. There is an extra room for you." Fox said.
"Good to hear." I said with a smile on my face.
In about five minutes, we reached the hangar. It was so big that Great Fox easily fit with about 70 feet on all sides still available.
We exited the bridge to get all of our stuff so we could head to the team estate. After we all packed our stuff, we exited the dreadnaught class ship and entered a long vehicle. It looked like a limo, just without wheels. The vehicle itself hovered about 4 feet off of the ground. I was amazed that they had hover cars.
The team entered the vehicle and took a seat in each of the many spots in the vehicle.
We started to move through the downtown area of Corneria. It was amazing. It was so much more different from Earths cities. The buildings were twice as big, they all had holographic signs, it was about just as busy as a city on Earth, and everyone looked so calm and peaceful.
Fox then looked over at me, "What do you think?" he asked.
"It's nothing like Earth." I said.
He smiled, "Well, the first few months for you are gonna be pretty hard for you." He said.
"Why is that?" I asked.
"Can you fight? Can you pilot an Arwing? Can you handle weaponry" he asked.
"Actually I know how to fire multiple types of weapons. I can handle a pistol, rifle, and even a .50 caliber rifle. I don't know what your snipers are like, but if they are lighter, I can handle it pretty well." I said.
Fox was a little surprised, "Okay, there are a few firing ranges here, we can go there for accuracy and handling. As for piloting, we can go to the academy; they have simulators that they would let us use. And fighting will be a living hell for you. If you want to survive in those situations, you're gonna need some hardcore training, and I know just the man to help me with it." He said.
I wasn't ready for the months of combat training, but the weapons and piloting training sounded fun.
After about 5 minutes, we reached the estate. Everyone except Fox and I left the vehicle. The driver then took us to the Cornerian Defense Force building.
Fox and I exited the vehicle and walked towards the building. There were some nearby people walking. One looked like a female, while the other seemed to be a male. They were whispering something. They were loud enough that I could hear them.
"Is that Fox McCloud?" the female asked.
"Yeah it is, but, what's that next to him?" the male said.
"I don't know." The female said.
I looked over in their direction. They looked as though they were scared. So, to show them that I was nice, I waved at them. It only seemed to get worse. I just shook my head and followed Fox into the building.
We walked in and saw a female deer behind the desk. Fox then walked up to her.
"I'm here to see General Pepper." He said.
"Do you have an appointment?" she asked as she was looking at the screen.
Her head then lifted and her eyes meet mine. She gasped at me.
"It's okay, he's friendly." Fox said in a jokingly manner.
"I'm not a pet, Fox." I said back.
The receptionist was overwhelmed. She was talking to Fox McCloud, and a being that speaks their language yet looks nothing like them.
"U-uhm, yes the general will see you now." She said in a stutter.
"Thank you for not freaking out, ma'am." I said to her.
She was so shocked that her mouth dropped and she started to shake a little.
Fox and I then walked into an elevator that took us to the floor in which the Generals office was.
When the elevator reached the correct floor, a voice came to the speaker and said 'floor 35'.
Fox and I walked out and into a short hallway. At the end was a door that said 'General Pepper'.
We knocked on the door.
"Come in." a voice said.
We entered and saw General Pepper sitting behind a desk. "Good to see you Fox." He said
"It's good to see you to General." Fox said back.
"So, you're the new addition to the Star Fox team, eh?" the general said to me.
"Yes, my name is Kevin Michelson. Fox crashed in my yard and I pulled him from the Arwing." I said.
"Do you mind if I ask a few questions?" he asked.
"Not at all" I replied.
"Good, you two may take a seat right there." He said as he pointed to two chairs on the other side of his desk.
I quickly took a glance at his office. It was a good size for an office. It had a round shape to it. On the walls were pictures of each Commander before Pepper. Each looked as though they were amazing leaders.
"Okay, first of all, how do you speak Cornerian?" Pepper asked.
"Have you heard of the alternate reality theory?" I asked back.
He then made a shocked face. He already knew where I was going with that statement. "Are you saying that your race is the alternate of ours?" he asked.
"Exactly" I replied.
"His planet even looks like Corneria. Only his cities are much smaller and there seems to be more land." Fox said.
"Incredible." The general said. "Well, most of my questions have been answered. Now I want to ask a random question." He said.
"Fire away." I replied.
"Has your race seen another life form that isn't…" he said.
"Human" I finished for him. "And no, my race has never made contact with another race. This is really nerve racking for me, especially the fact that we are alternates." I said.
"Well, you will quickly get used to it. I'm sure Corneria will welcome you." He said.
I laughed a little after remembering what the people outside said and how the receptionist reacted.
"I think that will be a little harder to do." I said.
"Well, I wish you the best of luck on the team." The general said to me.
Fox then spoke up, "So General, I was wondering if you could ask the academy if Kevin and I could have access to the simulators. I need to start training him right away." He said.
"Of course, I'll contact you when they give me an answer." The general said to Fox.
After that we stood up, shook hand with the General, and left the office. We then headed back down to the first floor. When the elevator door opened up, the receptionist looked at me with a funny look. I just ignored her.
When we walked outside, Fox and I were met with the most unpleasant sight. The two people that were whispering about me must have called every journalist in the city. We were immediately slammed with questions.
"McCloud, who is this new alien that is with you?" one reporter asked.
"Is this a new addition to your team?" another asked.
The questions just kept coming. Fox and I started to try to get through to the car and attempt to get away from the crowd. Then I decided that enough was enough.
"Listen" I shouted. "To shut everyone up, I am a new member of the Star Fox team. I am a Human being of the planet Earth. Now, get out of our way!" I said.
The crowd then grew silent. I heard one whisper 'he speaks Cornerian'. At the same time, they moved and Fox and I were able to get to the car. We then took off towards the team estate.
When we arrived, Fox and I walked in the front door and saw the Holodisplay on the news channel. It was a report about Star Fox.
"Breaking news; Star Fox has another member? It has come up saying that this being, seen here with the team leader, Fox McCloud, is the new member of the Star Fox team. Amazingly, the being spoke to our cameras as he was exiting the Cornerian Defense Force building. Here is the footage." The reporter said.
The footage of me shouting at the crowd then played. "Amazingly, this 'human' speaks Cornerian and he claims that he is a new member of Star Fox. We have reached out to the team for a response, but have yet to get anything back." The reporter said.
Falco then spoke up, "Wow, you cause a lot of controversy." He said.
"Yeah I do." I replied.
"Don't worry, you'll get used to it." Fox told me.
Fox then exited the room. "Oh, your room is on the top floor. It's the last one on the right." Fox said.
I then walked up to the top floor and entered my room. It was huge and bright. It had a light brown paint that allowed light to be reflected easily. The room had a large bed against the back wall with a night stand on the right side. The opposite wall had a dresser with a holo projector on top of it. In the center of the room was a long soft stool. The bathroom that was connected had a large tub and shower. And the room also came with a walk in closet that was accessible through the bathroom.
I was amazed at the room. I started to put my stuff away immediately.
After I finished unpacking, I heard a knock on my door. I opened it and saw Krystal on the other side.
"You ready to go?" she asked.
"Go?" I asked back.
"Yes, I'm taking you shopping, remember?" she said.
"Oh yeah, I forgot. Let me get my shoes." I said.
After I put my shoes on, we walked out to a regular sedan vehicle and took off to the mall.
When we got there Krystal told me about some great stores that would have perfect clothing for me.
When I entered the mall, people started looking at me. I just ignored them and continued walking behind Krystal.
"Let's try this store first." She said.
The store had some nice clothing. They were all much better looking than my cloths. I picked out about three outfits from the store. One was a long sleeve shirt that was dark blue and pair of jeans and a leather jacket. The other two were similar only with short sleeves and dark purple with an abstract design on both.
We then headed to another store. This one was focused on more design like clothing. I picked out two outfits here. One with a short sleeve black shirt and dark jeans with a funky design on the side, the other was a dark red shirt that had a small abstract design and a pair of dark blue jeans.
After I paid for the clothing, Krystal and I walked out of the mall.
"You picked some nice clothing." She said.
"Thank you, Krystal." I said.
"Let's head back to the house." She said.
We both then entered the car and drove back to the house.
When we arrived, I walked up to my room and put my clothing away. I decided to put on my dark purple shirt with dark jeans and leather jacket on. I then walked back downstairs and saw Fox standing at the door.
"Ah Kevin, I need to get you down to Space Dynamics. We have to get you fitted for a flight suit and armor." Fox said.
"Oh okay then, sounds interesting." I said.
Fox and I then walked back to the limo like vehicle. "Take us to Space Dynamics." He said to the robot driver.
The machine then started to drive in the direction of the Space Dynamics building.
"So, ready to pick out your armor?" Fox asked.
"I pick it?" I asked back.
"Yes, they have a lot of really neat designs." He said.
"Awesome." I said.
"We have arrived at Space Dynamics." The machine said.
Fox and I both walked out of the vehicle and into the building. We were met by a toad in the main lobby.
"Ah Fox, good to see you. I see you brought your new addition." The toad said.
"Yes, Mr. Beltino. This is Kevin; he is a human being from Earth." Fox said as he introduced me.
"Pleasure to meet you Mr. Toad." I said as I shook Beltino's hand.
"Nice to meet you too. Earth, eh? My team is actually researching the planet. We learned that you speak our language and that your animal life is our race, just much less advanced." He said.
"Exactly." I said.
"Is it a top secret investigation?" Fox asked.
"Yes, it is. We are actually about to declassify it since Kevin has made contact with the planet." Beltino said.
"Sorry about that." I said.
"No need to apologize. We were already going to declassify it. You coming was just a coincidence." He said.
"Oh good." I said.
"Now you two follow me. We have to scan Kevin's body for his suit and armor." Beltino said.
He led us into a room with what looked like a scanner of some kind.
"Now just step on the circle and let the machine scan your body." Beltino said.
I stepped on the circle and the machines immediately started to scan my body. It started to say my body mass, height, weight, and even my age.
"Okay, come back over here and pick out your design." Beltino said.
I walked over and saw the multiple designs. Each had a picture of me in them.
I looked through each design until I found one that appealed to me the most. It was a dark piece of armor. It had a black suit that went under the armor plates. The plates were dark blue. There was a large chest plate, knee plates, back plates, and leg plates. It somewhat resembled armor from one of my favorite games, Halo Reach.
"That one." I said.
"Okay then. We will immediately start making it." Beltino said.
"Why did you have to scan me?" I asked.
"We scanned you so that we can make the armor easy for you to move in. Your armor is custom fit so that it does a great amount of protection yet is incredibly light." Beltino explained.
"Wow. It does the same protection?" I asked.
"Yes, just lighter for you." He said.
"Yep, my armor is so easy for me to move in." Fox said.
"Now I need you to choose a flight suit design." Beltino said.
I chose a white suit. The suit looked just like Falco's, but in white.
"Nice design." Fox said.
"Okay, the armor and suit should be ready in about a day." Beltino said.
"Awesome, I'll be here tomorrow then." I said.
"Good. I'll see you then." Beltino said.
Fox and I then walked back to the car. Everyone continued to give me weird looks.
I was okay with it until one finally spoke up to me.
"You don't belong here." He said to me.
I stopped in my tracks. "What did you just say to me?" I asked.
"You heard me." The hound said to me.
I walked over to the man. "I don't appreciate that at all, punk." I said to him.
Fox then came over, "Is there a problem?" he asked.
The man then spoke, "Your friend doesn't belong here." He said.
"Excuse me?" Fox said.
"Yeah, he isn't right." The man said. "Go home kid." He said to me.
I then punched the man in the snout. He fell down on his back and yelled at me.
"That was a mistake kid." He said.
He then started to charge at me. Fox then stepped in front of me and beat down the attacker.
The man soon ran away quickly.
Fox and I then walked away and back into the car. "Take us back to the estate."
We then headed back to the team estate. "Hey thanks for that." I said to Fox.
"It's nothing." He said.
When we arrived back at the estate, I walked up to my room. It was already 9:00 p.m.
I went to change and went to bed. I knew that tomorrow would be even busier.
To Be Continued…
HOLY CRAP! This one was long…. I hope you guys like it…. Also Halo belongs to Bungie (or 343, whichever) anyway…. Until next time…