Chapter 6

She had just arrived on the small Planet Kew a few minutes ago. She took in a deep breath of air as she made her way to the nearest hotel. She had planned the same thing as Fox; become an independent bounty hunter. She checked into the hotel and basically followed the same routine as Fox had, except get a different room number, be on Planet Katina, and not run into a robber on the way up. She decided to leave her past life behind and start a new one; just like Fox.

"So, you want to be a bounty hunter, eh?" The primate across the desk asked Fox McCloud.

"Yes. It would be nice if I could get the job as soon as possible," Fox responded.

The monkey nodded as he wrote more on the paper in front of him on the next desk as he said, "Very well, Mr. McCloud. If you can complete a task for us, you may work for us and be rewarded handsomely."

Fox just nodded and said, "So… What's my 'task'?"

The ape kept a semi-stern face and said, "Hold on a moment."

He left the room for a moment and came back a couple minutes later, answering, "Help us track down a thug named Thomas. He's a gun for hire that's been getting into a lot of trouble lately. He's attending a drug shipment tomorrow at an eastern city here called Yiisberg. Infiltrate him and bring him to us alive."

Fox nodded and said, "Thanks, Mr. What do I do about the other criminals?"

"That's up to you, but you don't need to bring 'em here. And please, the main requirement is that you get the guy alive here and stay alive yourself." He answered.

That night Fox was gathering some of the materials he knew he was going to need the next day. He gathered a blaster gun, three grenades, a couple of smoke bombs, a motion sensor bomb, and a mini-machine gun. As he finished up, he picked up a picture of Krystal from the times they had fought the Aparoids. He glared at it hard, trying not to be mesmerized by the olden times he had still savored. He looked away from the picture and muttered under his breath, "This is for you."

The next night, a bright-colored city lit up with flashy advertisements, posters, and street lights surrounded the atmosphere in Yiisberg. It was filled with plenty of pedestrians walking around for their own purposes, weather it'd be just to get a night's walk, go to a casino and gamble all night, or like the monkey had said, drug shipment. Fox blended right into the crowd with a black leather jacket he had picked up at the store, black shirt and pants and boots to match of course, and his father's sunglasses. He felt it would be best if he wore black to blend in the shadows on his mission. He had been given a picture of the smug, careless Thomas from the department he visited. It was his job to find out exactly where they were…

As soon as Fox approached a lean reptile telling jokes to another tall dog, he asked, "Have you seen this guy?"

At the same time he pulled out the picture and flashed it in front of the stranger. The reptile spun around to face Fox and his grin suddenly dropped when he saw the familiar face of Thomas (who was a tiger, by the way). He regained a little grin and replied, "Yah, I know that guy. We used to hang out at the pub on 337 Street."

"Do you know where he is tonight?" Fox asked.

The reptile winced his eyes for a moment, saying "A couple nights ago he told me, believe it or not. But then he just said that he couldn't see me again and just walked off. Let me think…"

Fox waited patiently for the guy to reply. "Oh yah! Some place called Hangar 21. It's two blocks away from the airport. You can't miss it!" He finally remembered.

Fox nodded and gratefully thanked the man and turned around to leave. The reptile spun around and grabbed Fox by the shoulder. Just as Fox thought he was turning on him, the reptile said, "By the way, my name's Max! Max Truman! Nice to meet ya!"

Fox forced a small smile and headed off past the intersection, finding a sign shortly up ahead that read, Juno's Pub →, Max's Casino ←, Airport ↑. Fox wondered if the Max he had just met was the owner of the casino. Ah well. He could always ask later if he remembered or even cared. He walked forward since the sign said the airport was up ahead. He could already see the huge monument of a building as his eyes darted around for a sign with Hangar 21 on it. Fox finally saw the sign a couple feet before the airport, Hangar 65 →, Hangar 21 ←. Fox went left and found the medium-sized structure with a rounded roof. He started to approach the door when he saw another sign, this time that read, Warning! This building is currently being occupied for a business meeting! Intruders will be prosecuted!

So they were covering up! Fox thought to himself after he read it. They must have devised a plan to block off the public from getting in. Fox knew that a direct approach would be too risky. He saw a nearby ladder and started to climb it immediately, wanting to get the job done as soon as possible. He realized the ladder stopped ½ up the building. He looked around for any other resources, until his eyes met a big stack of crates and boxes lined up against the right side of the building. He made a somewhat big, risky jump and felt the impact of his chest collide against the crates. He looked up and continued to climb up until he finally reached the top. Then he made a smaller jump onto the actual roof of the hangar and rolled once he made it to lessen the pain. He sincerely hoped he wasn't heard. Meanwhile, he could make out some voices coming from inside, being able to tell the words fast, out, go, truck. He guessed they meant they better get out soon with the drugs. He walked over to the ceiling entrance where a latch was. He pulled it very gently and saw the whole scheme down below as he pulled himself down from the roof and onto another large stack of boxes, giving himself cover behind some.

"I told you, we can't risk anyone finding out about this!" A man shouted while loading a couple more boxes into the back of the truck.

"Relax! Anyone that gets through that door, we bust 'em up!" Another assured him, gesturing at the front door.

The other reluctantly nodded as he resumed his work. Fox knew he had to act fast before they got away in the vehicles. He maneuvered and moved himself across the boxes as fast and quietly as he could, trying to get behind cover as he progressed. Soon he got to a position where he was behind a dog holding a sub-machine gun in his arms with a grin of satisfaction. Then he looked past a couple more guys and noticed Thomas, with a more worried than smug expression this time. Knowing the men were almost done, Fox grabbed the back of the dog's shoulders ahead of him and threw him as hard and far as he could sending him next to two other guys.

"What's the matter with you, Jim?" One of them exclaimed angrily at him.

"I swear it wasn't me! There's someone else here!" Jim tried to explain to him.

Without warning, all of a sudden the man next to Thomas started to rapidly fire his machine gun around the hangar, expecting some response. Fox had kept quiet and taken advantage of the noise to make his way to a different spot near Thomas's area. Jim shouted, "It came from over here! It just lifted me up and threw me across the floor!"

Three of them, including Jim, made their way to the original spot when they investigated and turned up with nothing.

A man punched Jim in the back, saying, "There ain't nobody else here! You just had one too many drinks at the pub! Face it."

Jim knew for a fact someone else was there, but decided not to argue against the other man. Just then, Fox threw his body forward and kicked into Thomas's back. All of the men spun around instinctively and found Fox with Thomas, Fox holding Thomas with his blaster at his temple.

"Don't move! Or he dies!" Fox bluffed.

He knew he couldn't kill him, otherwise the department would be after him and he wouldn't get the job. There was a moment where nobody would move. Just as Fox was about to make his way out, the men started to make their way towards the cars. They probably didn't really care about Thomas's life. Fox quickly pulled out the two smoke bombs and threw them hard against the ground, stirring up fog through the air. Fox made his way to one side of the group and started to take them out single-handedly. After he took out two on the left side, the last man threw Fox's body into the truck's side. Then he threw a hard punch forward as Fox ducked and the man's fist fell hard into the side of the truck. As he howled in pain, Fox performed an uppercut into the man's stomach, kneed him in the stomach, then finished by throwing him into a small stack of heavy, big boxes that toppled over him and sent him unconscious.

By that time the remaining three (including Thomas) had dashed into the truck since the smoke cleared up Fox jumped onto the back of the car and attached a sensor bomb to the back, and then made his way to the front by crawling alongside the truck. He pulled Thomas by the shirt through the window and threw him onto the painful streets and threw a grenade back at the motion sensor bomb as he jumped onto the road himself. There was a giant explosion as many of the bystanders observed in awe. As Thomas got up and started to make a dash for an exit (a building), Fox drew out his blaster and shot him squarely in his left leg. Thomas yelped in pain as he fell to the ground, causing many more of the audience to gasp at the spectacle. Fox walked up to the exhausted Thomas, who helplessly looked up at him. Fox smiled as he got the criminal to his feet and ran with him before the police arrived shortly after.