Jeffrey shut the door behind him, silencing the crowd of reporters and let out a sigh. He took a moment to compose himself. It wasn't like he expected being president to be easy, but he'd be lying to himself if he thought he'd have to deal with something like this so soon. He turned to see both Peppy and Pepper talking with some higher ranked military personnel and made his way over.
"General Hare," he said, waiting for Peppy to dismiss everyone save for Pepper until he spoke. "I know you wanted to deal with this issue yourself, but that's out of your hands now. I want to know how you plan on dealing with Amanda and Slippy Toad."
Peppy shook his head. "I've got teams preparing for the mission now, in a few hours I'll have Aquas under complete lockdown." He scoffed. "I had hoped to settle this quietly."
"You mean, you wanted to let your old team settle this?" Jeffrey glared at Peppy. "I publicly defended you and Star Fox because of your past actions on behalf of Corneria and Lylat. At the very least they deserve every bit of praise they've earned. But the media wants blood General, and this time Pepper can't help you keep all this quiet. I suspect when I get back to my office I'll have thousands of messages, and countless meetings after that." Jeffrey smirked and placed a hand on Peppy's shoulder. "I've got faith that you two will deal with this, just know you've got my full support. Although I do what to be kept in the loop from now on, that includes your old teammates in Star Fox."
"Of course, Mr. President." Peppy saluted Jeffrey as he left, and turned to Pepper. "We need to get in contact with Star Fox."
Pepper nodded. "Before that, we should get Beltino back to the CDF HQ. If Amanda and Slippy hacked into our systems, then we'll need his expertise."
Peppy sighed. "Beltino hasn't so much as spoken to anyone other than Fox in the last year. But you're right, we need him. Besides, he has to face the reality we all did. Slippy isn't the same person we once knew." Peppy rubbed his jaw, mulling over his options. "He can't officially refuse an order from me since the CDF still has him on as a consultant, but I feel like it's a slight abuse of power dragging him back here."
"We simply don't have a choice anymore," Pepper said firmly. "I'll go get him myself if you want."
"It would do him good seeing an old friend." Peppy smiled, Beltino had been in seclusion for far too long. "Take my flagship, I'll get in contact with Star Fox once I'm back at HQ."
"Wilco, I'll see you in a few hours."
Pezal breathed heavily, one hand gently cradling his head. Around him, a few other survivors of Amanda's assault. He watched as two guards carried a body away, dreading how he had outlived more Cornerian soldiers. Was this really the work of Amanda Toad? How did one of Aquas' own turn so violently against her home planet? Pezal had refused to believe what the CDF had said about Amanda and Slippy, but now he found himself facing the harsh truth.
Amanda and Slippy had defected.
"Take our guests to the lab," Amanda ordered, causing Pezal to glare up at her. "But leave him, we might need to enforce our standing with Corneria."
A few of her soldier roughly grabbed the frightened lab techs and scientists, leading them towards the main laboratory. Pezal was pulled to his feet by another guard and pushed towards Amanda. "I can walk just fine on my own."
"Now, now. We wouldn't want you to get hurt again Doctor Atham." Amanda chuckled, sitting down at the same comm station she had used to address Corneria earlier.
"Clearly I am of some use to you, or else I'd be dead right now." Pezal said, ripping off a sleeve of his lab coat to make a makeshift bandage for his head. "Obviously it was nothing in my mind, otherwise you wouldn't have risked giving me a concussion."
"You always were perceptive. You and Beltino, always lost in your research." Amanda shook her head. "I'll bet both of you never saw this coming."
"I can't speak for Bel, but I never believed you or Slippy would sink this low." Pezal spat, instantly feeling a blaster at the back of his head.
"Easy," Amanda barked at the guard. After a moment the guard stood down, but kept his hand on his weapon. "You see it as us sinking to a criminal level, but we see it as an uprising. This has been a long time in planning, and we've only gotten started."
"How could you let yourself become so corrupted?" Pezal asked.
Amanda smirked at Pezal and began to laugh. The laugh grew maniacal as her smirk twisted into a grin. "Are you sure you want to know?"
"I helped train you. I chose you out of a list of two hundred applicants to study directly under my supervision. You were my protege, and one of the most gifted minds I had the pleasure of working with. When you left to work with Slippy on Corneria, I knew that you'd be on par with his intelligence. I want to know where I went wrong. Why I wasn't able to see this coming?" Pezal winced as he tightened the sleeve around his head and stared hard at Amanda.
Amanda kept her twisted smile as she thought about Pezal's question. "Well, I suppose you it wouldn't hurt telling you. It's not like i'll let you contact anyone on Corneria."
"All I want is to understand why Amanda, I'll be at peace with myself after that."
"Raji, "Amanda stated simply. "He's who we have been working with." The pink toad went silent, wonderīng why it was so easy to tell Pezal the name of her associate. Shouldnt she have withheld that?
"Raji helped Andross during the Lylat Wars," Pezal shook his head. "Why would you align yourself with someone willing to help an evil scientist? Andross nearly destroyed Lylat!"
"Raji isn't the same as Andross!" Amanda snapped. "The only thing those two had in common was seeing a new Lylat. A peaceful Lylat, and sometimes you have to take the fight to the people in charge in order for everyone to see their true colors."
"The CDF's true colors? Or Andross? Maybe even Raji's? You know people are entitled to their opinions, and regardless of what you say Lylat is better for not losing the war against Andross!" Pezal felt confidence growing in every word he said, hoping to get his point across.
Amanda barely batted an eye. "Are you so sure? The CDF controls the media, the Cornerian government's public reputation is shattered. And let's not forget that Pepper constructed a civil war in order to get Star Fox out of Beriul's grasp. Could you imagine if we took that control away from them? Just let the media tell both sides of the story?" Amanda chuckled to herself, imagining the chaos. "You're right about one thing Doctor Atham, Lylat is better off without Andross. But Corneria is far from the shining gem of the Lylat system."
"So you think bringing war back to Corneria will somehow give it back some luster?" Pezal sighed. "Tell me this, does Raji have a plan in case this all backfires? In case your media schemes don't work?"
"Theres no way it wont work. Raji has considered every aspect of this mission, even down to the people involved. I have my own part to play, so does Slippy. Even those that would go against us have been calculated, we're prepared for literally any situation. Not even Star Fox can stop us." Amanda turned away from Pezal, watching her small group of soldiers pushing the last scientist down the hallway to the lab.
"How'd you convince Slippy to do this?"
Amanda smirked, and glanced over her shoulder at Pezal. "I offered him more support than Star Fox or Corneria ever gave him. With Raji's help, he's been designing something the CDF isn't prepared for. I only wish I could see the look on General Hare's face when he realises what's been unleashed on his precious defense force."
Pezal's face fell. He could only assume what Amanda or Raji did to get Slippy on their side. He looked up at his old protege once more, wishing he could have saved her from this dark path. With a grunt of exertion, he stood up, causing the guards to put their blasters to his back. "They'll stop you, you know that right?"
Amanda didn't look back. "They will try."
"Come on Pepper, stop ignoring me." Jackie muttered as she walked towards the bridge. She had spotted several rumors coming from Corneria, and from what she could gather none of them were good. "Damn it." She attempted her call again, nearly running into Tyronos.
The gray vulpine tsked before clearing his throat. "Jackie."
"Not now Hopeless." Jackie replied and tried to get passed Tyronos who stepped in front of her. With a sigh she looked up at him. "What?"
Tyronos smirked and showed her the datacore Ghost had given him. "I want to make one thing perfectly clear with you. I don't enjoy people digging into my past. As it would turn out, you've been quite interested to find out exactly who I am."
Jackie took a step back and growled. "I only wanted to make sure you wouldn't jeopardize the mission."
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Tyronos replied flatly. "Seriously, what harm could I do compared to someone like you?" He tapped the datacore with finger before putting it back in his pocket. "Ghost happens to look out for me, and she dug up everything. I know more about you than Pepper does now. Now, you're helping out the team and for that I won't give this to Fox. But you try something like this again and I will make sure everyone on board knows exactly who you are."
"And if you fuck up again like you did on Aquas? Should I just let you kill your team-mates?" Jackie narrowed her eyes, hoping her tone matched Tyronos'.
Tyronos' face fell, but he never stopped looking at Jackie. "If you don't give me a reason, I'll keep this to myself."
Jackie bit her tongue, resisting the urge to lash out at the vulpine. "Fine." she muttered, walking passed Tyronos and into the bridge.
Tyronos took a deep breath before following Jackie. He glanced over at Falco and Katt who were having a hushed conversation before looking around for Fox and Krystal. "Where are the McClouds?"
"Late as per usual," Falco chuckled. "Call us all here in a hurry and they just waltz in when they want."
Tyronos smirked and looked behind him as the door to the bridge opened, revealing both Fox and Krystal. "Alright, hold on. We're all on the bridge now. Rob put Peppy up on the main screen."
"Affirmative."
Peppy's face carried obvious stress as he appeared before the team. "Go ahead Peppy."
"Fox, what's your location?" Peppy asked.
"We're en route to Zoness, we left Aquas a few hours ago. Why?" Fox replied. Peppy didn't respond but simply shook his head and closed his eyes.
"Peppy, what is it?" Krystal asked gently.
"I simply can't believe your team let this happen. How could you have let this happen? You were so close and you just left?" Peppy's tone grew louder with anger, he looked at each team member in turn. "Have you even taken the time to see what the CDF is doing while you're on your damn mission?"
"Whoa, calm down Pep," Falco said sitting up in his chair.
"No Falco, I will not calm down. And since it's obvious you guys haven't seen or heard this then I'll give you a heads up. Amanda is on Aquas!" Peppy shouted. The old hare took a few deep breaths before he continued. "Approximately three hours ago, Amanda interrupted a press conference where we were officially changing the Toad's wanted level."
"Which I might add, you failed to even tell us about." Fox spat.
"Be that as it may," Peppy looked at Fox directly. "Your team was recently there. Had you stayed a bit longer this whole thing could have been over by now."
"That's not exactly a fair statement Peppy." Katt said causing the room to look over at her. "How do we even know she'd land if she saw the Great Fox on her scanners? You can't just accuse us of avoiding the whole fucking reason we're searching Lylat for."
Peppy sighed and rubbed his temples. "Look, I apologize for snapping at you guys. But the CDF just got made an example of. And if it wasn't for President Sampson containing what happened the media would already have Corneria in an uproar."
"That'll be along soon enough I suspect. Unless you're ready to pay to keep those reporters silent." Tyronos shrugged as Peppy looked at him. "You know damn well Sampson can only hold off those damn cronies for so long. And it'll look even worse the longer he waits."
"I'm sure Sampson knows all too well about what the Freedom of Information Access is about." Peppy shot back before looking at Fox again. "How soon can you get back to Aquas? Because I'm sending a force there to assist in capturing Amanda."
"We can get back there in a matter of hours. But… what about Slippy? Has there been any confirmed sightings of him yet?" Fox asked.
"While we can't officially say he's with Amanda, we assume he's the one that hacked our networks. We won't know for sure until Beltino analyses the data." Peppy ran a hand through his hair and sighed again. "I don't want to force Beltino into this, but I'm out of options."
"When I visited him last he mentioned that no one would be capable of hacking the CDF network. I guess he didn't realise his own son would give it a shot." Fox growled in frustration, flinching when Krystal put a hand on his arm. "Damn it…"
"I'll give you updates when I can. Just head for Aquas, Peppy out." Peppy saluted before cutting the link.
"Well this is fucking great!" Falco scoffed. "We should have listened to that Lynx guy."
"We couldn't have known it was going to be that soon after we left Falco," Krystal kept her hand on Fox's arm, sensing her husband's growing doubts. "We had every reason to move on from Aquas."
"The data we got from the scientists was inconclusive. Other than those rogue scientists Aquas had nothing for us." Jackie said as she checked her wrist comm. "We should ask Peppy about them when he gives us another update."
"I'm pretty sure Krystal got all we'll get out of them," Tyronos looked over at Jackie. "Since she's a telepath and all."
"Lynx said that Ghost recommended that we stay near Aquas." Fox grumbled. "I should have listened to her advice. Damn it."
"It's not too late Fox," Katt said with a smirk. "We know where they are now. Even if they do try to escape, the CDF will have scans of their ship. Giving us something to track."
'If I could only stop assuming the worst from people, we might have already finished this mission. Maybe...' Fox shook his head and placed his hand on Krystal's. "Maybe we should contact Ghost again."
"If you're sure, I can send her a message." Tyronos offered.
Fox glanced over at the vulpine. "First things first, Rob get us turned around and back to Aquas."
"Affirmative, adjusting course. ETA, approximately two hours." Rob announced.
"We'd better get ready for a fight, that'll give Fox some time to figure out our next move." Jackie glared at Tyronos before leaving the bridge, checking her wrist comm once more before the doors closed behind her.
"What's up her ass?" Falco asked. Tyronos shrugged and pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger.
"She's right, I'll take some time to think this over. The rest of you had best get ready, we don't know what we're going to face on Aquas this time round." Fox waited until the team had left, but held onto Krystal's hand as she pulled away.
The vixen smiled at her husband, and waited for the door to shut behind Falco before speaking. "What's up?"
"I just wanted to apologize for what happened on Aquas." Fox turned grabbing her hand in his. "I've had such a hard time trusting people, and I've been forcing all my doubts on you with our mind link. I want to fix this damned barrier in my head."
Krystal rested her on his shoulder. "You know I'd do anything to help you Fox. I know what I said was a bit harsh, but I knew it would force you to rethink the situation. We all want the same thing here, so maybe you can start by allowing yourself to trust your team again."
"I'll try." Fox whispered.
"Trust that I'll know if anything is worth you stressing about it, okay?" Krystal smirked as Fox pulled her into a hug, and wrapped her arms around the vulpine. "And remember, I completely understand why you're acting like you are, and that I'll be patient with you."
"I'm so lucky to have you. Thanks Krys." Fox smiled and kissed her forehead before breaking the hug. "C'mon, we've got to get ready."
Krystal smirked as Fox lead her towards the armory. Sensing that Fox had already made up his mind about Ghost.
"You certainly retired to a nice spot." Pepper mused to himself as he walked toward the lavish home of Beltino Toad. The former head of Research and Development for the CDF had spared no expense in the design and location of his little slice of paradise. A three story retreat from the world, close enough to anything he'd need, yet far away from the politics and other stresses of Corneria. Part of the old hound was jealous of his friend for being able to actually get out of the spotlight. Something he'd never be able to part with - not for a lack of trying. Things had changed drastically for Pepper once the aparoids attempted to assimilate him. He left the CDF only to focus more on his own security team, a unit focused on keeping Lylat save from itself. It was how he was able to help Star Fox beat Beriul, and how he was going to help them capture Slippy and Amanda.
He smirked as a hand scanner appeared before him as he reached the gate to Beltino's home. "And here I thought you'd have the ID scanner set up out here." He placed his hand on the scanner and waited for the gate to open. A loud buzz rang out as the gate opened automatically.
It was a short walk to the front door, the smell of freshly cut grass was rich on the air. Pepper sighed, the smell was almost foreign to him now, as most of downtown Corneria was covered in the greys of asphalt, and metal. The sound of the door opening caused Pepper to snap his head forward, finally seeing his old friend. The amphibian looked like his age had finally caught up to him, but his eyes still held some of his youthful energy. "Pepper."
"Beltino," Pepper replied with a warm smile. "It's been awhile, do you mind if I come in? I've got some news for you."
Beltino looked down at the ground and sighed. "I could hazard a guess as to what you've come to tell me, but please, come in. I haven't had much in the ways of conversation in a while."
"Not since you finished the redesigns on the Great Fox I'll suspect." Pepper chuckled lightly before walking inside. The decor reminded him of his own house. A mixture of old and new styles blended with more of a technological feel than he'd imagine.
"The den is just ahead of you, would you care for anything to drink? Water, or perhaps something stronger?" Beltino asked as he made his way to the kitchen.
"I doubt I'll be here long enough to properly enjoy a stiff drink." Pepper replied before he sat down on one of the sofas. "I have to say though, this room is cleaner than your old office ever was back in the day."
"One of the many uses of all these rooms. Besides, this is the only one I try to keep clean." Beltino sat across from Pepper in his reclining chair. "Now, what brings you by Pepper? I can only assume it's CDF business based on what you arrived in."
"Peppy insisted I take his flagship."
"Like I said I can guess why you're here. My only question is, which one of my theories is right?" Beltino asked, sipping at his tea.
"Have you watched the news recently?" Beltino shook his head. "Amanda broke her year long silence."
"And Slippy?" The toad asked after a few moments of silence.
"We assume he's with her." Pepper replied quickly.
Beltino took another sip of his tea before setting the cup down on a nearby side table. "I'll assume your normal media tactics are in play, yes?"
Pepper growled. "Despite what I've done in the past, this current hush is being enforced by President Sampson. Not that I can blame him. You understand the gravity of what's happened, don't you? One of the persons directly involved in Beriul's shit show, who happens to be your son's wife has taken Aquas hostage! A direct act of war against Corneria and Lylat. I should think that Sampson is trying to save your name before they drag it through the mud."
Beltino glared at the old hound. "I know exactly what Slippy's actions have done to our name. That doesn't change the fact that he's still my son."
"I wish that would justify your anger at me Beltino, I really do," Pepper leaned forward slightly. "But the only way to save him now is to bring him in. Maybe we can get him the help he needs, but we'll need your help for that."
Beltino took off his glasses and cleaned them. "Since I'm on as a consultant, I can't official refuse Peppy's request for help. So I guess I don't have much in the way of bargaining chips."
"It wouldn't look great if you refused." Pepper offered, and stood to leave.
"I want to be there," Beltino looked up at Pepper, no longer glaring, but still just as stern. "When they bring Slippy in. That's the only way I'll do this."
"Beltino, I can't-"
"Take it or leave it, Erwin." Beltino fought a smirk as Pepper nearly lost his footing. No one called the ex-general by his first name, not unless things were serious. In all his years of service, Beltino had only needed to use it once before. The intention was not lost on him and Pepper sighed in defeat.
"I can't promise you anything, since it isn't my decision to make."
"Well let's go talk to the person who can." Beltino quickly stood. "I'll be a moment while I grab my kit."
"We'll be waiting outside." Pepper waited until Beltino left the room before he walked outside. He smirked as he saw the flagship, remembering how the toad had found out what his first name was. "One of the few guys aside from James and Peppy that had met my father."
Falco stretched his arms over his head as he rested on his bed. Sure, Fox had told the team to get ready, but Falco was anything but unprepared. He closed his eyes, imagining the fights to come. Slippy was one of the reasons Star Fox was so efficient. How could they face not only Slippy but his equally as intelligent wife and have an advantage? Not to mention whatever backup they could have. He pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. If the battle stayed in the air the team wouldn't have much of an issue since Slippy and Amanda both weren't exactly ace pilots. But the unknowns surrounding the Toads poised a huge risk.
"You look like you've been thinking too much." Katt giggled as she sat on the bed at Falco's feet.
The avian scoffed and glanced at his fiancee. "You always know what to say."
The pink feline grinned. "One of us always has something smart to say. I'm almost convinced that was one of the bases of our relationship."
"Before or after we started going steady?" Falco matched her grin before sitting up beside Katt.
"I'm pretty sure it's been constant." Katt leaned against Falco, letting him wrap an arm around her. "But seriously, you got something on your mind?"
"Just trying to figure out the best way to tackle the battle we're heading towards." The avian looked out the window in their room, letting his mind wander again.
"Best thing we can do is keep positive. We know we can handle anything as a team, that's how we're going to deal with whatever happens on Aquas." Katt rested her hand on his, squeezing it gently.
Falco smiled. "Wouldn't be the first time we've dove head first into battle. Likely won't be the last either."
Katt leaned in and kissed her fiance. "I haven't been on Star Fox long enough to think of it as the last battle."
Falco went to speak, but was interrupted by a knock at the door. They shared a quick look before Falco stood up and opened the door. "Oh, hey Blue."
Krystal smiled at Falco. "Hey yourself. Would you mind terribly if I borrowed Katt for a bit? We haven't really gotten the chance to catch up since Fox and I got back from Sauria."
Falco shrugged. "Sure, just have her back before ten. That's her curfew."
"Falco you goof." Katt groaned and pushed him out of their room. "I think you should find Fox, see if he's got any ideas to prepare us for Aquas."
Falco gave her a mock salute before disappearing down the hallway. Krystal quickly made her way into Falco and Katt's room, sitting down on the bed beside her friend. "So, let me get this out of the way first off, I heard about how you guys didn't get into the hotel like Fox had planned. I'm sorry we couldn't get Peppy to follow through on his end of the bargain."
"Oh please, it wasn't nearly as bad as Falco makes it out to be. Sure we pretty much lived in a cardboard box, but it was only for three months." Katt laughed. "Although I admit, it did get a bit boring after a while."
"Still, if we'd known I'm sure we would have gotten a hold of someone. You guys deserved the best after what we went through." Krystal's face fell.
"Hey now, don't beat yourself up! You had your honeymoon!" Katt pulled Krystal into a hug. "You guys should have only had each other on your minds."
Krystal beamed. "Don't you worry, those months all we thought about was each other."
Katt laughed. "You'll have to fill me in, but maybe after we've dealt with the situation on Aquas."
Krystal chuckled, sensing Katt's thoughts. "Alright, I'll hold out for now. But there is something that I would like to get off my chest, and I know you're the best person to talk to."
"Other than your husband of course," Katt said with a grin. "I know I said this before you guys left for Sauria, but I'm thrilled that you guys finally tied the knot. For a while I never thought you two would find the time to actually have a ceremony."
"There were times that we thought we'd have to do elope." Krystal smiled at the memory. "But yes, other than Fox you're the best person to talk with."
"What can I say, I've got a unique view on life." Katt cleared her throat and sat back further on the bed. "So, what's up?"
"Well… it's about Jackie," Krystal started. "I can't help but sense something off about her. I feel like she's hiding something from us. But unlike the rest of the team, I can't sense her thoughts."
"I thought you said you had a hard time sensing Tyronos's thoughts as well. Could it be something similar?" Katt ask, drawing her legs up to her chest.
Krystal sighed. "Tyronos is another thing altogether. Recently, I've been sensing nothing but stress from him. I just hope his medicine can keep him it under control."
Katt snickered. "It's a little weird to hear you call it medicine. But in the case of Jackie, I've worked with her before. She's solid, one of the best agents Pepper ever put me with. I know she's here to see this mission through, and that's all."
"With our mind link, I guess I'm picking up on Fox's suspicions." Krystal looked up at Katt as she sensed that there was something the feline wasn't telling her about Jackie. Without really trying, Krystal soon heard Katt thinking of a disc. "Umm, Katt?"
"Yes?" The pink feline replied after shaking her head.
"I think-" Krystal stopped, sensing how what she'd just heard was a secret Katt had promised to keep. "Nevermind, it's nothing." She offered Katt a weak smile before standing. "I'm going to go meditate, but we'll continue this talk soon, alright?"
"You know it! It's been too long since we've been able to chat." Katt smiled as Krystal left, and waited until the door closed to let out a sigh. "How long can I keep what Jackie did a secret?"
Amanda, why are you such a cool evil character?
Also, this chapter took forever...
Ghost is owned by ~Kazila, and Lynx is owned by AerithEnchidna4rt over on DA. Both are used with permission!
In a reply to:
Troygroomes - I agree, and we saw the start of Fox letting Krystal worry about who he should or shouldn't trust. Let's hope he continues to let her help him.
Kazila - OMG right? WTF Ty!? He's going to get someone killed if he unravels much more!
Jeff - Yeah, Ty's got me all concerned too! Also, Katt is a super nice person, I'm glad shes been the bridge between Jackie and the rest of Star Fox. (But can she keep what Jackie did a secret? *shrug* Lynx is a super fun character to work with, I'm glad that AerithEnchinda4rt let me use him in this story. How Lynx feels towards Fox and Krystal is based off of the character sheet I got from Aerith. Lastly, I can't get too far into the hint about Jackie, that'll have to be discovered later on in this story!
