Something Blue

The Other Life

A Star Fox Adventures Fanfic

By Vikky Cutter

10: The Big Lie

The lights of Corneria City had never looked so uninviting before. They glittered under the clouds, giving them a soft glow as they swirled around the tall buildings and warning lights. The space port stood out as a mix of darkness outlined by light, the beacons guiding the two fighters in for a landing.

Lisitza starred out at them, hardly seeing them all as she swung her ship around, her altitude dropping a little too fast. She tried to keep her mind in the world around her, but it kept drifting away. Her world had been out of focus in the last three days, almost like it was on pause, waiting for her to return home.

The ship swung around the docking port, a bit lower than she should have been, but she really didn't care. She just wanted to get back on the ground and into her bed where she could curl up and try to work out what she was going to do.

Water on the landing slip flared up around her fighter as she made a hard landing on the pad. The craft creaked loudly for a moment then bounced on the landing gear as it settled into place. She slapped her hands over the controls, killing the engine and shutting everything down in only a few moments. She had her canopy open before Falco had made contact with the ground.

Lisitza stood up in her fighter, watching the other ship swing around and land, water spraying over her face and flight suit. As soon as he was in place she jumped down from the ship and started back towards _The Great Fox_.

"Where are you going?" Falco asked, hurrying to open his canopy. He had to yell to over his slowing engines.

"Back to the ship. I want to check how the repairs are going," she replied. She looked down as she spoke, her tail dropping to the ground. The words were heavy on her shoulders.

"Fine, I'll do your post-flight as well."

She snorted and continued on towards the warm glow of the open docking bay doors. She was almost to them when a new voice broke in. "Ms. McCloud?"

The vixen came to a stop, her tail flicking in annoyance as her ears twisted around. Slowly she turned back and found herself face to face with a small floating camera and a raccoon woman dressed in a business suit. Hanging around her neck was the overly familiar tag of the media.

"How did you get here? This is a private slip," she snapped.

"I'm Mavis Furst with System Group News. I was given authorization by Army Media Relations, and that wasn't easy to get. I would like to talk to you," she said, stepping a few paces closer, the camera following her.

Lisitza snorted. "I'm not in the mood to talk with anyone Ms. Furst."

The raccoon shook her head. "Your husband died saving this system, you should at least say a few words. People need to know what you think."

"What I think? I think a great pilot is dead, and in six months no one will care how or why."

"Why didn't he tell anyone about you? No one even knew you were married to him until he died."

She clenched her jaw and glared at the reporter. "Get yourself and your nanny-cam off my docking slip," she snapped, then turned around and stomped her way towards the ship, water splashing with each step. The damn reporters were there every time she stopped Andros, or took down some minor invasion. It was always too deep, too annoying, and always in the way.

After stepping into the docking bay, she turned round and looked back at the raccoon, the light framing her body. "You want to know why we kept it a secret? He was embarrassed. Embarrassed that he fell for a woman who couldn't fly a desk let alone a fighter, and I was happy to agree with him. I didn't need anyone digging up dead adopted parents or trying to find my dead real parents. He kept me away, training me to be his equal behind the controls. Coming here was supposed to be the big coming out party, but instead our ship is damaged and he is dead."

The reporter looked at her for a few moments, the look of surprise lasting only a second before her composure returned. "I would like an exclusive interview."

"You can go to hell," she replied, then turned her back on the reporter, walking through the docking bay.

She was pleased to see that the lights were on inside the ship. Some access panels had been replaced while others had been removed. New and old parts were littered around the hallway, each one carefully marked in Slippy's scrawling hand.

The gull neck had undergone the biggest changes. Most of the floor was gone, leaving a narrow walk way on one side. The main support of the space frame was visible, and patched in quite a few places. There were marks on other parts of the beam, indicating more patch work that needed to be done. All of the breaker panels had been replaced with new equipment. Some of them were still open, with some of the wiring yet to be replaced, but they were fitted perfectly.

Voices came down from the bridge, so she bypassed her room and headed towards the conversation. She wanted to know the status of her ship before she went to bed.

Peppy was at the communication console, which was the only one in one piece. Wiring littered the floor, with parts and boards everywhere. Her chair was overflowing with boxes waiting to be unpacked.

"Not your most stellar landing, Lisitza," the seventy year old rabbit said with a small smirk.

"It's been a bad couple months," she replied, walking over to the console.

"So it has. We've been getting messages non-stop since the fight at the black hole; either condolences, or people wanting to talk with you."

"I'm not givng any interviews," she said, turning away and walking over to the jukebox. The lights were off and the top most record was cracked in two.

"Any job offers? We could use a few more jobs," she asked.

"Not one, but we did get the payment from Byron Scientific. Nearly a third larger than I was expecting."

Lisitza shrugged a bit, her tail flicking along her legs. "Had some trouble with raiders, but nothing we couldn't take care off. I guess they appreciated the service."

"Happy clients talk. Let's hope she talks a lot."

"Yes, let's hope so. I'll check the job listings tomorrow; maybe we can find something else we can do. Maybe without Falco; I don't need him hot dogging."

"You're the one who took a missile in the face," the falcon said from the door to the bridge. "The ships are tied down and being refilled. Slippy is down there talking to the reporter."

The vixen let out a long sigh and walked over to the windows. On the landing slip she could see the raccoon and the toad, partly washed out from the light in the bridge. "I hope he keeps his mouth shut."

"He will. He might not like who you currently are, but he won't give away your secret," Peppy said.

She nodded and turned away from the window, looking back at her friends. They both looked a bit worried, though the hare hid it better.

"I'll have another job in the morning," she said, walking past them and pulling open the collar of her flight suit.

Peppy reached out and touched her arm. "You can't do that. General Pepper wants to talk to you first thing in the morning. The news is all over us and the Secretary of the Army wants to present you with a medal for Fox's sacrifice."

"If we can't get another job, it won't matter how many medals they give me. We'll be out of business."

The hare slowly shook his head, his ears flopping around. "Pepper came through with the money. We'll have all the repairs done in another two weeks, maybe less. Slippy has been working around the clock to make sure we'll make it back into the air."

She paused, biting her lip as she looked at her old friend. "So, we'll be fine?"

He nodded his head.

Lisitza took in a deep breath and folded her arms behind her back, the top of her flight suit slumping around her shoulders. "Fine, I'll be in the quarters, but I'm still going to look for a new job. If I can't build a new reputation it won't matter how well the ship flies."

Dropping his hand away her old friend smiled. "One thing at a time. One thing at a time," he said.

She smiled a little bit and walked out of the bridge, towards her quarters. As she reached the door she saw Slippy coming up the stairs.

The vixen paused and waited for her friend to reach her, but he just started to turn away. "Slippy," she called.

"What is it?" he asked as he turned back around.

"You've done a fantastic job with the ship, this has gone faster than I had any right to expect. Thank you."

The toad gave her a curious look, his hands resting on his hips and a hint of a smile fluttering over his face. It didn't last more than a single moment. "It's my job."

Lisitza nodded her head. "And you're damn good at it. I wouldn't hesitate to say you're the best."

"Yep, the best. Button up your suit, it makes you look like a slut," he added, then turned and walked back down the stairs.

To Be Continued...

This story is copyright 2009 by Victoria-Ann Cutter, hardcopy reprints limited to one a person, all other rights reserved. This story may not be distributed for a fee except by permission of the author, and this copyright notice may not be removed. _Star Fox_ and _Star Fox Adventures_ and all related characters and settings are owned by Nintendo and are used without permission.