Chapter: 11
The Blizzard Storm
As the hangar was full of activity. We hear a familiar conversation of voices before he caught sight of Peppy Hare and his partner, Slippy Toad, who they appear from a corridor and move along an ice wall toward the Great Fox. Right now, they are already talking about some subject and Peppy was arguing with Slippy. "It is not my fault, you twerp. I merely commented that it was freezing in her chamber. But it's supposed to be freezing. I did not ask you to turn on the thermal heater. I don't know how we'll get all her things dried out... Ah. Here we are" said Peppy. The two pals stop at Fox Mcclouds's space freighter as Fox and Falco are still struggling with their central lifters. "Captain Mccloud, sir. Might I have a word with you?" asked Peppy.
"What is it?" asked Fox.
"Mistress Krystal has been trying to reach you on the communicator, but either you have it turned off, or it is malfunctioning ... if it's damaged, Slippy, could fix it, if you like" said Peppy.
"I shut it off. What's her royal holiness want?" asked Fox.
"She is looking for Tyler, and assumed he would be here with you. No one seems to know..." said Peppy. Fox glances at the fading light at the entrance of the ice cave as night slowly begins to fall on the planet. Fox is now concerned about Tyler. "Tyler's not back yet? It's almost night out there!" said Fox being concerned. Then he jumps down off the lift. "Bolt it down, Falco..." said Fox. Then he yells "Deck Sergeant!". Then the deck sergeant and an aide rush up to Fox. "Yes sir!" said the deck sergeant.
"Sergeant, is Commander Rodriguez back yet?" asked Fox.
"I haven't seen him. He probably came in through the south entrance" said the deck sergeant.
"Probably isn't good enough, Sergeant. Check on it!" said Fox. The Deck Sergeant and his aide turn and rush off. "What's going on?" asked Slippy.
"I don't know, Slippy" said Peppy. Then he turns to Fox. "Fox, might I inquire what's going on?" asked Peppy.
"Go tell your precious Princess … Tyler is dead unless he shows up soon" said Fox.
"SAY WHAT?!" said Slippy hysterically.
"Oh no!" said Peppy.
The Deck Sergeant and several troopers inspect the mangled remains of three dead Tauntauns. Some of the hardware nearby has also been brutally pulled out of shape. Several surviving Tauntauns shuffle nervously nearby. Outside the light is slowly fading. "... I can't imagine, sir. Their necks are broken" said the trooper to the Deck Sergeant. The Deck Sergeant nods, then notices Fox running up and steps out of the group to meet him. "Commander Rodriguez hasn't come through the south entrance, sir. Maybe he slipped by without checking in" said the Deck Sergeant.
"Not likely! Where are the speeders?" asked Fox.
"We haven't got them adapted to this cold yet ..." said the Deck Sergeant.
"We'll have to go out on Tauntauns" said Fox.
"The temperature is dropping too fast" said the Deck Sergeant.
"You bet it is ... and Tyler's out in it" said Fox. He pushes through the troops and mounts a snow lizard as huge monster feet move into the shadows of one of the X wing bays. "The night storms will start before you can reach the first marker" said the Deck Sergeant.
"Then I'll see you in Hell" said Fox and rode off.
Meanwhile, the dark, evil probe robot moves across the frozen floor of the Fichina plain. The wind is beginning to pick up, and snow starts to cake on the front of the robot. It stops, hovers, then drops to the ground. Several probes emerge from its metal hull and a dome-shaped force field around the robot begins to glow. Eventually, the force field becomes a solid shape and is quickly covered with the blowing snow.
Fox continues to ride across the plain on his Tauntaun through the blistering blizzard. He reigns his mount to a stop, looks around and listens. It's almost as if he hears something. He turns and looks in one direction, then spurs his lizard in that direction. Then he rides off again. The wind is blowing quite strong now as Tyler struggles to stay upright, but a blast of freezing snow knocks him over. He struggles to get up, but can't. The young warrior from Titania drags himself a couple of feet and then collapses. "I can't ..." said Tyler weakly.
"You must. Tyler, look at me!" said Benny's voice. Tyler looks up and sees old Ben Liono standing not ten feet away. Tyler strains to lift himself up. He is speechless. "You must survive, Tyler" said Benny.
"I'm cold ... so cold ..." said Tyler weakly.
"You must go to the Aquas System... There you will learn from one who taught me: Pando, the Jedi Master" said Benny.
"Benny ... Benny ..." said Tyler weakly.
"Tyler... you are the only hope" said Benny. Then the image of Benny fades, revealing a lone rider on a Tauntaun in the windswept horizon. "Benny!?" said Tyler and drops into unconsciousness. Fox pulls up and leaps off his lizard. He goes to his snow-covered friend and cradles him in his arms. Fox's Tauntaun lets out a low, pitiful bellow. There is real fear in Fox's face as he shakes Tyler. "Come on, buddy, you aren't dead yet. Give me a sign here" said Fox. Tyler doesn't respond. Fox begins frantically rubbing Tyler's wounded face. Soon he is slapping him. "Don't do this, Tyler, it's not your time ..." said Fox as he slaps him. Tyler finally responds to a slap, and Fox is joyous. "All right! I knew you wouldn't leave me out here all alone!" said Fox joyously. He glances over toward his Tauntaun with concern as he starts to lift Tyler. "We've got to get you out of here before our transportation freezes" said Fox. He has carried Tyler almost to the lizard when the Tauntaun dies with a moan. Fox checks the lizard. "Blast! Deader than a Triton moon. We haven't got much time" said Fox. He grabs and ignites Tyler's lightsaber and cuts the beast from head to toe. He quickly shovels the steaming innards of the beast into the snow. Then he lifts Tyler's inert form and stuffs him inside the carcass. "I know this doesn't smell so good, Tyler, but it'll keep you from freezing. I'm sure this Tauntaun wouldn't hesitate if it were the other way around" said Fox. And that's when Fox gets an awful whiff of the insides. "Whew! It's just as well you're out, pal" said Fox. He starts pulling things out of a pack on the dead lizard's back. "Base one, do you copy? ..." said Fox into the com-link. But there is no response due to the storm. "This com-link is useless" muttered Fox. The wind has picked up considerably and Fox is beginning to find it difficult to move. He struggles with the shelter container, opens it and starts constructing it. "If I don't get this shelter up fast, Pigma Dengar won't need those bounty hunters" said Fox. A veil of icy snow then flows across the snow drift, obscuring the doomed warriors.
