Chapter 21: Growing Suspicions

Three days had passed since Star Fox's first mission. The news of their success spread like wildfire through the media. People on Cornaria were absolutely thrilled to hear that Star Fox was active again. Many news companies were working overtime to tell the whole world about the heroism of the pilots. Titles such as "Star Fox Reborn!" and "The Return of Corneria's Heroes!" plastered the newspapers all over the planet. Even though Corneria was not at war, the people were filled with a swelling sense of patriotic pride.

While the media praised the pilots for their victory against the pirates, the military looked at the success with a wide-range of mixed feelings. Some old veterans and a few rookies were pleased to hear of Star Fox's success, but many of the high ranking officers felt suspicious and jealous towards the pilot's. The military had given Star Fox their mission, however the program was law-enforcement, and the military had no jurisdiction over their actions. Many officers were angry not because Star Fox had performed poorly, but because they had performed far too well. In fact, they had performed so well that the military was wondering if they should keep a tighter leash around the program. Admiral Perry, a white-feathered avian who lead the second Cornarian fleet, was trying to explain these problems to Falco aboard the admirals flag-ship, The First Eclipse.

"This is unnegotiable Falco!" Admiral Perry yelled as he slammed one of his wings down on the table in front of him. Falco was sitting apart from him with his wings and legs crossed. The blue avian looked perpetually bored "Whether you like it or not, Star Fox is going to be absorbed into the military, no matter what!"

"Admiral," Falco began with a disinterested voice, "Star Fox is a mercenary program. We don't fall under any branch of military. However, I'm happy to go under contract again."

"Contract!?" Admiral Perry yelled, feeling incredibly insulted, "You can't be serious! Do you honestly think the military will just accept you under a contract!?"

"Is that a problem?" Falco said as he raised on his eyebrows

"Of course it's a problem!" Admiral Perry yelled, and then he closed his eyes and sighed as he put his wings behind his back in a more formal way and began pacing back and forth, "When we gave you this mission, your team was specifically instructed to wipe out the pirates who were blockading the planet."

"And my team carried that order out perfectly," Falco replied with a more frustrated voice as he rested one of his elbows on his knee.

"You are incorrect captain," the admiral fired back as he shot an accusative glance at Falco, but then he closed his eyes again and continued pacing, "Your team did far more than they were instructed."

"Okay, now just hold a minute admiral. My team did not break any boundaries or go against any rules. Our secondary objective was to cripple the ship so we could take prisoners."

"Yes, it was!" Admiral Perry yelled again as he starred daggers at Falco and pointed a wing at him, "You were instructed to either destroy or cripple the ship, not board the damn thing!"

Falco sighed softly as he closed his eyes. He laid back against his chair and crossed his wings while he rested one of his legs on his knee.

"Yes admiral, my team did indeed board the ship," Falco said with, once again, a bored voice, "I don't see how that compromises anything."

"Are you even taking this seriously!?" Admiral Perry yelled as he placed both of his hands on the table.

"Not if you don't give me a serious problem," Falco replied with a smile as he opened one of his eyes to stare at the admiral.

"Alright captain, I'll give you the problems," Admiral Perry said with a more quiet, yet very annoyed voice as if he was trying to conceal his rage, "You're crewmembers are all very young and very inexperienced. However, on their first mission, they manage to board a ship filled with a crew of eighty pirates and a captain who's been evading the Federation for years now. Your team consisted of only three pilots… yet they single-handedly took out eighty well-armed, dangerous criminals! You must be out of your mind if you think the military will just let rookies with that much power roam around without a leash!"

"Oh, I see what the problem is," Falco said as he closed his other eye again, "You're saying they're too strong for their own good, right?"

"Very good captain," the admiral replied with sarcasm as he gritted his teeth.

Falco chuckled softly.

"Don't be ridiculous admiral," Falco replied, "They're not the only Lylats in the system who have the ability to do stuff like that. In fact, I've heard a lot of rumors about your own legendary achievements."

Falco smiled and starred at the admiral with low eyes.

"Admiral Perry, the Guardian Phoenix of Katina," Falco said.

"I could care less for the titles given to me by others," the admiral said with a disinterested tone, "But I will say that if could show you a demonstration of my power, I would gladly do so by kicking your ass right now!"

"Is that a challenge?" Falco said as he opened his eyes and smiled at the admiral.

"As much as I'd like to, I'm not here to fight you captain," the admiral said as he turned his back to Falco, "And I've already told you why I am here."

"And I'm saying you're overreacting," Falco replied as he rested an elbow on his knee again, "Admiral, I promise I'll go under contract again. In fact, I'd have to anyway in order to get back into real business. However, there's no way me and my team are gonna get tied up permanently by the military. I'll keep an eye on my own men, you can count on that. And even if my men and I do go rouge, you can always just put us out of commission yourself, right?"

The admiral didn't respond at first, and he simply turned his head halfway around to glare at Falco from the corner of his eye.

"C'mon admiral," Falco said with a more encouraging voice, "If you're as strong as I heard, then a couple of rookies and a worn out veteran shouldn't be that much of a threat."

The admiral grunted and turned his head around again as he. Falco smiled and sat up more straight, seeing that the admiral was starting to go for the bait.

"You're pretty persuasive, I'll give you that," Admiral Perry said without smiling as he turned around.

"Part of my charm," Falco said as he struck a cocky little smile.

"Whatever," Admiral Perry said with a half-annoyed voice as he turned around again, "But don't expect to get off the hook so easily with this."

Before the two could continue their conversation, the intercom in Perry's office went off.

"Admiral Perry," a female voice called out, "Captain Davian is here. He says he has an urgent message for you."

"Sharan, I'm in the middle of a meeting right now. Tell him to-

"He says it's from the Fleet Admiral," the female voice interrupted.

"Oh, great," Admiral Perry said as he rolled his eyes and began walking towards the door, but before he opened it, he turned around towards Falco again and said, "This meeting is over, but the problem is still alive. I'm sure the captain is gonna tell me that I have to meet up with the Fleet Admiral, and I'll make sure I talk to him about this whole fiasco to see what he thinks about it."

Admiral Perry turned around again and opened the door. Falco quickly stood up to see who was on the other side. A grey-furred rabbit was standing at attention with a blue and yellow uniform on and a cap tucked underneath his arm. Falco's eyes widened a little when he saw the rabbit, and a humongous wave of nostalgia washed over him.

The rabbit looked just like a younger version of Peppy.

"Admiral, sir!" the rabbit said as he saluted his commanding officer.

"Forget the formality captain, and just tell me what the admiral wants," Admiral Perry said with an aggravated voice.

"Yes sir," the rabbit said as he quite saluting, "The Fleet Admiral needs to speak to you in person aboard his ship. He didn't tell me why."

"I knew it," Admiral Perry mumbled to himself, and then he looked at his captain with a frustrated expression and said, "Why the hell didn't you just send me a message through my transponder? You didn't have to meet me in person to tell me that."

The captain shifted uncomfortably and lost his formal stature. He blushed with embarrassment and looked down at the ground.

"Actually sir, there's another reason why I came in person," the rabbit said with a more nervous voice.

"Alright, what is it?" Admiral Perry asked impatiently.

"Well, I heard you were speaking to Captain Falco,"

"Yes, he's right here, now what do you want?" Admiral Perry asked, feeling even more impatient.

"I…if it's alright with you sir, I was wondering if I could talk to him myself," the rabbit asked as he looked up with more confidence on his face.

"Fine, I don't care," the Admiral responded as he moved aside and let his captain walk in, "But I want you both off my ship in one hour. I don't feel comfortable knowing you two are here while I'm not."

"Of course, thank you sir," the rabbit responded as he smiled at the admiral.

"Whatever," the admiral responded as he walked out, and while he closed the door behind him he shouted, "Sharan! Get my private transport ready. We're leaving."

The door closed, and Captain Davian turned around again to look at Falco, who was staring at him awkwardly with his beak half open. The rabbit smiled nervously and saluted him.

"Captain Falco sir," the rabbit said with the most formal voice he could conjure up.

Falco starred at the rabbit for a few more seconds as the gears in his head slowly turned. He closed his mouth and smiled as a memory finally came to him.

"Oh, of course!" Falco said with glee as he sat back down in his chair, "Your Peppy's grandson, aren't you?"

The rabbit looked a little surprised as his eyes and mouth slightly opened while he held his salute.

"You know me sir?"

"Yeah, but you probably don't remember me," Falco responded, and then he quite smiling when he saw the rabbit still holding his salute and added, "Uh, son you don't have to salute me. We're the same rank."

The rabbit smiled nervously and looked away as he quite saluting.

"C'mon captain," the rabbit responded with a nervous laugh, "You and I both know that you outrank me in both skill and experience."

"Considering your Peppy's grandson, I actually find that hard to believe," Falco added as he crossed his wings and smiled at the rabbit, "Now are you gonna take a seat, or are you just gonna stand there blushing like a girl on her first date?"

The rabbit looked at Falco again, and then he cleared his face of nervousness and nodded professionally as he sat down across from Falco.

"How do you know me sir?" the rabbit asked, "I heard about you from my father and grandfather, but I've never actually met you before."

"You were just a small child when I last saw you. It was at a friend and family gathering about fifteen or so years ago, so my memory on you is a little dusty. In fact, I can't even remember your name."

"Davian," the rabbit responded, "And I'm eighteen right now, so I must have only been three years old last time you saw me."

Falco's eyes widened when he heard Davian mention his age.

"Wait, you're already a captain? At your age!?"

"Yeah, I was promoted last year," Davian answered with a smile, "Admiral said I was way ahead of my time."

"Actually, that doesn't surprise me," Falco thought to himself as he smiled, "He is your grandson after all, isn't he Peppy?"

"Well, Davian," Falco said as he rested his leg on his knee and leaned back into his chair, "You said you wanted to talk to me about something. What do you need?"

Davian scratched the back of his head and looked away as if he was trying to avoid the question. Falco quite smiling and looked at the rabbit with curiosity, but he realized something and suddenly closed his eyes and sighed as he looked down.

"Oh man, please don't tell me you want to join Star Fox," Falco said with a tired voice as he rested his forehead on both of his wings.

"No! No, that's not it at all sir," Davian quickly responded as he looked at Falco with wide eyes and shook his head.

"Ok, good," Falco said with a sigh as he took both of his wings off of his forehead and looked at the rabbit with a tired expression, "Because I already have three idiots who are driving me insane."

"Well, the thing is, I already have a crew and ship of my own, so I don't plan on switching out any time soon," Davian said with a small laugh.

"What kind of ship do you have?" Falco asked curiously.

"It's an assault cruiser, one of twenty in the Second Cornerian Fleet. It's about a quarter of the size of this ship."

"Does she have a name?"

Davian smiled and nodded.

"I call her The Blazing Comet," Davian said with pride, "She's one of the newer models that the military just recently started using. A bit tricky to handle sometimes with all the new improvements, but me and my men are starting to figure her out."

The two got carried away in their conversation and started talking about the newer and older designs of the Cornerian military ships. Falco found the rabbit very easy to befriend. Despite being nervous, the captain was very professional and polite, which were two things Falco was having a hard time finding in his own recruits, or even other officers in the military. In the middle of their conversation, Falco finally decided he wanted to know why Peppy's grandson wanted to talk to him.

"Davian, you came here to talk to me for a reason," Falco said while he crossed his arms and looked at the captain curiously, "now's the time to tell me what it was."

Davian smiled and scratched the back of his head.

"Well… I just wanted to talk to you really," Davian answered nervously, "Before he passed away, my grandfather always told me stories about you and Fox and Slippy flying through space and going on all sorts of adventures, so I just…"

Davian hesitated for a moment, but then he looked at Falco right in the eyes.

"I just wanted to know if they were real."

Falco smiled and nodded.

"They're real," he answered like it was just a fact, "Every single one of them."

Davian chuckled nervously.

"Man, that's so crazy," he said, "It's like I'm meeting a character from one of my childhood bedtime stories."

"Peppy told you a lot of them, huh?" Falco said with a smile.

"Every time he came over to see us," Davian answered, but then his smile disappeared, "I miss him a lot."

Falco closed his eyes and sighed.

"Yeah, losing him was a big blow to the whole team," Falco answered, "Even if we all saw it coming. Fox and I knew the man was getting old, and he knew it to, but that didn't make it any easier when he finally left."

"Gosh, you guys must have been like family," Davian answered as his ears dropped and he looked down, "I know my crew certainly feels that way to me."

"That's good," Falco said as he opened his eyes and smiled, "That means you care about them. Nothing is more important to a leader than having good chemistry with his followers."

Davian looked up and smiled back.

"You know, you're not really what I was expecting," Davian said with a small laugh.

Falco quite smiling and tilted his head.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Falco asked with genuine confusion.

"Well, based on the way Grandad described you, I was expecting you to be more…"

"Egotistical?" Falco deadpanned as his eyes dropped.

"Uh, well no I mean you're not as… exuberant!" Davian said with a reassuring tone, but he knew Falco had chosen a better word.

Falco chuckled and rested his head behind his wings.

"Well, that's probably because I'm getting older," he answered with a sigh, "When you start reaching my age, your start learning more about yourself. And one of the most important things you learn is that you're not as great as you think."

Davian laughed.

"Oh man, I wish that was true for everybody your age," Davian said, "You should see some of the…"

Davian stopped talking and quickly cleared his throat and shook his head. Falco looked at the rabbit and smiled.

"What, you afraid Admiral Perry has this room wired and is listening to everything you say?" Falco asked as he sat up straight and looked at the rookie with a piercing stare, "Just commit a little insubordination and tell me."

"No, it's not him," Davian answered, "in fact, he's one of the better officers believe it or not. Yeah, he's pretty full of himself at times, but he's a good leader and he cares about his men. But you should see some of the other captains I work with. It's absolutely ridiculous how uncooperative they are. And they're much older than me too!"

"Well, some people don't ever learn I guess," Falco said as he leaned back into his chair again.

A few seconds passed without either captain speaking, and they both sat in an awkward silence. Falco noticed how uneasy Davian looked as the rookie tapped his finger while he stared blankly at the table in front of him. It was easy for Falco to deduct that Davian was still keeping something from him. At first, Falco wondered if he should just ask the rookie what was up, but he decided to wait it out instead. His patience eventually paid off.

"Captain Falco`, there's a real reason why I came to talk with you," Davian said as he turned to look up at Falco.

Falco sat up straight and crossed his wings.

"Just call me Falco kid. None of my friends address me by my rank."

"So…we're friends then?" Davian asked with a nervous voice.

Falco laughed.

"Well, that's up to you to decide," Falco said with a smile

Davian smiled back and nodded.

"Yeah, ok. I think I can trust you," Davian said with a reassured voice.

"What's going on kid?" Falco asked, "Tell me what's on your mind."

"Ok," Davian said as he readjusted himself to look more fully at Falco, but he wore a very disturbed look on his face, "I don't really know how I'm supposed to explain this to you, but I guess I'll just start by saying that, right now, things are getting pretty… weird."

Davian's disturbed tone caused Falco to stop smiling.

"You're gonna have to be a little more specific kid,"

"What I mean to say is that the military is acting really off-balanced lately. All the superior officers from vice-admiral above are acting as if something's about to happen. The vice-admirals directly above me wouldn't say a thing when I asked them why they were acting so cautious, and Admiral Perry keeps having these private meetings with the Fleet Admiral."

Falco smiled and felt a small sense of relief fall over him. He chuckled and sighed.

"It's nothing kid, trust me," Falco said, "There's probably just some technical issues right now with ranks or equipment, and they want to keep it secret to avoid embarrassment. You're young and inexperienced, so I know why this might scare you. But it's just a common sense of fear from embarrassment that higher-ranked officers get, nothing more."

"That's actually what I thought as well," Davian said without sounding any calmer, "But Falco, trust me when I say this is very different."

Falco quite smiling, and he felt his anxiety rise a little bit.

"I've been doing a lot of research in the public files back at HQ," Davian continued, "The military and the government are lying. The Lylat System is nowhere nearly as stable as they say it is. Strange things are happening right now. Crime is starting to grow again on unregulated planets. Insurrectionists and terrorists are starting to show their faces more often. Some private planets and locations sealed off to the public by the government have gone completely quite, and nobody has said anything about it!"

"All right, all right kid, slow down," Falco said as he made a calming gesture with his wings, "You can't just jumble out all of this information and expect me to get anything from it if you aren't a little more calm and specific."

"I'm sorry," Davian said as sweat poured from his forehead, "I'm just a little scarred, that's all."

"Just take it easy kid," Falco said with a soft smile, "It's not like we're at war right now."

"No we're not, but what I'm telling you is that we're not at peace either."

Falco closed his eyes without breaking his smile.

"The Lylat System has never been fully at peace kid. We've just had more peaceful periods than others."

"But something's causing all of this!" Davian said a little bit frantically, "This kind of stuff doesn't just happen. Things are getting worse!"

"You're probably right kid," Falco said as he opened his eyes, "And there's probably someone who's doing all of the cooking."

Davian looked at Falco with surprise. He was not expecting the avian to give him such a response without any sign of caution or concern.

"Wait, you mean you believe me?" Davian asked with uncertainty.

"Of course, why wouldn't I?" Falco responded with a casual tone, "I can tell just by looking at you that you're not the kind of person who would spread lies for attention."

Falco's coolness helped Davian's anxiety fade a little more. He looked down and closed his eyes as he wiped sweat from his forehead.

"Then why do you seem so calm?" Davian asked with both frustration and curiosity, "If you think I'm telling you the truth, why aren't you more concerned?"

"Would worrying help anything?"

Davian opened his eyes and looked back at Falco, who was still wearing a smug smile.

"Look, bad things are gonna happen anyway Davian," Falco said with a stern, yet calming voice, "If lots of things are happening right now, then yes, there's definitely someone orchestrating everything. In fact, there're probably many people behind all of the chaos. But that's what bad people do Davian. They cause chaos, fear, disorder, and conflict all for their own personal gain. And that's also why there are good guys like you and me who have to stop them, but there's one very important lesson you have to learn to be a soldier Davian."

Falco stood up from his chair and walked over to the rabbit, who looked extremely intrigued by the avians words of wisdom.

"What…what's that sir?" Davian asked.

Falco pointed a wing at Davian, and he starred at his so directly and so fiercely, it was almost as if he was looking right into Davian's soul.

"Never, ever, ever, let your fear get to your head. That's exactly what your enemy wants. When he's got you scarred, he's accomplished his mission and already won the war. I'm not saying you should underestimate your enemy and be reckless. What I'm saying is that you shouldn't be neither scarred nor foolish, but instead fearless and strategic. And that is the ultimate key to being a real soldier."

Davian took in Falco's words like a man dying of thirst would accept a gallon of water. The avians boldness and wisdom filled him with confidence and reassurance. His fear and anxiety quickly diminished, however a rising sense of guilt took its place.

"This is so embarrassing," Davian said as his ears dropped and he looked away from Falco's eyes, "I shouldn't have panicked like that. I just didn't know what else to do. So many things were going through my head and I-

"You're just inexperienced," Falco interrupted, "That's not something you can really learn through education. You just pick it up over time."

"But I'm a captain," Davian said, "Captains don't lose their head like that. My men rely on me, and if they saw me like this right now, they would probably never feel safe with me as their leader again."

"You're wrong. Captains have anxiety all the time. In fact, did you know Fox McCloud was one of the most paranoid men I ever knew?"

Davian looked up at Falco with wide eyes, and Falco laughed at his look of surprise.

"Oh yeah, he was very concerned about his crew. When your grandfather retired for good, Fox took full command of the team and became our captain. The conversation I'm having with you right now, well, I must have had it a hundred timeswith him."

"You mean, he was…?"

Falco smiled and nodded.

"Believe it or not, the legendary Fox McCloud felt fear,"

Davian sighed and looked away. A small smile spread across his muzzle.

"Well, that makes me feel a little bit better," Davian said with a relieved voice, "still though, I feel like a little kid for doing this. I shouldn't have wasted your time sir, I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize," Falco said with a smile, "I'm actually glad you told me. If you feel like something odd is going on, don't be afraid to tell me about it."

Falco walked over and sat back down in his chair. He put a wing under his chin, looking like he was in deep thought.

"We shouldn't panic," Falco said after a while, causing Davian to look back up at him, "but we shouldn't let our guard down either. If there's danger rising in the Lylat System, we need to be prepared for it."

Davian's expression was serious now, and the rabbit nodded in agreement.

"For now, there's not much we can do but wait," Falco continued, "Something big enough for the military to get involved is bound to come up sooner or later. Davian, I need you to do something for me."

Davian nodded without hesitation.

"Whatever you need sir,"

"I need you to be my eyes while you're under Perry's command. Keep a look out for any more strange reports or behaviors. You seem to be well-informed, so I'm counting on you for information regarding disorder in the Lylat System. I'm gonna be busy with a lot of other stuff, so I won't have time to look into it myself."

"Yes sir!" Davian said as he stood up and saluted Falco, "I will be your eyes and ears out in the field from now on!"

"Same rank kid, we already went over this,"

"Oh, right," Davian said as he quite saluting and blushed violently, "sorry sir."

Falco stood up and walked over to Davian, offering the rabbit is hand. Davian smiled promptly and shook it.

"It was nice to finally meet you sir," Davian said, "and thanks a lot for helping me out. I'm glad I have someone I know I can trust."

"Same here," Falco responded, "you seem like a good kid Davian. Give me a call some time and I'll introduce you to the rest of my crew. I'm sure Marcus, Leon, and Coby would all be excited to meet the grandson of commander Peppy."

"I'm sure my men would be more excited to see them sir," Davian said with a laugh, "everybody on my ship was cheering you guys on when they heard about your victory."

"Well, it's nice to know some people in the military support us," Falco said with a relieved sigh as he and Davian walked towards the door and out of Perry's office.

Falco and Davian walked until they reached the hanger of The First Eclipse. The two captains bid each other one last fare-well before they boarded their private ships and headed out into space. While he was flying back towards The Great Fox, Falco turned on the communicator in his ship and made a call. Falco waited until Leon's holographic image appeared on the dashboard in front of him.

"Captain," Leon said with a smile and a salute, "how'd the meeting with the admiral go?"

"Better than expected, actually. Admiral Perry is still unsure about us, but I'm sure he'll let us remain as a private unit,"

"That's good to hear," Leon replied with a small sigh as he stopped saluting, "to be honest, we were all kind of worried he'd force us into a military unit,"

"Let me do the worrying private," Falco said with a smile, "also, I have some surprising news. While I was in my meeting with Admiral Perry, an unexpected guest arrived. I didn't fully recognize him at first, but it turns out he was the grandson of Peppy Hare,"

"No way!" Leon said with a surprised and excited look on his face, "You mean the previous commander of the Great Fox?"

"Yep, my old boss. Technically, the commander before me was Fox. Peppy was before him, but we've all seen Peppy as the real commander of the Great Fox, even Fox himself,"

"Man, that's pretty fortunate to run into his grandson like that,"

"Fortune had nothing to do with it. The guy actually planned on meeting me when he heard I was aboard his admiral's flag ship,"

"What's his name and rank?" Leon asked with curiosity.

"His name's Davian. And you're not gonna believe this, but he's already a captain at eighteen years old,"

"Holy smokes," Leon said in awe, "and I thought Marcus was young for his position,"

"Guess not," Falco replied as he looked back at his controls and began typing in the coordinates for the Great Fox, "listen, we have lot's to talk about. I'll tell you guys more when I reach the Great Fox, but I have to leave this area before Perry's fleet starts getting suspicious,"

"Understood sir," Leon said with a salute, "see you aboard the Great Fox,"

Falco nodded and cut off the transmission with Leon. He then finished typing in the coordinates, and then strapped fully in to his seat. He pressed the launch button and his ship blasted off into hyper-space, taking him to the location of The Great Fox.