Chapter V
"Blast-off" + "All-aboard"
Fox stepped out of the sliding door to his room, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as Krystal picked up the rear of their two-person line of march.
Well, more of a line of sleepy walking, but you get the idea.
As the foxes made their way to the main common area, a line of coffee cups filled to the brim with the steamy bean water greeted them, courtesy of ROB's connection to the ship's coffee maker.
Their vulpine ears swiveled as more crewmates entered the common area to get their morning supplement of caffeine, before they turned to see the remaining three members walking in.
The morning banter ensued, keeping the morale going as the team made their way to the war room in preparation for the trip up to the orbital gate.
Shortly after, everyone was standing around a hologram above a wide table in their uniforms sans flight suits, watching a video feed of the General briefing them.
Their current instructions were simple; get to the orbital gate, take the jump to the aparoid homeworld, and finish off the queen.
It was simple enough, though given the leeway in technicalities the mercenary squad had by nature, they were bound to come across a few side bits here and there.
There was absolutely nothing that could go wrong.
Nothing at all.
Right?
"Well, so far everything seems to be fine," Slippy off-handedly mentioned as he spun around in his seat at his station.
"Not anymore since ya jinxed it," Falco cracked from across the room.
They'd just ended their briefing with the general, and now was the time for them to make the short flight up to the Beltino Orbital Gate, just on the outskirts of Corneria's orbit.
Fox hadn't been paying attention to the small conversations; his eyes were fixated on the blue and green ball they were still orbiting.
'Hopefully anybody still on the surface is alive, or at least surviving.'
There was little doubt they'd be in for a round of search and rescue efforts once the job was over, though with how little they knew about the aparoid homeworld, that still had a solid chance of not happening.
The top scientists and engineers tasked with locating and documenting the planet could barely even call it that. Sure, it had mass and gravity, but photos taken of its surface made it seem more artificial than it did organic.
"Well, now that the orbital gate's swarmed by aparoids, whaddya say we pay 'em a visit," Falco smirked as he rubbed his feathers together.
Oh, right, the orbital gate's been swarmed by aparoids.
"Sounds like a plan. Race you all down there," Fox said before taking off down the hallway. The others bolted after him. Whenever Fox made a simple bet like this it usually meant a favor was up for grabs.
The vulpine could feel the wind rushing past his ears as he ran up to the giant metal pole, before grabbing it and swinging around as he slid all the way down. The heavy duty gloves around his fingers gripped the steel as he neared the bottom, slowing him down as he dropped onto the floor.
Fox heard the elevator ding from behind him; Slippy must've taken the easy route and cranked the elevator's speed to the maximum.
Moments later, he heard Krystal then Falco dropping from the fire pole, quickly gaining on the vulpine.
As Fox neared the armory he felt a tingle run through the back of his head down his spine. He brushed it off at first, but quickly realized Krystal had pulled a fast one and sprinted ahead with a devious look in her eye.
The vixen rocketed past the rest of them, crossing the threshold to the impromptu finish line inches ahead of Fox.
"What do I win," she panted as everyone caught their breath, donning their flight gear.
"We'll figure that out later, just get in the door," Fox breathed.
As he ushered the last pilot into the pressure chamber, the door closed and the atmosphere dropped to the vacuum of space.
"Probably something bedroom-related," Falco cracked.
Fox gave the pheasant's helmet a playful smack upside the head.
"Get ready for launch, everyone. Any more 'bedroom-sexy-time' comments will be met with friendly fire."
Falco just snickered as they all climbed in, watching the orbital gate slowly come into view.
When the go for launch and a 'good luck' from Peppy greeted their eyes and ears, the four arwings rocketed out of the Great Fox's front hangar.
Fox heard his teammates cheer a battle cry as they raced toward the cloud of aparoids.
-{=}-
Y'know, something just occurred to me.
Right now I'm in the conductor's chair of a 2-car light rail, attempting to do something incredibly stupid.
I'm going to steal the train.
Temporarily, at least. If I can't put it back, then I'd consider it stealing.
Let me rewind a little. This morning I got up, and realized that the power still hadn't switched back on. Figuring that one of the many glue-eaters that ran the Corneria City power grid weren't around to turn it back on, I started plotting on how I could get the lights running again.
Oh, and the fridge, too. All of the perishables went bad.
It's been about a week since the power went off, I just got tired of writing the dates down, so suck it.
So, after realizing that no power to the lights also meant no power to the cell towers (and the local internet providers), I did something that nobody of my generation has ever done.
I read a map.
See, dad? Told you I could.
Fast forward past throwing out all of the leftovers (and everything else that smelled somewhat questionable) from the fridge and freezer, grabbing a snack and walking to the train station, and I found myself walking along the tracks until I reached a tunnel with inlets on either side.
The pocket track led me down to the very end, where I found a lone train.
I reached into my backpack and grabbed the crowbar I'd brought along with me, prying the door open and climbing inside.
Ever seen a train completely empty and off?
For someone growing up in the hustle and bustle of the city, it's definitely surreal.
Now, have you ever seen some kid break into a train and go joyriding down the tracks?
Well, I'm just about to get to that part, so buckle up.
Oh, right. No seatbelts. Grab a pole, or something.
After running my eyes and flashlight over the control panel, I spotted a keyhole marked 'master.' Putting two and two together, I pulled out my screwdriver set and went to town pulling the panel out. A mess of wires and labels greeted me from the backside of the control panel.
A gentle tap against the keyhole knocked it loose from the panel, allowing me to crack it open with the screwdriver. The tumbler and casing were completely fubar'd, but that's not a problem. Having to help fix the metalworking machines back at school prepared me for this anyway.
My grades never waited for the district techs to walk in and scratch their asses, before deciding they couldn't fix it.
Following the colored wires in order of the position labels on the panel, I flipped open my pocket knife and stripped away the shielding as best I could.
After cautiously jumping the two together, I watched in excitement as the switches and buttons on the dashboard lit up.
I looked over the panels, spotting several switches with lightbulbs on them. Wanting to keep my visibility to a minimum, I flicked all of them off.
I returned to the multicolored spaghetti. After stripping and jumping the next wire, the courtesy lights along the footwell flickered on.
A quick glance outside the conductor's booth showed me what I wanted to see.
The train was still pitch-dark, but fully operational.
Who would've thought that stealing Corneria City public transportation was so simple?
I settled into the conductor's chair, gripping the throttle to the left of me.
Time to take her for a spin.
I slowly eased it forward, hearing a loud, metallic screech echo throughout the tunnel. A red warning light flashed on the panel.
WARNING: PARKING BRAKE ENGAGED
I rolled my eyes, found the lever, and yanked it. A dull ka-thunk reached my ears.
The train gently lurched forward as the electric motors whirred to life. I'd only have a short amount of time to get to the power plant downtown before the battery backup died. If it dies sooner then I'll be stranded, and I'll die with it.
This probably was the stupidest thing I've ever done, but some little voice in my head keeps telling me that this is only the stupidest thing I've done so far.
All that tells me is that I just have to out-stupid whatever comes at me, and I'll be fine.
When that stupidity starts to border on just plain dumbassery, well, I'll let you be the judge of that.
If all goes smoothly, I'll be down to the power plant and back before dark. If not, well, we'll burn that bridge when we get to it.
As I began to ease the throttle upward, the light at the end of the tunnel got brighter and brighter.
Here goes.