Author's note: Well, I've got my new e-mail ready, so don't be afraid to praise, suggest, criticize (constructive criticism only please), or talk about anything else. It's not really a new address; just one I used to use for a Xenogears RPG before our group broke apart.
This was an odd piece to write. My whole goal right now is to bring the war to a logical conclusion, as the main body of the story I have planned takes place after it. I just started it here because I would have to go over this anyway, to explain how the war had ended.
Anyway, here, after an amazing amount of editing (I'll explain later)
is the next chapter of our story…
Ruins of Camelot
Chapter 2
By: Knicknevin
knicknevin@teamartail.com
Great Fox
High orbit above Katina
Morning
Peppy, Slippy and Falco sat in the Great Fox's cafeteria, debating what they should do next. Peppy was firm that they should stay and fight, while Falco was equally sure they should make tracks back for Corneria. Slippy, not surprisingly, was swaying between both views. "Fox s-still won't come out of his room," Slippy said, stuttering due to his nervousness, "and we don't have much t-time until the n-next attack comes…"
"We can't just back off now," Peppy insisted. He could see clearly what would happen if they abandoned Katina to Andross. "If we leave-"
"- Which I've been saying we should do all along," Falco interrupted. He felt that the fight here wasn't as important as going back to Corneria and making preparations for a funeral. Although Fara had been CDF, he-like all of them- considered her a part of the group. He understood the risk involved in leaving and he hated to retreat in the face of the enemy, but he didn't really feel like going to fight a battle under these conditions, with Fox unresponsive and everyone else in mourning.
"- The base here might fall and Corneria not long after that," Peppy finished, fixing Falco with a glare. "We won't have many safe harbors left to go to after that… In fact, we won't have any. Unless you think Andross is just going to forget about us?"
Falco looked away, knowing he was wrong. He tried one more stand with his position. "But Fox can't fight in the shape he's in…" he went on stubbornly.
"So m-maybe we should just leave him here for now," Slippy suggested. Falco's last argument collapsed. That honestly hadn't occurred to Falco; the group never flew without Fox to lead them. "The th-three of us should be all right. I can disable Fox's Arwing before we g-go."
Peppy and Falco (reluctantly) nodded in agreement. "I suppose so- best if Fox doesn't come along on this one…" Peppy said. "I'm... going to put a call in to General Pepper before we go and ask him what happened."
The others nodded and left to prep their Arwings while Peppy headed over to the communicator and put in the frequency for CDF HQ. "General Pepper's office, Lieutenant Agrue speaking, May I help you?" a young jaguar answered.
Peppy blinked, wondering if he had heard the name right. Lieutenant Argue? What kind of name is that? "Ah, ahem, yes… This is Peppy Hare, from Star Fox team. I'd like to speak with General Pepper if I may."
"I'm sorry, but the General is attending to some important business right now… I can take a message if you'd like-"
"It's all right Lyle," Pepper's voice came from off screen. "Put him through- I know what he's calling about."
"Yes sir," the aide replied.
Pepper replaced Agrue's face on the screen. "Peppy!" he exclaimed with false enthusiasm. Seeing his old friend's face, he quickly discarded the act. "How have you been? How's Fox doing? I'm a bit concerned about him- he was quite upset by the news…"
Peppy shook his head sadly. "We could be better. Fox has himself locked inside his room… He's not talking. The rest of us are pretty down right now… We got the gist of the news, but I think we ought to know what happened. Fara meant a lot to all of us here..."
Pepper heaved a sigh. "I spared Fox the details out of consideration… You want to hear the full story I assume…"
Peppy nodded, a knot tying in his stomach. "Yes."
Pepper shifted about, trying to think of a way to begin.
"The others are gone," Peppy added, seeing the uncertainty on Pepper's face. Pepper nodded.
"Well, as you probably already knew, she had been sent to Zoness to assist in holding off Andross's forces," Pepper began (Fara, unlike Fox and the rest, who were mercenaries, was actually enlisted in the CDF). When Peppy nodded, he continued. "Star Wolf arrived with a contingent of fighters... We had expected a move like that, and had a large squadron of fighters ready to launch, including Fara's. However… they had something new. Star Wolf's fighters had been upgraded impressively- the fighters they're flying now are much superior to ours… The rout was terrible. Fara managed to engage Wolf in a dogfight, and disabled his craft, but… an unidentified energy beam from one of the other fighters- possibly Leon's- shut down her ship's power and she crashed."
Peppy nodded slowly. "I see… I guess we have another grudge to bear against Star Wolf."
Pepper looked away from the screen, sadness and disgust in his eyes. "There's more… I told Fox that much, but not this next part… Fara survived the crash… Andross's forces captured and interrogated her… We believe it was Leon who performed the interrogation… It shows all the trademarks… Pigma may have had a hand in it as well, from your description of James's treatment…"
Peppy shuddered. He felt his fur standing up on end, and his paws tightened into fists. He tried to speak, but his mouth had gone dry. "I… terrible… those bastards…" he managed to force out.
"Peppy, control yourself... We can't afford our best squadron to go off on some vigilante quest. That's exactly why I didn't tell this to Fox- we're losing this war as it is… We need every resource at our command…"
Peppy closed his eyes, remembering what had happened to James. For Fara to have suffered the same treatment...
"Without you, we may not have any chance of turning this around and pushing Andross back to Venom."
Peppy finally nodded. "You're right, as always..." That was a cold comfort though. Suddenly, he couldn't wait for the conversation to end. He glanced over at the chronometer. "I should go… Fox is grounded for the moment, and we need to get a head start and link up with Bill's group as soon as we can. I'll talk to you again after this battle."
"I understand... Good luck to you all," Pepper said, ending the transmission.
Peppy turned away from the Vid-screen, then shuddered again. The idea of Fara meeting her fate at the hands of Leon and Pigma… He forced the thoughts out of his mind. He sprinted down the passage to the flight deck.
Falco was waiting impatiently at the entrance. "So what happened?" he asked impatiently.
Slippy poked his head out of Fox's Arwing. "Yeah, tell us…W-we should know."
Peppy shook his head, wondering what to tell them. I can't tell them everything… not before a battle as important as this one. They're already on edge. "Star Wolf happened," he finally revealed, forcing his voice to sound calm. "They shot her down using some new model fighter."
Falco brought his fist down on the nose of his Arwing. "Wolf! I swear, he'd better stay out of my way… He's gonna go down!"
"Later, Falco… I had expected that news anyway," Peppy lied (he hadn't actually thought of it), trying to calm Falco, "Those four are the only ones with the skill do defeat her. Let's worry about revenge later. For now, we have to defend Katina."
"Yeah, yeah," Falco grumped. "I know. It still pisses me off."
"I understand… later though. Lets take care of this problem first."
Peppy climbed up into the cockpit of his Arwing. "You about done there Slippy?" he called once he was in.
"Yeah," Slippy's voice came from Fox's Arwing. "Just l-lemme check one thing… Okay!" Slippy hopped out of the Arwing, holding a small circuit board. "Without this," Slippy reported, indicating the board, "Th-the ship's computer can't initiate a s-startup sequence."
"Good job, Slip," Falco said absently as he climbed into his own Arwing. "Now, let's get going…"
"Got it!"
And if Star Wolf shows up, Peppy and Falco thought in unison,
All
bets are off… I'm not going to let them escape this time…
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
CDF Central Command
General Pepper's Office
9:00 A.M.
Pepper watched the tactical display carefully. Tildoe Base had reported it was under attack as expected, but, according to Bill Grey, the entire enemy force consisted of under-powered drone ships. It seemed odd for Andross to send an unprepared attack force, so the only other meaning of the attack was that it was… either a trap or a decoy.
Neither of the two was very encouraging, but Intelligence insisted that Andross's forces were there, they were just holding back for some reason… And, if they were waiting for something, it almost certainly spelled a trap… But what were they doing? Intelligence had no idea.
Pepper abruptly remembered a report he had read recently, about a captured drone ship… He'd forgotten the details though. He returned to his desk and rummaged around among his papers, trying to find it. His desk, however, was an impressive mess, and he was unable to find it. A knock at his door startled him. "Sir?" his aide asked as he entered the room. "I'm sorry to disturb you, but we received a transmission from Venom…"
"Yes, what is it?"
"It would appear Zoness has fallen. We lost contact with them last night, but we hoped that they were still holding out… Andross sent this transmission across the system." Lyle walked over to the Vid-screen and entered a few commands, then stepped away.
After a few moments, Andross's gloating face appeared on the screen. "Today," he began, "Begins the end of Corneria. Zoness has fallen, and my forces shall soon overrun Katina as well." The image on screen switched to the surface of Zoness. Buildings lay in ruin, bodies strewn haphazardly about… The image zoomed in on the faces of a handful of hopeless looking survivors- prisoners to be taken to the slave mines of Venom. "Look well upon the face of defeat- those few who survive will wear it for the rest of their lives." The scene switched to space, showing images of a vast fleet of ships. "There is no hope for you- my armies shall overwhelm yours. Sleep well Corneria… for soon you will sleep for eternity…" Andross laughed, and the transmission ended.
Pepper shook his head and sighed. Nothing surprising- Andross loved that sort of melodrama. But it didn't bode well in any case. "Thank you lieutenant," he said to Agrue. The aide nodded and left without another word. He's frightened, Pepper realized, But, things do look grim… I wonder how the morale of the rest of the army is? He looked about ready to give up…
Thinking back for the past few weeks, he realized that everyone he met had the same hopeless look as Agrue... Even himself. Slowly, the people were coming to realize that there was little hope of defeating Andross... At best, they could stall and delay him, but that would only postpone the inevitable. Without something on the order of a miracle, Corneria would be unable to fight any longer in only... two years, the most trusted of the experts claimed. But his estimates were often optimistic. Probably more like one year... and there was not much of a chance they could drive Andross all the way back to Venom in that short time.
Still, there was no other option- surrender was out of the question. Corneria would fight. If it's fate was to be destroyed... Pepper wouldn't be there to see it anyway.
He shrugged away his gloomy thoughts, remembering the report he had been looking for earlier.
Returning to his desk, he searched until he found the elusive report. The drone ships, according to the report, were not to be captured intact; they had only obtained the one through luck. The self-destruct on the ship had malfunctioned, allowing a fighter pilot to disable and capture it. Upon examination… Pepper jumped. A decoy… The drones' flight and battle capabilities we secondary. Their primary function was in fact to examine each opposing fighter and develop strategies to defeat them. They had highly advanced logic processors- almost sentient- that could follow each enemy pilot and catalogue his or her habits, patterns, strategies, and so on. Once all the opposing craft had been catalogued, the information was sent to a mothership, which then began launching combat drones… These drones had the ID signatures of every enemy craft on record, and when engaged in a dogfight, would use the information sent by the info drones to predict and adapt to every strategy that pilot used…
And no pilot in their right mind would let his or her guard down, so they would be flying to their fullest potential. And so would, therefore, the enemy fighters.
Bill's group and Star Fox had been battling these info drones for some time… In all likelihood a great deal of information had been gathered. When the mothership moved in…
Pepper hit the call button. "Yes sir?" Agrue asked as he entered.
"Get me a signal through to Tildoe base, immediately!"
"Y-yes sir!" Agrue exclaimed as he departed, surprised at the sudden force Pepper had displayed.
Damn all the luck, I should have realized sooner… Pepper snarled to himself. After several minutes, his Vid-screen was still blank. "Lieutenant, where's that communication!"
Lyle rushed back into the office. "We can't get a signal through sir; we're being jammed! Total blackout on all frequencies!"
"We can't cut through?"
"Impossible! The signal power is huge! We can't break through!"
"Oh no…"
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Venom
Andross's Inner Sanctum
6:00 P.M. (9:15 A.M. Corneria time)
"So what did you think of my transmission?" Andross asked Wolf O'Donnel. He leaned back in his throne and chuckled. "I have such fun taunting them like that."
Wolf shrugged. He wasn't interested in Andross's gloating. It was dreadfully tiring after a while. "Overacted and melodramatic. After so many similar messages, the Cornerians are probably ignoring them by now."
Andross grunted and forgot the subject. He was silent for some time, Wolf waiting patiently for his next orders. Andross's face took on a dreamy look. He took a deep breath of Venom's polluted air. "Ah, lovely. There is nothing more wonderful than the smell of death, is there? On any scale- from the stench of a dead animal, to the odor of a dead world…it makes me feel young again."
Wolf couldn't have cared less, but he held his tongue. He actually was a bit turned off by such things... The two waited in silence for some time- Andross sitting on his throne, Wolf standing before him. "Well done with that Pheonix woman," Andross finally commented. "Leaving the body where it would be found like that. McCloud is probably half-insane by now."
Only half way? Do you know how far-gone you are? Even if he is half insane, he's only half as mad as you are, Wolf thought, but only said "Praise Leon for that, it was entirely his doing. I was away at the time."
Andross fixed Wolf with an appraising look. "Away, eh?" For a moment, Wolf could almost see the cunning and charismatic leader he had joined forces with years ago. The gaze was both piercing and knowing. Wolf felt as if Andross was looking right through him- right into his most closely guarded secrets. The moment passed, and Andross seemed to lose interest. The two were silent for another interminable stretch.
Wolf fidgeted impatiently. "So what would you have me do next then?" he asked. All he wanted from the ape were orders. He hadn't been out of the action long, but he still couldn't stand sitting about. His fighter had been repaired, and he wanted to go put it to use. Andross, however, was ignoring him.
Andross's face took on a distant look again. "Tell me Wolf," he asked abruptly, "Do you dream? When you sleep I mean… What do you dream about?"
Wolf rolled his remaining eye. Andross was getting like this more and more often- weepy, nostalgic, and reminiscent. He wasn't sure if it was senility, insanity, or just plain stupidity, but it was getting damn annoying. "I don't dream," he answered the Emperor's question. "Or if I do, I forget them by the morning." All Wolf wanted was orders. Patrol, assault... hell, even a suicide mission was better then this endless waiting. But Andross wasn't interested.
"I was dreaming of a hedgehog last night," Andross went on, not listening to Wolf. "He spoke to me for some time, asking me various questions. He had the most horrible accent though- I could barely understand him. He asked me what I would wish for, if I could… I forget what I answered… Tell me Wolf- if you had one wish, what would it be?"
For you to quit babbling and give me some orders. This must be my punishment for all I've done. I'm in a living hell. Wolf sighed. Andross was waiting for an answer. "I don't really know. To defeat McCloud I suppose."
Andross seemed to wake up. "Yes, McCloud… He must be quite distraught by now, with his lover dead. We should try to lure him… Trap…" Andross looked up at the ceiling, his gaze far away.
"I wonder if the stars still shine when I'm not looking at them? Probably not." Wolf tightened his paw into a fist, supressing the urge to punch the stupid look off the old ape's face. It was a difficult task though.
After a few minutes, Andross seemed to wake up again. "Yes. When Katina falls, we'll drop the jamming over Corneria- we can't maintain it for long anyway. We'll let a signal be intercepted by Star Fox, implying that his dear is still alive- that the body found was a fake. Then we can lure him out and destroy him at our leisure…"
Wolf thought for a few moments, then smiled. Even in his current state, Andross could still inspire the worst in Wolf. "That sounds like a plan to me- we should try luring him to Zoness… It would seem a fitting place for him to die."
Andross shared his smile. The two grinned at each other like devils. "Yes, yes… Make it so."
As Wolf turned to leave, Andross called him again. "And let me know," he added, "If you decide on what you would wish for. I seem to recall the hedgehog saying something about you as well."
Wolf just sighed and left the room before Andross could add anything else.
Andross sat back in his throne in silence for a time, alone. "It's your
world, isn't it? Yes, it's your world," he said sadly, looking at the door.
His stomach growled. Andross jumped before realizing it was he himself
that had made the noise. Without another word, he left the throne to go
find something to eat.
* * * * * * * * *
Wolf walked into the cafeteria, where the others were waiting. "So, how did it go?" Andrew asked. "How's Uncle Andross doing?"
Wolf crossed the room silently, picking out a few bits of meat from the buffet table and putting them on a plate. After sitting down however, he disovered he wasn't hungry anyway. He poked his food around thoughtlessly. The only thing he could think about clearly was McCloud... This was the best shot he'd had at him in a long time.
"Well?" Leon asked.
Wolf finally answered, responding to the second question first. "Worse. Now he babbles about dreams and beauty, and tells me he's having visions about hedgehogs who offer him wishes… He jumps from topic to topic, randomly. I don't think he even realizes he's doing it."
The others took a moment to consider this. Pigma grunted and dug into the dinner he'd started before Wolf had walked in. The third helping, to be precise. "Did you at least get us some new orders?" Leon asked coolly.
Wolf nodded. "Yeah, we're going to lure Star Fox out using McCloud's girlfriend as the bait."
"But she's dead!" Andrew blurted out. Nitwit, Wolf snarled mentally.
Wolf shot a glare at him. "We know that, but the information can be made to appear that we staged her 'death' so that we could transport her off-planet without any interference. McCloud'll be so desperate that he'll cling to any hope anyway. All we have to do is send a transmission that is 'accidentally' intercepted by them."
Leon frowned, considering the plan. Wolf waited for his response, knowing Leon was the most adept at strategy. If there were any holes in the plan, he'd point them out. Finally, Leon seemed to come to a conclusion. "Ah, but the Great Fox lacks the equipment to intercept this message. So, Pepper must relay the message to him then. If Pepper isn't fooled, he may not pass the news along to Fox, and our plan will fail even before it began."
Pigma looked up from his food for the first time during the conversation. "That part's easy. We've still got a few agents scattered 'round Corneria. All gotta to do is have one of 'em transmit the data to Fox. Like ya said, he'll be desperate. It doesn't even matter if the others believe it."
All four nodded in agreement. Wolf looked down at his plate again, but still could not find an appetite. Pigma glanced at Wolf's plate. "Are you going to eat that?" he asked. Wolf just shrugged.
Leon and Andrew returned to their own meals, content that their new plan would succeed.
...Still, there was one nagging doubt in all their minds (all but Wolf, at least- he didn't worry about such things)- Andross. Even Andrew openly admitted now that his uncle was fading fast. His mind seemed to be deteriorating at an alarming pace, and the ultimate effects of this were still to be seen. For the moment, he seemed to be lucent enough to still command the Army. In a short bit of time though- no more than a month or two- the group doubted he could be trusted to lead Venom anymore.
At some point, he would have to be replaced. Everyone knew that much- Andross had failed in his experiments into immortality. His deterioration had begun before he could succeed in rejuvenating himself. But even knowing that, the actual replacement of him would lead to a great deal of difficulty.
It had to be obvious to the entire army that he wouldn't be competent much longer, giving them even more incentive to defeat Corneria fast. If Andross was deposed (or deranged) while the war was still going on, Corneria might regain the initiative while the Empire was still being brought back to order.
If the Empire was brought back to order. None of them could think of a single person suited to take over his position. Their worst nightmare was of the Empire breaking up into civil war, and Corneria gobbling up the pieces.
"I think we all know the stakes here," Leon said into the silence. "We need to win the war soon, before…" They all knew what he meant. The next few months were the most critical in the history of Venom. If they failed to bring about a victory over Corneria soon, the war might be lost.
"At least we know the new fighters work," Andrew added. "Our hardware is a lot better then theirs now."
Leon nodded. "The neutrino beam worked even better than we had hoped. It cut through Pheonix's shields like butter, and totally shut down all of her ship's systems. One solid hit from these should render them powerless." The two began to jabber back and forth about their new fighters.
Wolf abruptly handed his plate to Pigma and went to fetch himself a salad. Pigma didn't waste time thanking him before chowing down.
While he was away, Andrew turned to Leon. "Wolf seems out of it lately, like he's going soft too. I'm sure that isn't it, but he's acting stranger than usual lately. He got pretty careless with that Pheonix woman too."
Leon nodded. "He gets like that from time to time... he used to at least. It's been a long time since he's acted this way."
"What's with him anyway?"
Leon shrugged. "I never asked. I imagine it has somthing to do with McCloud though."
Returning to the table with his new salad, Wolf picked at it absently. Andrew and Leon glanced at one another. They had never seen Wolf eat vegetables before... his teeth weren't very well suited to eating green foods. Wolf paid them no mind, lost in his own thoughts.
I'll get you this time Fox… you won't escape me again. Now
I'll finally have revenge…
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * * * * * *
Great Fox
High orbit above Katina
9:30 A.M.
Fox lay about in a stupor. In his minds-eye, he could keep seeing Fara's fighter exploding, burning… He couldn't force the image out of his head. It kept repeating, over and over...
Peppy and the others had gone. Fox had heard them tinkering about for some time in the fighter docks- they'd probably disabled his fighter before they'd gone. He knew them well enough to predict their moves. That was all right- he wasn't going anywhere. All he wanted to do was sleep…
But he couldn't. His mind kept relentlessly replaying images of Fara's fighter exploding, crashing, and burning… Pepper had been vague about the exact nature of what had shot her down. He hadn't been vague about who though… Star Wolf. Leon was supposed to have shot her down... That didn't sound right for some reason. Wolf was the best of the group, but she had supposedly disabled him before she was shot down herself. Still... it didn't matter. Wolf lead the team, so Fox looked on him as being responsible for his teams actions.
Fox's mind shifted back to the conversation he had had with Pepper… The General had seemed nervous, and kept shifting about as he relayed the nature of Fara's death. Something told Fox there was more to it than he'd been told.
He sat for some time, laying half across his bed, wondering if he should even ask. If Pepper had felt the need to conceal something, he'd obviously done it for a reason. Maybe it was best if Fox didn't know. But his mind kept showing all the possible ways Fara might have died, and he couldn't stand not knowing.
The decision made, he rose and crossed the room to the communicator. Upon punching in the frequency for CDF headquarters, he found that the frequency was being jammed. He should have known- Andross was getting into the habit of jamming communications whenever he launched an offensive, to keep the enemy off balance. Short-range communications would still work though- Andross's own forces would need them, not that that helped Fox much.
He lay back down on the bed with a sigh, fingering the engagement ring Fara had given him. He had a sudden memory of Fara, laughing and smiling at his surprise, on the day that she had proposed to him. Fox smiled, reliving the memory. He'd never admitted to the others that it was actually her idea. The world had seemed so bright then, even with the darkness closing in about them. Holding the memory firmly in his mind, he finally fell asleep.
Far below, his comrades had come face to face with a waking nightmare.
Fox's sleep, fortunatly, was free of such things.
* * * * * * * * * *
He did, however, dream.
"'Ullo lad. Ar, but ye've growed. Hah'm shore yer Farther wood be dun proudly, to see ye growed and strong."
Fox looked about, but could not find the source of the strange voice. "Who's there?" he called out. The world around him had a muted quality, as though it wasn't sure if it should be seen on not. He couldn't seem to focus on any part of his surroundings.
The voice seemed to consider this for a time. From what Fox could see, he was standing out in the open, in some manner of field. He couldn't make out any details though, it was all a blur.
"Hah's jus a nugly hurchin, who knowed yer Farther when he was a youngin," the voice finally answered. "He was an exsupulent man, yer Farther was, bold and true. Him's was cast a bad lot though. When he died, a mite o' misself died 's well."
"Who are you? How did you know my father?" Fox asked in confusion, once he had digested and decoded what the voice had said. He was sure he'd remember a friend of his father's who spoke in such an odd way. He tried to walk in the direction the voice was coming from, but his movements seemed sluggigh. After some time, he realized he hadn't moved at all.
"Bosh, dinnot worry about such trivilietys. High'em who high'em." The voice seemed to be both distant, yet very close. It's reactions were slow in coming, yet it spoke from somewhere nearby.
Fox waited for the voice to go on, but it remained silent. After another failed attempt to move in the direction of the voice, he finally asked "What do you want from me?"
"Nay, nay. Hah's nowt here to be havin from ye. Hah's simply here tah ASK of ye."
"You want to ask something of me, but you don't want anything from me?" Fox asked in confusion.
"Mebbe High'm sayin it wrong. High'm here to be asked OF. Aye, that's the way. Yer to be asken a favor of me, and High'm to be grantin of it."
Fox was more confused now than he was before. "You want me to ask something of you?"
"Aye, aye, and think ye well on it. Nowtin kin be done once ye be grantin of yer request. 'Scuse me now, fer I must be along. Take a carful thought of what ye be askin of, and take care of yerself."
"Wait, I don't understand you! What am I supposed to ask?"
"Hah kinnot be returnin fer a while... Tis mah duty to wait fer a mite, but think ye on what Hah said to ye."
"Orryvoyer," the voice went on, fading away... "Farewell."
Fox shrugged awake; the voice's last farewell still echoing in his ear.
"Bizarre dream," he muttered sleepily. He yawned, rolled over, and fell
back asleep, the dream forgotten.
This chapter was originally going to be a bit longer. My original plan was to include the battle over Katina, scattered in bits throughout the chapter. However, I felt the pacing of the story was screwed up by the constant intervals. So, I grouped all the pieces into one, and discovered that, well, it didn't work anyway. I'm not at all pleased with the way the battle scenes were turning out, so I'll rework them and put them into Chapter 3.
Okay, and I made Slippy stutter. I don't recall seeing anything that made me feel this way, but Slip just seems like a stutterer. It wasn't (though it's been a long time since I read it- I may be forgetting) in the comic, not in the game, not even in any fanfics I know. Well, actually, I think it may come from the first Star Fox- Slippy's terrified ribbiting whenever he gets a fighter on his tail… sounds like a stutter to me.
And if you're having trouble understanding what the voice at the end is saying, try saying it out loud, it might do the trick. If that doesn't help just let me know, and I'll put translations in. It was a very strange voice to write, and I'm not sure how understandable it is to someone beside myself (or should I say 'misself'?). God, I hope I haven't created Jar-Jar...
Again, tell me what you think. Thanks!