Chapter One
Premonitions
Lylat System, Papetoon
A small villiage
Charon Bond gazed out of one of the
many windows of his and his good friend Fox's house. The constant
harassment form Sialoeus Andross was making their nights sleepless.
The constant worrying of his lizard troops invading yet another planet
in the solar system, another gravity bomb that swallows up entire fleets
of ships, or just another pin of faceless, cowardice acts that Andross
threw at them to lead them off the one-way ticket to an all-out confrontation
with him and the small band of freedom fighters that harassed the supply
lines throughout that sector of space. Papetoon was quiet except
the wind blowing in form the inland sea across the flatlands. Rustling
in the grass and small vegetation, reminded Charon of his home. Nothing
more than wasteland at the time that is all he remembered. Bittersweet
to the memory, but for something that has nothing more than anguish and
sorrow behind it, it served a purpose that this will never happen here
or anywhere else.
Fox walked up behind Charon and handed
him something hot chocfee. "Here, maybe this will get that frown
off of your face," said Fox.
"Thanks." Charon said, relieved
that some things were just about as clockwork as things could get.
"I just can't get over this feeling that something is going to happen and
I can't do anything to stop it."
"I know what you mean," Fox agreed.
"But I can't help it if Fara kisses me instead of you."
Charon glowered at Fox, "No! Not that,"
growled Charon. "Like some attack or something not seen that is being
devised by Andross. That simian will stop at nothing to enslave everyone
on this planet you, me, the others, everyone!"
"Calm down there, bro," eased Fox.
"I know how you feel, but if I had your and Peppy's empathic powers, I
would be just as uneasy as you are now."
"Sometimes, I think my powers are
a curse," Charon said, sighing. "But look at how many times they, my powers,
have saved lives, ours especially. Think my grandfather is somewhere
in this galaxy laughing on the floor."
"Nah, he would be proud of you, my
friend," said Fox. "It just so happens, that he is the emperor of
your extinct planet and population."
"A population that is strewn all over
the galaxy," Charon stated. "I was just lucky enough to find Chelsea
and her father before they passed this system by."
"And don't forget Chonig," said Fox.
"Don't remind me," said Charon, as
he looked skyward in a sign of exasperation. "He almost destroyed
the planet of Corneria, your birth place if I remember correctly."
"Ok, you got me there, but you need
to stop worrying about these things. Right now you even have me on edge,"
Fox admitted.
"Well, I can't help it. You
know that whenever I have these feelings, it seems as though the whole
world is screaming out in pain," Charon shuddered. "Let's put it
this way, you remember the drill instructor when we were at the academy?"
"How can I forget," Fox recalled.
"Well, imagine then, his voice one
million times louder than it already was," Charon said.
Now it was Fox's turn to shudder.
"I don't really want to think about if his voice was that much more louder.
I still think I am deaf in one ear from his pushing and yelling."
Charon nodded. He gazed out
the window some more, hoping that his sense of dread would pass by like
a rain shower on a spring day. Then something happened. The
air around Charon seemed to grow colder and darker. Charon shivered
once, and he knew he was about to have one of his visions. This was
either scene of great joy or of great sadness. Somehow he knew it
was the latter.
The scene played out in dark images,
silhouettes against an even darker background. The Tydrier, a trapezoid
pyramid, on the capital planet of Corneria, was up in flames. Creatures
from dozens of worlds were running, helter skelter, away form the blazing
inferno. Fire crews and medical drones were up in the air racing furiously
to arrive at the damaged monument.
Charon never liked these premonitions,
and this one was the worst one he'd ever had. Just as the dreamlike
state was fading, he heard the unmistakable laughter of Andross.
Then it stopped. Charon opened his eye and raced into the kitchen
where Fox was preparing their breakfast. "No time for that, we need
to get to Corneria, right now!" growled Charon.
Just by the look in Charon's eyes
made it clear to Fox that this was a very serious matter. The normal
yellow eyes of his friend were turning bloodshot red as Charon was speaking.
The anger rising in a .Garnage native made their eyes turn an orange color,
but when a creature of extraordinary talent, as Charon was, their eyes
turned red, the pupil no longer visible. "Let me contact the others,"
said Fox.
"Ok, but you better do it at a dead
run," Charon sternly said.
By that time, Charon had grabbed his
duster and hat and was out the door. Fox sighed and ran after Charon,
all the time calling on his communicator. "Slippy, Falco, Peppy.
You all better get to your ships, now. Charon thinks something is
going to happen on Corneria."
"Thinks?" screamed Charon. "I
think you know me better than that."
"Ok, something is going to happen
on Corneria," Fox corrected.
Reports came within fifteen seconds
of the original call. "What now?" asked Slippy. "I was in the
middle of a bath."
"I don't know," Fox said. "Ask
Charon."
"I wish he would have his séances
at a more respectable hour than this," grumbled Falco.
"But look at the times that I have
been right as well," Peppy said.
"All right, all right. I am
coming." Falco agreed reluctantly.
Charon was already inside his ship,
a sleek, black ship with room for one creature, two creatures, if that
the other creature didn't mind being squeezed behind him, looking at a
dark screen for the journey. This suited Charon just fine, with minimal
effort; he coaxed the engines to life and was ready to go before Fox entered
his own cockpit. Fox's ship, an Arwing, had V-shaped wings and the
cockpit at the point of the "V". More of a metallic grey color, than
black, the fighter was more than capable to be easy to pilot.
Charon sensed where the others were
and he lifted off the ground with Fox right behind him. Soon the
other fighters came into view as all of them escaped Papetoon's gravity
and atmosphere. As soon as they cleared the stratosphere, they all
took up the normal fighting stance that all of them knew all so well, Fox
in the lead.
"All I can say is that something is
going to happen or has already happened at Tydrier," stated Charon.
"I would like to go full throttle to the planet of Corneria and see if
anything is going on."
"If nothing, then what?" asked Falco.
"We would have just wasted precious fuel and resources on a silly little
errand."
"I'm not in the mood for arguing,"
said Charon. "When Andross is involved and when innocent civilians
are involved, I would love to be wrong. Now are you and everyone
else with me on this?"
The responses were quick and affirmative
for this adventure they were going to partake in. "Well, what are
we waiting for?" Slippy asked.
"We will meet at coordinates tango,
foxtrot, omega, over the southern polar region. That should have
us easier to escape Andross' early warning satellites and we can then slip
in over Tydrier, undetected." Charon said. "Does anyone else
have any suggestions?"
Slippy asked, "Well, since we are
going to be in the region, were we going to pick up any flatte ambrosia?"
"You and your damn stomach, Slip,"
Falco said, sighing.
"Ok, if there isn't anything else
to discuss, let's go."
With that, the five fighters sped
off in the direction of Corneria. Charon was hopeful that he was
wrong about his latest premonition, but he knew that someway, his forbearing
usually came true. Well, let's hope that there won't be that many
dead and wounded when we all get there, Charon silently mused.